# Retro Memories



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Adding a new thread to stop the hijacking of Melissa's (thanks Arlene for the backup)!
I love the website "Feeling Retro" 
http://http://www.feelingretro.com/toys/index.html

What toys did you love as a kid?

In the 70's when I was a ankle biter, I enjoyed the Magic Shot Shooting Gallery. My brother and I both had one. I thought it was cool-pick up the beebee and fire. Repeat 1,000,000,000,000 times.
Were you upset that your Slinky would never successfully walk down the stairs the whole way like on TV?
Did you cut open Stretch Armstrong to see what was inside ?
Pour your Pixi Stix in a glass of water ? (not a good outcome, yet I couldn't stop myself from repeating it many times) 
Cut Barbie's hair ?
My husband will never get over (and never stop telling people) how traumatized he was that a kid in his neighborhood stole Major Matt Mason from his backyard, took him away and sank him in the patio slab the kid's dad was pouring. He's still entombed in a South Tampa patio. I'm surprised he never drove me there to see the crime scene for myself.

Please share your memories!


----------



## peluitohavanese (Nov 8, 2006)

I was the only girl and had two brothers. I was the older one... I wasn't much into my Barbies, but I will never forget the day my two horrible brothers got their G.I. Joe's and went over and beat the snot out of Ken and kidnapped Barbie. Baaaaad Brothers. they are still a pain in my ound_|_)


----------



## imamurph (Apr 15, 2008)

OK...I'm dating myself here..









OH..and FUZZY WUZZY Bear soap that grew "hair" hair when you got it wet..


----------



## Petaluna (May 9, 2008)

Operation. Battleship. You sunk my battleship!!! Spirographs. That Crissy doll, bigger than a barbie, with the mullet where the long part wound up inside her head, she had a dial on her back to make the hair shorter, or you could pull it all the way out. Creepy, eh? I loved doing her hair, what a girl. I had another doll sized like a barbie who's scalp turned around, brunette one way, blond the other. Fascinating. Oh yeah, and a Farah Fawcett head. More hair styling. I don't know why I didn't become a hair stylist, come to think of it. I could have my own salon by now. Of course business would probably be in the crapper with everyone going to Supercuts to save money....


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Diane, I do vaguely remember fizzies. I love the graphics on that old ad.
Anyone remember the Funny Face drink packets?
I used to drink those Wyler's kool aid type drinks in the plastic bottle-awful!!!
I really wasn't into Barbies and only had one from Hawaii (she was prettier). My brother never bothered my stuff, just constantly played with Hotwheels.
Petaluna Diane-I forgot about the giant Barbies. They scared me-the type of doll that comes to life and attacks you while you're sleeping!! I do remember getting one of the styling heads called "Sweetie Pie". I did enjoy applying the makeup. I loved the Spirographs. Lots of fun.
How about Shrinky Dinks??!! Now those were cool, minus the 3rd degree burns from touching them too soon while they were cooling.


----------



## peluitohavanese (Nov 8, 2006)

I had a big pink ballerina doll that had a crown on her head and you would pull the center of the crown up and she would spin in circles on her toe shoes


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Arlene you were a girly girl!!
I wanted to play my bro's Evil Knievel cycle that launched when you pulled out the plastic ripcord. My daughter is NOTHING like I was-she would have liked your ballerina.


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

I tried to explain to my daughter that we didn't get to watch cartoons 24/7.
It was Saturday morning and that's it.
Grab a bowl of Sugar Smacks (renamed Golden Crisp), plop yourself down and zone out until they end and Creature Feature comes on. Then go out and play. 
Banana Splits and Laugh Olympics were personal favorites.


----------



## peluitohavanese (Nov 8, 2006)

I liked my ballerina, but I was a TOMBOY. I would beat the snot out of my two brothers and they learned to leave me alone! :fish:I would go out in the yard and catch lizards and spiders and bugs (I lived in the tropics). Climb up the roof of the house and jump off :crazyhouses were not as high as here in the USA) I will never forget the day my brother thought it was a good idea to punch me in one of my ....I had never been so angry. I chased him forever, up and down the streets of the neighborhood and when I caught up with him I left him lying flat in the middle of the road in our cul-de-sac:croc:


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Aren't brothers just fab when your a kid uke:
Mine was sooooo mean and teased me relentlessly.
When we were at a family function last summer, he told me that I still look like I'm 20. I gave him a big hug.
This from the boy who called me Beth Death Breath!!


----------



## peluitohavanese (Nov 8, 2006)

Ugh.... mine still calls me StringBean.... Just wanna kick him even tho I'm 46 :suspicious:


----------



## Lunastar (Feb 9, 2009)

I had that Chrissy doll too. My Barbie lured GI Joe from my brother. She was tired of that whimpy Ken. hahaha


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

GI Joe is way hunkier than high maintenance Ken!!
I love a man in uniform.


----------



## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

I still have my Shirley Temple doll. She's not in mint condition, because I liked to put make-up on my dolls. I played with Barbie dolls probably until I was twelve. So did my friends. It was a different time. I'm sure my brother and all his friends had GI Joe. 

I remember Fizzies too.


----------



## imamurph (Apr 15, 2008)

WOW, Michele..I'd like to see a picture of that!!

When I was 2 years old I had a doll called "Pitful Pearl"..Well, recently I saw a vinatage one (1955) for sale on Ebay for $300!


----------



## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

My favorite doll was Chatty Cathy . . . Anyone remember Hot Pants (oh to be able to wear them now!) . . . 

Venus Paradise coloring sets . . .


----------



## kelrobin (Jan 21, 2008)

I was more of a tomboy and played with all my brother's friends, but I remember Chatty Cathy . . . and Betsy Wetsy! I also had Madame Alexander Dolls, but wasn't really into dolls that much until Barbie came along. To really date myself, I have one of the originals with a red ponytail. She is still in great shape, and my grandmother used to make handmade clothes for her from real Barbie patterns! She even made her a coat with real mink trim that I wouldn't trade for anything.


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

arlene said:


> My favorite doll was Chatty Cathy . . . Anyone remember Hot Pants (oh to be able to wear them now!) . . .
> 
> Venus Paradise coloring sets . . .


I'm looking up Venus Paradise-I want to know what it is.
I think people still wear hotpants!!!!


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> I was more of a tomboy and played with all my brother's friends, but I remember Chatty Cathy . . . and Betsy Wetsy! I also had Madame Alexander Dolls, but wasn't really into dolls that much until Barbie came along. To really date myself, I have one of the originals with a red ponytail. She is still in great shape, and my grandmother used to make handmade clothes for her from real Barbie patterns! She even made her a coat with real mink trim that I wouldn't trade for anything.


I had several of the small MA dolls and a larger one. I have NO idea where they are now. My mom keeps reminding me how valuable they are now.


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Ok, I just looked up Venus Paradise- color by number pencil sets. I found one on ebay (the NFL of all things) that sold for $118.00.


----------



## [email protected] (Sep 20, 2008)

I'm sure I'll be dating myself here--when I was a kid troll dolls were all the rage. I still remember a strap to your foot toy called the Jingle Jump which was actually quite fun. Jacks--we played jacks on the sidewalk all day all summer. The first skateboards which were basically a piece of wood on skate wheels! Banana bikes. I got a snow cone machine for Christmas--I yearned for that until I got it--it took so long to make a tiny snow cone that certainly didn't match the ones from the snow cone truck that came around the neighborhood once a week and sold the best snow cones for 5 cents (but I still smile at the memory of that Christmas and my mom making sure that was what I got--mothers are so good to their children! My sister got the Easy Bake Oven she dreamed about). Let's see--fishnet stockings in 7th grade, teddy bear coats, Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton--Sears had a Yardley sponsored makeup session for teens I went to...white and really light pink lipstick. Yes--hot pants. White vinyl GoGo boots. We we all so cool! or at least we thought so--I could go on and on. It is fun to remember (way) back when. All that before I got into the hippie years, which is a whole 'nother subject!

Hava great weekend!

Portland Rose


----------



## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

I have been laughing so much I almost peed my pants again--another lawsuit in the works!

I had 3 brothers all older who beat the snot out of me almost daily! 
I had go go boots and thought I was awesome!
I had a Francie doll at age 5 or 6 --Mom probably thought she was safer then the big boobed Barbie......and my Francie had hair pieces! I eventually got Barbies and loved them all! I still have all my Barbies and actually have collected for years and years.

I played tractors in mud and had alot of animals.

I had a Betsy Wetsy and every year Santa brought me the new mechnical doll. I had ones that walked,rode tricycles,sketched etc.
Anyone have Mrs. Beasley? I routinely watched that show "Family Affair" and wished we had a Mr.French....but always wondered why anyone would call a boy Jody!ound:

Remember the first video games? OMG---We used to stick quarters in a machine the size of a dining room table to play ping pong and pac man! We had to go in our area to the pizza place to even do that!


----------



## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

I had an easy bake oven that I just loved! It was aqua colored!

We also begged for a snow cone maker and a cotton candy machine! We eventually got both. The snow cone maker worked----but the cotton candy never once turned out! It got too hot and burnt the colored sugar. I think Mom got pissed threw it out and I remember eating the colored packets of sugar!


----------



## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

I was thinking of Mrs. Beasley the whole time I was reading this thread! I had a lunch box with Donnie and Marie on it and rode my bike to school with it in the basket. I don't think kids are allowed to ride bikes to school anymore. :-( I'm the youngest of 8 kids so we had all sorts of GI Joe and Barbie dolls, lots of Hot Wheels cars too. I had one of the first Baby Alive dolls that ate this goop that was sort of like Jell-O. Gross! I got a Holly Hobbie doll for my 10th birthday, now 10 year old girls want iPods and cell phones.


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

I had the Snoopy snow cone maker, unsatisfactory results too. Remember Snoopy brusha brusha toothbrush? 
YEs, I remember when kids rode bikes to school too-no helmets for us!
My girl has been asking for a cell phone since she was 8--NO WAY!!!

Remember when there were no cell phones?
Remember pay phones, or having to WAIT to talk to someone---the HORROR!!!!


----------



## suzyfrtz (Nov 12, 2007)

You gals are way too young! Julie, I too had a Betsy Wetsy, but this was back in the '50's. Also had a Ginny doll which was a little girl doll you could buy all kinds of outfits for. Nancy Drew books and paper dolls? How about Hula Hoops? I came back from camp clueless when my Mom handed me a big round circle...what do I do with this? She told me, just take it down the street and watch the other kids...

We were talking about spit curls on the other thread...I remember those! And also sausage curls! When I was a teen, it was rollers in the hair, covered up with a scarf...you could go anywhere like that, except to church and on a date.

Julie, I was like your Mom and bought my daughter a Francie doll. Barbies were banned in my house when I was Mom. I thought Barbie would give my little girl a bad self-image, teachng her that womanhood was all about boobs and a tiny waist. Of course, she played with Barbies at other girls' homes! Wouldn't let my boys play with toy guns during the Vietnam War but they either made their own out of chunks of wood or used their fingers...

Well, I DID have high ideals, for all the good it did me!


----------



## suzyfrtz (Nov 12, 2007)

Pixiesmom said:


> Remember when there were no cell phones?
> Remember pay phones, or having to WAIT to talk to someone---the HORROR!!!!


No cell phones! Hah! When I lived with my grandma for four years during High School, we had a PARTY LINE! Does anyone remember those? Ours was "three rings." Of course, no one could use the phone if a neighbor was using it, and a sly person could "listen in." If you were on the phone too long (and I was a teenager, remember!) a neighbor wanting to use it would click click click in your ear until you got the message to hang up. And, remember being away from home and looking for a phone booth, and did you have a dime to use it? Remember operators? When DH was my boyfriend and away at college, we had to go through the operator to call long-distance. We kept in touch mainly by writing letters. The nice thing is, I still have those letters after 44 years. Sweet memories right in front of me, something text messaging can't do.

Back to phones - About 5 years ago, DH and I were on a western trip, in the canyons, and no cell service. I needed to call my daughter, because my granddaughter was ill, but the ranger told me the nearest pay phone was a mile away...I decided not to walk it, just said a prayer. That's how we used to get along and should still!


----------



## suzyfrtz (Nov 12, 2007)

Here's a couple more old memories...

Almost every house had only one bathroom! How did I raise 4 kids with one bathroom! It still baffles me! Of course, there was pounding on the door many times.

And having only one car. My mom didn't even drive! 

And when poodles were the hotsy totsy dogs and most people had mutts called Lucky or Tippy. 

OK, that's enough for me. You get us old people thinking back and we'll never shut up.


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Suzy you are soo right about the size of homes. We grew up in a 1100 sq ft ranch with one bathroom for all (with RED sculpted carpeting). Now in the McMansion era, each bedroom has a bathroom, and each bedroom is about the size of one house!!
Our house is twice that size, and for the three of us, ok. We constantly have friends asking when we're going to move out of our "starter home"!!!


----------



## lcy_pt (Aug 17, 2007)

My all time fav....'Clackers'......I still remember the bruises I used to have on my wrists....it's amazing we didn't kill ourselves with these things!

View attachment 22278


www.bigredtoybox.com/articles/clackersindex.shtml


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

I remember clackers!!
They were dangerous-yet so addictive.


----------



## imamurph (Apr 15, 2008)

I had a Tressie doll (the one whose hair grew when you pushed a button on her stomach) and a Tressie hair salon.

I cut a hole in the top of the cardboard Tressie hair dryer and attached the hose from my hair dryer...








I was in awe of Twiggy...whom no doubt set the stage for anorexic models.








And who could ever forget how hard and slow it was to dial a rotary phone (darn heavy too!!!!)
The first push button phones were like magic!!


----------



## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

There were 10 of us, 8 kids, in a 1400 square foot ranch house with 2 bathrooms. I have the happiest childhood memories though. Remember when you'd argue over who would get up to change the channel on the TV? Or move the antenna? My kids have TV's in their rooms, wish I'd never done that as it seems we're rarely in the family room together anymore. 

I'm a nut about dinnertime though, we all sit at the table, TV is off, no phones answered. It's my favorite time of day!


----------



## Lunastar (Feb 9, 2009)

I remember colorforms and paper dolls. Bouncing around the backseats of cars without wearing a seat belt. It is wonder we all lived. I remember clackers and them flying out of my hand and wacking my poor brother in the head. Hopscotch. Do kids even play outside anymore?


----------



## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

Suzyfrtz - We must be of the same era . . . I loved my Ginny doll and I think I read every Nancy Drew - favorite was the Hidden Staircase - I read some Hardy Boys too.

I remember when we got our first phone - Phone number was Henderson 4-2966 I grew up in a house with 6 people in three bedrooms - 1 bath - the whole house could fit in my living room. 

I remember getting a TV too . . . what was the program where you put a piece of film over the TV screen and drew along with the narrator. Age must be causing memory loss . . . for the life of me I can't remember it.

Family car was a pink and white pontiac . . . My brother had an accident in it when he first started to drive , , , to this day I think it was because he didn't want to drive a pink car . . . just so I don't date myself too much, my brother is 11 years older than me.

Arlene


----------



## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

Ok . . . so I started thinking of TV programs - I loved Romper Room . . . and I hated Capt. Kangaroo.

The guy who invented colorforms lived across from my husband's cousin . . . they had tons of colorforms growing up . . . ones that never made it to the stores . . . I wonder what they would have gone for on ebay today.


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

I loved loved Captain Kangaroo (early 70's). I remember Moose and the ping pong balls, Mr. Green Jeans...who knows why but something about it captivated me. 
I really liked Colorforms-how cool.


----------



## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

I loved Captain Kangaroo! I remember watching it all the time. Mr.Green jeans and the dancing bear segment(no voice-just dancing).

I remember asking Dad if I could stay up late and watch "The Honeymooners" with him. Mom always said no--but Dad knew I really loved Jackie Gleason. It was a Dad/daughter thing.Of course these were old re-runs on at 10:30 but it was a treat to watch them. To this day,I still like to watch old re-runs of that show.

Anyone watch Creature Feature? My brothers were more into it that I was,but every Friday night they watched it...(Dad and I snuck out to the kitchen for a snack)

I watched Mary Tyler Moore and just knew I'd live in a neat apartment like hers one day.


We grew up in an old farm house. 6 of us in a 4 bedroom house with 1 bathroom. Many new houses are so large--I wonder if they even meet their family members in a hall? Back then,you only had what you could afford..so a big house that you could not heat in the winter would not be a good thing,and those old houses were hard to heat.

So many things have changed,but it is so fun to "chat" with people who remember or they trigger something you had forgotten.

I had a doll named Mia. Mia was gorgeous. She was one in a family of dolls,including Chrissy and Velvet.Mia had gorgeous brown hair to fix and style. Chrissy was a red head,Velvet a blond. They had the growing hair and I still have mine. My Mom sewed the most beautiful clothes for her and my barbie dolls. Those were Christmas gifts,and like someone said either in this thread or the other one--the best gift.


----------



## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

I didn't watch Creature Feature but I remember Chiller Theatre on Friday nights . . . how about Lost in Space?


----------



## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

We had Creature Feature on Saturday afternoons and everyone would be outside playing and then go in to watch it. Cartoons only on Saturdays too. I love The Little Rascals and The Three Stooges too! Mary Tyler Moore was my hero, I so wanted to be her!

Anyone have a Flatsie doll?


----------



## kelrobin (Jan 21, 2008)

arlene said:


> I didn't watch Creature Feature but I remember Chiller Theatre on Friday nights . . . how about Lost in Space?


Somehow DH and I never watched Lost in Space (we were in jr. high by then and on to other things), and our first son's name is . . . Will Robinson. The minute we named him, the Lost in Space comments started. His nickname in college was Danger  Now he has a whole collection of the robots we have gotten him over the years.

I remember when we got our first TV . . . it was a big ugly console and was B&W! I loved getting up to watch Captain Kangeroo and Mr. Greenjeans. We did not watch a lot of TV . . . . my mom wouldn't let us, but Sat. night was a big deal with Bonanza. By then we had a color one downstairs and Disney's Wonderful World of Color with the peacock came on and that was the best. I didn't let my boys have TV's in their bedrooms. Our computer had to stay in the family room where I could monitor, and they didn't get cells until they were driving. DH was laughing to his dad the other night when the first TV remote controls came out. DFIL had surgery and had to stay quiet, so he went out before the surgery and got a remote . . . with a wire attached to the TV! ound: That cracked me up hearing that story. It's kind of like 8-tracks! Those things were huge!

I remember Colorforms, Paint by Number, Fizzies, Nancy Drew . . . I still have Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs and many of my toys because my mom was a packrat.


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Scooter's Family said:


> We had Creature Feature on Saturday afternoons and everyone would be outside playing and then go in to watch it. Cartoons only on Saturdays too. I love The Little Rascals and The Three Stooges too! Mary Tyler Moore was my hero, I so wanted to be her!
> 
> Anyone have a Flatsie doll?


Dr. Paul Bearer-remember Ann! After the cartoons he came on.


----------



## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

Yes! Creepy! After that we'd walk to the 7-11 on the corner and get candy or gum.


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Scooter's Family said:


> Yes! Creepy! After that we'd walk to the 7-11 on the corner and get candy or gum.


Then go to Skateland!!!!!!! Whoooo hooo.


----------



## ls-indy (Apr 10, 2008)

Arlene & Suzy - I'm from the same era too. Had a Ginny doll - but I was really more of a "tomboy". I remember hula-hoops being the newest, latest thing. And playing with yo-yo's? 

Drive in movies? My family would go all the time. Sometimes we stopped at the DQ on the way. We lived in southern Florida. The "mosquito truck" would drive up and down the rows at the drive-in spraying a fog of God knows what to keep the mosquitoes from eating the patrons alive. I wonder WHAT we were breathing? I remember seeing "The Blob" and being scared to death!

My parents would go to Cuba on vacation.... (pre Castro...) In south Florida - we were taught Spanish from first grade on. 

Catching tree frogs? We had iguanas and the boy across the street kept "Blue Indigo Racers" snakes. Don't know if that was the real name or just what we called them.

How about Trixie Belden books? The Black Stallion series? 

Saturday morning TV? All the cowboy shows (Sheriff of Cochise?) Sky King, plus the cartoons...

It was SAFE to walk to school. We all did it! We would go out to play - and the rule was to come home when the street lights started coming on!

I had a younger brother and sister - so I got to "play" with the Shrinky Dinks and Easy Bake ovens with them! 

The doll I remember was called "Cindy Lee" or "Cindy Lou". It didn't "do" anything. It was just a babydoll....

How about the first Beatles songs?? The Man from Uncle? Ben Casey, Doctor Kildare? Laugh-In??

Wow! things really have changed....


----------



## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

OMG this thread is great - 

I loved Dr. Kildare . . . we had the same mosquito trucks at the drive in in NJ . . . 

I was pretty much a tomboy too . . . I played on a girls softball team but much preferred playing stick ball in the school yard with the boys. Bottle caps was also a favorite - we used to play in the middle of the street and it was a pretty busy city street. And I was pretty much the handball champ . . . what were those balls called?

Do you remember the wax candy soda bottles? We used to buy the candy . . . yes we walked four blocks to the candy store . . . to buy the candy so we could use the wax to rub on cardboard boxes and then we would slide down a black-topped hill and crash into a fence.

I used to do daredevil tricks on my bike too . . . get going pretty good and then stand up . . . one foot on the handlebars and one foot on the seat . . . I learned to steer pretty well but every once in a while I crashesd into something. I learned on a hand-me-down pink schwinn that was my sisters . . . but for my 10th birthday I got a fancy english racer . . . then I was really cool!

I was a cheerleader too . . . pretty good at the gymnastic stuff . . . but I'm pretty tall so I was always on the bottom of the pryamid and usually the one who got to catch someone who was jumping from the top. Last summer I was at a Porsche Club Parade and a group of us were cheering for our Zone in a silly competition . . . several of us were past cheerleaders and a woman my age jumps in the air and lands in a split . . . OMG . . she could really still do that stuff . . . I always had a bit of a competitive streak in my so I tried a cartwheel . . . Let's just say that I survived without any broken bones but it was a good thing I didn't go for something more difficult LOL.

Arlene


----------



## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

One more thing . . . did you ever see some pictures where people look like their dogs . . . I grew up with a cocker spaniel. I used to wear these really high pig tails and pictures of me and Sandy were pretty funny . . . 

How about gasoline prices . . . How much did it cost to fill a tank when you started driving? I had a VW Beetle and recall filling the tank for under 3 bucks.

Arlene


----------



## ls-indy (Apr 10, 2008)

Arlene - those pink rubber balls we played handball with? against the walls at school?

I can remember my mom sending me to the corner store with $1 and I could get milk, bread, a pack of cigarettes (she smoked) and still have a nickle left for a candy bar. And the candy bar was a full-size BIG candy bar! Remember WAX LIPS??

And it was safe to eat the candy on Halloween (though my mom did check through it). 


I was born in Haledon, NJ and moved to FL when I was 3. Then, when I was 13 we moved back to NJ (Wyckoff - Bergen County) and I went to HS there... We used to take the bus from Wyckoff to Haledon and then on downtown to Paterson to shop at the department stores. 

Then they built the first enclosed mall I remember in Paramus? And there was that discount store named "Two Guys".

First fast food hamburger place I remember was called Gino's. I think he played football or something and his name was Gino Marchetti (sp??)

But better - there were great little Italian delis where we would go after school.... Until I got older and we'd hang out at the diners and drink coffee and smoke (cigarettes).....

My first car was a Dodge Dart. Red - with a white convertible top. I think gas was about 25 cents/gal. We used to have our friends chip together change and we'd buy $2 of gas and cruise around all evening on it!


----------



## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

I grew up in Jersey City . . . we used to take the bus to Paterson too! We bought my communion dress in a store in Paterson.

I remember Two Guys . . . originally it was Two Guys from Harrison that was the first store . . then they expanded. 

We used to go to a soda fountain called Dietjen's . . . vanilla cream . . . YUM . . . playing records on the jukebox and dancing in the aisles.

I remember the road trip up Route 17 to Paramus, the shopping capital of the world


----------



## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

Who had skates, not the in-line kind, the real ones with 4 wheels...and a KEY?!?!?


----------



## ls-indy (Apr 10, 2008)

arlene said:


> I grew up in Jersey City . . . we used to take the bus to Paterson too! We bought my communion dress in a store in Paterson.
> 
> I remember Two Guys . . . originally it was Two Guys from Harrison that was the first store . . then they expanded.
> 
> ...


The store in Paterson - was it Quackenbushes?? LOL

We used to go to Libby's for hotdogs by the falls...

Bear Mountain? Greenwood Lake?? Going to Suffern because the drinking age was 18 there - but they would serve anyone with a fake i.d......

I was a wild child....


----------



## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

I lived in NY at the base of Bear Mountain near West Point.


----------



## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

I don't remember the name of the store although in my mind's eye I can see it quite clearly. It might have been Quackenbush.

I loved my 4 wheel skates and I wore the key around my neck hanging on a shoelace . . . today it would have to be on a break away lanyard.

College age . . . Mother's in Greenwood Lake.

I went to high school in Bayonne . . . Staten Island every weekend . . . and I hitchhiked . . . I hope my kids don't read this. The Colliseum and the Hofbrau.

Then there was Greenwich Village . . . actually when I was in the eighth grade . . . there was a bar called the Red Witch. I remember being there one night when my legal cousin showed up . . . It was wall to wall people and I thought I could crawl out of the place without getting caught . . . I crawled all the way to the door when my cousin caught me . . . I think I was wearing hot pants too! I was a pretty wild in my youth 

Funny thing is the guy I married was an Eagle Scout who never had a beer until he was in college. When I met him I refused wine at a dinner date because I thought it all tasted like Boone's Farm or Mad Dog 20/20.

Memories of Bear Mountain . . . I got thrown off a horse when I was about 10.

Anyone who grew up in NJ ever go to a lake called Cold Spring Lake or Forest Lake? My whole extended family would have several outings a year . . . I think the sites have been developed now . . . I think they were in the Riverdale area or Pequannock.


----------



## Janet Zee (Mar 16, 2007)

I remember running home from school to watch "American Bandstand" w/Dick Clark.

Playing 'stoop ball' and 'Hit the Penny' with a pink Spaldine (sp?).

Wearing black ankle high boots with a rabbits foot hanging from the loop on the back of each boot. We would also wear our cardigan sweaters backward with a silk 'neckerchief' tied around our neck.

Hanging outside the neighborhood candy store where a group of the guys would sing songs like "In the Still of the Night" and getting chased with a broom by the owner when we got too loud. 

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and boy did we have fun, my wild teenage years.


----------



## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

Yeah Janet . . . the pink ball was a Spalding . . . imitations just didn't work as well My memories not gone . . . just needs a little coaxing.

Shoo Doop n ShooBeDoo . . . . Going to the Chapel . . .the stroll . . . the mash potato . . . 

I had a ton of fun in high school . . .


----------



## ivyagogo (Sep 11, 2007)

I could go nuts on this thread, which is probably why I've ignored it until now.

Remember the Whamm-O Magic Window?

















- I've never seen this in the packaging. Remember, you would put it around your ankle and jump over it?








- Dressy Bessy was awesome! The male counterpart was Dapper Dan.

I had a Grow Up Skipper doll. I think Skipper is Barbie's cousin. Anyway, you would turn her arm and she would get taller and grow boobs!

Here is a toy I've been looking for forever. My friend had it in the early seventies. It was a bathtub toy. It was a gas pump that you would suction cup to the side of the tub and put the hose in the water and pump the gas, then you could squirt the gas/water out of the hose. It was really fun. I wanted it for my son when he was younger, but I could never find it.


----------



## suzyfrtz (Nov 12, 2007)

I grew up in Yonkers, just a few blocks from the Bronx. I remember doing all kinds of intricate "over and under your leg" games with the Spaulding ball. And jump rope. All the neighborhood girls would get together and jump rope, one swinging at each end, to ryhmes..."Room for rent, inquire within, the lady got put out for drinking gin, and if she promises to drink no more, she'll leave her key at (next girl's name) door...and then you would jump out and the next girl would jump in...
Oh there were lots more rhymes...what was the one about "first came love, then came marriage, then came (your name) with a baby carriage, how many babies did she have? And then the rope would go "hot" very fast, until you tripped, to determine the number of babies...

Playing out in the neighborhood with the kids until the street lights came on...

I remember going to Bear Mountain for dinner with the grown-ups. I always wondered where the bear went.... (over the mountain, of course)

When I was 13 I moved to rural Michigan and my city days were over. Of course, country kids had their own ways of having fun.

Suzy


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

These are fun to watch-advertising was soo innocent compared to what it is today!!
http://www.feelingretro.com/toys/Video/velvet.html

http://www.feelingretro.com/toys/Video/chatty-cathy.html


----------



## imamurph (Apr 15, 2008)

I loved to watch The Man from U.N.C.L.E...The Monkey's...Twilight Zone and of course,
Gilliagans Island...and the Ed Sullivan Show. I also liked all of the old classic movie stars
(still do!) I loved the way the women dressed in th 40's...

Although I grew up in a nice home on 2 acres with a built in swimming pool, we were always at the neighbors swimiming in THEIR Doughboy swimming pool because my mom couldn't swim and we weren't allowed to go into the pool unless our father was home..
which usually was weekends only, as he traveled alot.

I remember playing in the woods, fishing, ice skating and catching lightning bugs.
It was a time you could paly outside all day until the sun went down with out fear or knowledge of any weird stuff that goes on today. Twilight was my favorite time of the day..


----------



## Lunastar (Feb 9, 2009)

I remember racing home to watch Dark Shadows. I must have been 4th or 5th grade. Oh I loved the monkeys and Bobby Sherman!


----------



## Sissygirl (Aug 8, 2007)

When my kids were growing up I always bought them a retro gift and then 10 days before Christmas I started giving them hints - it was always the first gift they opened Christmas morning. I bought things like the slinky, a top, jacks, etc.

They loved it.


----------



## ls-indy (Apr 10, 2008)

Playing outside until it was dark:

Red Rover, Red Rover, Let ________Come Over...
Mother May I??
Tag Variations: cigarette tag (had to name a brand of cigarettes that hadn't already been called out)
Kick the Can
Kick Ball
Dodge Ball

No PC stuff then.... we played to win....

Double-Dutch jump rope... "A" my name is Alice and my husband's name is Al, we live in Alabama and we all eat Apricots....

Another jump rope game with "red hot" at the end - and the rope turned doubly fast??


----------



## ls-indy (Apr 10, 2008)

Sissygirl said:


> When my kids were growing up I always bought them a retro gift and then 10 days before Christmas I started giving them hints - it was always the first gift they opened Christmas morning. I bought things like the slinky, a top, jacks, etc.
> 
> They loved it.


My 38 year old daughter had a stuffed "gingerbread cookie" doll with a wind-up music box in it that I had saved. Christmas, 2007, she decorated her house with a gingerbread house, cookies etc. I dug out a photo from Christmas 1971 (when she got the gingerbread doll). I had the gingerbread doll cleaned up, and wrapped in along with the old photo. She was clueless when she opened it as she had forgotten about the doll.... but loved it once she knew the background.

Of all my son's metal Tonka Trucks (from the 1975-1978 approx) I had only saved the firetruck. He is now 34 and a firefighter. His son (4 yrs) plays with Daddy's firetruck when he comes over here.... We also have all his old Matchbox cars.... Wish I had saved all the StarWars stuff!


----------



## imamurph (Apr 15, 2008)

I remember ice skating by the light of the moon or small bon fires that my brothers would built along the pond and small creeks through the woods..it was magical.

We also used to sled on the golf course that was across the street and through the woods from our house..the hills there were great!


----------



## ls-indy (Apr 10, 2008)

imamurph said:


> I remember ice skating by the light of the moon or small bon fires that my brothers would built along the pond and small creeks through the woods..it was magical.
> 
> We also used to sled on the golf course that was across the street and through the woods from our house..the hills there were great!


We'd go ice skating after school - also on a pond and along the creek that flowed into it. We'd also hike a little further and skate on a large reservoir. When we got older - the boys would build a small fire and we actually roasted hotdogs and potatoes.... and sipped whiskey from a flask....


----------



## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

I had to teach my kids how to play Hopscotch and Four Square! We always played Kick the Can, but we used my sister's bike basket because it worked the best!


----------



## Carefulove (Mar 20, 2009)

I didn't read the entire thread, but I am 98% sure that I had non of the toys that you all mentioned here. Although I was lucky that my parents were able to give us toys, they were cheap toys, mostly Russian. I never had a Babie, rarely watched disney cartoons and when I did, it was in Black and white! I came to the USA when I was almost 20, so getting a barbie then wasn't such a great idea! ound:


----------

