1979: Slippery Sleepwear
RollerKaty brought up a (not so) fond memory of laying on the living room floor, Sear’s Christmas Wishbook spread out on the floor. I always used to skip the “boring” section (the clothes), and started out somewhere before the toys where the “novelty gifts for adults” were (Namely, gumball machines and chess sets with scifi characters) and I studied every page from there on out. I always was glad that Sears left the back supporters and the support hose out of it, but was sometimes a little weirded out by adults in sleepwear.
RollerKaty offers forth this selection from 1979. I like the “family portrait” at far left. The pose is so natural and believeable. The gentleman in the main photo looks like he is ready for a strange boxing match. Isn’t there something just a little wrong about that?
I vaguely remember liking to look at the bedding section of the catalogs, but wondered to myself if someone bought satin sheets and satin robes and satin boxers, they would either sweat to death or slip right out of bed and end up somewhere between the threshold of the bedroom and the guest bathroom way on the other side of the house.
For purists, there is silk satin, rayon satin, and artificial satin. These are actually Arnel triacetate, but I would argue they fall neck and neck with rayon satin and just above silk satin in the slip and slide department.
1970s | Comment (0)Giant Slides and Cotton Candy
One of my loves as a child was a giant fiberglass slide. They gave you a mat, and you would make your journey up the staircase again and again. It was interesting for me to discover that there is a whole amusement park that based itself around an initial slide like the one I liked so much as a child.
Morey’s Piers in Wildwood, New Jersey started out with two brothers, a giant fiberglass slide and a dream. In the 50s and 60s, Bill Morey operated a boardwalk concession stand, while Will was a developer. They spotted a giant fiberglass slide languishing in Fort Lauderdale, and thought it was the perfect thing to attract more business to the boardwalk.But where do you put a giant fiberglass slide?
The brothers bought a mini golf course as well as a languishing restaurant to complement the slide, and Surf Side Park was born. The photo, at left, shows the slide circa 1969, and after 1976. The ape you see had been a part of a Planet of Apes Themed attraction/ride at Morey’s Piers, and the Ape is seen here at its new spot in the park. Way back when, the park was two piers separated by some municipal land, but it has grown by leaps and bounds since, hence the plural “Piers” in the name.
Fast forward to today, and Morey’s Piers is a crown jewel among New Jersey amusement parks. In fact, every Tuesday during the day through August 26th, you can ride as many rides time and your stomach will allow for just twenty bucks until 6:30 P.M. You can check other specials on their website, HERE. Imagine Flying The Great Nor’Easter for six hours straight. Luckily, there are lots of hotels right near by for you to crash and you can find them on the site, too.
It is a place not just for having a great time eating more cotton candy than you can eat and riding the rides, but it is also a great spot for a family beach vacation just like it was in decades past. Below, a beach scene from the 1970s, contemporary to the time of Morey’s Piers’ beginnings.
Whatever you do to wrap up the summer, or start the fall, a lot of these parks that have some history to them are sometimes just what the doctor ordered. You can decide to spend half the day taking it slow, and not feel like you have missed the entire park, yet there is a lot to do, making it a very worthy jam-packed daytrip.
Forever in Blue Non-Jeans
1974 was an interesting year for fashion. Simultaneously, it was the golden age of synthetic fabrics and corduroy pants. All factors collided to make it a fashion moment that you are either utterly repulsed or you wax niostalgic over.
I brought this 1974 Jeep CJ/5 ad out of my collection today. It touted a special trim package of Jeep in Blue Jeans.” For a little while, I mulled over the benefits of a denim interior, and ultimately gave it the thumbs up. It may pose issues when sliding onto your seat in the middle of a rain storm that vinyl would never pose. Namely, your seat would stay wet longer. However, there would be many other benefits. It wouldn’t matter if it faded. You could always patch it too. Maybe I never really “read” the ad until now, but quite clearly it states:
Look what the well dressed Jeep CJ/5 is wearing! New Levi’s styled seats with matching folddown top. Made of riggged easy to care for vinyl fabric in absolute ayuthentic styling-right down to the copper rivets!
Umm..vinyl?
Talk about a “bait and switch”
This was not the only false denin item being sold in 1974. Levi’s and Lee were clearly in cahoots.
Brawny - That’s the word for these Lee doubleknit jeans and matching shirt-jac. The cut hails from the West. In every detail…And comfort comes from the new non-glitter, snag -resistant doubleknit of 100% Dacron polyester.
Dacron isn’t denim! They sure don’t look like “jeans” to me.
It would seem logical that if something was labelled “denim” than it is made of the heavy cotton fabric popularly known as denim. It not, it is “denim look” or just quite simply “indigo vinyl.” If pants are not denim, but rather polyester, then they are slacks, cords, trousers, or pants, as they have nothing in common aside from a zipper.
I hate to be a stickler for details. Maybe it is because of my checkered past at a small high school where we relished our rare “jean days.” Show me a pair of pants that could be worn on a regular day and you won’t get me to call them jeans, no matter what the marketing department said.
I am going to go put on my gray fleece jeans, considered too “revealing” for school and take a jog around the block to try to cool off about this.
Until Next Time,
Sizing Notes for 70s menswear
It might be very tempting to occasionally trade in your double breasted suit, and with 70s elements always seeming to pop up everywhere in fashion, you are probably tempted to try it. But for you, a modern imitation will not do, you want the real thing.
There are a few tips to consider when shopping for 1970s wear online or in a shop
- Do not be surprised if a size on all platform shoes are not printed inside. Usually they are, but occasionally the ink has faded with time or it wasn’t there to begin with. Always try them on. If you cannot, and are shopping online, follow the lead of the ladies. Gals are more accustomed to measuring the inside of a similar pair of shoes of a similar pair and choosing “new to you” shoes that way. Look at what the platform shoe essential is at the basic level. Is it a loafer, a sandal, a boot, or and measure comparable shoes accordingly.
- The arm holes on most trendy blazers and suit coats were cut higher and smaller than modern suit coats. If you have a slim build, you may find that 70s jackets may flatter you well. If you don’t, or broad shoulders, you may want to see if the next size up fits you better. Remember, though, that the fit in many things is supposed to be slim and your size regular size may indeed fit. You just have to get used to the cut. Most clothing was not made to be baggy with miles of “ease” room.
- Not everything was poly. Polyester was a big staple of the 70s, but if you have an aversion to it, there are plenty of other choices. Wool and other classic fabrics were still used in abundance. The idea that people have is that if it was wool in the 1970s, it must be boxy and plaid. Some of the other popular cuts were actually available in wool.
Dress That Man is a site that I had stumbled by quite some time ago, and can’t believe I have yet to mention in the “Daily.” The 1970s are alive and well and expressed in fashion at the site. Hipsters, Rockers, and Halloween party attenders alike can find something to love. Browse the aisles and try on a pair of sky high platform shoes or a shirt. Of course, you can’t really “try them on,” you have to know your size.
1970s | Comment (0)Did Mickey Mouse Kill Disco?
We know that “Video Killed the Radio Star,” but what specific and single entity killed Disco? Broad summaries of the changing tastes of society does not do for Disco what the Buggles so succinctly described regarding musicians with a face for radio several years later.
Thanks to Katy, otherwise known as her Super Hero Alter Ego, RollerKaty, for a stirring up a painful childhood memory of mine at TheRollerBlog. The Mickey Mouse Disco Album would be definitely a part of any good thesis on why Disco sputtered and died, or evidence of the moment when it was about to crumble. The creative moment when someone in a meeting suggested that a Disco version of “It’s a Small World” must be unleashed on the world had to involve a compromised mental state for sure.
If you were old enough to have any conscious memories from any part of the 70s, or you weren’t conscious until much later and just like the retro vibe, the site is definitely worth a stroll and a laugh or too as well.
1970s | Comments (3)Sunday Funnies
Add your own caption!
This vintage ad from the 1970s (as if I had to mention the decade as it does all but smack one in the head) is one of my favorites. I was going to add my little historical commentary about it, but thought it would be far more fun for people to comment with their own captions or commentary about what is happening here to see what readers came up with.
Do you think I will regret my decision about opening up the floodgates on this one?
I will reveal the product that this ad was hawking and the probably less thrilling real captions later.
To add your two (or three) cents, just leave a comment at the bottom of this post. I will approve them as I go for others to read, and then will publish the best ones when I post the true details of the ad.
I can’t wait to read it.
1970s | Comments (4)
It’s Seiko Time
Seiko began in Japan, at K. Hattori, the eponymously named clock and jewelry shop of Mr. Kintar? Hattori. In 1892, the “Seikosha” clock was born. Thirty-two years later, the first Seiko watches, were on the market. The watch world was innovated with the Seiko Astron, the first quartz watch, in 1969. Just for trivia’s sake, it is said that the word “seiko” means “minute,” “exquisite,” or “success.” Very apt for the brand that has been the official timekeeper at many Olympic games since 1964.
I found a few Seiko Watches on Bluedial.com. One or two bring to mind the Gold Grand Seikos that were made with real gold in the 60s and the 70s. This one has the full 35mm dial. Today, with the price of gold, of course, you will get a gold plated or stainless steel one, but admirers won’t know. There are slight differences in design nuance, of course, from period pieces. However, if you are looking for a masculine (read: BIG dial), gold tone watch to make your 1960s or 1970s (leisure suits!) ensemble a little more authentic looking, it may be the watch for you. Only time piece historians, and not your admirers, will probably point it out to you.