Monday, October 20, 2008

The Things I Remember About Growing Up

This is a tag, of sorts. So, for those who want to play along... feel free! Just let me know that you've added it to your blog, so I can take a peek. Thanks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEN THINGS I REMEMBER ABOUT GROWING UP:

1) Cowl necks:



















I had a sweater almost exactly like this, only mine was red and white striped. I triple loved this article of clothing. I think I even took a school picture with it on one year. VERY 70's chic!

2) Bonne Belle Lipsmackers:



















EVERY girl carried at least one of these in her purse. It was almost sacrilegious not to own them! My all-time favorite flavor was (and still is) strawberry.

3) Wacky Packages:



















I went almost certifiable, collecting these bad boys for awhile. I never got the coveted "Band Ache" one, though. This one was the crown jewel of Wacky Packages, and only the real die-hard collectors (or, those whose parents would willingly shell out tons of dough for their kids to buy these) would own one. My mother was cheap. She was saving her money for ridiculous things. Like food.

4) Charlie perfume:



















This was the VERY first perfume I was ever allowed to wear. I think I was about 14 when I got a bottle of it for Christmas, and I was thrilled! Of course, it never occurred to me that I smelled just like every other girl in my class.

5) Lite-Brite:














I absolutely LOVED this toy as a child, and had it on my Christmas list more than once. I never got tired of plugging in those little lights into the preset holes, and turning the thing on once I was done, to have the lit picture appear. It was completely awesome to me. Of course, I nearly blinded myself once or twice with the bare light bulb in the viewer, and I scorched my hands several times with the hot lights. Nevertheless, it was a thrill.

6) "I'm Leaving It All Up To You" -- by Donny and Marie Osmond














I can clearly remember wanting this album for the LONGEST time. It seemed to take forever to save my weekly allowance to have enough to purchase it. When I finally owned it, I practically wore it out, playing it over and over again (on my turquoise and white portable record player, no less! :)

7) The Dorothy Hamill "Wedge"









I'm willing to bet that John Suga had NO idea what kind of phenomenon he'd create when he cut Dorothy Hamill's hair into the perfect "wedge". Girls lined up all over the world to duplicate her cute and sassy style, myself included. It took quite a bit of courage for me to cut my hair this short, but once I did, I loved it, and wore it this way for YEARS.

8) Earth Shoes:










These shoes were as ugly as they were comfortable, and I absolutely loved my brown suede pair. I wore them all the time.

9) Roller skates:













To the youngin's that frequent my blog... yes, these really ARE roller skates, and these are very similar to the pair I owned as a child. You'd slip them on over your shoes, buckle them around your ankles, and tighten them to fit your foot with a key (which looked sort of like a mini ratchet). These were state-of-the art back in the early '70's, and they made the BEST sound on concrete!

10) Charlie's Angels:















As completely hokey as this show was, MAN, did I love it in my early teen years! I had a "girl crush" on Farrah Fawcett so badly, that I named all of my early diaries Farrah! (And, if you tell anyone that, I'll dope slap ya! ;)

Even though that's ten things, I couldn't do this tag without including some of my favorite dolls/toys I loved growing up, too:

* Thumbelina Doll:



















I must have been about seven when I got my Thumbelina for Christmas. I adored her. I loved the way she felt like a real baby, and the way she squirmed like a baby when you pulled the string on her back. She was one of my very favorites for a long time.

* Barbies and Dawn Dolls:



















I owned a BUTTLOAD of these dolls, and played with them all the time. I found out, years later, that my little niece took up the habit of biting the feet off of all my dolls, so my poor mother had to go out and replace tons of them before I got home from school. I always wondered why my dolls looked so new! :)

* Flatsy Patsy dolls:



















I had a couple of these dolls too (Patsy and a few of her friends), and I really had fun with them, too. I loved how their outfits snapped on and off. It was quite innovative at the time! :)

*Little Ittles:










I never owned any of these (my mother had a thing about toys with small parts), but I had a friend in school who had a bunch of them, and I envied her. I thought they were the cutest things!

* Pocket Pets:


















I can clearly remember going to the five and dime store around the corner from my elementary school, and buying a few of these with my own money. I thought they were so adorable, and so tiny! I never got to get as many as I would have liked, but I made up for it in my adult years -- my little one now has her very own collection of these (thanks to EBay!).

* Joan Walsh Anglund's Pocket Dolls:














The artwork of Joan Walsh Anglund has recently been "copied" by another artist called Gorjuss (c'mon... you know it has!), but this doll is a prime example of the original work. I begged my mother for one of these, for the longest time, and wound up getting one for Christmas one year. Mine has black hair, parted in the middle and put up into ponytails, and is wearing a red and white pinafore-style dress. I still have her, to this day, and she has been well-loved. In fact, I've recently had to relinquish her to my youngest daughter, because my Pocket Doll makes her feel more comfortable while she sleeps. Apparently, she loves her, too! :)

~~~~~~~~~~

Well, there's my brief trip down memory lane! I hope you've enjoyed it, and I can't wait to see all of your contributions! Don't forget to let me know that you've done it, so I can be sure to check it out.

6 comments:

Natalie said...

mine is done..that was fun!

Kay said...

we had skates like that... mom got them from a garage sale.

glad you did the tag... but i didn' t see you say you did it at my blog... i must be blind.

Omgirl said...

I remember a lot of those things--I even had the Marie doll from Donny and Marie--so you're not as old as you thought!

Kay said...

Yeah, I noticed my friend Ari and her friend are on your blog list. =D

Tanya said...

I love this post! How fun to go down memory lane. And I still like cowl necks too!

Erica said...

I did this one ^_^