Remembering the 70s: March 2016

Monday, 21 March 2016

SUDDENLY IT SMELLS JUST LIKE THE 1970's

RETRO FRAGRANCES

How much fun would it be to jump in a time machine and travel back to an era that you love?…Well in a sense (literally), nearly all of us have the ability do just that, by using our noses and memory!

Have you ever experienced that moment, when a sudden odour (be it pleasant, or not) can jolt you straight back to a random but totally lucid memory of a past time – Maybe it’s the smell of doughnuts or candy floss, that takes you back to your first time at the fairground, or does the smell of new cut grass suddenly have you sitting at your old school desk on a sunny afternoon, whilst the playing field is being made ready for sports day? Either way, for a few seconds at least, we are given the chance to close our eyes and re-live the moment!

The main reason for this, is that our olfactory senses, (smell and taste) are heightened when we are younger and this is when most of our long term memories are formed. In addition, the region of our brains responsible for processing odours, known as the Olfactory Bulb, is located close to and works in conjunction with the part of our brain that handles memory and emotions.

Apparently, research has also shown that most women have a more developed and heightened sense of smell than men – Maybe this explains my wife’s derision, when I have previously failed to buy her the right perfume : )

Talking of perfumes and odours that can send our minds time hopping…

HOW MANY OF THE FOLLOWING DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THE 1970s ???

*** GREAT RETRO TIP - If you are ever thinking about 1970's themed Fancy Dress...Why not be really authentic and 'smell the part' too?...MANY OF THE FOLLOWING RETRO FRAGRANCES ARE STILL AVAILABLE !!! ***

RETRO FRAGRANCES FOR HER:

TWEED by Lentheric

TRAMP <<< Still available

CHARLIE by Revlon <<< Still available

(Check out this 1970s advert too, via Youtube)

LAUGHTER by Yardley

REBEL by Solitaire

CACHET by Prince Matchabelli <<< Still available

PANACHE by Lentheric

JUST MUSK by Lentheric

CHLOE by Lagerfeld <<< Still available

MAXI by Max Factor

WHITE LINEN by Estee Lauder <<< Still available

ANAIS ANAIS by Cacharel <<< Still available

LAIR DU TEMPS by Nina Ricci - <<< Still available

(Check out this 1970s advert too, via Youtube)

RETRO FRAGRANCES FOR HIM:

OLD SPICE - <<< Still available

(Check out this 1970s advert too, via Youtube)

DENIM - <<< Still available

(Check out this 1970s advert too, via Youtube)

BLUE STRATOS <<< Still available

CENSORED - Yes this really was the name & branding of a 1970's aftershave : )

HAI KARATE - <<< Still available

(Check out this 1970s advert too, via Youtube)

BRUT - <<< Still available

(Check out this 1970s advert too, via Youtube)

TABAC <<< Still available

PAGAN MAN

MANDATE - <<< Still available

(Check out this 1970s advert too, via Youtube)

ARAMIS <<< Still available

Saturday, 12 March 2016

FROM THE BEANO TO BUNTY - CHILDRENS COMICS IN THE 1970s

Remember the great feeling of going out to the corner shop with your pocket money, to buy your favourite comic - Maybe the paperboy/girl used to deliver it for you on their Raleigh Chopper bike. Either way, back in the 1970s and with only 3 channels on UK television, us boys couldn’t wait to get a weekly fix of our comic heroes, such as Dennis the Menace, or maybe you preferred The Numskulls.

In the case of the girls, they were just as eager to get busy with the scissors, surgically cutting out the latest fashions from Bunty, carefully making sure not to snip off the little tabs at the edges, which were essential for stopping everything from falling off the cut-out doll figure.

This was an era still a million miles away from mobile phones, the internet or social media apps and therefore comics were an important and much loved part of our growing up years! They provided entertainment, something to share and discuss with your friends and sometimes even a lifeline to obtaining advice on personal problems, especially in the case of Cathy & Claire’s problem page in Jackie!

I recall that when I was younger, my own favourites had been The Beano, The Dandy and Whizzer and Chips.

As I got older however, I was seduced by the racy machines and the promise of technological marvels to come, which were depicted in Speed and Power.

Added incentives were the free gifts and/or posters that regularly featured. Almost every teenage girls bedroom would be adorned with highly prized posters of the likes of Donny Osmond, David Cassidy or The Bay City Rollers, obtained from the middle pages of Jackie or Look-In.

*** Have a look at this 1970s advert for Look-In magazine, from Youtube ***

Other items such as rings (given away by Twinkle), bracelets, make-up or hair accessories and even (flexi disc) records were an enticement for the girls, whist boys would be tormenting their elders with a Thunder Bang from that weeks Dandy or Beano.

In fact, we had an absolute plethora of comics to choose from, many of which had a special bumper annual edition to look forward to as well - Some of the other titles from that time not yet mentioned were:

Tiger