Mad magazine, Thrifty ice cream for $0.05 a scoop,BMG and Columbia house CD subscriptions, watching American Bandstand, knowing every word to Rappers Delight, Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley, Dirty Dancing and Top Gun in the movie theaters at least 10x, the arcade at the mall playing asteroids and pac man then getting an orange Julius, BIG HAIR, aqua net extra super hold hairspray, and SO MANY MORE THINGS THAT MADE OUR GENERATION THE BEST!!
Ohhhh the cosmetics and shampoo brands! Lemon Up. Gee your hair smells terrific. Herbal essence avocado. And don’t forget: Bonnie Bell Lip smackers…the big ones. Dr. Pepper flavor had a red tone. Loves Baby Soft spray. Sun-in. Sea Breeze and Noxema cleanser. Roll-on lip gloss. Probably strawberry or bubble gum flavor. And the ultimate look: Jordache jeans. Ohhhhhh so glad there’s no photographic evidence!
Instantly puts down the phone , flips through to the knack album and drops the needle . All I need now is a pair of Dolphin shorts, a sex wax tee and a pair of Vans. Thanks for the Saturday morning living room dance . It’s nice to be silly sometimes
All of this applies to late Boomers as well!!! Born in 1963 and I remember first gear “My Sharona” sophomore year in high school. My best friend in High school was the niece of Jack Lord (Steve McGarret of Hawaii Five-O). There was a bar we used to sneak in to and the band would always play the Five-0 theme song when they saw her. 🌊🌺🌊
Mary, what a worthy tribute to adolescence: Having the house band launch into the Five-0 theme as you illegally enter a bar, because your uncle is Jack Lord. Thanks for sharing.
(Also, I should have included a bullet point, "You know who Jack Lord and Karl Malden are.")
I figured my HF0 reference would likely date me. But honestly, I don't remember ever watching it. I was a little too young. I do remember seeing that wave barrel, however, and thinking it looked demonic.
Ah, yes. The Twilight Zone was like that for me. A little before my time, so I was too young to appreciate it. Too creepy for me. Maybe even still. Haha!
I was watching the 50th anniversary SNL show a few weeks ago, and I thought Gen X is the perfect age to enjoy the whole span of it. We were kids for the classic, original stuff, in our 20s and 30s for all of the iconic bits, and old enough now to shake our heads at the current iteration. Ha! My age is showing.
I *do* remember the chorus to “Convoy” but would argue that “Wolf Creek Pass” was the superior CW McCall song.
Also, there’s a building in my town (Kennewick, WA) that’s been called the flash cube building for decades, as it is a square made up entirely of windows treated with reflective film. I don’t know if the kids today know what a flash cube originally was, but around here they know what it means when someone says “turn right by the flash cube building.” 😂
MaryAnne, I appreciate your note very much. I'm not familiar with Wolf Creek Pass but now I've got to listen to it. Thanks for the recommendation. Also, I can personally (if also ignorantly, seeing as how I've never been to Kennewick) guarantee that the kids today have no idea what a flash cube is or why the flash cube building is so named. At risk of sounding snarky, I'm just glad they know how to take verbal directions instead of just relying on an app to show them where to drive.
Kool aid packets where you add sugar and water and mix. Glass pop (soda) bottles: 8 oz 16 oz and 32 oz. Returning used bottles for the deposit. Televised baseball games were a treat, unless you were a Braves fan and superstation broadcast all their games. Joe garagiola and Tony Kupek for the Game of the Week. Pay phones. Hiding the phones from radio shack if the main phone line needed a repair technician to come to the house. Princess phones were fancy. Pin striped jeans. White corduroy OP shorts. Watched the original Star Wars movies in the theater. Sesame Street. Captain Kangaroo. Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. The Electric Company.
Cookie, thank you for all these. Being from Illinois, I called soda "pop", too. Miss the glass bottles. The only place I see them is on vacation in Italy (which isn't often), when you order lunch with a Coke and they bring out a tiny glass bottle. Cute, but not exactly thirst quenching.
Also: princess phones! I remember them. And yeah, I had the white corduroy OP shorts.
Jiffy Pop on the Stove
Green Army Men torture
Oui magazine
most prized possession - First Walkman
How to find songs on an 8 track
Bo Derek - "10"
School Cheese
Banana Seats and Kick-back gears
Cards in the spokes
You know what a clothespin is and how to use it
TAB cola
Hey! Sabrina was the hottest of Charlie’s Angels. If that makes me weird I don’t want to be normal
That's about as good an answer as I can think of. You do you, Steven, always!
You can only recite the preamble to the Constitution, or the 3 times tables, by singing them a la Schoolhouse Rock.
Ann, good call on Schoolhouse Rock. It's hard to say your Gen X if you don't know the opening line of “I’m just a bill.”
Got to stay up and watch Johnny Carson when we were on vacation
Also a treat to stay up and watch Sonny and Cher
Everyone watched "Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday night
The fact that everyone was watching the same TV show and discussed it the next day at school or work
Mad magazine, Thrifty ice cream for $0.05 a scoop,BMG and Columbia house CD subscriptions, watching American Bandstand, knowing every word to Rappers Delight, Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley, Dirty Dancing and Top Gun in the movie theaters at least 10x, the arcade at the mall playing asteroids and pac man then getting an orange Julius, BIG HAIR, aqua net extra super hold hairspray, and SO MANY MORE THINGS THAT MADE OUR GENERATION THE BEST!!
"Some small part of you still feels a little bad walking down the sidewalk staring at your phone." Oh yeah!
I knew it wasn't just me…
You tried milk and Pepsi and thought “not bad”
You thought Amos Moses was a caveman
You had Wildfire on a 45 and it had nothing to do with acres burned or percent contained.
Clint, I'm going to admit something to you but don't tell anyone else: when I was 11, I bought the 45 of "How deep is your love?"
Wish I still had it.
Like the My Sharona one. My brother had that album, and there was that rumor they were actually the Beatles.
4 wheel Roller skates that clamped onto your shoes
Peter Wheat bread
Bubble gum wrappers with a cartoon printed on the inside
Bench seats in a car so you could snuggle up to your boyfriend
Ohhhh the cosmetics and shampoo brands! Lemon Up. Gee your hair smells terrific. Herbal essence avocado. And don’t forget: Bonnie Bell Lip smackers…the big ones. Dr. Pepper flavor had a red tone. Loves Baby Soft spray. Sun-in. Sea Breeze and Noxema cleanser. Roll-on lip gloss. Probably strawberry or bubble gum flavor. And the ultimate look: Jordache jeans. Ohhhhhh so glad there’s no photographic evidence!
I'm seeing lip smackers a couple times now, and though I probably wasn't the target consumer, it clearly needs to be on this list.
Your dad told you to get up and turn the TV channel
...and get him a beer (from my memory)
Instantly puts down the phone , flips through to the knack album and drops the needle . All I need now is a pair of Dolphin shorts, a sex wax tee and a pair of Vans. Thanks for the Saturday morning living room dance . It’s nice to be silly sometimes
Love it, Suzy. You got the beat!
All of this applies to late Boomers as well!!! Born in 1963 and I remember first gear “My Sharona” sophomore year in high school. My best friend in High school was the niece of Jack Lord (Steve McGarret of Hawaii Five-O). There was a bar we used to sneak in to and the band would always play the Five-0 theme song when they saw her. 🌊🌺🌊
Mary, what a worthy tribute to adolescence: Having the house band launch into the Five-0 theme as you illegally enter a bar, because your uncle is Jack Lord. Thanks for sharing.
(Also, I should have included a bullet point, "You know who Jack Lord and Karl Malden are.")
When TV shows had theme songs. “Love Boat” and “Greatest American Hero” FTW.
Good call, em. Hawai'i Five-0 is hard to beat, imo. https://youtu.be/ASvQ-bNURn4?si=8rpoH6yJObiBq1v4
You sound like an elder Gen X like me.
I figured my HF0 reference would likely date me. But honestly, I don't remember ever watching it. I was a little too young. I do remember seeing that wave barrel, however, and thinking it looked demonic.
Ah, yes. The Twilight Zone was like that for me. A little before my time, so I was too young to appreciate it. Too creepy for me. Maybe even still. Haha!
I was watching the 50th anniversary SNL show a few weeks ago, and I thought Gen X is the perfect age to enjoy the whole span of it. We were kids for the classic, original stuff, in our 20s and 30s for all of the iconic bits, and old enough now to shake our heads at the current iteration. Ha! My age is showing.
I *do* remember the chorus to “Convoy” but would argue that “Wolf Creek Pass” was the superior CW McCall song.
Also, there’s a building in my town (Kennewick, WA) that’s been called the flash cube building for decades, as it is a square made up entirely of windows treated with reflective film. I don’t know if the kids today know what a flash cube originally was, but around here they know what it means when someone says “turn right by the flash cube building.” 😂
MaryAnne, I appreciate your note very much. I'm not familiar with Wolf Creek Pass but now I've got to listen to it. Thanks for the recommendation. Also, I can personally (if also ignorantly, seeing as how I've never been to Kennewick) guarantee that the kids today have no idea what a flash cube is or why the flash cube building is so named. At risk of sounding snarky, I'm just glad they know how to take verbal directions instead of just relying on an app to show them where to drive.
Kool aid packets where you add sugar and water and mix. Glass pop (soda) bottles: 8 oz 16 oz and 32 oz. Returning used bottles for the deposit. Televised baseball games were a treat, unless you were a Braves fan and superstation broadcast all their games. Joe garagiola and Tony Kupek for the Game of the Week. Pay phones. Hiding the phones from radio shack if the main phone line needed a repair technician to come to the house. Princess phones were fancy. Pin striped jeans. White corduroy OP shorts. Watched the original Star Wars movies in the theater. Sesame Street. Captain Kangaroo. Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. The Electric Company.
Cookie, thank you for all these. Being from Illinois, I called soda "pop", too. Miss the glass bottles. The only place I see them is on vacation in Italy (which isn't often), when you order lunch with a Coke and they bring out a tiny glass bottle. Cute, but not exactly thirst quenching.
Also: princess phones! I remember them. And yeah, I had the white corduroy OP shorts.