Lifestyle

31 March 2015

Things only women born in the ’60s and ’70s will understand.

By Bern Morley
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If you’re a child of the 60s or the 70s, it does feel like the world was a more gentle and and simple place back when we were growing up.

One where we sat down and drank TAB around the formica dining tables and then settled down to watch Countdown on a Sunday night. It was also full of objects that are now pretty much extinct. Join us for a happy wander down memory lane and see how many of these things you remember….

1. All of your “contacts” were kept in here

2. At one point, this was all you wanted for Christmas

3. This, or a variation of this, adorned your bedroom wall

4. Your lounge room had a display cabinet just like this one (for the good china)

5. Your family ate dinner here:

6. You weren’t happy unless you went home from the fair with one of these

7. You can recite Mrs Marsh and the Colgate commercials

8. Your phone was a rotary dial model attached to wall (and if you wanted to call long distance, you had to wait until after 7pm when it was cheaper)

9. ‘Avon Calling!’ was a familiar sound at your front door. And it was welcome!

10. You ordered a blue heaven ice-cream off this guy

11. Your Mum seemed a little too fond of these…

12. You made one of these as a kid

13. It was no big deal to ride in the back of the station wagon and NOT wear a seatbelt

14. You had one of these in your kitchen (you probably still do)

15. And your Mum let you lick these if you were good

16. Your haircut was inspired by these ladies

17. You often drank this:

18. The only way to put your car window down was to use one of these babies

19. You snuck someone in your boot to go here:

20. You know what these things were used for:

21. Every afternoon you came home from school and watched this blended family

22. There is pictorial evidence of you looking like this:

23. Milk was delivered to your door, in glass bottles

24. You learnt some really cool tricks from these guys.

25. You didn’t just have a record player, you had a whole sound system complete with MASSIVE speakers

26. Your Mum made all your “special” clothes from one of these:

27. Your Lounge room looked something like this

28. A house wasn’t a home if you didn’t have one of these on the wall

29. You spent hours in front of the TV watching Romper Room, waiting for your name to be called

30. This was the only kind of bike you’d be seen dead on

31. This was the only way to borrow books from the library

32. If you didn’t have one of these, you desperately wanted one

33. Your family owned one of these:

34. You always argued about who got to pull this

35. This was your favourite toy at one stage

36. If you turned on your TV after midnight, this is what you saw:

37. You used these to put your hair up in pigtails (or your Mum did)

38. You spent hours trying master this

39. You spent your Sunday nights watching this

40. You were in love with at least one of these people (Let’s face it, it was Potsie)

Anything we missed? Let us know below.

Here are the comments

Susan Gibson

I remember all of these…Times were great then…Simple, Fun…and Wonderful
Alicia Cram

How about Tang? Pink Pussycat Icecreams?
And the cartoons about all the fairytale characters? The characters would ride on a rainbow…cant think of what it was called
Jane Akshar

I had spirograph and bloody loved it! Some of the other stuff was not in the UK though
Colleen Donnellan Wilson

Barbie dolls, full size GI Joes, Captain Kangaroo, fondue, harvest gold appliances, and one rotary phone that came with the house and lasted until u moved out, Mitch Miller,and variety shows. Full service gas stations, cloth diapers, A&W Root Beer eat in your car, drive in movies, mom and pop grocery stores, Dime stores, penny candy….
Tami Susan Maddie

I remember the majority of these!
Lorraine

For real????? Who cares when colour tv happened. Thought this was about fun facts. Why be bitter???? have a giggle, show your children and grow up.
Molly

Knuckle bones from real lamb.
Jodie Milde

ready mr squiggle, yes miss jane
Rowdy

What about 5th November every year ? “Guy Fawkes” day ….. the day we could light huge bonfires and let off “Crackers” (Fireworks) without getting thrown in jail for arson !!!!!
Tony

I’m from the 40’s and want to know why you women think everything is just about you and you want the credit.
Who do you think invented all this stuff ? Women???? Not likely,
Stop making false claims.
Get Real ladies and stop being so ridiculously Self Centred.
- Bridget McNamara
  
  FYI this is a blog written by, for, and about women: the “only” in the title refers to those (women) born in those decades – it does not preclude men, but rather assumes that few men would be reading! Perhaps you might be better, Tony, finding more appropriate reading material. (Also FYI, neither ‘real’ nor ‘self centred’ need capitalization. Neither does ‘Colour’ in your earlier post. If you’re going to bore us with puerile rants, at least do it properly.)
  - Tony
    
    Read above
- Hollie Woodward-Bedford
  
  Maybe the woman who wrote this blog didn’t realize there were men who wanted the hair of the Charlie’s Angels. Do you also read the women magazines, too, since you are reading a blog from a woman that was made for women?
  - Tony
    
    No wonder other women have so much trouble in their lives with you sexists around….Grow Up
    - Hollie Woodward-Bedford
      
      I have no trouble in my life because I give my troubles to God. And I am the furthest from sexist that you’ll ever meet. I can’t stand the way most women portray themselves. Most times, it’s disgusting. And as far as the comment of growing up, well, it was very mature of you. I was simply stating the fact that you commented on a post written by a woman and started throwing your manhood around. Could the title of this blog been worded differently, sure. Could men have experienced some of the things from this blog? Absolutely. But it doesn’t mean you should make a comment that lumps all women into one group that you feel has a superiority complex. My faith in God says that I should obey my husband, and I do. So, in no way does that mean I believe I’m superior, or sexist as you call it. And also, some of this stuff was thought up by women. No where in the blog does it say women are looking for credit for any of it. . Besides, the only ones that should get credit for their accomplishments are the ones who accomplished it. I surely don’t take credit for anything I didn’t do. That would just be ridiculous.
Melui Barrow

I was born in ’93 and I still grew up with half this stuff.

In fact, we still have 33 and at least a couple other things.
Deborah

Countdown
Tracy Sorensen

Hobbytex!
Kim Magee

yep loved Potsie :)
Melanie Cossey

OMG those bobble things really hurt your head!
Jan-nine Bonnett

I miss the simple times from the 70’s that is when families didnt avoid each other from offences or other stupid stuff that we do now lol. being around the table and connecting so boring then but what I wouldn’t give to have it back.
Traicy Laing

Thank you this just brought a smile to my face I remember them all, but you forgot those bloody click clack thingys that use to make your wrists black and blue if you didn’t get it right lol
Raelee22

I was born at the end of 1949 and remember all of these things too. Should change the heading to 50s, 60s and 70s. We still have one of the address books.
Robert Tilbury

number 96 ,, we were sent to bed when the music started ,,,,
Aaron

I guess all the men just walked around dumb and blind in those days. Glad times have changed.
- Tony
  
  If you took notice of everything the women claim Aaron, you could easily get that impression. However, in the Real World, the Facts are drastically different.
AussieWaterdragon

I know all of these. ’52 was a good year!
Jeffrey

About number 36 yes you did see that on T.V. after midnight back in the 60’s but colour T.V. didn’t start appearing until 1975 – no colour in those days and you know what??? we loved it I watched my black and white portable in my room until my 21st birthday when I was given a colour set
- Linda
  
  Maybe you didn’t have color until 75, but Color TV’s first appeared in 1954. In the 1965 fall season over half the prime time shows were broadcast in color, and that’s when sales really took off. In the fall of 1966 all Prime time shows were in color. I watched the moon landing in 69 on our 13 inch 1967 GE color TV. We were the last in out neighborhood to get a color TV
  - Graham Walters
    
    On Australia we didn’t have colour Tv until 1975
    - Tony
      
      Rubbish, I was watching it in Melb in ’72
      and believe Australia actually had Colour TV about 10 years before that…..Check your facts first
      - Bridget McNamara
        
        Think you may be a bit confused as to where you actually were in ’72, Tony. Colour test transmissions did not begin in earnest on Australian television until October 1974 and the first colour broadcast was 1st March 1975 – perhaps it is you who ought to “check you facts first”…and your memory. Whilst it is true that a (very) few events were broadcast in colour prior to 1975, the full changeover to colour transmission did not occur until 1975, whilst the first test colour transmission – the Packenham races – was made in 1967, not 1962. So it is in fact your claim that is “rubbish”… you may have ‘watched’ (or rather ‘seen’) colour TV in Melbourne in 1972 but you certainly weren’t ‘watching’ it.
        
        Jeffrey
        
        I’ve started quite an argument!!! I knew it was ’75 but a quick check of Google and Wikipedia just now definitely says that ” 1 March 1975: At midnight, colour television is introduced across the country.”
        
        Tony
        
        I have no argument with that it was finally introduced “Across the Country” in 1975.. But it was available prior to 1975….Wikipedia: “Test broadcasting of colour began in the late 1960s. In 1967 ATV-0 telecast the Pakenham races in colour under the supervision of the Broadcasting Control Board.[45] The full changeover to colour transmission did not occur until 1975.”
        
        In other words very few people would have actually owned a colour TV until 1975 or later…..
        
        Graham Walters
        
        Colour Television was not available to the general public until 1975. The first show broadcast in colour was Auntie Jack. The characters gradually changed from black & white to colour during the show. Tony, I usually make sure of my facts first but in this case I didn’t even have to. You should not insult people you don’t even know without even checking your facts first.
        
        Kaitlyn Lawrence
        
        I remember that – it was amazing how they did it, I can never forget that Aunty Jack episode, ever ;)
        I was only 8 though, so even just TV was amazing to me then :)
      - Anthony23
        
        Colour 10 years prior to 1975 in Australia? Check YOUR facts first. Amazing in this day and age people are just too darn lazy to look these things up on the Internet.
        
        Wikipedia: “Test broadcasting of colour began in the late 1960s. In 1967 ATV-0 telecast the Pakenham races in colour under the supervision of the Broadcasting Control Board.[45] The full changeover to colour transmission did not occur until 1975.”
        
        In other words very few people would have actually owned a colour TV until 1975 or later.
      - Graham Walters
        
        Tony, you owe me an apology!
      - Kaitlyn Lawrence
        
        I guess it was because you were in a large city in 1972. In Canberra we didn’t get the test and then full time colour until 1975. I remember clearly as I was 8yrs old and I didn’t want to go to ‘Brownies’ on the day they did the 15 minute colour test, which was a cartoon.
Erin Sheppard

Young talent time Debbie Brynnes johnny young my mum still has the owl hanger and the drink jug lol. Now those were the days my wall paper was holly hobbie and our house inside was green flower wall paper and green kitchen what about hr huffin puff now that was a great show
Fiona Wrigley

Also loved Magic Circle Club and Aunty Jack, and coming home from school to watch Flashez of an afternoon with Ray Burgess, not to mention Cartoon Corner with Skeeter the paperboy.
- Graham Walters
  
  Now you’re talking!
Tiffany Swinton

I remember all and had most of those items in my house!! Potsie was indeed the cutest, but Fonzie was the coolest dude in the universe! He got me onto Suzie Quatro who I still listen too, on the highest volume possible!
Callie Ge

I was born in 1964 & I know all of these things.
Bec Dodds

I was born in 1989 and grew up with most of these!! Oh how I miss the old days growing up!!
Elvis Fundak

Fair few of these apply to the fellas, too! Just needs more Soda Stream…
Lynnie Alexander

I was born in 1954 and I know about 75% of these.
Spring Witch

I was born in 1988 and know about more than half of this stuff.
Jackie Tracy

All except the car-related ones…we didn’t have a car.
http://www.rosehipsandrhubarb.com Rosehips and Rhubarb

I picked up a bee thinking it was Mr Doo-Bee and got stung. Mu mum rang Channel 7 complaining that a bee was a stupid character for pre-schoolers.
Lou

Why is this just about women? I was born in 1969 and I remember most of this shit too. What I CAN’T remember is lunch yesterday…
- Anthony
  
  You are a woman
  - Lou
    
    And you are a soft cock. What’s your point?
- Mandy Rowlands
  
  “Debrief Daily” is a branch of “Mamamia” for ladies of a certain age, like me. I am sure we are all happy you read it.
  - Lou
    
    The link to this was on my newsfeed in Facebook. Regardless of the demographic this site is aimed at, the title says “Things only women born in the ’60s and ’70s will understand”. This is incorrect, pure and simple
AlyssaKT

I was born in 1980. Claim debunked
Gemma Anne

Countdown was on Sunday night, but it was replayed on Saturdays.
- Bern
  
  Changed! :)
Helen Walker Scott

I thought Countdown was on sunday nights
- Bern
  
  Amended – apologies :)
  - Sue Kealy
    
    actually, it was Sunday and Saturday. Saturday was last week’s repeated.
Sand Krof

A lot of these things I still use and covet. Chances are, your very first mobile or computer is nowhere to be seen. All of this stuff was well made, still around AND working. I assure you, landfill was a lot less filled in those days.
Angelou Raphaela

Ah, the memories!
Libby Willis

I was actually ON Romper Room! But obviously didn’t understand I’d be on TV, as when watching it a few weeks later, said to my mum “Look mummy, that girl’s got the same dress as me!” Remember that like it was yesterday, not nearly 50yrs ago!!
- Bern
  
  Ha! My cousin was on it and wet his pants. He doesn’t tell that story much :)
  - EmilyA1984
    
    Please say they edited that out.
  - Sheryl Phillips
    
    I think I saw that episode ;)
- Chelsea Perrett
  
  I’m really jealous that you were on romper room!!
- Jazz
  
  Ha, jealous much!! I remember going to kindy and telling everyone that I was on it!
- Kay Riley
  
  My daughter, Katherine, was on it circa 1980 and 14 years prior to that my youngest brother, Jim, was also on it. They were very much a shy pair. Libby are you front West Ryde area with a brother Matthew, by any chance??