A Girl in the 70s

Stolen from Coiled Soul. I’ve italicized the ones that relate to me.

You were a little girl in the 70s if…

You wore a rainbow shirt that was half-sleeves, and the rainbow went up one sleeve, across your chest, and down the other. – maybe not that drastic, but I did have rainbow inspired clothes.

You made baby chocolate cakes in your Easy Bake Oven and washed them down with snow cones from your Snoopy Snow Cone Machine.

You had that Fisher Price Doctor’s Kit with a stethoscope that actually worked. I didn’t, but my neighbor Lisa Hein did.

You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it.

You learned to skate with actual skates (not roller blades) that had metal wheels.

You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute (admit it!)

You had nightmares after watching Fantasy Island.

You had rubber boots for rainy days and Moon boots for snowy days.

You had either a “bowl cut” or “pixie,” not to mention the “Dorothy Hamill” because your Mom was sick of braiding your hair. People sometimes thought you were a boy. – and don’t forget the “Toni Tennille” haircut either!

Your Holly Hobbie sleeping bag was your most prized possession. – I don’t know if I had the sleeping bag, but I did own Holly Hobbie stuff.

You wore a poncho, gauchos, and knickers.

You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon.

You had the Donnie and Marie dolls with those pink and purple satiny shredded outfits.

You spent hours in your backyard on your metal swing set with the trapeze. The swing set tipped over at least once.

You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color. These were big when I lived in Washington State. Especially once I saw “Xanadu” eight times.

You had a pair of Doctor Scholl’s sandals (the ones with hard sole & the buckle). You also had a pair of salt-water sandals.

You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; you wore that Little House on the Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffle shirt with the high neck in at least one school picture; and you despised Nellie Olson! This one made me laugh because I DID have a plaid ruffle shirt on in one school picture and I DID hate Nellie Olson!

You wanted your first kiss to be at a roller rink. ha ha ha! That’s so funny! My favorite hangout was the Roller Barn on Saturday afternoons from 2-4 p.m.

Your hairstyle was described as having “wings” or “feathers” and you kept it “pretty” with the comb you kept in your back pocket.

You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie.

You carried a Muppets Disco themed lunch box to school and it was metal, not plastic.

You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend.

Every now ! and then “It’s a Hard Knock Life” from the movie, “Annie” will pop into your brain and you can’t stop singing it the whole day.

YOU had Star Wars action figures, too! No, but my childhood friend Jeff had EVERY TOY IMAGINABLE!

It was a big event in your household each year when the “Wizard of Oz” would come on TV. Your mom would break out the popcorn and sleeping bags! I don’t know if it was THAT big of an event, but we did watch it every year for a while there.

You often asked your Magic-8 ball the question: “Who will I marry -Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett or Rick Springfield?”

You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack record album. Too funny. My friends and I would re-enact the dance sequences from “Grease” at our slumber parties.

You tried to do lots of arts and crafts, like yarn and Popsicle-stick God’s eyes, decoupage, or those weird potholders made on a plastic loom. I also remember learning macrame in the sixth grade.

You made Shrinky-Dinks and put iron-on kittens on your t-shirts!

You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker. I didn’t do this only in the 1970s. I did it well into the late 80s.

You couldn’t wait to get the free animal poster that came when you ordered books from the Weekly Reader book club. Double score if it was a teddy bear dressed in clothing. I used to LOVE Weekly Reader book club!

You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues from Judy Blume books (Are you there God, It’s me, Margaret). At one point I had 90% of her books. Then she released “Wifey” and somehow my collecting came to an end.

You thought Olivia Newton John’s song “Physical” was about aerobics. I had a sneaking suspicion, though.

You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rainbow designs.

You wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer. That’s so sad. But it’s true. I did.

You had a Big Wheel with a brake on the side, and a Sit-n-Spin.

You had subscriptions to Dynamite and Tiger Beat. I didn’t have subscriptions, but I would go cover to cover in the stores.

You spent all your allowance on smurfs and stickers for your sticker album! Smurfs yes. I remember Jerry Richmond and I would hang out at his house and trade them after school when I was in fifth/sixth grade.