The Birthday Party Industrial Complex didn’t exist back then. Your grandparents and a few of your best friends came over, and you spent the entire time outside playing until the sun went down, when you came inside for pizza, cake, NES, and Mt Dew.
What are your thoughts on life in the 70s and 80s?
- Thread starter Kinnick.At.Night
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Watching Airwolf. Going to watch my dad and grandpa bowl on Wednesday night and playing with the cigarette vending machine there. The Empire commercials and the yonda “ this is the big one “ commercial watching the Cubs in WGN.
Playing neighborhood football or baseball. There were enough kids in the neighborhood to get a decent game going any afternoon. We had a ball diamond at the school only a block from my house. My friend, Matt, had the best yard for a football game. Large, flat and limited trees. When we were really ambitious, we would round up more kids and go to a lot in the “Olesen Addition” part of town.
Nearly every day in the summer we’d bike to the pool. Pool opened at 1 and we’d be there in line. Our bike ride to the pool was over a mile and our parents would let us ride there by ourselves at a very young age. Very little parental supervision during those summer days as both of my parents worked. Mom would yell from the porch for supper and we needed to be within the sound of her voice in the early evening.
We’d walk or ride to our small downtown just to buy a .50 glass bottle of pop from my uncles machine outside his store. We’d blow through whatever quarters we could scrape up on video games at the bowling alley or mini mart.
We’d walk the train tracks, what had to be 2-3 miles to “True’s Timber” with our gear and camp for a night or weekend. I remember we’d have to cross and old wooden bridge that had been closed. Missing boards and there was always a fear someone might actually fall through. No parental supervision.
The county fair was awesome. You always met up with you friends, played the rigged games for rock and roll themed mirrors and ride the rides. Even the smaller county fairs would pull in decent carnival rides.
My childhood was very much a 70’s/80’s combo of The Sandlot and Stand by Me.
Nearly every day in the summer we’d bike to the pool. Pool opened at 1 and we’d be there in line. Our bike ride to the pool was over a mile and our parents would let us ride there by ourselves at a very young age. Very little parental supervision during those summer days as both of my parents worked. Mom would yell from the porch for supper and we needed to be within the sound of her voice in the early evening.
We’d walk or ride to our small downtown just to buy a .50 glass bottle of pop from my uncles machine outside his store. We’d blow through whatever quarters we could scrape up on video games at the bowling alley or mini mart.
We’d walk the train tracks, what had to be 2-3 miles to “True’s Timber” with our gear and camp for a night or weekend. I remember we’d have to cross and old wooden bridge that had been closed. Missing boards and there was always a fear someone might actually fall through. No parental supervision.
The county fair was awesome. You always met up with you friends, played the rigged games for rock and roll themed mirrors and ride the rides. Even the smaller county fairs would pull in decent carnival rides.
My childhood was very much a 70’s/80’s combo of The Sandlot and Stand by Me.
I was always suspicious that they only pretended to take requests, because they just played Top 40 and 99% of the requests were for a song that was already on the rotation.
In 3rd grade...being made to clap the erasers out was a form of punishment. One that I was well familiar with.And a bad thing to have to clap erasers!
But one time I took it to a new level. Rather than just pound them together and have to breathe the dust cloud...again...I used my big thinker and pounded them clean on the side of the brick building. This left quite the "pattern"...one so noteworthy that the Principal himself came to our class to find out who did it.
Yep...I was given eraser duty again the next day...with strict instructions not to clap them out on the building.
We got away with a lot of stuff that we’re glad was never filmed.
Glorious Iowa MBB of the 80’s. Going to the Video Store and looking at all of the horrible horror movie video box art. Blowing up things with fireworks.
I had a college roommate who liked to call into KRNA and request Father Christmas by the Kinks in the summer. They never played it. But I did get on the Traffic Jam a couple times.
Our school made you take them outside if it was above 0. Didn't want all the dust inside.In 3rd grade...being made to clap the erasers out was a form of punishment. One that I was well familiar with.
Rather than just pound them together and have to breathe the dust cloud...again...I used my big thinker and pounded them clean on the side of the brick building. This left quite the "pattern"...one so noteworthy that the Principal himself came to our class to find out who did it.
Yep...I was given eraser duty again the next day...with strict instructions not to clap them out on the building.
Playing baseball in the summer and actually sharing equipment. One bag with about 3 bats and a couple of helmets.
- Sep 13, 2002
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Your life is literally one of the saddest things I’ve ever contemplated.
Ts and Ps.
I hope you are reincarnated into something less shitty and depressed.
Reading TV Guide and listening to Casey Kasem's weekly top 40.
Television in the 70s and 80s was interesting.
How many times my dad would be up on the roof messing with the antenna and yelling “BETTER? HOW ABOUT NOW?! WELL, GODDAMMIT…I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON!!!”
Remember when you first set up the early VCRs? You had to calibrate the individual channels one-by-one by rotating those tiny little yellow dials. It was like being a radar operator on a sub or something.
How many times my dad would be up on the roof messing with the antenna and yelling “BETTER? HOW ABOUT NOW?! WELL, GODDAMMIT…I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON!!!”
Remember when you first set up the early VCRs? You had to calibrate the individual channels one-by-one by rotating those tiny little yellow dials. It was like being a radar operator on a sub or something.
If you were sick, there's Bozo's Circus on WGN Channel 9! Great television!
Being a kid and wondering why dad never missed an episode of Hee Haw.
Then puberty hits and I wish I had a TV in my room to watch Hee Haw.
Then puberty hits and I wish I had a TV in my room to watch Hee Haw.
Life was a LOT simpler back then. Born in 1962, so it was my teenage years mostly.
Good to at times great music. This old school medium called "radio" was incredibly important back then as far as finding new music.
"No money fun" was abundant. I somehow during those entire decades had the most fun of my entire life and partied my ass off - while being mostly poor.
Economic times were mostly rough, just about everybody I hung out with was middle class on down. I didn't know a single person in my school class (around 200) that was anything close to rich, so all my classmates were more or less equal socially.
Social media was non-existent - so one had to actually go out and meet people the ol' fashioned way.
About the only thing I wish I would have done differently is be better with what little money I had. Like I say, I partied my ass off and while I had a great time...the 80's (ages 18 to 28) when looking back at them - I simply refused to "grow up", and in a lot of ways I'm still paying for all that fun yet today.
Good to at times great music. This old school medium called "radio" was incredibly important back then as far as finding new music.
"No money fun" was abundant. I somehow during those entire decades had the most fun of my entire life and partied my ass off - while being mostly poor.
Economic times were mostly rough, just about everybody I hung out with was middle class on down. I didn't know a single person in my school class (around 200) that was anything close to rich, so all my classmates were more or less equal socially.
Social media was non-existent - so one had to actually go out and meet people the ol' fashioned way.
About the only thing I wish I would have done differently is be better with what little money I had. Like I say, I partied my ass off and while I had a great time...the 80's (ages 18 to 28) when looking back at them - I simply refused to "grow up", and in a lot of ways I'm still paying for all that fun yet today.
When roasts were roasts ... even for politicians who used to be actors, even before they were presidents!
Mine as well. Same as much of what you wrote with the exception that we were five miles from the nearest pool. Usually one of the parents would get us there…
Edit: Man they truly were the good ole days….
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We had a bell next to our front door. My Mom would ring the bell and I was to come home to dinner ... if I heard the bell. Most times I did ... unless it was raining and we were inside. She knew to call a couple of neighbors to get me to come home for dinner if needed.
Literally, ringing the dinner bell.
Literally, ringing the dinner bell.
I spent a lot of time at a buddy’s house and his parents go to move was hitting the car horn three times. We were often on bikes, at the ball field or out in the woods pretty far from the house, but always within hearing range.
You best be on the move homeward before the third blast fell silent. Chop, chop on the move.
John Frank did not mess around with a loitering child. As mentioned by Rocky earlier, corporal punishment awaited the loitering child at John Frank’s domicile.
You best be on the move homeward before the third blast fell silent. Chop, chop on the move.
John Frank did not mess around with a loitering child. As mentioned by Rocky earlier, corporal punishment awaited the loitering child at John Frank’s domicile.
I grew up in a small town in the 80's and although I wouldn't live there now it was great growing up.
We just all met at the shelter house in the park in the middle of town and from there deciding what sport we were playing that day or riding our bikes somewhere to go fishing.
We would walk around town with our BB guns and no one had any F's to give about it. Definately a different world back then.
We just all met at the shelter house in the park in the middle of town and from there deciding what sport we were playing that day or riding our bikes somewhere to go fishing.
We would walk around town with our BB guns and no one had any F's to give about it. Definately a different world back then.
The Cardinals may not even have a single player hitting .274 let alone a team average. Nice to see the Cubs on the bottom though, just the way I remember it...
High school keggers, 100 kids roll-up in the neighborhood (or the res) to drink beer and kick ass and nobody cared. Today Karen would call the cops at sight of first car.
Ugh. They were called field parties in Texas and my kids somehow snuck home after going to several in high school. 😡
And usually someone would go into town to get another keg and on the way back to the party they put their truck in the ditch.
We had the town whistle that went off at noonWe had a bell next to our front door. My Mom would ring the bell and I was to come home to dinner ... if I heard the bell. Most times I did ... unless it was raining and we were inside. She knew to call a couple of neighbors to get me to come home for dinner if needed.
Literally, ringing the dinner bell.
