Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
Rule number 7 in the 1970s handbook: You must own and wear at least one pair of cut-off jean shorts.
Rule number 26 in the 1970s handbook: You must own and wear at least one shirt with `California’ written on it.
I dig the minimalist Del Taco logo, seen better below via mojavegirl/Flickr.
(First photo via Dad’s Vintage Store/eBay)
That’s a lot of wood paneling. I’m getting warm just looking at it.
The store directory is fun, yet kind of sad. Kaybee Toys is long gone, as are B. Dalton and Waldenbooks, Record Town. I thought Radio Shack was gone too, but they’re still hanging on—somehow. I worked various mall jobs in high school, and I remember all those weird cheese and specialty grocery stores—Hickory Farms, etc.
The Gap is listed under “Specialty Fashion”? Was it that cutting edge in ’82?
(Images via The Caldor Rainbow)
I can’t express to you how badly I’d like to move into this thing. All it needs is to be surrounded by a field of stars.
The designer is Verner Panton (1926 – 1998), “a master of the fluid, futuristic style of 1960s design which introduced the Pop aesthetic to furniture and interiors.” This particular environment appeared at the Visiona II Exhibition at the 1970 Cologne Furniture Fair.
(Images via modern_fred’s delectable mid-century modern set on Flickr)
1981 (photo source unknown)
What a line-up. That’s Asteroids Deluxe on the right. (Click to enlarge.)
January 27, 1982. (Ann E. Yow/Seattle Times)
That’s a lot of hair! And what’s with the guy wearing a jacket but no shirt?
(Photos via Vintage Photos 2012 and Seattle Washington Archive)
Would you let your parents dress you up in these atrocious outfits if you knew loot like this waited beneath the tree? Yes. Yes you would.
In the first shot, unboxed, we’ve got two Tauntauns (Solid Belly), the Falcon, Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer, and a Darth Vader Collector’s Case. Among the heap of boxes behind the kids, I see the Snowspeeder, the Twin Pod Cloud Car (I think that’s a second one on the far left), and the Cloud City Playset (a Sears exclusive). Only one of the toys is from the original Star Wars line: Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter. You can see it better in the third photo.
Our furniture looked like this. We had those TV trays. My dad had those moccasins.
I had lots of Tinker Toys. We had that chair, that carpet. My dad wore those moccasins.
Date unknown. Early-’60s? Mr. Potato Head was introduced by Hasbro in 1952. Mrs. Potato Head came along the following year.
The carpet, the sofa, the wood, the lamp, the clock next to the lamp, the clothes, the army men—ladies and gentleman, you’ve reached the 1970s. Please leave a message of appreciation after the beep.
(Via grickily/Flickr)
Operation needs no introduction, obviously, but how about that plastic shark poking out from the right side of the photo? That’s The Game of Jaws. As John Kenneth Muir reflects, many of us were too young to see Jaws when it first came out, so the only way we could participate in the phenomenon/hysteria was through merchandise like this.
The object of the game is similar to Operation. The box (image via Muir) about sums it up.
And how sweet is that red velvet and leather chair/throne upon which our presumptive dad is scratching his crotch? If someone could wrap that bad boy up and drag it under (or near) my tree, I’d be much obliged.
This is the first of a series of Christmas morning shots. Stick around.
This is the most beautiful piece of furniture I’ve ever seen. If it floated, I would put it in the ocean and live on it.
(Via Jeremy Jae’s gnarly Retro Vintage Architecture Set on Flickr)
Red carpet is not something you see anymore, and that’s a shame. It really ties the room together.
It was so prominent in the ’70s because there were more vampires back then, and, as we know, red carpet hides blood.
Think about that for a minute.
(Pic via Jeremy Jae/Flickr)
2 Warps to Neptune 