This Friday, I am stealing this "flashback" of horrid retro images idea
from Peg at Straight Up-No Chaser. I decided to raid the pages of the old photo albums my mother has been passing on to me the last few years.
Unfortunately, there was no concept of archival preservation of photos in those days--the album pages have yellowed and the photos(many of them Polaroids) have discolored(taking on a yellowish hue) and faded with time, too. So, this one is very fuzzy..and very yellow.
This is my sister(far left--holding onto her beloved "Oma" bear which she had until it disintegrated when she was in her twenties), my freshly permed haired mother holding onto my brother's hand(beautiful little boy, wasn't he?),
and at the far right--Your's Truly with pretty much the same hair I have to this day--frizzy and wavy and shoulder-length.
I was nine years old at the time. And, thankfully, my bare skinny legs(wearing white socks and black patent leather shoes) are not visible. I was a stick back then!
My father must have taken this while we waited at Boston's Logan airport in the summer of 1972. We were flying on a Lufthansa 747 to Berlin, Germany(then still called West Germany) to spend the summer with my mother's parents.
My mother, who had only learned how to sew a year or so before this, had sewn our matching yellow "traveling outfits" out of this thick(and scratchy) yellow polyester material. It seems I have lots of memories of uncomfortable clothing from that time of life. I was a "good girl" who was taught not to complain, so I just suffered in silence for the most part.
Check out the woven handbags we are all carrying(although my brother has a red leather
shoulder "man bag"(boy bag?)!
I am pretty sure I remember our bags were filled with gum, mint Tic Tacs(new on the market at the time) and some felt tip pen sets and little drawing pads my father brought home to us from his "5 & 10 store"(there's another retro memory waiting to be written about!). I know for a fact that in my bag there was a brand new four-color(red, blue, black and green ink choices) retractable Bic pen. A hot new item at the time, and...it is still being made!!!(found it available here). I loved that pen.
4 comments:
Through movies, I have notices how in the past people had a dress code when travelling on planes. My friend's dad remembers that, and when he saw her in her jeans, ready to board the plane (back some 14 years ago) on our way to Mexico (my only abroad, plane trip) he was in awe and very upset. Times have definitely change!
Thanks for sharing your experience and your memories. Isn't it great to spend some time looking at pictures and remembering? I love to do that!
have a great day!
What a fun trip down memory lane. I too LOVED that pen.
I love how you were all properly decked in your finery to travel. I wish people still did that. okay except without the scratchy part.
And the 5 and dime! OMG that brought back some memories. 5 & 10 and 5 & dime is what i used to hear my mom call it.
Great Flashback hope you do it again.
~Claidia,
Yes, I can remember when there was a more formal dress code for things like going out, to church, traveling, etc. In a way, I am glad the "rules" are more relaxed now, but sometimes, when I see how sloppy and tasteless some people dress out in public, I wish things were a little more like they used to be.
~Peg,
My father managed McCrory's stores back in the day(do you rmemeber that chain? Kind of lkike Woolworth's)--dime store heaven!.
I keep missing all these cool posts!
We had a 5 & 10 in our town when I was growing up.
I need to get the scanner out and do some damage.
Post a Comment