…flyin’ purple people eater?
You’ve got me singing “Put your head on my shoulder” now. That’s not gonna leave for a while.
IIRC that was the Buster Brown Theater. Buster was a long haired laddie with girlish features, and Tighe was a Staffordshire Terrier, what many people now call a pit bull. A line of children’s shoes was produced with the Buster Brown endorsement.
Froggie was an elf who would torment the adults to the point where they’d be ready to wring his neck, and his ‘magic twanger’ would be produced to help him disappear in a puff of smoke.
I’ve no recall of the McConnell show. Might that have been a hosting show in another TV market where pre-produced Buster Brown bits were shown? I’m thinking again of the Sally Starr, Gene London, and Pixanne references, all Philadelphia specific.
While I’m digging in the mental attic trunk, how about Tom Terrific and his faithful dog, Manfred. Also Chief Halftown, Captain Noah, and other forerunners to Captain Kangaroo.
Does anyone remember the breakfast cereal that was accompanied by the tagline, The one and only cereal that comes in the shape of animals followed by the sound of thundering hooves? 
Yes, Crayons, the mimeograph produced those fragrant purple quizzes.
I haven’t seen Topper or The Millionaire yet, but TV shows could run into the hundreds, possibly.
How about curb-feelers?
Or water-bags for those who had to traverse the Mojave.
And motels sported the oval AAA signs.
I still have a rotary dial phone and yes, kids today don’t know how to operate it.
Other things:
Iron Eyes Cody (the crying Indian on the anti litter commercials.) During the 70’s when we saw someone throw litter on the ground we would accuse them of “making the Indian cry.” Later commercials had him smiling as people picked up litter.
Woodsy Owl (Another anti-litter crusader)
Drugstore soda fountains. When you were done with your shopping you could get a nice dish of lime sherbert.
Roller rinks. Do they even still have those? In the 70’s it was the only place you could hold a children’s birthday party without being totally lame.
Streakers. Please, God, don’t let this generation grow up without seeing at least one streaker.
-
Place it between two sheets of blank typing paper, Roll it into the typewriter, and type. You now have a copy.
-
In the TV show it was Sally Field. I don’t know the movies.
-
Frank Sinatra types.
-
Laugh In?
-
Sally Rogers, Buddy Sorrel and Mel Cooley
Hey, I’m 17, and I knew these. Did I win anythig?
A Genuine Junior Geezer Badge to go with your *Official Melvin Purvis Junior G-Man Badge *.
People, people, can we please let the “kids don’t know what records are” thing die? I’m 19, and my first ever musical recording was on a record! (Go, Fraggle Rock, go. How many of you oldsters know what that is, huh? 
) My dad’s got 250 of the things in the basement. Heck, you can still buy the things for DJing and such. How else would we scratch?
FWIW, I get a very large majority of the tech/government/etc. related ones, but very few of the TV/commercial/etc. related ones. Except for ol’ Cry-ey the Indian; I knew about him.
Thanks for the memories Danceswithcats. The one and only ce-re-al that comes in the shame of an-i-mals would be Crispy Critters.
And, please, it’s Tom Terriffic and Mighty Manfred, the Wonder Dog. I seem to recall he always got his full name.
Do you remember Shredded Wheat Spoon Men?
My parents used this as a way to send messages to each other for free when they travelled. When my father reached his destination, for example, he’d make a person-to-person call back home and ask for Mr. Sublight (himself). My mom would answer, and tell the operator that sorry, Mr. Sublight wasn’t there. That way, dad didn’t have to pay for the call, and mom knew that he’d arrived safely.
Steve Austin isn’t a wrestler, he’s the Six Million Dollar Man!
Yes!
I’m a geezer in training.
They still used mimeograph printed tests and quizzes when I was in fourth grade (1995 or so). We didn’t smell them, but sometimes a kid would actually lick off questions on the test.
I remember when they re-ran these commercials in the 90’s. (Hey, I wasn’t born until the mid 80’s, but I like the 70’s better.)
Roller rinks are a dying breed. The closest one is about a half an hour away from here, and is a well known gang hangout. I went to someone’s birthday party there when I was 8 or so.
Streaking is still talked about in my high school, but no one actually does it. Someone said that there was a streaker at the local mall, but there weren’t any actual witnesses.
Johnny Cash for Standard Oil of Indiana.
Abe Fortas scandal!
George Wallace shot in Maryland.
Afternoon delight.
It was Crispy Critters that was the one and only cereal that comes in the shape of animals. And the lion always got trampled when he mentioned the name of the cereal.
Wheezed the crotchety oldster thru toothless gums.
Regards,
Shodan
Searching around the house on a Saturday afternoon, trying to find enough soda-pop bottles (all glass) so you could turn them in for a deposit and by a snack for the 7pm monster movie on T.V.
And I’m only 20, and I do recognize them. I give my phone number using the exchange name; if you can’t figure out what it means, I don’t want to talk to you. 
I also choose to use a rotary phone, and I live in a town that’s going to be testing its air raid sirens on Wednesday. My favorite car is the Hudson Hornet, I have a Sinclair sign hanging up in my bathroom and a glass motor oil bottle on the bookcase in my room, I have an inexplicable liking of Hopalong Cassidy stuff, and I know that Kool used to have advertisements featuring a penguin and the assertion that doctors recommended you smoke Kools for your health! I know that Mobil in New York used to be SOCONY - Standard Oil Co of NY - and I’ve even refueled at a station with signs to that effect still hanging on the walls. I had a record player when I was a kid, I used to get a sandwich and an ice cream soda at the counter when Mom and I were done doing my back-to-school shopping in town, and I know that K-mart used to be S. S. Kresge’s.
Can I get extra points now or something?
Froggie was from The Ghoul which I think had only minor syndication. It was a horror show that was a bit…different. I believe it originated from Ohio and had strong audiences in Philly & Detroit. He still makes the occassional appearance in the Detroit area.
Was it my imagination, or did Sally Star actually smoke while hosting her show?
And for all the people mentioning returnable bottles, Michigan is still 10 cents a bottle, and several other states also have returnables.
The Ghoul was a Cleveland based monster-movie host on Channel 61 Saturday night at 11 pm. Wonderful stuff for a kid to watch. He had a little plastic froggie doll that he’d make do sick and twisted stuff. But he stole it from the earlier mentioned show.
“Tired of that greasy kid stuff?”
“I came back to Bryllcream”
“Hey! Meet the Swinger, Polaroid Swinger”
“It’s Bash, Bash, Bash, brand new Milton Bradley game”
“It’s Dr. Pepper time”
“I want my Maypo”
“Hooray! Hoorah! It’s Winchell-Mahoney time”
“The Magical World of Ala-Kazamm”
“Ah Cisco, ah Pancho”
“Bawk, bawk, bawk, bawk, Chickenman (he’s everywhere, he’s everywhere)”
Oh yeah,
“You can trust your car to the man who wears the star. The big, bright, Texaco Star.”
Since Texacos are changing to Shells, this will probably be even more forgotten. I wonder what the change over will do to the value of the Texaco banks I’ve bought. Wish I had bought more.