Still looking through old photos I'm having scanned and running across all kinds of interesting stuff. The 1960's and 70's were an absolutely bizarre time for just about everything. Especially fashion. Nothing fascinated me more than all the insane clothes that everybody wore back then...
I honestly cannot tell if this Valentine's Day photo is cute... or just incredibly creepy. The blow-up dolphin certainly looks innocent enough, but his freaky smile is hiding something. Can you imagine the Stephen King moment of waking up in the middle of the night and seeing that thing staring back at you? =shudder= On the other hand, this is probably the most sane, rational clothing I ever wore in my early childhood, so it's hard for me to not to appreciate the photo itself. I can so totally rock stripes.
This is me dressed up in authentic Native American clothing, but adding a cowboy hat to make a fashion statement for peace and the acceptance of different cultures. Or cultural stereotypes... I haven't quite got that figured out. But hey, I'm a baby here... all I really care about is whether my diaper makes me look fat in this jumper... not whether the embroidered knife and tomahawk in my faux "Little Chief" belt are politically correct.
And here I am in stripes again... chilling like a Sears Catalog model. Originally I had a cigarette in my hand, but thought it best to Photoshop that out. Showing a two-year old smoking in the 1960's might have been perfectly acceptable, but today that's considered "wrong" for some reason. Shortly after this photo was taken, I decided to give up my pack-a-day Marlboro habit so I could put the money towards shoes.
How is it that pants like this were ever in style? I mean, I know it's 1975 here and so things are bound to look a little dated by today's fashion standards, but seriously... holy crap!
Probably more interesting to me here is not the clothes, but the toys. The Six Million Dollar Man doll was probably one of the coolest toys ever made. When you turned his head and pumped the button on his back, his bionic arm would ratchet up, allowing him to lift all kinds of things... including the plastic engine block they thoughtfully included in the package! He also had a bionic eye that you could use by looking through the hole in the back of his head... AND you could roll back the "skin" on his arm to reveal bionic circuitry which could be plugged into his "Bionic Transport and Repair Station" (shown, sold separately).
"The Magic Hat" toy was something else entirely. It was made of hard plastic (so you could never actually wear it) and had all kinds of secret compartments and nifty tricks you could do. And by "nifty tricks" I mean "crappy tricks that wouldn't fool anybody"... but don't tell my 9-year-old self that! In 1975, this was the most amazing toy ever! At least it would have been if it included a real rabbit to pull out of the hat... but the closest thing they had to offer was a rabbit scarf. Lame!
I'll spare you the photo of me and my brother in giant sombrerros. Sometimes Memory Lane can be a scary, scary place.
I love comments! However, all comments are moderated, and won't appear until approved. Are you an abusive troll with nothing to contribute? Don't bother. Selling something? Don't bother. Spam linking? Don't bother.
PLEASE NOTE: My comment-spam protection requires JavaScript... if you have it turned off or are using a mobile device without JavaScript, commenting won't work. Sorry.
I love the Spock hair in the last photo. Live long and prosper, my friend….
I love the Spock hair in the last photo. Live long and prosper, my friend….
Whatever…those 1975 pants are kickin’! I almost was going to make fun of your “dolly” because I thought it was a Ken Doll….but of course, now that I know it’s Steve Austin, I’ll STFU. 😉
These pictures crack me up because I was 9 in 1975 as well and I got those same gifts. Steve Austin fucking ruled!
The blue dolphin, though? Kinda looks like a penis if you ask me. A big blue smiling penis. And it wants your soul.
I remember the Six Million Dollar Man action figure. A friend of mine had one, though I don’t recall if he had the mobile repair station.
I need to dig out the photo of my brother and me riding stick horses while wearing cowboy hats.
I wanna see sombreros!
Your second thought was right, the dolphin photo *is* incredibly creepy. Oh, I so had one of those Six Million Dollar action figures. And an Evel Knievel figure as well. Oh good times they were.
Oh my lord, those Little Chief overalls. How can something so wrong be so funny and so cute?
And for what it’s worth, I also think the dolphin looks like a penis. I just didn’t want to be the only one saying it.
OMG, I *had* that dolphin! Somewhere there’s a grainy b&w photo of me standing with an arm slung around its fin, like we’re best friends.
And I’m probably wearing something really stupid-looking, too.
I had the 6 Million Dollar Man doll too, and it did seriously rock even if I did have trouble closing his arm back up sometimes.
Caption contest!
Stripe photo #2
Who, me? you talkin’ to me? I don’t see anybody else here? What, I’m funny to you? Like a clown?
I thought the dolphin was a something else also (what Earl said)
I was 4 in 1975 I never got a steve austin doll – my brother might have and he wouldn’t have shared
i did have awesome clothes though
You were sooooooo cute –
Two notes about the 60s:
We all had the same EXACT furniture. Every 3 x 3 photo from the 60s looks alike!
We all have that same dazed look—I think it is from the Sylvania Flash Bulbs!
I, too, remember that Six million Dollar Man action figure. I don’t think we had one, so it must have been one of my friends. Or it could have just been from the commercial, though I doubt it.
Those pants aren’t that bad — I think my parents have a picture of either me or my brother in plaid overalls. *shudder*
I am LOVING the pictures!!!
Also, my brother had the Bionic Man doll. I played with it all the time!
I think you need to make that dolphin into a L’il Dave cartoon. He’s quite graphic. 🙂
I had the Bionic Man toy too! It looks a lot more purple in that photo than I remember though (thought it was just plain red).
THANKS FOR SHARING!
Cute and hilarious. My favorite combination. The striped shirt outfit made me think Garanimals.
i am so thankful other commenters thought the dolphin looks like a penis. for a moment there i thought i was projecting something i love to see.
I’m loving these. Keep the old photos coming 🙂
I think I had the same pants, so I think they rock. The 70’s must have been about inflatable animals because mine was a giant purple rabbit.
I’m sorry, I can’t leave a comment because I am too busy laughing at that dolphin.
And I have no idea why it’s so funny.
It’s the eyes that are scary in the “pants” photo… were you ever a CLOWN… ?
I had the bionic woman doll….we are prob. around the same age. I like looking back at old photos…..but I don’t seem to have many. I need to get some from my parents I suppose.
Yes, you were a cute kid!
I had a Bionic Man doll, too, but only because my parents couldn’t find me the Bionic Woman doll I really wanted and when I opened the package to find Lee Majors? I threw a fit.
Yeah, I was such a grateful kid.
I am really enjoying these flashback photos.