A monster list of memories for Australians who grew up in the 1970s.
You know you’re a child of the ’70s if …
1. You had a Scalextrics set
Image credit: fs-collectibles.com
2. You can recite McDonald’s Big Mac song: Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.
Image credit: meandmybigmouth.com.au
3. You used Perkins Paste at school
Image credit: Pinterest
4. You remember paper money
Image credit: http://www.vision.net.au/
5. Every home had a spider plant
Image credit: Notes of Nature
6. Deciding between Redskins, Milkos or Choo Choo bars at the tuck shop was a daily problem
Image credit: shopify.com
7. Your Mum had a glow mesh purse
Image source: Etsy
8. You could make a cat’s cradle
Image credit: ifyoulovetoread.com
9. You challenged your friend to go around the world or to walk the dog
Image credit: vintageculture.net
10. Your soft drink can had a ring pull, until it was replaced by the push tab
Image source: eBay, Image source: Angel Fire
11. You chanted England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales while playing elastics
Image source: The Daily Edge
12. Your Dunlop Volleys always wore away in the same spot
Image source: Wikipedia
13. You got splinters from a wooden sea-saw
Image source: playgroundology
14. You burnt your bum or the back of your legs on a metal slide
Image source: Preservation in Pink
15. You loved getting creative with Fashion Plates
Image source: Etsy
16. You set Test Match up in your living room
Image source: The Wasted Afternoons
17. You taped your favourite song off the radio
Image source: Pinterest
18. KB was in the fridge
Image source: Spakatak
19. You got up at 6am to watch The Thunderbirds on Saturday morning
Image source: thunderbirds.wikia.com
20. The Curiosity Show amazed you every Friday afternoon
Image source: The Daily Telegraph
21. Golliwog Biscuits weren’t considered offensive
Image source: Museum Victoria
22. You watched Fat Albert during the Hey Hey It’s Saturday morning children’s program
Image source: Fotolog
23. Flower seats and baskets were normal bike accessories for girls
Image source: Gumtree
24. You know the relationship between these two
Image source: Top Makeup Brushes Wal and WikiMedia
25. You held on for dear life when playing on this
Image source: Strawberry Lemonade
26. You pegged a playing card to your bike spokes
Image source: democraticunderground.com
27. Your Funk & Wagnells filled a bookcase
Image Source: eBay
28. All the girls had rainbow coloured streamers hanging from their handlebars
Image source: Pinterest
29. You loved eating a Sunny-boy
Image source: Pinterest
30. You licked your Paddle Pop stick to win a prize
Image source: island republic
31. You know someone who wore JC’s
Image source: Pinterest
32. You can still sing along to the closing tune on Young Talent Time
Image source: Pinterest
33. You didn’t get to the shops before midday on Saturday then nothing was open again until Monday
Image source: Wikipedia
34. You made daisy chains your friends
Image source: Attic 24
35. You always finished the chocolate strip first in the tub of Neapolitan ice cream
Image source: Moxie Fab World
36. You hoped Miss Helena would say your name when she looked into the magic mirror
Image source: Linny J Creations
37. You nearly broke your neck with these
Image source: Etsy
38. You impressed your friends with boot roller skates
Image source: Etsy
39. You had to go to the chemist to get your film developed and waited weeks to get them back
Image source: Daniel Bowen
40. You were the legend of your street if you had a green machine
Image source: retro thing
41. The milkman delivered milk bottles to your front door
Image source: abc.net.au
42. The garbage man threw your rubbish into the truck
Image source: cclc.vic.gov.au
43. You hated it when your record skipped
Source Image: kinta valley audio
44. Your Mum used olive oil to clean out your ears
Source Image: Pinterest
45. You marvelled as you watched Mrs Marsh get it in
Image source: peteracross.wordpress.com
46. You remember Madge the Manicurist soaking in it
Image source: You Tube
47. You rugged up for Cracker night every June long weekend and filled your pockets with Throw Downs
Image source: asampler
48. You wore a calculator watch
Image source: Gizmodo
49. You thought Ponch and Jon were cool
Image source: Soda Head
50. You had a Captain Marvel comic
Image source: My Comic Shop
51. You know what time of the day you saw this
Image source: You Tube
52. On the odd occasion you were up late enough you would hear God Save The Queen playing before the ABC channel stopped transmitting for the night
Image source: Archives QLD
53. You laughed along with the Banana Splits
Image source: eBay
54. You knew who your friend was when things got tough
Image source: Mikeys Puppetry Blog
55. You happily rode your bike with your friends, no helmets
Image source: Business Insider Australia
56. Your family dressed in matching terry towelling clothes
Image source: stylingyou.com.au
57. You had a bowl haircut and didn’t care, because everyone else had one too
Image source: portraited.com
58. Your dragster bike with gear levers was your pride and joy
Image source: aussieveedubbers.com
59. You watched the Paul Hogan show and wondered what was wrong with Strop
Image source: news.com.au
60. Big bubbles were no trouble with Hubba Bubba
Image source: Flickr
61. You knew someone with these
Image source: Etsy
62. Serious decision making was made with Eeny Meany Miny Moe – without thinking twice about who got caught by the toe
Image source: Tumblr
63. You know who this is
Image source: inthefrontroom.blogspot
64. It wasn’t unusual to walk through saloon or swinging doors in someone’s house
Image source: Pinterest
56. You remember the bionic sound Steve Austin made
Image source: Christmas History
66. You wanted to pat Woodrow
Image source: YouTube
67. You wondered if other parts of Skylab’s debris were going to fall on your house
Image source: history.com
68. You played tricks dialling 199 on the phone, making it call back
Image source: eBay
69. You got the best-selling Christmas gift for 1979
Image source: retro.mmgn.com
70. Your Mum cooked meat and three veg 7 nights a week
Image source: Bake Bike Blog
71. You swapped football cards with your friends at school
Image source: eBay
72. Every parent had a Bank Card
Image source: Wikipedia
73. You know who Starchild, The Demon, Space Ace and Catman are
Image source: Follow FM
74. All of the cool places had Space Invaders
Image source: Arcade Museum
75. You thought the Fonz was cool and didn’t think it was weird that he hung out in the toilets with school kids
Image source: mike cronis blogspot
76. You remember bucket seat belts
Image source: www.impalas.com
77. Your Mum smoked Alpine Lights
Image source: Blurbs from the Burbs
78. You jumped on your vinyl trampoline after squirting it with dish washing liquid
Image source: Bateman’s Bay Post
79. You couldn’t wait to buy a 20c bag of lollies
Image source: tooaskew.com
80. Ankle socks with pom poms stopped your socks getting sucked into your sandshoe
Image source: Pinterest
81. You think 1979 smells like this
Image source: reefsun.com.au
82. You remember Oil of Ulan looking like this
Image source: Suburban Jubilee
83. Your Mum’s favourite cologne was 4711
Image source: Etsy
84. This looks familiar
Image source: www.vacuumland.org
85. You cheered Skippy for knowing what to do when someone was in trouble
Image source: nomnompaleo.com
86. Your first camera looked something like this
Image source: filmphotographyproject.com
87. You remember public telephones looking like this
Image source: Flickr
88. You spent hours clicking through your View-Master
Image source: Pinterest
89. Someone you know had a Holly Hobbie bedspread
Image source: Flickr
90. You styled Barbie’s hair and did her makeup
Image source: Pinterest
91. You saw Betsy Clark illustrations everywhere
Image source: Pinterest
92. You pretended to smoke a packet of fags
Image source: Murder By Media
93. You loved sitting in one of these
Image source: Houzz
94. You know what these are
Image source: Indulgy
95. You carried around a lucky rabbit’s foot
Image source: Pinterest
96. You loved sitting in the booth at Pizza Hut
Image source: Pinterest
97. You begged your parents for Crazy Foam
Image source: Tumblr
98. You took your leather hippie purse everywhere
Image source: Pinterest
99. You drank Tang
Image source: Cracker Night
100. You knew the Benny Hill Show theme song
Image source: dbsvantage
Have I missed one of your favourites? Join the conversation below!
Mr coles funny picture books,Tread shoes the top plated suede and the bottom tyer rubber!
COOL list. Thanks Kylie Brown. 🙂
What happened to slaps?? as I knew them to be called , velvet strapped thongs with bamboo base??
I’d love to be able to buy them
Loved the list….maybe include playing marbles, Jacks and for the girls, the tennis ball inside a stocking (how many know the name of?) which we would use against a wall.
Copper tone or baby oil for those summer tans, shirred-elastic topsor anything made of cheesecloth!
Ugh boots became the latest winter accessory to wear with our suede or sheep wool/fur- lined coates.
Sunday baked dinners with “bubble n squeak” the next morning for brekky.
Home made pea n ham soup (left-overs stored in tuppaware containers) and peach cobblers were a tasty treat on a cold night! Mum had a copy of Margaret Fullten’s cookbook along with a Women’s Weekly Recipe Card Library.
The Breville sandwich maker hadn’t been invented yet but there was always the jaffle iron!
Brady Bunch, Lost in Space, and Gilligan’s island repeats after school. Thunderbirds with Golden Gaytimes on Saturday mornings. Razz iceblocks razing your inside upper lip. Balfours matchstick pastries (in Adelaide) and honey flavoured sugared sticky buns in school lunch bags from the tuckshop. The Skyhooks album cover that had an illustration of a half-finger a crazed fan had sent to the band (?! stared at that one in revulsion in the Target record section for ages while my mum did other stuff). Green swirly-glass vases with pointy stoppers and glass cottonball jars from Target to give mum on mothers day.. Arnotts had Swiss Cream biscuits in the late 1970s. Richard Hudnutt egg creme shampoo (was actually liquid gold!). Chokito bars I got sick of after eating almost every school day for 2 months. I had the Dragster with pink sparkly seat and sparkly gel-like handlebars – and streamers. Roman sandals at school in Adelaide. The “Tahiti looks nice” Imperial Leather posh ad.
Anyone recall the KFC jingle from 1978? “A drive isnt funny – on an empty tummy – thank goodness for Kentucky Fried?”