Early-1970s Knick-Knacks & Tchotchkes: Mail Order Catalog from October 1970

Here, from a picture set on Flickr (which you can view in the slideshow above or click to directly), is a great relic from the early-1970s: a mail-order catalog from an outfit called Foster House. This thing is filled with all kinds of mainly worthless but absolutely compelling little things such as knick-knacks, personal hygienic items, and household objects. Totally mundane 38 years ago, the stuff that populates these pages is now totally fascinating. Just browsing the pages causes flashbacks of the '70s. Some of mine are:

• wicker paper plate holders (p. 4 of the catalog), of the kind that my family used for decades (and I think may still use) at our annual family reunion;

• calendars printed on towels (p. 5...and 13...and 18...and 23; what was up with these?)--I remember a variety of great-grandparents and older folks having these hung in their homes;

• crayons for coloring on yourself in the bathtub (p. 7); I actually have a picture of myself and my sister (at ages approximately 4 and 2) in the bathtub with these;

• expanding peg racks for coffee cups (p. 13); I think most of my relatives had one of these hung right next to their towel calendars;

• goofy decorative light switch plates (p. 13...and 18...and 22; almost as popular as the towel calendars, but not quite); while I don't actually have specific memories of these, they are characteristic of the kind of baroque interior decor that prevailed in the '70s (macrame anyone?);

• and, finally, speaking of baroque: "Victorian filigree frames" (p. 23); I had no idea that this is what these were called (nor, probably, did most of the people who had them back then), but I think many of my relatives and friends' families had these (hung, that's right, near their towel calendars)--for all of my childhood my parents' had their wedding portrait in one of these (color of baby blue, if you must know).

This catalog is packed with curiosities, completely apart from my memories (or yours). Check out the old credit card logos on p. 3 (Bank Americard, now Visa, and Master Charge, now Master Card). Among the things in the catalog I wish I'd had in the '70s is the magnetic wrist tic-tac-toe (p. 9). I could go on, but won't, except to recommend the Flickr user who posted this catalog, who goes by the handle of Wishbook. In addition to this kind of catalog, he also posts old Sears and Penney's Christmas catalogs--in their entirety! I've noticed that he's got a 1971 Sears catalog--hmmm, perhaps a future "D:71" posting?

D:71-TV: "The Tonight Show" with guest host Burt Reynolds (Sept. 13, 1971)

Former "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson was famous for not working--and for having a plethora of guest hosts sit in for him. Here's an excerpt from a September 1971 "Tonight Show" episode guest hosted by Burt Reynolds (who seems like an odd guest host choice to us now.) This is the opening segment of the episode (during which Burt's guests were Charo, Alex Karras, "Tonight Show" stalwart The Amazing Kreskin, and the newly-crowned Miss America), including a funky opening title sequence with neon-like imagery (preceded by the NBC peacock animation!) and Reynolds' monologue.

In the monologue Reynolds jokes about how infrequently Carson hosted his own show, indicating that Johnny's lax work ethic had already taken root and become famous at this (for Carson's tenure) fairly early date. Almost all of the jokes that Reynolds' cracks are woefully bad, proving that ability to deliver a monologue was not a prerequisite for the job of guest host. (Indeed, Johnny probably liked it that way, meaning he would not be shown up by a sub.)

(Length: 5:21; video source: YouTube)

Woolworth's Stereo Spectacular '71

Here's a "spectacular" TV ad from 1971 for Woolworth's variety stores, featuring record albums and 8-track tapes. (It occurs to me that none of those three things--Woolworth's, record albums, or 8-track tapes--are around anymore.) Albums are on sale for $1.57 or 87¢, while 8-tracks come in at a wallet-busting $2.99. Some of the artists featured in this ad are head scratchers: Jack Jones? Petula Clark? Herb Alpert? Not exactly spectacular by the standards we now have for popular music of the late-1960s and early-1970s.

While the ad's groovy graphics are fun to look at, more interesting is the implication the ad makes for how popular music was marketed and sold in 1971. Obviously, this was before digital music downloads on iTunes or elsewhere, but it was also before Best Buy existed and before discount store chains like Target and Wal-Mart became the music-selling behemoths they are today. Woolworth's was a venerable variety store chain that had locations everywhere in the US, but with most of them in downtown or inner city locations. Records and tapes were only one of many product lines featured in the stores, so it's interesting too that they were given special (spectacular even!) treatment in a commercial such as this.

West German Chancellor Willy Brandt Leads 1971 Nobel Prize Laureates

1971 was, of course, in the era when Germany was split into the democratic West and the Communist East. The Nobel Peace Prize that year was won by the West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, who was selected because of his efforts at improving his country's relations with East Germany, Poland, and the Soviet Union.

Other Nobel laureates from '71 included Pablo Neruda for literature, Dennis Gabor for physics, and Simon Kuznets for economics. The Nobel Prizes were begun by Alfred Nobel, who had made a fortune off of the invention of the explosive dynamite and wanted to redeem himself in light of the destruction his creation had caused. The Nobel Prizes in literature, psychics, medicine, economics, chemistry, and peace were the result of that desire, with the peace prize serving as the most important as it recognized efforts to counteract the kind of warfare that Nobel's dynamite had made possible.

"Dateline: 1971" enters the blogosphere

Welcome to "Dateline: 1971," a new blog that will document all things related to the year 1971. It was the year I was born; that's why I'm interested in blogging on it. That, and the passionate curiousity that I have about history in general; American 20th century history; American popular cultural history; and learning as much as I can about the world that I was born into in all its respects.

So, while my educational and professional background is in media history and popular culture, and the posts on "Dateline: 1971" will certainly reflect that background strongly, I also plan to include material regarding American and international historical events of the year, general cultural and social trends and practices of the early-1970s, and the minutest little details of what life in 1971 was like.

Some posts will be media-related in terms of featuring images and video clips from 1971 and others will be musings on my part about things 1971. Many posts will be summaries of 1971 information or resources that I have found on the web, with links (naturally) to those pages.

I hope to post about three times a week to "Dateline: 1971." I welcome comments on my posts and have adjusted the settings for this to be possible. Whether you are also a child of 1971, nearby years in the late-1960s or early-1970s, or an aficionado of 1970s culture, enjoy "Dateline: 1971."