# things from 70s childhood that don't exist anymore **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 21, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336 "2003-12-21T17:48:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/1 "2003-12-21T17:48:06Z")
at least i don’t think these exist anymore, but they sure played an important role in my life: 1. the milkman 2. the bookmobile 3. the vegetable co-op now add yours ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/2 "2003-12-21T18:10:06Z")
Um - those three still exist, they just don’t get around as much any more. Or is a vegetable co-op that different from a food co-op? The same can be said for typewriters, dial telephones, and slide rules. Our old upright, non-electric typewriter was a real upper body workout. Wedding vows where the wife promises to obey. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/3 "2003-12-21T18:12:32Z")
We still have have food co-ops here, limited bookmobile service, and milk deliveries, too. It’s been almost thirty years since I’ve seen a mobile portrait studio canvassing a neighborhood, and I was going to suggest that, but a quick googling suggests that they persist as well. What about the door-to-door barbers that seemed to be in cahoots with them? Yay! Strangers with sharp implements! Those toys that everyone had, which were two glass spheres connected by equal lengths of string to a plastic ring, which you knocked/bounced together until someone’s fingers got smashed or they were blinded by shattering glass seem to have vanished, though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/4 "2003-12-21T18:16:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Those toys that everyone had, which were two glass spheres connected by equal lengths of string to a plastic ring, which you knocked/bounced together until someone’s fingers got smashed or they were blinded by shattering glass seem to have vanished, though. Actually, they were made of resin. We called them “klackers”. They still have them; but the balls are much smaller, encased in softer plastic, and have plastic “A-frames” on them to keep them from whacking anyone in the head. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/5 "2003-12-21T18:33:02Z")
Well, by golly, is _anything_ from our childhood really gone? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/6 "2003-12-21T18:34:58Z")
…I saw Mattel Electronic Football in one of the big chain Toy Stores last week. How would that appeal to anyone under thirty? ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/7 "2003-12-21T18:53:13Z")
Gnip Gnop? Nu Zoo Revue? That game where the ad ended with the kid saying “Pretty sneaky, sis.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/8 "2003-12-21T18:57:34Z")
Lawn Darts (aka “Jarts”). > [@](#): > > Well, by golly, is _anything_ from our childhood really gone? Of course, there is a non-pointy version of Jarts still on the market. (I’ll keep my Jarts, thankyouverymuch. I just need to have a party so we can play with them. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/9 "2003-12-21T19:00:40Z")
Oh crap, now I’m trying to remember another “game.” Well, it wasn’t a game really but it came in the same sort of box. It had a bunch of plastic discs with different patterns and different colored pens so you could draw funky designs and then color them in. I just remembered–SPIROGRAPH!!! ---
**Author:** ![skeptic\_ev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@skeptic\_ev](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skeptic_ev)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/10 "2003-12-21T19:11:11Z")
Hmm … I haven’t seen Big Wheels in a while. And something the women might recall: Holly Hobby. I think a lot of the 70s stuff is around, but much of it is for nostalgia geeks as opposed to actually being produced for today’s kids. Of course, some still is around and as cool as ever. Play-Doh, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/11 "2003-12-21T19:13:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KSO \* > \*\*I just remembered–SPIROGRAPH!!! \*\* [Online Spirograph](http://www.wordsmith.org/~anu/java/spirograph.html) Another timewaster. ---
**Author:** ![GuinnessGuzzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@GuinnessGuzzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuinnessGuzzler)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/12 "2003-12-21T19:58:28Z")
I had a music centre - it had the MW/VHF tuner, a record deck and… an 8 track cartridge player ! ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/13 "2003-12-21T20:31:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > \*\*Lawn Darts (aka “Jarts”). > > Of course, there is a non-pointy version of Jarts still on the market. > > (I’ll keep my Jarts, thankyouverymuch. I just need to have a party so we can play with them. 🙂 ) \*\* And they took Fisher Price’s little people and turned them into big, round people. It’s nice that kids won’t choke, but still … aren’t we all supposed to be losing weight as a nation? And yeah, I realize milkmen and bookmobiles are still around in some very small way, but it’s not the same. It’s more like the ironic milkman. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/14 "2003-12-21T20:41:31Z")
Off the top of my head, I fondly recall Shrinky Dinks Earth Tone Shag Carpeting Pong (of course) (and that great motorcycle game for the 2600 that came with the handlebars) HR Pufnstuf The Krofft Super Stars (okay - the last two are TV, but man, Elektra Woman and Dyna Girl were hot - to a seven yr old) Macrame everything Green Machines ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/15 "2003-12-21T21:08:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Krebnar the Magnificent \* > \*\*Off the top of my head, I fondly recall > > Shrinky Dinks > Earth Tone Shag Carpeting > Pong (of course) (and that great motorcycle game for the 2600 that came with the handlebars) > HR Pufnstuf > The Krofft Super Stars (okay - the last two are TV, but man, Elektra Woman and Dyna Girl were hot - to a seven yr old) > Macrame everything > Green Machines \*\* Green Machines are back made by Huffy ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/16 "2003-12-21T21:21:46Z")
Ker-Plunk Mr. Potato Head Mousetrap? Mind you, it’s a few years since I’ve had to shop in Toys R Us, so they might well have made a revival at some stage. And typewriters? The legal sec. at my work the other day had one on her desk to do some weird document that could ONLY be typed. I felt like I was in a museum. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/17 "2003-12-21T21:24:30Z")
[2XL!](http://www.pickletreats.com/2XL/) ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/18 "2003-12-21T21:45:11Z")
Spirograph, Mousetrap and Mr Potato Head all still exist… just do a quick run through a Walmart toy section or Toys R Us… I think Ker-plunk is still around but I can’t be sure because I haven’t seen it in stores lately… but I love that game! Grandma still has her’s and my cousins and I used to play it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Sota\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@Sweet\_Sota\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Sota_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/19 "2003-12-21T22:04:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KSO \* > \*\*That game where the ad ended with the kid saying “Pretty sneaky, sis.” \*\* I believe this was Connect Four, wasn’t it? Either that or Battle Ship. Either way, both are still around. It does leave me wondering how my brother and I passed so many hours playing Connect Four. It’s not that enthralling, is it??? 😕 I miss my Smurfs™ board game and card game. I love it that they’re coming back with things that had been missing from the shelves for a while… like Care Bears™ and Strawberry Shortcake™ dolls. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336/20 "2003-12-21T22:23:56Z")
It doesn’t take much to keep a kid occupied – Connect Four never caught on in our house, but we passed a lot of time with _Rebound_ – the sort of round-the-corner miniature shuffleboard made out of depressing yellow PVC that you played with plastic-ringed ball-bearings. That, and I forget what it was called, but it was four translucent blue pieces of plastic (with swiss-cheese holes) arranged in a sort of pyramid with a red resevoir at the top. Players used curved pieces of plastic to guide marbles to the top without letting them fall through the holes. Hours and hours, before the Atari 2600 changed everything. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-from-70s-childhood-that-dont-exist-anymore/220336.md?page=2)