Free For All Posted April 22, 2004 Report Posted April 22, 2004 I was thinking the other day about an alarm clock I got for Christmas in the early 70s. It was marketed as a "digital" clock, but was really a mechanical device where the digits changed by flopping over rolodex-style. Anyone remember these? Plus it was noisy, but it seemed cool at the time. The alarm was one of those jarring loud buzzers that jolted you out of sleep. I like my current alarm much better- one of those that starts soft and gradually gets louder. I also remember buying those cheap styrofoam/balsa gliders. And my little gas-powered dune buggy (you know, with one of those Cox .049 or whatever engines). No radio control, you just started it up and let it go. And it had one of those purple "metalflake" paint jobs. Groovy. I also used to build model cars obsessively. I'd sit for hours in front of all that glue and paint- I expect I fried part of my brain. Oh well........ And in high school jazz band concerts we used to wear "dashikis". At that time it was cool- remember the Thad/Mel band attire from the 70s? Anyone have memories of interesting low-tech gadgets, hobbies, nostalgia, etc. from yesteryear? Quote
rachel Posted April 22, 2004 Report Posted April 22, 2004 I was thinking the other day about an alarm clock I got for Christmas in the early 70s. It was marketed as a "digital" clock, but was really a mechanical device where the digits changed by flopping over rolodex-style. Anyone remember these? Plus it was noisy, but it seemed cool at the time. The alarm was one of those jarring loud buzzers that jolted you out of sleep. ahem... I still have mine. Got it when I was about 10. Still works. I use it as my "second alarm that wakes me up from snoozing after my first alarm goes off". Nice thing about it is that it doesn't skip a beat when I have power surges whereas my digital one just blinks. My third alarm is a really cool travel alarm from The Sharper Image. Three alarms? Don't even ask. Quote
WD45 Posted April 22, 2004 Report Posted April 22, 2004 The Reebok Pump. Man, did I ever want a pair of those... Quote
Jim R Posted April 22, 2004 Report Posted April 22, 2004 I was thinking the other day about an alarm clock I got for Christmas in the early 70s. It was marketed as a "digital" clock, but was really a mechanical device where the digits changed by flopping over rolodex-style. Anyone remember these? Plus it was noisy, but it seemed cool at the time. The alarm was one of those jarring loud buzzers that jolted you out of sleep. I had that clock- got mine in the early 70's too (mine had a white case). I got rid of it over 25 years ago, and I STILL can't get over how much I STILL hate that goddamned thing! Gadgets... did anybody else have one of those little reel-to-reel tape recorders for kids? The reels were about 3" in diameter, as I recall. I had two of them, both Japanese I think. That's the first thing my friends got into when they came over to play. Man, will people make fools of themselves with one of those... kind of like karaoke, but worse! Fads... the first thing that comes to mind is a pair of pants I had back in the early 70's... red and green plaid... corduroy... bell bottoms... with cuffs. Otherwise, I never got sucked into fads... except for my other pair of plaid bell bottoms, that is. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted April 22, 2004 Report Posted April 22, 2004 The Reebok Pump. Man, did I ever want a pair of those... Remember that Chris Rock bit from SNL about the pump? Quote
Jazzmoose Posted April 22, 2004 Report Posted April 22, 2004 Jim, I remember those. My "outfit of shame" was a pair of saddle shoe style stacks worn with burgandy elephant bell cords and a wild print polyester shirt. With ridiculously wide collar, of course. And I had the nerve to make fun of polyseter leisure suits? Combine the elephant bells with hours of watching "Kung Fu", and I was informed that every kick allowed full display of my underwear... Quote
catesta Posted April 22, 2004 Report Posted April 22, 2004 Did any of you guys have one of those things that cut coke bottles in half to make glasses out of them? Quote
couw Posted April 22, 2004 Report Posted April 22, 2004 Did any of you guys have one of those things that cut coke bottles in half to make glasses out of them? I didn't Quote
Jazzmoose Posted April 23, 2004 Report Posted April 23, 2004 Did any of you guys have one of those things that cut coke bottles in half to make glasses out of them? No, but apparently they still make 'em! I saw some in a craft store a couple of weeks ago. Amazing... Quote
Christiern Posted April 23, 2004 Report Posted April 23, 2004 (edited) In the late 1960s I bought my first telephone answering machine. It physically lifted the receiver off the hook and held it over a speaker. One advantage was that one's message started as soon as the phone was picked up, which made it easy to trick people into identifying themselves. The worst thing was that if one wished to pretend not being home, one had to shut of TV, stereo, etc., and sit in absolute silence until the machine put the receiver back on the hook! Going back even farther (to 1948), my first tape recorder was a device, with very small reels, that sat on top of my turntable and was driven by it. Of course the speed changed as one reached the end of the tape, so it couldn't be played on an ordinary machine. The machine was a Danish Magnavox, and it used any radio as an amp. Edited April 23, 2004 by Christiern Quote
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted April 23, 2004 Report Posted April 23, 2004 I was thinking the other day about an alarm clock I got for Christmas in the early 70s. It was marketed as a "digital" clock, but was really a mechanical device where the digits changed by flopping over rolodex-style. Anyone remember these? Yep, I even remember where it came from......the Lechmere up in Danvers, Mass. Quote
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted April 23, 2004 Report Posted April 23, 2004 One advantage was that one's message started as soon as the phone was picked up, which made it easy to trick people into identifying themselves. The worst thing was that if one wished to pretend not being home, one had to shut of TV, stereo, etc., and sit in absolute silence until the machine put the receiver back on the hook! Why do I have this mental image of Chris sitting on the sofa, G&T in hand, giggling away in the dark with a hand firmly clasped over his mouth to muffle the laughter? Quote
Aftab Posted April 23, 2004 Report Posted April 23, 2004 An old Tascam 4 track recorder and a Korg 800 synth - I still have volumes of recordings. I used Mattel Synsonics Drums for the rhythm track - good stuff. Quote
Free For All Posted April 23, 2004 Author Report Posted April 23, 2004 (edited) Quisp vs. Quake...............your thoughts? Old big GI Joe (pre-hair)vs. new tiny GI Joe......... Major Matt Mason.............. Incredible Edibles/Thingmaker*............. Sno-cone machine*............ Strombecker 1/32 scale slot cars........... Mouse Trap game*............ Operation game*............. Rock'em Sock'em Robots*............. *these are things I was totally jonesin' for and never got. I apologize to our international friends for these obscure references to lame 70s American pop culture..... Edited April 23, 2004 by Free For All Quote
brownie Posted April 23, 2004 Report Posted April 23, 2004 I apologize to our international friends for these obscure references to lame 70s American pop culture..... No need to apologize. A very fascinating thread. You people on the other side of the water are really strange Quote
Jazzmoose Posted April 23, 2004 Report Posted April 23, 2004 Free for All, the Mousetrap game was everything you ever imagined and more! Damn... Of course, we never actually played the stupid game; we'd just put it all together once in a while and watch the fun! Quote
JSngry Posted April 23, 2004 Report Posted April 23, 2004 I asked for a Lie Detector game every Christmas and never got one. Got most everything else, but never that. Visited soem family friends one time and their kid had one. I was so juiced that I ate spinich for supper. Quote
BruceH Posted April 27, 2004 Report Posted April 27, 2004 I was thinking the other day about an alarm clock I got for Christmas in the early 70s. It was marketed as a "digital" clock, but was really a mechanical device where the digits changed by flopping over rolodex-style. Anyone remember these? Yeah, I had one of those for a few years. Ugly damn thing; don't miss it. Quote
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