Kenner 1973 Toy Catalog, #2

The girl in the blue outfit in panel ten is one step away from an epileptic fit.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 30, 2008 - Comments (2)
Category: Toys, Advertising, 1970s

Kenner 1973 Toy Catalog, #1

For the next seventeen days, we'll be featuring a different page from this 1973 comics insert, a catalog of groovy, goofball Kenner toys, with utterly cheapjack illustrations and asinine text.

I hope lots of folks of the proper age get a flash of powerful nostalgia. Myself, I was already in college when this advert ran.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Dec 29, 2008 - Comments (3)
Category: Toys, Advertising, 1970s

Jesus Freak Documentary

A fascinating time capsule from 1971. Thirty minutes long, but watch at least the first five or so.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Dec 27, 2008 - Comments (1)
Category: Bums, Hobos, Tramps, Beggars, Panhandlers and Other Streetpeople, Drugs, Eccentrics, Family, Children, Parents, Hygiene, Nature, New Age, Pop Culture, Religion, 1970s, Facial Hair, Yesterday’s Tomorrows

Merry (Weird) Christmas!

Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 25, 2008 - Comments (2)
Category: Holidays, Religion, Royalty, Children, Foreign Customs, 1970s

Please Daddy (Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas)

Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 17, 2008 - Comments (5)
Category: Holidays, Inebriation and Intoxicants, Music, Regionalism, Children, Husbands, 1970s

Follies of the Mad Men #50

What image could possibly be great enough for our milestone fiftieth installment? Only this one!

At one time, during either the seventies or the eighties, I believe, this campaign was ubiquitous. I would run across OJ and his boots in every issue of Playboy I intended to cut up for collages, whereupon I would promptly rip out the page intact and mail it to a friend. That's why I had to find a scan on eBay, for this post, and can't tell you the exact provenance of the advertisement.

Of course, today we laugh because of OJ's appearance. "So that's how he was able to escape so fast after the murders! He deployed his third leg!"

But consider the campaign even without OJ.

First you get the off-color allusion to "third leg = penis." Then you get the Addams-Family-style associations of "Our boots are worn by mutants and freaks."

Brilliant!

Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 10, 2008 - Comments (7)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Celebrities, Death, Fashion, Shoes, Law, Lawsuits, Sports, Scary Criminals, Stupid Criminals, 1970s, 1980s

Father Abraham and the Smurfs

If you had to be locked in a small room for twenty-four hours with a musical novelty act, which would you prefer?

1) Alvin and the Chipmunks

2) Barney the Purple Dinosaur

3) The Danish dogs who originally barked out "Jingle Bells" in 1955

4) Father Abraham and the Smurfs

Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 03, 2008 - Comments (6)
Category: Music, 1970s, Fictional Monsters

The Chattanooga Twist

I'll bet you never knew what song Chattanooga Hookers like to dance to, did you?

What else but 1962's "The Chatanooga Twist," by Danyel Gerard!




Here's DG's other big hit.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 25, 2008 - Comments (5)
Category: Music, Regionalism, Foreign Customs, 1960s, 1970s, Dance

American Monsters

I enjoyed visiting the American Monsters site, a resource for cryptozoologists.

But I regret that when I visited Crater Lake in Oregon, its scaly inhabitant was not showing himself.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 16, 2008 - Comments (2)
Category: Cryptozoology, Fictional Monsters, Movies, 1970s

High Cost of Electronics

In a recent post featuring a typewriter advertisement, the discussion turned to the high cost of electronics in past eras.

Check out the price for this early calculator. The ad dates from "the early 1970's," according to the site where I found it. The Online Inflation Calculator says:

"What cost $345 in 1974 would cost $1435.60 in 2007."

Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 04, 2008 - Comments (14)
Category: Business, Products, Technology, 1970s