Archive for the 'Suburban Living' Category

Kid Jumping His Schwinn Stingray in the Street, Circa 1977

Published January 4, 2016 Bicycles/BMX , Suburban Living 2 Comments

Schwinn Stingray Circa 1980

Looks like a 1974 model, but I’m guessing these two had been rattling around together for a couple of years before this shot was taken. My best bike was a 1981 Schwinn Scrambler with red mags. I’d ride it to the dirt ramp behind the nearby Stater Brothers and get schooled by the big kids who launched their sun-spangled rides into the inner atmosphere with lit Camels dangling from their lips.

***

Anyway, I’m back. My mission hasn’t changed. Anyone who is interested in smartly reviewing/discussing/unearthing relevant cultural artifacts from the 1960s through the 1980s should drop me a line at 2warpstoneptune@gmail.com.

(Photo via The Selvedge Yard)

Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Ideas (1960) (Part Two)

Published June 19, 2015 '60s Decor/Design/Fashion , Suburban Living 4 Comments

BH&G 1960-10

BH&G 1960-11

BH&G 1960-12

BH&G 1960-13

BH&G 1960-14

BH&G 1960-15

BH&G 1960-16

BH&G 1960-17

BH&G 1960-18

Part one is way back here. The castle in the first photo is Marx’s Robin Hood Castle Set from the late ’50s.

The beautifully trim world represented in these images never existed, but isn’t it comforting to imagine it did?

Kids on Bikes Contemplating Farrah, 1977

Published October 24, 2013 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , '70s Movies/TV , Photography , Suburban Living 4 Comments
California 1977

Joel Sternfeld
California, (#4), 1977

I could tell you about suburban California in the late 1970s, but Joel Sternfeld has already done it, silently and totally.

Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Ideas (1960) (Part One)

Published October 17, 2013 '60s Decor/Design/Fashion , Suburban Living 1 Comment

BH&G 1960 FC

BH&G 1960

BH&G 1960-2

BH&G 1960-3

BH&G 1960-4

BH&G 1960-5

BH&G 1960-6

BH&G 1960-7

BH&G 1960-8

BH&G 1960-9

Skateboarding in the Suburbs, 1975

Published August 8, 2013 Skateboarding , Suburban Living 2 Comments
skateboarding 1975

December 28, 1975. (Photo: Associated Press)

Denver Post Caption:

Skateboard Enthusiasm on the Go. These skateboard enthusiasts stage an impromptu race down a sidewalk in suburban Los Angeles as they try their skill at the latest sport to sweep the country. The fad, which began in California, is moving eastward at a fast pace.

The development of polyurethane wheels in the early ’70s sent skateboarding into the mainstream. Shoes? Where we’re going, we don’t need shoes. (Unless we want to do tricks, in which case we will most definitely need shoes.)

(Photo via Big Ole Photos/eBay)

The 4th of July, 1980

Published July 4, 2013 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , Suburban Living 2 Comments

4th of July 1980

Bill Clearlake says of his photo of the neighbor’s kid:

This is one of those situations that came together in a couple of seconds. I had my camera around my neck, the kid ran by with an American Flag and a Popsicle. I raised the camera and took the shot.

What seemed like a second later, he was inside his house with the screen door slamming behind him.

As the neighbor’s kid goes, so goes life.

Leisure Home Designs, 1980

Published July 1, 2013 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , Suburban Living 6 Comments

Home-1

Home-2

Home-3

Home-4

Home-5

Home-6

Home-7

There are thousands of books filled with leisure home designs, but very few actual leisure homes. Utopia is a design concept, not a reality. The artists and publishers are selling a dream. I want one of these houses like I want a window table in Ten Forward of the USS Enterprise.

The images above are from Voices of East Anglia. They’re originally from Popular Science Leisure Homes by Alfred W. Lees with Ernest V. Heyn (1980).

I posted some 1960 designs here.

Street Scene, 1971

Published March 26, 2013 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion , Suburban Living Leave a Comment

street scene 1971

(Photo via Dad’s Vintage Store/eBay)

Skateboarding in the Suburbs, 1977

Published March 5, 2013 Skateboarding , Suburban Living 2 Comments
skateboarding 1977

February 11, 1977. (Photo: The Denver Post)

(Photo via Big Ole Photos/eBay)

Yuletide Cabin, Denied

Published December 11, 2012 Suburban Living Leave a Comment

I asked my wife if we could get a log cabin for Christmas. She said no.

I said, “But wouldn’t it be awesome to drive up to the mountains and roast chestnuts on an open fire?”

She said, “You can’t find the grocery store without directions, and smoke gives you asthma attacks.”

I said, “We could bring the cat.”

She said, “He hates nature, like me.”

I said, “I can chop wood for the fireplace.”

She said, “You can’t even cut lemon wedges.”

I said, “What about a log chalet?”

She said, “It’s pronounced shall-ay, not shall-it.”

I said, “So we can get one?”

She said, “Hon, take out the trash.”

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