Let’s see…I can remember from my childhood…
1. Sesame street
2. Yo-go’s
3. The encroachment of communists with the “Up With People” movement when I was in second grade.
4. Skinny plastic skateboards
5. Color television for middle class families
6. The Honda CVCC
7. 60s dune buggies made over with cool new speckled fiberglass
8. Shag carpet in the neighbor’s house, including the rake
9. Pong on the TV, soon to be followed by Tanks
10. Push lawnmowers we’re awesome
11. I got a .22 for Christmas
12. Fruit JELLO at every holiday
13. Tennis balls, flags, tassels on the “big kids’” ten speeds while we had baseball cards in the spokes of our kids’ bikes.
14. Babysitters
15. Neighbor with the hot tub
16. Neighbor with the in-ground swimming pool
17. Ladder over the fence to play with the friend that live on the other side of the block
18. Friends’ mom with the TV Guide and the remote control that said, “ping”.
19. We thought KISS was awesome and watched the special on TV
20. Grateful that Gilligan’s Island, Green Acres, I Dream Of Jeannie, and The Brady Bunch were in syndication between 3:00pm and 5:00pm after school
21. My new shoes made me run faster
22. Schwin bicycle with a banana seat
23. The “big kids” had firecrackers, cherry bombs and bottle rockets
24. Going on an night adventure at the creek and mom and dad knowing we’d get home eventually when we got tired enough, yet we’re only less than a mile from home, but thought we’d walked to the next stage
25. Finding Playboy magazines dumped in the woods
26. Had to go home because my friend got a whooping from his pa.
27. Carrying sleeping bags to the best friends’ house as the sun was setting on a Friday night
28. Etc…
“I got a .22 for Christmas”
Kids drove to high school with guns in their vehicles. Especially during deer season. Probably half the boys had a gun in their car/truck in the parking lot.
Good list!
I remember looking through the KISS posters at K-Mart.
Everything smelled like cigarettes.
The awesome late ‘70s Pontiac Trans Am.
Evel Knievel themed toys including that windup motorcycle that everyone had.
Star Wars everything if you were a kid.
Tall tube socks with stripes.
Beginning of tennis rackets made of stuff other than wood.
No UPC codes yet. Every item at the grocery store had a price tag stuck to it.
TAB