Dancing with Dionne Warwick on Solid Gold

OK, so Solid Gold is kinda more about the early 80s than the 70s. You 70s kids remember it anyway. I know you do, because it was one of the first places we saw popular music--before CDs, before iTunes, even before MTV. The dancers seemed to have just two moves: Flip My Long Hair Dramatically and Swoon Like A Piece of Wet Spaghetti. Click below for an example.

Solid Gold, Season 1

Is it me or did their dancing get dorkier as the music got faster?

Dearly departed deliciousness: Jell-o Spoon Candy

One of life’s great tragedies is that there are foods (and food-like products) that we dearly loved that we will never, ever eat again. I am mildly obsessed with these discontinued foods, especially ones from my childhood.


I offer one such example from the 70s: Jell-o’s Spoon Candy. Not merely pudding, this just-add-milk dessert had this amazing chocolate topping that was extremely firm, almost hardening to the consistency of truffle filling and probably made of the terrible hydrogenated oils that we aren’t supposed to eat any more. And as such, it’s probably impossible to recreate the exact taste at home.

Does anyone remember any other flavors? I remember only the vanilla with the chocolate topping.

I have a Land of the Lost board game

Lots of websites talk about Land of the Lost, the unusually smart kids' TV series of the 70s. (NOT referring here to the unrelated, embarrassing, not-even-approximation-of-a-movie starring Will "The Last Funny Thing I Did Was the Cowbell Thing" Ferrell.) So I won't bury you in words here about how great the show was, but I will offer one fascinating factoid: the producers used college basketball players to play the Sleestak, including the great Bill Laimbeer. Bonus factoid: they had only three Sleestak suits, so they had to use creative filming and editing techniques to make the Sleestak scenes work. Maybe they spent all their budget on the pylons and the crystals instead.

My brother found this board game on eBay. He knew I would love it and I do. I'm not sure what the point of the game is, but the game itself is pretty rare and I'm lucky to have it. Pics below.

Scary thing for kids #2,465: Baby Secret

I was definitely a girly-girl, and I had plenty of dolls. If you’re one of those people who think dolls are evil, skip this post. I mean it. Save yourself the nightmares.

Here is my Baby Secret doll, very yellowed by age. When you pull her string, she says several different things to you, including, "I know a secret--do you?" and "Don't talk so loud."

Here is the video clip of the commercial for Baby Secret. It says 1966, so I’m not sure why I grew up with this doll, having been born in 1969. But I remember cuddling with her at night, back when the whisper sounded sweet and comforting. Really.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY1xtnnMr2c&feature=player_embedded

Yeah, her lips move too. And after 40 years in my parents' garage, her voice sounds like those voices of “ghosts” you hear on the Travel Channel’s “Ghost Adventurers.” Did I mention she's creepy as hell?

Happy Valentine's Day

I found this card and stuffed dog that my dad gave me, probably in the very early 70s. The card is well over a foot high. I'm not sure if you can tell by the picture, but the hat and bow on the little girl are fuzzy velvet.

Valentine's Day was huge in my family--my parents always gave us toys, candy, and cards.  We still exchange valentines and I still love Valentine's Day.

Daddy dear, we're weird

How psychadelic was Sesame Street? Really, really psychadelic. And smart. Watch some of the old Sesame Street stuff today and it makes Barney and Creatures of His Ilk look tame. And lame.

I particularly like this clip. I was one of those annoying "why, daddy?" children. When my dad would tuck me into bed, I would have a dozen questions like the questions in the clip. Like how do they make pill bottles and why doesn't it rain when the sun is shining and why does everyone hate President Carter . . .click below for Sesame Street's version of these immortal questions.

Daddy Dear, Sesame Street

In Search Of Pee-Your-Pajamas Terror

Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of: one of the coolest TV shows of the 70s--and the most terrifying. One episode asked the question, "Can you be scared to death?" I had nightmares for weeks after that episode. It seemed plausible to me--maybe even likely, that I could be scared. To. Death. And maybe the Sasquatch would eat me or Dracula in his castle would bite me or imprison me in the lost city of Atlantis or...or...

Watching the clips on youtube even today creeps me out. I don’t know what it is about this show that’s so scary. Nimoy’s voice? The writing? The production values? Or am I just remembering it with a kid's suggestibility? Click on the link below for the intro...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK4PGCQQ4Oc