This Has Nothing to do with Tanzania

But it's raining and gloomy and an email from my sister brought back memories (and made me feel a bit old, too)! I'll post my responses. Weigh in with your comments and I'll add them (anonymously, of course) to the post. As a bit of personal background, I graduated from high school in a small town in Montana in 1983 (my family moved there when I was 6 from the San Francisco area), and some of these cross into my high school years. Maybe Montana was just a bit behind the times.

My responses are in purple. I should introduce my friend, Lisa. We have been friends since 4th grade, growing up together in Montana. We met on a plane ride back from California when we were 10 and have stuck together since. She lives in Edina with her husband and two great girls and they do amazing travel adventures themselves. Anyway, we lived the 70s and 80s together so I put her responses in red. I did promise to keep it anonymous, though, so any other responses shall remain nameless.

IF YOU WERE A LITTLE GIRL IN THE 70s...

1. You had that Fisher Price Doctor's Kit with a stethoscope that actually worked.
Nope. Although some of the other (obviously more high-achieving) kids did.
No, but we had toy rifles and Davy Crockett hats. I can't decide ifmy parentswere ahead of the curve (providing boy toys to girls), or behind thecurve (guns?)with that one.
2. You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it.
The bike and seat, yes. I always hated those baskets. Besides, I mostly rode a horse.
My purple bike came with the basket as described-handle bars and seat too!
3. You learned to skate with actual skates.
Yep. I even had a skate key. But it was in California--no pavement in Montana where I was.
I loved roller skating but skating in Montana was nothing compared to skating (in my OP shorts) in California to the "Double Dutch Bus" song.
Growing up in Minnesota, of course, "skates" meant ice skates. And yes, we all had them.
4. You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute (admit it!)
Ewww. But it's true.
Yes, and Isaac the bartender too. (very progressive for Minnesota!)
I never sank that low. (fingers crossed)
5. Love's Baby Soft was the first "real" perfume you ever owned
Well, of course. But then I matured and switched to "Charlie".
No, I had one of those spray ones named after me—“XXXXX,” as in “If you like Lauren, you’ll LOVE ‘XXXX’…” (names changed to protect the innocent)
I remember better the flavored lip balms, like cotton candy & 7-up.
6. You had nightmares after watching Fantasy Island.
Still do.
Was that the one with the midget?
"The plane, the plane!"
7. You had rubber boots for rainy days and Moon boots for snowy days.
I had go-go boots (very practical in Montana) but moon boots were after my time. My sister, who's 10 year younger than I am, had a very snazzy pair, though.
No moon boots, but I vaguely remember plastic bread bags insertedinto our snow boots
8. You had a "bowl cut" or "pixie," or "Dorothy Hamill" because your Mom was sick of braiding your hair.
I have to claim the Dorothy Hamill--sadly.
Dorothy Hamil haircut came and went quickly for me as it was not very flattering!
Mine was a Tony Tenille (from Captain &) cut. This was a bowl cut,in which the effect was exacerbated by curling the hair under all theway around the bowl...
9. Your Holly Hobby sleeping bag was your most prized possession.
No way--but I bet my friend Lisa did. She and her friend Lorri were into that.
I CERTAINLY DID NOT get into Strawberry Short Cake or Holly Hobbie! My slumber bag had psychaldelic design in hot pink and green.
10. You wore a poncho, gauchos, and knickers.
Poncho--my mom made it and it was covered with British flags. Whatever.
Gauchos--you bet. They're cowboys, y'know, so I would have thought they were cool.
Knickers--sadly, I may have owned a velvet pair. I've blocked the memory.
I don’t remember the poncho or gauchos. Probably before my time, too. My mother insists on periodically reminding me that I had some black velvet knickers that were “so adorable and made me look like a little page boy.” She laments that she has no photos. Yup, it breaks my heart.
11. You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon.
And got one. I also was one of the first kids to have Atari's Pong (remember?) thanks to my relatives in California.
I did receive some sort of hand held electronic game-can't remember the name but it was red and I was able to play about 8 different games pertaining to the numeric buttons on the key pad. (it was a Merlin--I had one, too) My Uncle had Pong on his TV system...maybe that was the early 80's though.
I had a Merlin, and I remember riding my bike to the teen center toplay the hot new "pong" game.
12. You had the Donnie and Marie dolls with those pink and purple satiny shredded outfits.
Not the dolls, but nobody better criticize Donny Osmond. If you want to feel REALLY old, though--he just recently became a grandfather.
The 70's were all about Donny Osmond in my opinion and still are
No, but I loved the Jackson 5, esp. Jermaine..
13. You spent hours in your backyard on your metal swing set with the trapeze.
In California, not Montana
No trapeze, just basic swings & a slide, probably from Wards.
14. The swing set tipped over at least once.
No, but you could really get it rocking.
No, but Dad had to chain it down so we wouldn't rock it out of the ground.
15. You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color.
Yeah, those probably looked really nice with above-mentioned Dorothy Hamill
16. You had a pair of Doctor Scholl's sandals (the ones with hard sole & the buckle).
Yep, but I think it was high school.
17. You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; you wore that little House on the Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffle shirt with the high neck in at least one school picture; and you despised Nellie Olson!
OK--who's been spying on me?! We played it every day. I wore my dress (including the sunbonnet, which just hung down my back ala Laura for my 5th grade picture)
I did have the Little House on the Praire Dress (reference my 5th grade pic too!)
I wanted to be Laura. I read that series about a dozen times. My sister is the one who got the dress and bonnet.
18. Your hairstyle was described as having "wings" or "feathers."
Feathers--my hair has always been the bane of my existence. I hated Farrah Fawcett and all those girls who could do that with their hair.
I tried desperately to do wings but my mother didn’t like that hairstyle for little girls and wouldn’t let me get it cut in layers. So my wings were in my imagination.
19. You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie.
I hated all of these things--still do.
20. You carried a Muppets lunch box to school and it was metal, not plastic.
My last lunchbox (about 5th grade) was a metal one with the rounded top. It was a school bus with Disney characters riding to school. I got in trouble every year for dropping it and breaking my thermos. I was paperbagging it by 7th grade. My mom used to wrap my sandwiches in waxed paper which made me look very lame among the kids who got baggies.
21. You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend. (BO!!)
Luke--I'll choose dark over blond any day. See my affliction with Hugh Jackman as evidence.
What happened to Barry Manilow? Wasn't he a 70's guy!?
I did prefer Bo. Luke was so short.
22. Every now and then "It's a Hard Knock Life" from the movie, "Annie" will pop into your brain and you can't stop singing it the whole day.
"The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" but same difference.
23. It was a big event in your house each year when the "Wizard of Oz" would come on TV.
In Montana we had 3 channels so yeah, it was a big deal.
We also only had three channels. “Wizard of Oz” was a major event, as was “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
24. You often asked your Magic-8 ball the question: "Who will I marry. Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, or Rick Springfield?" (ohhhhh it was such an incredibly tough choice!)
Ick. Shaun and Leif were just too fem-looking. Rick Springfield (who just reprised his Dr. Noah Drake role on General Hospital) was a different story, but he was early 80s. But if Lisa dares to weigh in she'll have to admit how much sleep she lost over Shaun and Leif. Now, if they had mentioned Scott Baio (Chachi)....

By the way, it was John Stamos (Blackie) on General Hospital that really turned my head. Still would.
I did kind of love Shaun Cassidy too! Certainly not Leif Garrett...have you seen him these days! I only liked his album! I also had a thing for Rex Smith and attempted to have my hair cut like his-YIKES! Remember..."You Take My Breath Away"?
My friend’s older sisters loved Rick Springfield. Like you, Carla, I loved Chachi and Blackie.
25. You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack cassettes.
They were LPs, not cassettes, and I only watched the movie and TV show of Fame, but didn't have the album. Did you know Dr. Romano (from ER, who had his arm cut off in a helicopter accident and later died when a 'copter fell on him) was on Fame?
I never had those, but I did watch Fame religiously.
26. You tried to do lots of arts and crafts, like yarn and Popsicle-stick God's eyes, decoupae, or those weird potholders made on a plastic loom.
Still do with the kids. I gave Lisa's daughter a potholder loom kit last year.
27. You made Shrinky-Dinks and put iron-on kittens on your t-shirts!
Still do with the kids, but I was never into the fluffy kitten thing--too girly for me.
28. You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker.
Yep. I had a friend in high school who took pictures of cute guys on the TV with her camera.
29. You couldn't wait to get the free animal poster that came when you ordered books from the Weekly Reader book club.
Especially if it was a horse.
Oh! I’d completely forgotten about that! I drooled over the horse posters too.
Oh! I’d completely forgotten about that! I drooled over the horse posters too.
30. You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues from Judy Blume books (Are you there God, It's me, Margaret.)
Nah, but there was "The Other Side of Midnight" (Sidney Sheldon) in 9th grade...very revealing.
31. You thought Olivia Newton John's song "Physical" was about aerobics.
Even I wasn't that dim. But my danceline did do an aerobics routine to it in high school.
Ha ha! Yes, I admit it!
32. You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rainbow designs.
All the time!
33. You had a Big Wheel with a brake on the side, and a Sit-n-Spin.
Yes to the Big Wheel. My sister had the sit-n-spin.
I don’t remember Big Wheel but we loved our Sit-n-Spin. My kids have one too.
I did not have a Big Wheel. My cousins did though and I still loved riding it even after I could barely squeeze my body into the seat!
34. You had subscriptions to Dynamite and Tiger Beat.
Well, of course. I even kissed the pics.
35. You wanted your first kiss to be at a roller rink.
How romantic would that be?! But it was in the back of our family Ford Bronco with David Covill on the way home from "Grease" with my friend Sarah and her date, Rory. (Blast from the past, eh, Lisa?) I was in 8th grade.
Oh yes. Roller rinks were still popular in central Maine in the mid 80s. I went every Friday night in the summer.