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”
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Big Wheel Tricycle
“big wheel tricycle”
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Atari VCS 2600 Console
“atari vcs 2600 console”
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Stretch Armstrong
“stretchy muscle guy”
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Simon
“light up memory game”
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UNO
“color card game”
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Perfection
“shape timer pop game”
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Connect Four
“drop checker game”
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Hungry Hungry Hippos
“marble chomping hippos”
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Lawn Darts
“giant backyard lawn darts”
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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.”
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Clackers
“click clack balls toy”
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Pogo Stick
“spring jumping stick toy”
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Mattel Handheld Football
“mattel handheld football”
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Baby Alive Doll
“baby alive doll”
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Shrinky Dinks Kit
“shrinky dinks kit”
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Micronauts Action Figure
“micronauts action figure”
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Pet Rock Novelty
“pet rock novelty”
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Paddington Bear Plush
“paddington bear plush”
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Weebles Wobble Toy
“weebles wobble toy”
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Green Slime Sludge
“green slime sludge”
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SSP Toy Cars
“ssp toy cars”
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Tootsie Pop
“how many licks owl commercial”
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Sizzlers Toy Cars
“sizzlers toy cars”
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Electronic Merlin Toy
“electronic merlin toy”
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Kool-Aid
“Kool-Aid Man commercial”
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Nerf Ball Toy
“nerf ball toy”
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Jolly Rancher
“hard fruit candy jar”
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SweeTarts
“sweet and sour tablet candy”
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Laffy Taffy
“laffy taffy wrapper joke”
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Pop Rocks
“popping candy”
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Polaroid Instant Camera
“instant photo camera”
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Now and Later
“fruit chew squares candy”
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Crossfire
“rapid fire marble game”
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Zotz
“fizzing candy shell”
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Playmobil
“small smiling figures”
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Space Invaders Mini Arcade
“alien shooter mini arcade”
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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.”
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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.”
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Crazy Daisy Sprinkler
“Wham-O's giant plastic daisy that whipped water in unpredictable circles while kids shrieked and ran through it all afternoon.”
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Flying Saucers Candy
“edible ufo candy”
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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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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Roller skates
“Four-wheeled skates that strapped or laced onto shoes, essential gear for the sidewalk, the driveway, and every roller rink birthday party.”
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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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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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.”
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