We didn't get a TV set until I was in kindergarten, circa 1870....I mean 1970. It was a black & white number, probably 15 inches, with the "bunny ears" antenna that we put aluminum foil on to get better reception. Sometimes we had to find the perfect configuration for the bunny ears, usually an X.
I mean, when you only get three channels, you really want good reception. And when you can only watch one hour of TV a day, and the shows must be mutually agreed upon by your sisters, then reception is really important. (This was in the era when kids knew what the dial in "Don't touch that dial" was. Just like they knew that records were made of vinyl, and the difference between a 45 and a 78 was not a math problem resulting in 33, but 33 was reaalllly slow.)
Back in those days, we actually paid attention to commercials, too. (Unless we had to use them to do dishes in three-minute spurts.)
Here are some commercials I remember from my youth. See if you can come up with the product without help. I'll either quote the slogan or describe the part of the ad I can recall. Try for 10/10. ,okay?
1. "Brush your breath, brush your breath, brush your breath with __________."
2. "the Quicker Picker-upper"
3. "plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh-what-a-relief-it-is"
4. "two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun"
5. this was a luggage brand where an ape stomps on the hardside suitcase and/or it flies off the rooftop carrier of a van...and never is the worse for wear
6. "Let your fingers do the walking; it's a snap."
7. this is a smiling, larger-than-life clear pitcher filled with red sugar water, and if you were the kind of mom who served this to your kids and the neighborhood kids, you were the quintessential mom
8. "Where's the beef?"
9. "I can't believe I ate the whooooole thing."
10. "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking."
And for the extra credit question, "How do you spell 'relief'?"
What's your score? Remember any other commercials from the 70s?
6 comments:
OH, my goodness, we didn't get a TV until I was in the 3rd grade. My kids cannot believe that. And, it was HUGE by today's standards and how well I remember the bunny ears. How funny!
And, I got 10 for 10 and what fun to recall all those commercials.
So, you had already figured out I was a firstborn. Guess we're fairly easy to peg. Blessings to you!
1. Dentyne
2. Bounty!
3. Alka Seltzer
4. McDonald's Quarter Pounder (Gotta admit, I liked this one a lot!)
5. Oh yeah! What was the product name? I remember the ape and the rooftop, but what's the name of the luggage? Samsonite?
6. Yellow Pages
7. Kool-Aid had some kool Smiley Pitcher commercials that made me thirst for kool-aid!
8. Burger King
9. It's on the tip of my tongue... Tums? Or was that "Tum tu Tum Tum"? Anyway did it look as though someone was having tummy trouble with some sort of special camera effect? I remember this one made me a bit queasy.
10. Timex
You're a teacher at heart! Extra Crrredit!!
R-O-L-A-I-D-S
Remember the Head and Shoulders commercials which set out to convince us that many potential dates were spoiled because of DANDRUFF and so many dates were saved because of Head and Shoulders!? Did Head and Shoulders have a jingle or slogan?
I think it was from a 70's commercial that I learned that "You ain't got a thing if you ain't got that _____!!"
There was another commercial featuring Pssst! Hair Spray/Instant Shampoo. Remember? Remember who the spokesperson was?
PS Love the title and use of "X"!! I'm jazzed that you're jazzed and able to write in this challenge!
Quarter Pounder? No! I meant the famous Big Mac!
Aaaah...I couldn't remember #1 or #9. Fun post! I'm so glad I found your blog! I'm stopping by from the A to Z challenge and I look forward to visiting again.
Actually, Laurie, there was a trick question in there (or should I say, a repeat answer? #3 and 9 were both Alka Seltzer. But you got extra credit so your score is 100% . Yay, you!
I'm not sure if Head & Shoulders did more to scare young people into buying it as a preventative, or if there really were thousands afflicted with dandruff. Either way, the stuff flew off the shelves!
I don't remember Psst. You might have been more at the age of caring about hair than I was. ??
I don't know the jingle you're talking about. Sounds vaguely familiar--very vaguely. Do tell!
Sylvia, thanks for stopping by. I stopped by yours again, but the terror of commenting on an editor's blog had me double-checking for typos, that's for sure!
The only one I know is #3: Alka Selzter. :)
Thanks for stopping by on my blog! Nice to connect with you - I'll go back and read some of your a-z blogs. :)
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