As we approach the 25th anniversary of the bicentennial, I can’t help but fondly remember the outright ridiculous commercialization of the evert. I was 5 at the time, and remember having bicentennial sneakers (red, white and blue with an eagle on the rubber toe), a red, white and blue Big Wheel, homemade matching red, white and blue outfits for the July 4th parade (me and my brother.) I remember those great candlestick phones that were red and white striped with a blue base with white stars. I remember you couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting a replica of the liberty marching guys (fife, drum and flag).
I’ve decided to re-do the all-but-never-used guest bathroom in a bicentennial motif, and have bid on a few eBay items (will hit the thrifts, of course) but was genuinely shocked to find only a handful of gloriously tacky items. Most of what seems to be available are stamps and coins. I bid on an 8 foot flag with the Bicentennial logo, which will make a dandy shower curtain, and I’ll of course have red, white and blue towels, but where are the cheezy items? No “Spirit of '76” soapdishes? No “Declaration of Independance” bathmats? Did everything wear out? (I know my sneakers did, my mom had to pull them off me kicking and screaming in the shoe store.)
What do you remember that I was too young to perhaps appreciate; what did you love and hate? I did find one of those candlestick phones, and am tempted to buy it despite the lack of a bathroom phonejack, just because it’s so cool. Any ideas for the decor that I might not think of? It’s a pretty small room, so nothing like a towel rack made of old muskets.
I was in 4th-5th grade during the Bicentennial hoopla, and I had a pair of white overalls with red-white-and-blue patriotic stuff (Liberty Bells, stars, 76’s) all over. I also had a bike with a red-white-and-blue banana seat. Howzat?
As for your bathroom decor, any way you can fit Bicentennial quarters into the mess? For some reason I’m reminded of how my mom superglued a penny onto the faucet knob when the little medallion fell off, but maybe a quarter’s too big for that.
(slight hijack: I tried to find the name for a 225th anniversary, but failed. Anyone? Anyone?)
I was 16 at the time…what a glorious Summer, but I digress.
I had a Ruger Security Six .357 with the bicentennial logo engraved on the side just behind the cylinder. When I was stationed in England my dad wrote and asked if he could sell it, as they needed the money at the time. I should have borrowed the money and sent it to them. Sigh. I still mentally kick myself when I think about it.
I was ten in 1976. The only Bicentennial item I remember owning was a lunchbox. It was a regular metal lunchbox including a Thermos, and it was covered with Revolutionary-themed cartoons. I can’t remember the gags anymore, but one of them was about how the Liberty Bell got cracked, and another concerned Washington crossing the Delaware.
Wow, what a great year that was! The tall ships, the “Bicentennial Minute” on CBS, red, white and blue everywhere you turned. The comic strips Doonesbury and Dennis the Menace both changed their setting to 1776 for several months during that year, so, for example, we saw Zonker Harris recast as his ancestor Nate Harris.
If you want to relive (or experience the first time) any of that tacky, silly, giddy, jingoistic euphoria, I encourage you all to rent the Robert Altman movie “Nashville,” which dates from that time.
Jeepers, I forgot about that! Hard to imagine a time of crazy, unabashed commercialization before Star Wars!
Seriously, I don’t know how I remember this stuff (I was four years old in ‘76) but I do recall that that summer all the toy stores carried these cheaply made, weird smelling, solid rubber dolls of Uncle Sam and George Washington (along with the regular Superman and Batman ones). They had really, really ugly faces (probably knocked off in a hurry), crappy paint jobs, and for some reason a sproingy loop of elasticized string sprouted out of the top of their heads. All the kids had one, cept’ me (gave me the creeps).
I distinctly remember my cousin had a Bicentannial-themed Evil Kenievel Super Stunt Cycle (I was green with envy).
I had ceramic piggy bank from that period depicting the Peanuts characters as those “Liberty Marching Guys”, and a cookie jar shaped like Snoopy as a minuteman ( actually, they’re both still stashed away in my folk’s attic somewhere).
The book Flags of American History, a gift from our friendly bank in the days they gave customers things to encourage business instead of charging fees for walking in the door. I still have it BTW. A 16 oz glass with red and white stripes around the center and a band of stars around the top, sadly knocked off a table and broken.
Patco Hi-Speedline (into Philadelphia) put in a “Franklin Plaza” stop for the bicentennial. It’s closed now. I pass it every day on the way into Philly.
I had a transistor radio (remember when that was high-tech?) about the size of a brick (portable!) that was covered with red, white and blue '76s.
One item my family still has is a set of bicentennial mattresses. Four, twin-sized and covered in drawings of George Washington, drummers, eagles and such. Pretty tastefully done, actually. We just used them at our cabin in the woods, so they’re still in very good condition.
I had the shoes. I have gobs of coins. I have a lot of Bicentennial $2.00 bills. I had the Evil Kenievel Super Stunt Cycle. I even had the lunch box. One of the gags was Paul Revere riding his horse yelling “The British Are Coming” in panels 1 through 3. In panel four, he was face to face with some Red Coats and his cry trails off like, “The British are [sub]com…[/sub]” What a hoot.
My aunt had Bicentennial switch plate covers. They were brass with eagles adorning the top. They also had '76 stamped on them. She also had many collectors plates.
I must say, however, the 4th of July had fireworks the likes of which have never been rivaled. I was in Colorado Springs on July 4, '76 and I recall fireworks displays lasting well over an hour with a “grand finale” over 15 minutes.
God, it was great to be an American back then.
I can still hear (Walter Cronkite?) droning, “I’ll be back with the Bicentennial Minute” and, after a minute, “Two Hundred Years Ago Today…” Some of those were real slow days; basically, Colonial troops sat and waited for something to happen. Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, nothing happened.
From 1975 to '76 this stupid train traveled around the country. For a nominal fee you could ride this conveyor belt at ludicrous speed through the train holding a cootie covered wand to your head providing cheesy narration. The train was full of “important” American crap like Judy Garland’s dress and ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, Jack Kennedy’s rocking chair, something of Lincoln’s (Hey, I was 10-11 at the time, cut me some slack on my poor memory).
Our town also had this stupid contest where local school kids would paint fire hydrants to look like colonial/historic figures.
“at least I got to collect bicentennial quarters, half dollars, and silver dollars when I got older.”
—I never had any of those, but I still have some of my old Bicentennial Pennies. You know how most pennies have Lincoln’s head on one side, and the Lincoln Memorial on the other?
Well, Bicentennial Pennies are just the opposite . . .
vogue,
I was six then, and my sisters had bicentennial curtains in their bedroom. Store bought! I remember lots of that crap around…I’ll phone up my parents and see if they pack-ratted any of it. They rarely throw stuff out, so if they have anything, I’ll let you know
I still have, in my jewelry box, a metal Snoopy pin that says “Happy Birthday America! 1776-1976”. I also have (at my parents’ house but they’re hoping to bring it this summer) a Bicentennial model train. My dad claims it’s all from one set, I believe it was two however. If I’m right, one set was a diesel locomotive, three boxcars, and a caboose, all with red-white-and-blue decorations. One boxcar has the drum, flag, and fife guys; the second has Paul Revere on his horse; and I believe the third has Washington in some pose. The caboose says “Spirit of '76”. Then there are thirteen box cars, one for each of the thirteen original states, each with a map of the state and its motto printed on the sides.
Norway will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its full independence in 2005. Wonder if the Norskies will dream up anything nearly as tacky? Naaaaah.
Same here! I used to make him drag it out every time I visited. (If memory serves, we used to race it against the Batmobile – ROFL!) Evel Kenevil (sp?) had that great red, white and blue jumpsuit and was totally BOSS.
I remembered I also had these Mickey Mouse sheets that had Mickey and crew in assorted Colonial scenes, including the fife, flag and drum configuration. That predated the bicentennial by a few years, however.
Zette, you’re a peach!
Spritle – thanks for the idea! I’m off to eBay to sniff out a switchplate…
I’m always sorta surprised they don’t make more of the bicentennial on “That 70’s Show.” Did we ever nail down a time frame for that? I suppose it’s late 70’s so the hoopla would already be over.
I distinctly remember some syrup company packaged their product in these commemorative bottles. They had scenes of (IIRC) Founding Fathers, battle scenes, etc. My oldest brother had them displayed in his room.
I accidently broke one. He kicked my ass. Gee, thanks for bringing up such a pleasant memory.
