You Are What You Were. Celebrate Retro Pop Culture At Retroland.
The year of 1977 was one filled with numerous events to get all nostalgic about – Elvis Presley died, Roots first aired on television, Fleetwood Mac released Rumours, Star Wars premiered on the big screen, and the Atari 2600 home gaming system was released. The event that perhaps had the most significant impact on the future, however, was the release of the first personal computer.
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If anyone ever discovered the location of the mythical fountain of youth, it was Dick Clark. Over many a decade, his seemingly inability to age led to the nation affectionately dubbing him "America's teenager". Host of American Bandstand for three decades, and the man who collectively led us into every New Year's celebration for forty years, Dick Clark was nothing short of an icon, beloved by millions.
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In the 1970s, electronic games began to emerge as an exciting new form of entertainment that was quickly embraced by the nation’s youth. Arcades were no longer rooms containing pool tables and pinball machines, but now allowed for a rousing game of Pong and a few other modern marvels. The Atari game system even allowed this emerging technology to become available from the comforts of home. With the kids completely enthralled by everything electronic, it was even possible to sneak in an educational game or two under the radar. One of the more successful ones was the Little Professor, a hand-held device that taught math to unsuspecting kids. Let's take a look back at this fondly-remembered teaching toy.
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In the world of toys, there is the neat, the cool, the trendy, and the classic. But every once in a while, sometimes only once in a generation, comes a toy that defines the decade. Today, we look at one such toy, the beloved Big Wheel.
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Trains have long held a nostalgic place in people’s hearts. Walt Disney was particularly enthralled by them and made sure to include them prominently in Disneyland, as well as having his own private railroad in the backyard of his Beverly Hills home. Of course, most folks don’t exactly enjoy the freedom to do things quite on the same grand scale as Walt, but Lionel Trains have allowed many a train lover to enjoy the experience of having their very own railroad, running in the privacy of their own home. And they have been doing so for over 100 years now, with no signs of running out of steam.
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Sometimes the simplest of challenges are the ones most frustrating, which pretty much encapsulates a little board game called Trouble. Introduced by Kohner in 1965, it brought out the competitiveness in everyone who played, sometimes raising their stress levels to the point that the game maker thought it wise to protect the lone die behind a globe of plastic, lest it get flung across the room.
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Few holiday specials are as well remembered and beloved as the collection of stop-animation offerings from Rankin/Bass Productions that originated in the 60s and 70s. Today, we look back at the 1970 classic, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, a charming tale that taught many of us the evolution of the big jolly guy in the red suit.
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For anyone, young or old, who ever doubted the existence of Santa Claus, those doubts were summarily laid to rest in the immortal 1947 holiday classic, Miracle on 34th Street. Only the most jaded scrooge could have a heart impervious to the charm that has made this a tradition holiday favorite ever since its original release.
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Extolling the virtues of Frosted Flakes for over half a decade, Tony the Tiger has exclaimed his way into the hearts of kids and adults everywhere with his exuberant expression, “They’re Grrrreat!” But Tony did more than that, he taught every kid a lesson along the way – the importance of having a balanced breakfast every morning.
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When Atari released Pong in 1972, the immediate popularity of this electronic version of table tennis would give birth to an entire video game industry. A few years later, the game would become one of the first available on the newly emerging home game systems. But, what if you didn't have one of those expensive systems? Furthermore, what if you wanted to play this game on a road trip or in a school cafeteria? The solution was a small handheld game called Blip. Released by Tomy in 1977, Blip was portable and certainly challenging. But, in the truest sense of the word, it wasn't really a video game; it just looked like one. Let's take a look back.
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