The 1970s shelf
1970s things worth remembering.
Wood paneling, disco balls, and bell bottoms.
52 catalogued finds
Star Wars Action Figures
“star wars action figures”
Big Wheel Tricycle
“big wheel tricycle”
Atari VCS 2600 Console
“atari vcs 2600 console”
Stretch Armstrong
“stretchy muscle guy”
Simon
“light up memory game”
UNO
“color card game”
Perfection
“shape timer pop game”
Connect Four
“drop checker game”
Hungry Hungry Hippos
“marble chomping hippos”
Lawn Darts
“giant backyard lawn darts”
Silly String
“An aerosol can of stringy foam you sprayed on friends at birthday parties, and somehow it always ended up in someone's hair for a week.”
Clackers
“click clack balls toy”
Pogo Stick
“spring jumping stick toy”
Mattel Handheld Football
“mattel handheld football”
Baby Alive Doll
“baby alive doll”
Shrinky Dinks Kit
“shrinky dinks kit”
Micronauts Action Figure
“micronauts action figure”
Pet Rock Novelty
“pet rock novelty”
Paddington Bear Plush
“paddington bear plush”
Weebles Wobble Toy
“weebles wobble toy”
Green Slime Sludge
“green slime sludge”
SSP Toy Cars
“ssp toy cars”
Tootsie Pop
“how many licks owl commercial”
Sizzlers Toy Cars
“sizzlers toy cars”
Electronic Merlin Toy
“electronic merlin toy”
Kool-Aid
“Kool-Aid Man commercial”
Nerf Ball Toy
“nerf ball toy”
Jolly Rancher
“hard fruit candy jar”
SweeTarts
“sweet and sour tablet candy”
Laffy Taffy
“laffy taffy wrapper joke”
Pop Rocks
“popping candy”
Polaroid Instant Camera
“instant photo camera”
Now and Later
“fruit chew squares candy”
Crossfire
“rapid fire marble game”
Zotz
“fizzing candy shell”
Playmobil
“small smiling figures”
Space Invaders Mini Arcade
“alien shooter mini arcade”
Super Elastic Bubble Plastic
“Squeeze a blob of plastic goo onto a straw and blow — giant shimmering semi-permanent bubbles with a smell nobody who grew up in the 70s has forgotten.”
Waterfuls Ring Toss
“The handheld water game where you pressed a button to push rings onto pegs — the original battery-free boredom killer for long car rides.”
Crazy Daisy Sprinkler
“Wham-O's giant plastic daisy that whipped water in unpredictable circles while kids shrieked and ran through it all afternoon.”
Flying Saucers Candy
“edible ufo candy”
Mood ring
“A ring with a heat-sensitive stone that supposedly revealed your emotional state by changing color, when really it was just reacting to your finger temperature.”
Vintage pencil sharpener
“A hand-crank pencil sharpener bolted to the classroom wall, cranked by hand until a perfect point (or a very short pencil) came out the other side.”
Loose-leaf paper
“Three-hole-punched sheets of wide-ruled paper sold in reams, the backbone of every school binder and the source of endless paper-cut memories.”
Skateboard
“A flat wooden deck on four wheels that turned sidewalks and empty pools into a playground, sparking a subculture that never really went away.”
Roller skates
“Four-wheeled skates that strapped or laced onto shoes, essential gear for the sidewalk, the driveway, and every roller rink birthday party.”
8-track tape
“A bulky magnetic tape cartridge format popular briefly in cars and home stereos before cassettes took over, known for its audible click between tracks.”
Betamax tape
“Sony's videotape format that lost the format war to VHS despite arguably better picture quality, now a symbol of the wrong horse to bet on.”
TV Guide magazine
“A weekly pocket-sized magazine listing every channel's programming, essential before onscreen guides existed and often left open on the coffee table.”
Super 8 film reel
“A small reel of home-movie film shot on a Super 8 camera, projected onto a bedsheet or wall for family movie nights.”
Slide projector carousel
“A rotating tray of 35mm photo slides loaded into a projector for family slideshow nights, complete with the click-whir sound of advancing to the next slide.”
Rolodex
“A rotating card file for storing names, addresses, and phone numbers on a desk, flipped through by hand before contact lists lived in a phone.”