No mention of lava lamps? We can thank the Brits for inventing them in the mid-60s, but it was the ’70s when they became popular in my extended family (on both sides) as well as among the hippies. You always wanted to know how they’re made, right? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs-cOlrvNwI&ab_channel=Insider
The hippielight website has photos of hundreds of lava lamps from the ’60s and ’70s, including models that were set inside planters, just as the video says. If you want to bring the outdoors indoors, why not a lamp that reminds you of a volcano? http://frink.machighway.com/~edwardcr/hippielight/hippie1.html
We can laugh quite some time about how we were 50 years ago. But do not forget that your grandchildren will one day laugh about how we are today. From this observation there can be no escape.
Auntie AnalogueAugust 21, 2022, 4:28 PM
I still have the afghan throw that my late Mom knitted in a sort of hounds tooth pattern of avocado, dull straw-yellow-ochre, & white. And, yes, back in the day it was always draped over the back of the sofa. Thank you, Mom!
My front door, and all the interior doors in my house are shaved off about an inch and a half from the bottom because the folks who owned the place before my mother bought it had them all cut for shag carpet. The installers put a block of wood at the threshold for the front. Never had the console TV/stereo.
Lava Lamps? I’ve got a giant blue and yellow in the living room. Everyone loves it.
JWM
ghostsniperAugust 21, 2022, 5:27 PM
Some of that stuff lasted well into the 80’s.
I still have 2 lava lamps sitting on Pioneer HPM100 speakers and 2 beer lights on 2 more HPM’s.
When we got married in 1984 we had some HUGE boston ferns hanging from the ceiling in macrame ropes. No owl though.
HylandAugust 21, 2022, 8:07 PM
He neglected to mention how a hit of orange sunshine would cause that shag carpet to crawl and move about in a fascinating way… and was the owl winking? Maybe…
azlibertarianAugust 21, 2022, 8:36 PM
I’m pretty sure that I can find a VCR and dozens of tapes somewhere around here, but don’t ask me if the VCR works.
Wow. I didn’t realize how many decorating disasters I dodged in the 70’s. Macrame always left me cold, and the shag rug in an apartment I once rented was a vacuuming nightmare. OTOH, my late father made a bundle selling handmade giant forks and spoons (firewood, meet bandsaw) to yuppies at craft shows all over Northern California.
BillHAugust 22, 2022, 7:27 AM
We dodged most of the ’70s decorating disasters. Our house (of which there were many) was, and still is filled with mostly late ’50s and early ’60s stuff, mostly Henredon bought the first ten years after we were married. They made good stuff back then.
ghostsniperAugust 22, 2022, 9:36 AM
Our first house had a huge living room with the multiple orange-yellow shag and my wife said it had to go. We pulled it up and underneath was 1/2 a wheelbarrow of sand that had sifted through it. This was in Florida. Turned out there was a beautiful though neglected Terrazzo floor under it. A good cleaning, then buffing and ta-da a brand new floor. Nice and cool on the bare dawgz in the summer.
Sid VAugust 22, 2022, 5:38 PM
We dodged all of the items mentioned except for the shag which we only had in one room – “The TV Room”. It was BRIGHT ORANGE. The TV room doubled as a basketball court as we had a nerf backboard and rim hooked to the top of the door. The carpet got matted down in no time after hours and hours of me and my brother pretending we were “Dr. J”. Ah, memories.
Annie RoseAugust 24, 2022, 7:05 AM
I had to quickly get my parent’s old house fixed up to sell, and did a final walk on my mom’s favorite carpet, turquoise blue shag. Oh how she loved it and lovingly cared for it for almost 50 years. It still was in good shape and was in both the living room and dining room. It went well with the wooden cabinets, bookshelves, dining table, console piano, octogon end table, coffee table, brick fireplace, as well as the wooden console TV. The cream and gold flocked wallpaper in the entryway (hung by her hands) went well with the turquoise. The beige low pile generic carpet that replaced all the carpeting throughout their small home, looked fine with the now wall paper stripped walls painted in ivory, but something was lost in the transition. It looked like a boring, plain shell of its former self. The house sold quickly to a college professor, who bought it for his brat, a college age daughter who didn’t want to live with the riff raff on the local campus. Her loss. My mom’s gorgeous flowerbeds have gone to weed and the carefully tended holly bushes now grow up over the roof line. I feel bad for the neighbors, but we had no other option at the time but to sell.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
![Minneapolis by AD reader Gordon Scott [Updated by GS in comments]](https://americandigest.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/https___cdn.cnn_.com_cnnnext_dam_assets_200527104052-21-minneapolis-protests-0526-1-1024x682.jpg "Minneapolis by AD reader Gordon Scott [Updated by GS in comments]")
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
No mention of lava lamps? We can thank the Brits for inventing them in the mid-60s, but it was the ’70s when they became popular in my extended family (on both sides) as well as among the hippies. You always wanted to know how they’re made, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs-cOlrvNwI&ab_channel=Insider
The hippielight website has photos of hundreds of lava lamps from the ’60s and ’70s, including models that were set inside planters, just as the video says. If you want to bring the outdoors indoors, why not a lamp that reminds you of a volcano?
http://frink.machighway.com/~edwardcr/hippielight/hippie1.html
We had that tv in 1960
We can laugh quite some time about how we were 50 years ago. But do not forget that your grandchildren will one day laugh about how we are today. From this observation there can be no escape.
I still have the afghan throw that my late Mom knitted in a sort of hounds tooth pattern of avocado, dull straw-yellow-ochre, & white. And, yes, back in the day it was always draped over the back of the sofa. Thank you, Mom!
My front door, and all the interior doors in my house are shaved off about an inch and a half from the bottom because the folks who owned the place before my mother bought it had them all cut for shag carpet. The installers put a block of wood at the threshold for the front. Never had the console TV/stereo.
Lava Lamps? I’ve got a giant blue and yellow in the living room. Everyone loves it.
JWM
Some of that stuff lasted well into the 80’s.
I still have 2 lava lamps sitting on Pioneer HPM100 speakers and 2 beer lights on 2 more HPM’s.
When we got married in 1984 we had some HUGE boston ferns hanging from the ceiling in macrame ropes. No owl though.
He neglected to mention how a hit of orange sunshine would cause that shag carpet to crawl and move about in a fascinating way… and was the owl winking? Maybe…
I’m pretty sure that I can find a VCR and dozens of tapes somewhere around here, but don’t ask me if the VCR works.
Wow. I didn’t realize how many decorating disasters I dodged in the 70’s. Macrame always left me cold, and the shag rug in an apartment I once rented was a vacuuming nightmare. OTOH, my late father made a bundle selling handmade giant forks and spoons (firewood, meet bandsaw) to yuppies at craft shows all over Northern California.
We dodged most of the ’70s decorating disasters. Our house (of which there were many) was, and still is filled with mostly late ’50s and early ’60s stuff, mostly Henredon bought the first ten years after we were married. They made good stuff back then.
Our first house had a huge living room with the multiple orange-yellow shag and my wife said it had to go. We pulled it up and underneath was 1/2 a wheelbarrow of sand that had sifted through it. This was in Florida. Turned out there was a beautiful though neglected Terrazzo floor under it. A good cleaning, then buffing and ta-da a brand new floor. Nice and cool on the bare dawgz in the summer.
We dodged all of the items mentioned except for the shag which we only had in one room – “The TV Room”. It was BRIGHT ORANGE. The TV room doubled as a basketball court as we had a nerf backboard and rim hooked to the top of the door. The carpet got matted down in no time after hours and hours of me and my brother pretending we were “Dr. J”. Ah, memories.
I had to quickly get my parent’s old house fixed up to sell, and did a final walk on my mom’s favorite carpet, turquoise blue shag. Oh how she loved it and lovingly cared for it for almost 50 years. It still was in good shape and was in both the living room and dining room. It went well with the wooden cabinets, bookshelves, dining table, console piano, octogon end table, coffee table, brick fireplace, as well as the wooden console TV. The cream and gold flocked wallpaper in the entryway (hung by her hands) went well with the turquoise. The beige low pile generic carpet that replaced all the carpeting throughout their small home, looked fine with the now wall paper stripped walls painted in ivory, but something was lost in the transition. It looked like a boring, plain shell of its former self. The house sold quickly to a college professor, who bought it for his brat, a college age daughter who didn’t want to live with the riff raff on the local campus. Her loss. My mom’s gorgeous flowerbeds have gone to weed and the carefully tended holly bushes now grow up over the roof line. I feel bad for the neighbors, but we had no other option at the time but to sell.