Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
Hey, Michael Hyland, the Eastern seaboard called: they’re running out of MOTU.
Actually, let’s make a deal. You keep the toys and your studly A-Team pajamas. I’ll take that righteous carpet, the matching tablecloth, and the boss wood paneling.
You’ll see Stinkor in the last photo (top left), and that red spider thing is—yet another winner from Mattel’s Clever Name Department—Spydor.
Both photos are dated October 22, 1977. I’m proud to say that I now have three shots featuring kids wearing Star Wars attire with wood paneling in the background. See the first one here.
(Photos via fotofraulein/eBay)
Hasbro’s 1982 G.I. Joe relaunch marked the beginning of probably the greatest action toy line ever produced. Series one consisted of 16 figures (including four vehicle drivers and the mail-in Cobra Commander), seven vehicles, the (flimsy as hell) Sears exclusive Missile Command Headquarters, and a Collector Display Case.
Here we see the Mobile Missile System (MMS) and Heavy Artillery Laser (HAL) in their natural habitat, a cluttered, wood-paneled living room (or den) centered by a TV whose four channels came in relatively clearly only when the cranky rabbit ear antenna was coaxed into the perfect position. (Can anyone make out who’s/what’s on the screen? My first thought was Barney Miller.)
In the bookcase behind the happy kid, more evidence of the flora and fauna of early ’80s America: 8 tracks and board games, Mastermind among them.
(Original photo via Brotherwolfe (Kary Nieuwenhuis)/Flickr; G.I. Joe images via Yo Joe!)
I found this gold at The Golden Age Arcade Historian, a new blog “dedicated to the history of arcade video games from the bronze and golden ages (1971 – 1984).” The photos are from one or more 1975 Play Meter magazines. Puppy Pong—you can see the edge of the poster to the right of the “intriguing portal”—refers to a cutesy table top version of Pong.
Speaking of Pong, Al Alcorn designed it. Not a bad accomplishment to put on your resume. The second guy is Joe Keenan (check the old school Pepsi can on his desk), who became president of Atari through a twist of irony. From Mental Floss:
Pinball distributors in the 1970s demanded exclusive deals for products before they would sign contracts. This would have impeded Nolan Bushnell’s ambitious plans to establish an entire industry. To get around the exclusivity requirements, Bushnell and his neighbor, Joe Keenan, secretly formed a second company that would “compete” against Atari, selling slightly modified Atari games to other distributors. They called it Kee Games. Ironically, Atari would later run into management trouble, while Kee Games continued operating smoothly and successfully. As a result, Joe Keenan was brought to Atari and promoted to president of the company.
Nolan Bushnell (third guy pictured) was, of course, the co-founder of and mastermind behind Atari. He looks kind of like a union boss in this photo. I feel like there’s a lit cigar perched on a 10-pound orange ashtray just off camera.
And here’s a February, 1973 Boston Herald article about Atari and the release of Pong.
Keith Smith, who writes The Golden Age blog, notes that Syzygy (an awful name thankfully scrapped because a hippie candle company was using it) had incorporated under the name Atari in 1972. (The article incorrectly refers to Atari co-founder Ted Dabney as Fred Dabney.)
I love how Bushnell describes the business: “leisure applications of technology.” He hoped that people would “stop for a game… and become hooked into dropping coin after coin into the slot…” I’d say things worked out pretty well for the leisure applications, slotted to become an $82 billion industry by 2017.
Is this a birthday party or a funeral? Cheer up, kids! For one thing, your clothes will never again be this awesome.
(Via FotoFraulein/eBay)
Press photo: August 24, 1979
Peaches was the biggest national music chain from the mid-’70s until they went bankrupt in ’81 or ’82. I remember the logo and the distinctive crates, but by the time I became obsessed with music, the place to go in my neighborhood was Tower Records. I also made frequent stops at Music Plus and The Wherehouse.
The poster on the left wall is from a 1979 Dolly Parton album, Great Balls of Fire. And check out that gorgeous diagonal wood paneling.
Just for the hell of it, here are some shots of ’70s rockers doing signings in Peaches.
KISS, 1976
The Runaways, Circa 1977
Van Halen, 1978
(Photos via Lexibell/eBay, KISS Online, The Runaways Message Board, and The Gear Page)
(Photo via Dad’s Vintage Store/eBay)
The black and whites are from 1976. The last photo is from a contemporary, retro-ized apartment in Singapore. My dad painted something almost exactly like those stripes, right down to the color scheme, in the first place I remember living, a tiny condo in the San Gabriel Valley.
(Images via Big Ole Photos/eBay, Boston Mass Archive/eBay, and Pagazzi)
August 15, 1978. (Photo: Lee Mitchel)
The thing about girls in the ’70s is that they would kick your ass, verbally and/or literally, if you gave them any sort of shit whatsoever. Remember Tatum O’Neal’s character in The Bad News Bears? That’s what the girls were like—in my neighborhood, anyway—when I was a boy.
(Photo via Vintage Photos 2012/eBay)
2 Warps to Neptune 