REMEMBERING THE 1970s!

I was born in the early 1960s, and things have changed drastically. I often chuckle when I see posts on Facebook, such as “Do you remember?” The rotary phone, manual typewriters,  flour sifters, and more!

I remember the cartoon The Jetsons. It was a cartoon way ahead of its time. One morning, I was making toast, and my mom noted that someday, we would think it was ridiculous to have to push down the lever on the toaster to make toast. Life would be more like the Jetsons.

Although I was born in the early 1960s, I was more of a child of the 1970s (junior high and high school). I asked ChatGPT what do you remember from the ’70s.  Sit back and enjoy the memories of the 70s.

📺 TV & Pop Culture

• Saturday morning cartoons were a sacred ritual—no streaming, no replays. You had to catch Scooby-Doo, Fat Albert, or The Super Friends live. –  My brother and I watched a lot of Bugs Bunny cartoons, along with the Roadrunner cartoon.

• TV knobs and rabbit ears – you physically turned the dial to change the channel and adjusted the antennae (sometimes with foil) for a better signal. – Growing up, my brother and I were the remote control!

• Watching Schoolhouse Rock! and actually learning stuff like how a bill becomes a law from “I’m Just a Bill.” -  I loved Schoolhouse Rock

• Gilligan’s Island reruns, The Brady Bunch, and The Six Million Dollar Man were after-school staples. – On Friday nights, as a family, we watched Brady Bunch and Partridge Family.

• You knew which Sesame Street Muppet was your favorite (Grover? Count?). – Oscar was my favorite.

  
  

🕹️ Toys & Games

• Playing with Stretch Armstrong, Spirograph, Lite-Brite, or the original Weebles (“Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down!”). – I am not artistic, but I could use a spirograph to make pretty pictures.

• Etch A Sketch: The struggle was real.

• Board games like Mystery Date, Operation, or Mouse Trap (that barely worked right).

• Pong: The height of home video game innovation.

• Building massive universes with Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys, or Erector Sets.

  
  

📻 Music & Media

• Making mixtapes from the radio (timing it just right to hit “record” when the DJ stopped talking).

• Carrying around a transistor radio to catch the top hits.

• Your first record might’ve been a 45 of The Jackson 5, The Bee Gees, or The Partridge Family.

• Everyone had a friend with a record player in their bedroom, and they were cool.  – I guess I was “cool” because I had a record player in my room – along with a little TV.

  
  

👟 Clothes & Style

• Toughskins jeans from Sears—indestructible and scratchy.

• Garanimals clothes: matching animal tags made outfit decisions easy.

• Clogs, corduroy everything, tube socks, bell bottoms, and feathered hair.

• Mood rings and pet rocks were surprisingly big deals.

  
  

Those who have read my blogs know I love fashion and the latest trends. In the 70s, I begged for clogs, and my mom felt they were unsafe. After making many requests (yes, I was whining), she bought me a pair, and the first day, I stepped out of them, fell, and sprained my ankle. I was also so proud of my mood ring. I wore my corduroy pants with pride!!!

🏡 Everyday Life

• Drinking water from the hose riding bikes until the streetlights came on.

• Playing outside unsupervised for hours—Kick the Can, Red Rover, and Hide & Seek ruled the neighborhood.

• School filmstrips and mimeographed handouts (that purple ink smell!).

• Library card catalogs and learning to use the Dewey Decimal System.

  
  

We also did not have to wear seatbelts. We rode in the back of pickups and loved it.

🍬 Food & Snacks

• Tang, Space Food Sticks, and Jell-O 1-2-3.

• Pop Rocks, Necco Wafers, Marathon Bars, and wax soda bottles filled with sugar water.

• Making “ice cream” by stirring Carnation Instant Breakfast into milk.

  
  

I have many fond memories of my childhood. Looking back at some popular things in the 70s made me smile.

I hope you enjoyed looking back or, if you are younger, seeing what was popular several decades ago!!

Have a great Day!!