I had a lot of those 45-record-book combinations, too. I had a lot of records, period.
I saw an Easy-Bake Oven kit the other day, only the items no longer have to actually get baked. They must be horrifically chemical-laden, but they are no-bake, so little Susie won’t have to worry about burning herself on the 40-watt bulb, I guess.
Skip-It is still around–my next-door neighbors have one lying in their front yard right now.
This may be more early-80’s, but oh, how I coveted a Speak-n-Spell. I could play with one of those for hours. I still remember like it was yesterday the time when I guessed A,E,I,O, and U without getting a hit. I couldn’t figure out what word could possibly have no vowels. It was rhythym.
Here’s an obscure one: does anyone else remember the Lollywinks record album, which featured four ‘elves’ singing lilting, grating tunes? “Misty morning, misty morning, something soooomething da da daaaaa…” Kind of like Alvin and the Chipmunks. I loved that record, and nearly drove my mom crazy with it.
LEMON TWIST!! Jeez, I was so pleased with my six-year-old self when I managed to figure out the rythum to that thing (heavily advertised on the “Shazam/Isis” Saturday morning show.
Nik-L-Nips are the brand I remember. I don’t recall eating the wax, though, just drinking the syrup.
Krisfer the Cat: You could get the Pogo figures in packages of Ivory Snow, Joy, and Oxydol (all Procter & Gamble products, as seen in the bottom photo on this page). My brother and I had “wrestling shows” with “the Pogos” and various other toys – Porky Pine was villainous grappler “The Dentist”; Churchy became “The Headless Wonder” when his head was removed; one Albert Alligator fought his evil twin, “The Impostor”.
I second the Electronic football game (the one that vibrated and had little guys you put on the field and had to adjust a dial at the bottom to get them to go straight…never could figure out how to pass), Viewmaster and many others already mentioned.
Can you still get Rock Candy? I assume its available somewhere, just haven't seen it lately.
Stretch Armstrong.
Atari. I know, you can buy the games for playstation or find sims on the internet, but I miss the old Atari game system with the very phallic and aptly named "Joysticks." ANd that cool trackball for the centipede game.
No one has mentioned VCR Football. Such a lame game, but the tape was cool because they used some of the most famous plays in NFL history. I am surprised that no one has come up with DVD Football. It would work so much better. The limitation of the VCR game was that it was Analog as far as the play sequences and you can only fit so many plays on a 2 hour VCR tape, so you could easily memorize the plays and know what was coming next. Both problems are gone in DVD football. It could pick a play from thousands at random on a standard DVD. It would be much less predictable and more fun. Of course, with as real as some video games are now it would be hard to compete.
Hmm. I had a gigantic boxload of Meccano “Dinky Toys” vehicles that I recently sold (one at a time) on eBay for a LOT of money - is that the same Meccano? These were made much earlier than the 70s, though, and I believe they were a precurser to Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars.
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned yet: In maybe first grade (i.e., about '77 or so), I remember all the girls in school had Bonnie Bell Lip Gloss; it was a big, round thing that had a rope on it so they could hang it around their neck (presumably to keep it close at hand in case any of those first-grade hussies needed to kiss someone on the lips pronto).
Dijon Really? Interesting. I had no idea that Capt. Kangaroo braodcast it (or that they overdubbed the narration -ew!). It was a show from England and I THINK it used to be back to back with Hattytown Tales - a surreal little show where all the townspeople were hats (lived in bigger hats) and the stars were Sancho (a sombrero) and his friend Carrots the donkey. (I liked Carrots.)
I’m In Canada though, so I would’ve seen the original English version of the program. Capt. Kanga was on in the morning and Simon was at lunchtime.
I remember Scratch’n’Sniff stickers, Kenner’s Star Wars action figures, and some sort of cartoon (school related?) where the letters of the alphabet were people. The vowels were women, and the consonants were men. I remember thinking it was a little unfair, since there were only six vowels and twenty consonants. I remember the drawings Bill Cosby would do on every Fat Albert show, and how I wished I had the special paper to draw along with him. There were also these coloring books that came with a special pen. You’d color something in with the pen, and the invisible drawing would become visible. Oh, and the book/tapes, where you’d read the story while listening to the tapes. I think my favorite was Disney’s Cinderella, and it had some classical music that I just loved, but was never able to figure out what it was until I heard a bit of Die Fliedermaus.
Yup, they do. Going shopping for my eight-year old this year, I was pleasantly surprised to see lots and lots of heavy, clanging metal Tonka trucks gleaming yellowly and blackly in the aisles. They sure cost a bit more than they used to, though.
I always got my boys those because they were much harder to destroy (but not impossible) than the plastic crap.
occasionally I’ll see these reprinted but essentially these are not available-
CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED comics (I read five copies of FRANKENSTEIN to tatters…sigh)
Warren Publications- CREEPY, EERIE - two that are still being published VAMPIRELLA, FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND btw, do NOT buy FM, the now-owner basically swindled Forrest J. Ackerman, the founder & FJA’s legal bills has caused him to sell the Ackermansion & much of his horror/scifi film memorabilia collection
For years, I begged and pleaded with my parents to buy me the “Steve Austin Transport and Repair Set”. It was essentially a plastic replica of the rocket from the intro to the TV show which, when opened, would be a medical table so you could recreate the opening scene. Finally, my grandparents bought it for me and when I finally held it in my hands, I played with it for about a week.
There was one episode where Steve battled another bionic character that could change his face, legs, and arms. When this nemesis became an action figure, I played with it for months.
One fad was the miniature cap gun key chain. The gun looked real and made a hell of a lot of noise when fired. I didn’t have to beg nearly as much for this toy, but by the time I got it the fad had died.
I was also into the Fisher Price little people, and always wanted the bully kid (was his name Butch?). Perhaps the coolest little people toy they had was the A frame house. My parents were wakened at 5 am on Christmas day to the sound of me dragging the A frame house Santa gave me across the linoleum wooden floor to my bedroom.
The original garbage can of Slime was completely forbidden in our house. Something about it wreaking havoc on carpet :rolleyes:
I was in living in Canada for much of the seventies, and I remember a roughly drawn parody of the “Wizard of Oz”, which included a sarcastic, whiny wizard and a cowardly (green?) lion with swirling whiskers. Any information on this cartoon has proved elusive.
Other shows I remember watching: English and Spanish versions of “Sesame Street”, “Casy and Finnigan”, and “The Polka-dot Door”
Hey, remember when the Mickey Mouse Club would come on and the family in the neighborhood with a TV would call out the door and all the kids would come running to watch it?
And it was really cool to know somebody with a color TV when the Wizard of Oz came on (the second half was in color!)? Everybody in the neighborhood would be at their house to watch that, too.
S.R.A. cards in school. They were color coated reading assignments with questions you would answer afterwards. If you got to the red cards you were really smart!!!
