# That 70s anachronism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 19, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264 "2004-03-19T19:20:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/21 "2004-03-20T13:04:52Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > • Flip-top tabs (vs. pull tabs) on cans of soft drinks. Where do they get those anyway? I remember the recent “Behind the Scenes” movie about Charlie’s Angels and they were drinking non-taped, pull tab cans of Tab - but they neither opened nor drank from the cans. How about other movies - like when these drinks get opened?? They’re obviously drinking from real cans (not mockups). Does Hollywood’s art department kick that much ass? Or do vendors offer the studios reproductions of their products for the movies? ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/22 "2004-03-20T13:07:44Z")
> [@Rex Fenestrarum](#): > > they were drinking non-taped, pull tab cans of Tab D’oh! Should be “non-tapered”. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/23 "2004-03-20T15:13:42Z")
My point about the anachronistic props was more of an observation than a criticism. Like any other venture the show operates under a budget, and I’m sure in order to get every single detail exactly right would be cost-prohibative. In the case of the donuts, the prop master probably asked for “a box of donuts” and that’s what they got. I look at playing "spot the anachronism: as more of a game, and doesn’t change the fact That 70’s Show, in spite of a stupid title, is still one of the most original, best written shows around. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/24 "2004-03-20T22:50:21Z")
The show aparently exists in some sort of time-warp universe. The first episode of season 1 occurs in 1976, with Eric and the gang about 16 years old. Assuming a season a year, the characters should now be in their 20’s, and the show in 1982 or 83. Yet it still seems to be the late 70’s, with the kids still in their late teens. But they include references to seasons, holidays and such that would indicate that the show goes a year at a time. I’ve decided that the show takes place in the same type of universe as, say, Marvel comics, where the core characters have aged about 10 years since 1962, or detective novels like Robert B. Parker’s Spenser, who was in his 40’s in 1973, and is still middle-aged today. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/25 "2004-03-20T22:53:18Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > What bothered me more was that they apparently couldn’t even be bothered to look at a freakin’ map. The fictional town of Point Place seems to be in south-eastern Wisconsin, somewhere south of Milwaukee and near Kenosha. Chicago is close enough to drive to easily. However, so are Sheboygan and the Canadian border! Point Place is a fictional suburb of Green Bay. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/26 "2004-03-21T01:15:45Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I lived in Wisconsin for part of the run of _That '70s Show_, and the funniest What bothered me more was that they apparently couldn’t even be bothered to look at a freakin’ map. The fictional town of Point Place seems to be in south-eastern Wisconsin, somewhere south of Milwaukee and near Kenosha. Chicago is close enough to drive to easily. However, so are Sheboygan and the Canadian border! And the whole reason to drive to Canada was so they could buy beer at 18. However, at that time, 18 was the legal drinking age in Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/27 "2004-03-21T03:24:16Z")
> [@Number Six](#): > > Point Place is a fictional suburb of Green Bay. So the official website says. However, Donna’s mother was enrolled in a women’s conscious-raising class at “Kenosha Community College”, which would be a 154-mile commute each way from Green Bay. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/28 "2004-03-21T03:31:13Z")
> [@Number Six](#): > > The show aparently exists in some sort of time-warp universe. The first episode of season 1 occurs in 1976, with Eric and the gang about 16 years old. Assuming a season a year I think it’s two seasons a year. It’s 1979 now. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/29 "2004-03-21T03:42:08Z")
Oh, getting back to the use of the word “stalker”, I found a use that matches the OP’s question in a headline for a review of the suspense-thriller _No Place to Hide_ in the _New York Times_ in March 1981. The current season of _That '70s Show_ is set during the 1979-80 school year, right? ---
**Author:** ![epepke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de0a6/32.png) [@epepke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epepke)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/30 "2004-03-21T05:08:46Z")
> [@Mausmagill](#): > > I’m not so sure about it being use in the '70s, but I remember an old SNL skit from the mid to late '80s about stalking, and they used that term. > > That '70s Show is full of anachronisms. Usually props and the like. The two that come readily to mind would be Eric’s Spider-man sheets (they had the early '90s Spider-man logo), and a Krispy Kreme box Red was carrying to Lori’s new apartment. Why is a Krispy Kreme box an anachronism? Krispy Kreme existed in Tallahassee when I got there in 1979, and from the look of it, had existed for quite some time. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/31 "2004-03-21T06:50:17Z")
Because _That '70s Show_ is set in Wisconsin in the late 1970s, and as **spooje** pointed out above :rolleyes: , the first Krispy Kreme shop in Wisconsin did not open until 2001. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/32 "2004-03-21T08:45:11Z")
They use the word “skank” and its derivitives a lot. I was a teen in the 70s and we never used the word–in fact, I can’t remember hearing it until about 1990. Does anyone else recall using or hearing the word before 1990? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/33 "2004-03-21T09:02:11Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > So the official website says. However, Donna’s mother was enrolled in a women’s conscious-raising class at “Kenosha Community College”, which would be a 154-mile commute each way from Green Bay. I’m with you on this one. In one early episode (the first one I saw, possible the first one ever?) the gang got all dolled up to go to a disco in Kenosha. Kenosha is not such a happening place that this would be a worthwhile long-distance trip; it only makes sense if Point Place is in the Kenosha area. I remember numerous references to Milwaukee as being somewhere in the vicinity, and when Eric’s sister was at UW-Madison that didn’t seem to be _too_ far away, but I can’t recall the city of Green Bay being mentioned at all. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/34 "2004-03-21T18:18:30Z")
Eric had an Aerosmith poster for _Permanent Vacation_ on his bedroom wall. _Permanent Vacation_ came out well into the 80s. I think the only reason that the show references Kenosha so much is that Kenosha is a funnier-sounding name than Green Bay. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/35 "2004-03-21T18:35:30Z")
My sister had a stalker in the late 70s. We didn’t use that term at all. I don’t think that was a term in use, at least in our part of Ohio. He was “threatening” her. He was “a bad man.” He “wouldn’t leave her alone.” Those were the terms we were using. Gah. Those are some memories I’d rather not have reopened! Julie ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/36 "2004-03-21T18:47:46Z")
Words can be around a long time before they get widely used, but sometimes they just get a perfect connection. The word “avatar” for example: the word is old as dirt, but I was totally unaware of it before Internet became popular, and then it was common knowledge. I suppose you could have used the word “stalker” in the 70’s in the same way we do now, just that the word wasn’t everyday vocabulary in the same sense as it is now. The less probable it is for people to understand a word, the less the word will be used, right? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Frink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Mr.Frink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Frink)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/37 "2004-03-22T04:26:30Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > They use the word “skank” and its derivitives a lot. I was a teen in the 70s and we never used the word–in fact, I can’t remember hearing it until about 1990. > Does anyone else recall using or hearing the word before 1990? I can definitely vouch that “skank” was in wide use while I was in high school–1986 to 1990. So that gets us a bit closer to the seventies… Also, I don’t think that we can assume that for each year we go through, the '70s show kids go through one too. We only see one episode a week…for all we know, it takes seven episodes to go through one of their weeks. So that’s 7 of our weeks == One of their weeks. I wouldn’t necessarily go that far, but I would imagine it could be something similar… ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/38 "2004-03-22T04:49:04Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > They use the word “skank” and its derivitives a lot. I was a teen in the 70s and we never used the word–in fact, I can’t remember hearing it until about 1990. > Does anyone else recall using or hearing the word before 1990? I was a freshman in 1979; we used skank quite a bit. Of course we were always ahead of the curve. I still think the Simpson’s creator came up with “Don’t have a cow” because he was eavesdropping on me and my friends. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/39 "2004-03-22T05:33:39Z")
I’m pretty sure I remember contemporary references to Mark Chapman being a stalker after he killed John Lennon in 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264/40 "2004-03-22T07:52:33Z")
> [@easy e](#): > > And the whole reason to drive to Canada was so they could buy beer at 18. However, at that time, 18 was the legal drinking age in Wisconsin. I think they were making a big deal that they could buy beer in Canada because it was stronger. And I know when Kelso turned 18 they made a big deal that he could buy beer for the gang legally now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-70s-anachronism/235264.md?page=3)