Facile Friday - 1970's

The 1970’s! What a time it was.


I was perusing Facebook the other day and I ran across a post from one of my “friends” that mentioned Gnip Gnop and other 1970’s era goodies. So I went on a mind quest to find my own personal memories of 1970’s.

This one is for you K!

Gnip Gnop – did you know that the name of this funny little game is Ping Pong spelled backwards? My brothers and I wore that game out. What was funny about that game was that it always started out fairly controlled and then quickly ramped up to the opponents hammering on the flipper buttons so hard that the whole game shook. I must say though, that game stood up to some major abuse.



What about brown suede earth shoes? My dad had a pair but me…….I had a pair of this Bass platform sandals! Those things were probably about 4 inches high and I was tall already!

Mine were light tan.  I loved those sandals

Are you old enough to remember the board game Mystery Date? Ahhhhh! I am having nostalgic brain freeze! My friends and I use to play that game all the time. When I think about it I smile because it was the most ridiculous game I have ever played in my life! Really! The guys on the cards were really goofy.

Another big thing when I was a kid was the hoppity hop. In the early 1970’s when we lived in Kansas City, every kid on our block had a hoppity hop and we would bounce up and down the block. I remember that someone’s little brother had the one that had a pony head instead of just the loop. What a freakishly strange toy that was, but I thought they were tons o’ fun!   I found this old 1970 commercial for the hoppity horse.  OK, they really didn't think out these old commercials like they do nowadays.  I am amazed that they sold any based on this ad!



I was one of the little girls who had crushes on various stars of the small screen. People like Mickey Dolenz of Monkees fame (I was never a Davie Jones girl), David Cassidy and his velour jumpsuit from the Partridge Family and the unitooth wonder himself - Race Bannon from Johnny Quest.


I wore bell bottoms and crazy patterned pants. At one point I had a hairstyle that incorporated the “wings” thing for the long bangs I was sporting. That was a really bad look for me, a little like a medieval page boy standing in front of a big fan.

Disco was king and my best friend Ruth and I worked out a fabulous dance routine to Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana”. We would go to my house after school and crank up that song. We had bought a set of these numbered feet that you would layout on the floor so that you could remember your dance steps. You could use them to make up your own OR they had handy diagrams of standard disco dances. If you make sure that you are sitting down I will tell you what we wore to perform this dance. Ready? We were matching and this makes it an even better image; blue sequined tube tops, blue satin gym shorts with white satin piping around the legs and these blue satin platform shoes with a silver foil lining and cork soles. Our dance used classic 70’s dance moves, including the speed bag arm moves from the hustle. Ahh-ha-ha-ha! For me, this image is very "pee your pants" worthy but I will restrain myself.

When I think of the 70’s and the music I had, I always remember a black and yellow album that I bought off of the television that just said HUSTLE in huge letters across the cover. It had songs like Shake Your Groove Thing, Boogie Oogie Oogie, Forget Me Nots, Funky Town and so many more.

I also listened to non-disco music. Some of my favorites were Layla, Maggie May, Tell Me Something Good, Paradise by the Dashboard Lights, Comfortably Numb, I want to be Sedated, London Calling and Rock Lobster to name a few.

I loved the 1970’s! It was a pretty exciting time as I remember it. I became a freshman in high school in 1979, so the 1970’s were a huge influence on me in my childhood. Thanks K for this spark of an idea and I stand with you in embracing the 1970’s. Did I mention that I stand with you while wearing a belted, turquoise, spandex, bell-bottomed jumpsuit with a bejeweled and gold cord wrapped Olivia Newton-John headband and platforms?

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