I've been trying to remember what the coolest toys were that I received as a kid in the 70's. Here's a list of the ones I can remember...

1. Hot Wheels and MatchBox cars
2. The orange Hot Wheels track with dual loops - (I used to string these pieces of track all over my room and would create these huge, long roller coasters that we would send marbles down.)
3. G.I. Joes with the fuzzy beard
4. Figure 8 electric racing car set
5. Rock'em Sock'em Robots
6. HO size electric train set
7. Spirograph
8. Aurora Karate Men - these guys were cool.
9. Plastic green army men
10. Green can of Slime

Labels: 70's, Christmas, Memories

Well, I dug through my archives and I found a very old vintage 8mm movie my friends and I made in about 1974. My mom had an even older 8mm camera that we borrowed and stuck a roll of film in. I think the entire film length was limited to 5 minutes so we felt like we had to work fast.

In this video you will find vintage 70's skateboards, fun banana seat bikes, grade school sneakers and some really wacky clothes.

Please ignore the quality of the film. The bad condition actually adds to the coolness of the video. Enjoy the movie and don't forget that we were only 10, 11 and 12 year olds.

See The Movie. (located on my video page)

Labels: 70's, Enid, Movies, video

If you have not read my little story about when my friends and I would hunt for boxes to create the ultimate Halloween maze you might give it a read. I would love to write a book about our adventures and create a story much like Stand By Me mixed with The Goonies. Maybe I'll get around to that one day...

The Great Box Adventure

Labels: 70's, Fun Events, Halloween

Going to the movies was a big deal in the 70's. I remember paying 50 cents to see many movies and usually only on special occasions. There weren't as many movies being released and there weren't multi-plex theatres.

So, seeing a good movie in the 70's had a pretty lasting impression on a young buckaroo. This is my Top 10 list of those movies that left a lasting impression on me. These of course are not the best movies of all time from the 1970's but these are my favorites. Enjoy the list and let me know which ones left lasting impressions on you.

1.) Close Encounters of the Third Kind - This movie was the coolest. I still watch it every time it comes on. I think this was the first movie I got to go see as a young junior high student on the weekend.
2.) Jaws - The best suspense movie of the decade. If only every kid could see this at the movie theatre as their first thriller movie.
3.) Star Wars - Wow! Who would have thought you could do that on a movie screen. Special effects before there were special effects.
4.) Animal House - Oh my gosh! The best boob movie for any young man in the 70's. Most likely the funniest movie of the decade.
5.) Saturday Night Fever - Can you say disco? The songs alone were enough to remember for a lifetime. Loved the dancing hated the acting.
6.) The Poseidon Adventure - An awesome adventure movie! Non-stop action. This movie was way cool in the 70's.
7.) Rocky - Yo.
8.) The Goodbye Girl - I thought Richard Dreyfuss was a great actor. This was a fun movie and I really like the theme song. I think this was my first chick flick.
9.) The Warriors - If you saw this movie and didn't want to go out and start a fight you just weren't normal. The best gang movie of all time.
10.) Phantasm - A little known horror flick that was ahead of its time. This movie had a cult following and that cult was my buddies and I.
11.) Smokey and the Bandit - Tran Ams and CB radios! Two of the coolest things you could want as a kid.

Okay, I had to add one because there are just so many. There are also many 70's movies that I love but I did not actually see until it was the 80's, like MASH, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Halloween and many others.

Labels: 70's, Memories, Movies

In today's world of airbags, helmets and childproof lids I sometimes wonder why we are not all dead. Here are a few of the things we got away with when we were kids in the 70's...

1. Rode bikes without helmets
2. Boarded planes without being searched
3. Opened pill bottles with ease
4. Ate paint chips
5. Drove in cars with no seat belts.
6. Rode in the back of pick-ups.
7. Stayed home without 911
8. Never had a cell phone in the car.
9. Ate red M & M's
10. Rode skateboards without pads.
11. Drank water from a hose.
12. Never had a flu shot
13. Walked the streets at night.
14. Left our doors unlocked.
15. Sat in smoke filled restaurants.
16. Played with mercury.
17. Went to movies by ourselves.
18. Never washed our hands.
19. Played with turtles and frogs before eating.
20. Jumped on trampolines without nets!

Labels: 70's, Memories

Here's my list of the top things that made living in the 70's such a cool time period...

1.) Banana seats on bikes and cards flapping in your spokes
2.) Space food sticks, Tang and watching moon missions
3.) One liter glass returnable pop bottles
4.) Collecting Green Stamps and trading them for cheap prizes
5.) 8 Track tapes and having the coolest tape player
6.) Saturday morning cartoons
7.) Sonny and Cher - Donny and Marie
8.) Clackers, Slime and the Rubik's Cube
9.) Charlie Brown & Peanuts holiday shows
10.) Bell bottom jeans and half shirts
11.) Streaking, Dodge Ball and Hide'n Go Seek
12.) Slip'n Slide, & Water Wiggles
13.) Shasta, RC Cola and Mello Yellow
14.) One penny Jolly Ranchers & Bubble Gum
15.) Full size G.I. Joes with Kung Fu grip
16.) Disco (Need I say more?)
17.) Marathon Bars, Zagnuts & Watchamacallits
18.) Schoolhouse Rock & After School Specials
19.) My Farrah Fawcett poster
20.) Stratego, Battleship and Lincoln Logs
21.) TV Guide, Mad Magazine & 20 cent comics
22.) Herbie the Love Bug & Disney movies
23.) Afros, feathered bangs & long hair
24.) Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Land of the Lost
25.) Skateboarding & Hoola Hoops
26.) Watching the Banana Splits eating Zingers
27.) Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots & Hot Wheels
28.) Walter Cronkite & the 6 o'clock news
29.) Atari
30.) Trolls, Spirographs & Matchbox Cars
31.) TV Dinners & Jiffy Pop popcorn
32.) Elvis & Sandy Duncan movies
33.) Love, American Style & Laugh In
34.) The Brady Bunch & The Partridge Family
35.) The Midnight Special & Don Kirshners Rock Concert
36.) Monty Python and The Goodies
37.) More to come...

Labels: 70's, Memories

I love coming of age movies! They remind me so much of being twelve, growing up in the 70's. I had a very close group of friends that would find adventure in everything we did, much like the characters in Stand By Me and Now and Then.

We spent almost every day together in the summer and would skip dinner just so we could play late into the night. We were always outside running around the neighborhood playing games and tricking neighbors non-stop.

I've always wanted to write a book based on our summers of fun with a few added twists and turns. The movies listed below are the closest examples of the good times we had as youngsters. I know there are many more coming of age movies but these top my list and have bits and pieces that remind me of days gone by. They are in no particular order. Enjoy and if you've missed any of these, they would make great weekend rentals...

1. Stand By Me
2. The Goonies
3. Now and Then
4. Pretty in Pink
5. Dead Poet's Society
6. St. Elmo's Fire
7. October Sky
8. Breakfast Club
9. My Girl
10. American Graffiti

Update: 07/11/09

This list has gotten so popular I've decided to add another 10 movies. If you have not seen the first 10 watch those first and then check these out. Again these are in no particular order.

11. Sixteen Candles
12. The Sandlot
13. The Outsiders
14. Almost Famous
15. Dirty Dancing
16. Breaking Away
17. School Ties
18. Summer of '42
19. Mona Lisa Smile
20. The Man in the Moon

Bonus: 13 Going On 30 (A great little girl in big body movie)

Labels: 70's, Fun Events, Getting Old, Memories

Okay, look what I dug up! This could very well be the ultimate 1970's photograph. This photo is dated June '77. It is a picture of me (skateboard) and my friend Bruce Bradley. Can you spot all of the cool 1970's references?

A list of 1970's coolness:
1. Hair, longer with bangs.
2. Cut off shorts with pockets sticking out
3. Knee socks with stripes
4. How about my shoes! Those were the coolest sneakers!
5. Plastic skateboard from OTASCO
6. Ten speed bike
7. Ringer T-shirt
8. Sleeveless sweatshirt
9. Teardrop glasses, tinted.
10. No iPods, cell phones or electronic gadgets

Labels: 70's, Curtis Tucker, Getting Old, Memories

Wow! Since Farrah's passing I have been getting a ton of attention about this photo with me opening her poster. I was recently featured on the homepage of CNN.com! A writer from CNN interviewed me for a story on Farrah being the last, great pin up star. I'll post the article on the press page as quick as I can.

Here's a link to the story... link.

The photo will also be appearing in the next issue of Travel Girl Magazine.

The year was 1976 and I was a young, very impressionable kid. Farrah Fawcett was taking the world by storm and I was smitten. This is the moment I received my very own Farrah Fawcett poster.

I hung this poster on a wall in my bedroom and began to add magazine pictures, photo clippings and other memorabilia until that entire wall was completely covered. Charlies Angels was a hit and I had every promotional photo ever taken in my collection.

I will always remember the 70's and that iconic poster.

Labels: 70's, Curtis Tucker, Memories

Hey, I'm a kid of the 70's and I loved Land of the Lost with all it's Sleestack and Pylons. You have to remember that the effects and acting were well before Star Wars and Hannah Montana. We didn't know any better and thought the show was way ahead of its time.

Fast forward to 2009 and some yahoo executive thinks he can create a hit movie based on the Land of the Lost name. Add Will Ferrell, lame jokes and a story that has nothing to do with the original series and what do you have? A freakin flop!

Did someone really think the kids of the 70's were going to rush out and see this piece of junk? Did they think the Disney and Cartoon Channel kids of today would be rolling with laughter in the aisles? Boy were they wrong. The moment I saw the trailers to this movie I thought FLOP!! I wouldn't even rent this DVD on my worst day.

Now, why doesn't somebody take this story and create a GOOD movie for all of the LOTL fans? Think Jurassic Park, Planet of the Apes, a real attempt at updating something from the past. I would love to go see a true adventure movie based on Land of the Lost.

Taking a well known title and making a lame comedy out of it is such a waste of time. Will Ferrell? Pa-leeze.

Labels: 70's, Memories, TV

Wow! Summer has arrived! The crumb crunchers are out of school, the pool is open and the temperatures are on the rise. This will be the first summer my girls will not be in summer school. 3 months of hanging out with dad!

I used to love summer time when I was a kid. My sister and I were what was called latchkey kids, meaning we were usually home alone when school was out while our mom worked.

My summers were filled with days of skateboarding, bike riding and tadpole hunting. There was a creek near our neighborhood called Boggy Creek in which we spent many hours collecting tadpoles, frogs and turtles. We ruined many a pair of sneakers in that stinky creek.

I lived in an area that did not have any swimming pools so my friends and I did not do much swimming. My best friend did have a trampoline though and we spent hours playing on it. We would play dodge ball on it and on hot days we would put the sprinkler under it and jump on it wet.

The things I remember most about summers in the 70's were the locusts and their loud noises. There were some nights that they were so loud you could barely sleep. I remember sleeping with the window open most of the summer and having a fan planted right next to my bed.

Summer was the signal it was time to "cut off" that winter pair of denim jeans. We used to cut the legs off as high as we could so we would have the coolest pair of "cut offs". You usually had to wash them at least once before wearing because you wanted to have the best collection of threads dangling from the cut off area. Another ritual was to cut the bottom off your favorite t-shirt which made it a half shirt. Man were we styling with our half shirts and "cut offs".

We didn't watch much TV in the summer because we were always running around outside. We would also skip dinner just so we didn't have to stop playing. And what about that 70's craze called streaking? I have to admit that we might have streaked along Broadway Street once just to say we did. Glad we didn't have cell phones with cameras back then.

Speaking of cell phones, we never had a way of being found and never knew what time it was. This was a big bone of contention when a parent needed us for something. There was no way of finding us! What freedom that was.

Well, more about my summers days as a youth later. Get out there and enjoy the sun!

Labels: 70's, Memories, Summer

The year was 1976 and I was a young, very impressionable kid. Farrah Fawcett was taking the world by storm and I was smitten. This is the moment I received my very own Farrah Fawcett poster.

I hung this poster on a wall in my bedroom and began to add magazine pictures, photo clippings and other memorabilia until that entire wall was completely covered. Charlies Angels was a hit and I had every promotional photo ever taken in my collection.

We're all older now and I just watched a special on Farrah and her battle with cancer. I wish her the best and will always remember the 70's and that iconic poster.

Labels: 70's, Memories

Well, did ya know it was National Comic Book Day? Me neither. Check your local newspaper, library and comic book store for details on free comics today.

I was one of the biggest comic book collectors when I was a yute. My comic of choice was Superman. I was always a DC guys as opposed to being a Marvel guy. Anything with Superman in it I collected.

I actually have in front of me at this moment a big tote full of 12 cent and 15 cent comics. I have lots of Superman, Action Comics, Superboy, Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. I used to carry my collection around in a brown grocery sack. I remember that I could never go anywhere with just a few of my comics, I always had to take the entire collection.

I could tell you the entire story of every comic by just seeing the cover. I must have read each one several dozen times.

The big thing in the 70's was hitting the pawn shops on our bikes looking for golden oldie comic books. After reading our newest gems we would start to trade and haggle to get the titles that we liked. I would always give up a Spiderman or Fantastic Four for a Superman or Justice League.

The comics I remember at a younger age were Sad Sack, Richie Rich, Hot Stuff and Captain Rock. Do you still have your comic collection? What were your favorites?

I'm really thinking of selling my collection if anyone knows of a good comic buyer. Let me know if you do. Happy Comic Book Day everyone!

Labels: 70's, Comics, hobbies, Memories

We were at a group Easter party this weekend and had a really great time. As the evening cooled off and we moved inside we all ended up in the living room with the TV on. Being Easter Eve there could only be one show on the television - The Ten Commandments!

We all sat around talking and studying what a classic this movie was. The acting and effects were so over the top but seemed so cool when we were younger. Many people in the group could not believe that watching TTC was an Easter tradition. There was a long discussion about when color TV came along and when TTC was made. All of the talk about old shows got me to thinking about some shows I had not thought about for a long while.

There are some really obscure TV shows that I remember as a kid. I think they were all imports from other countries. Not many people know what I'm talking about half of the time. Did you ever watch these shows?

Here Come The Double Deckers - A Saturday morning show about a bunch of kids that had a cool fort with an entrance through a wooden fence.

The Goodies - This was another Saturday night show much like Monty Python. There were a group of guys doing very odd skits.

Pippi Longstocking - Stories about a very strong girl with orange pony tails that stuck out to the sides. She wore long striped socks.

Remember back in the day when we only had three main channels and at times channel 13? Can you imagine only three stations from which to choose? How did we ever survive? And how about the fact that we had to get up and turn the knob if we wanted to switch channels. Yes! TV's used to have knobs!!

Then there was the whole TV antenna thing which I won't even get into.

My how things have changed. Now, if the remote goes out we have no idea how to turn on the TV let alone change channels. I remember getting our first 20 ton VCR and the coolest thing about it was that it had a remote control on a cord for channel changing. The cord could reach across the room and we thought that was the bomb!!

Gosh, remember when TV shows had all new episodes one right after the other. They lasted the entire season. Unlike today, where we are supposed to feel privileged if we get three new episodes in a row. And then they throw in more reruns and play up the fact that there will be another new episode in two weeks! Woo Hoo! Big fat deal.

TV has become as much a part of life as a light bulb. You come home, you flip on the TV. You wake up in the morning, you flip on the TV. You eat dinner, you flip on the TV. Most restaurants even have TV's now! Even McDonalds!

Well, enough of that. I've got to stop blogging and finish my day. My favorite TV show is about to come on don't ya know.

Labels: 70's, Getting Old, Memories

Update! No skin cancer! My bump was actually a sebaceous hyperplasia. All is well, stitches are out and the healing is on.

Way back when, maybe in the late 70's, it was all the rage to bake in the sun and get as dark as humanly possible. There were no warnings about using SPF-95 and staying out of the sun. And you sure didn't hear many people talking about skin cancer.

Fast forward to today and see what that sun may have given you after all of these years. As long as I can remember, like the late 70's, I've always had this "growth" on my forehead. I went years just ignoring it and never thought that much about it. As I got older I grew tired of looking at it and assumed it might be some kind of super-human wart. So, I began to use all sorts of home treatments to remove it.

Trying to remove this thing went on for years. A few times I thought I had it burned or frozen off until it was almost gone only to have it return once more. It never really spread or hurt so I wasn't worried about it. Late last year a doctor friend of mine walks up to me in the mall and asked what the thing on my head was. I explained I wasn't sure and he nonchalantly told me it was basal cell carcinoma and I had skin cancer. Wow!

After the initial shock he informed me it was not really dangerous but should be removed. Well, last night I had him remove it and just for grins told everyone I was going to have him cut out a lightning bolt design to look like Harry Potter's. See photo above.

The moral of the story is watch your kids and their exposure to the sun. We didn't know as much about skin cancer in the 70's and all loved to get that dark, rich tan. Many of us will be paying for that exposure as we get older. Get yourself checked out if you suspect a growth anywhere.

(P.S. The photo above may have been tampered with in PhotoShop. My doctor was not to keen on giving me the lightning bolt design.)

Labels: 70's, Curtis Tucker, Getting Old

It was always fun to play outside with your friends in the 70's. Seems like everything we did was outside. One of the best parts of starting a new game was figuring out who was going to be "it".

These are a few of the ways we would choose who was "it":

1. Bubblegum, Bubblegum
2. One Potato, Two Potato
3. Eeney Meeney Miney Moe

The games we played as kids:

1. Kick the Can
2. Hide and Seek
3. Smear the Queer (politically incorrect I know)
4. Murder in the Dark (inside)
5. Dodge Ball
6. 4 Square

We also made up our own games. One game we called Musclins was a combination of tag, hide and seek and kick the can. Burn out was a game played between two four square squares. The point was to throw a ball as hard as you could into the opposing four square and get it by your opponent. The ball had to bounce once within the four square area.

My favorite game of all was trampoline dodge ball! Two guys on each side of the trampoline trying nail the guy on the trampoline with a dodge ball. Could life have been any better?

Labels: 70's, Fun Events, Memories

Today's world is full of safety lids, seat belt laws, restrictions and many other things that have been created and forced upon us for safety's sake. When I look back at some of the things we did as kids I often wonder how we made it to adulthood.

This is a list of things that my friends and I did but probably should not have done. We made it through every one of these events without major injury. I post this list to inform my daughters that I know about these things and I will be monitoring that they are not repeated.

1. Like most kids we snuck out while spending the night at a friends house. The danger here was that is would be 2 am in the morning and we were between the ages of 9 and 12.
2. Roofs. We climbed onto or out on every roof we could find. In grade school we would climb on the school roof to retrieve any dodge ball that might have been lost earlier in the day.
3. We actually used to slide down the valley of our two story roof on a Frisbee. We would sit on the Frisbee and slide almost to the end of the ridge and at the last moment we would use our feet to stop just before plummeting off the edge and falling two stories to the ground.
4. We would sometimes sneak the trampoline close to the garage so we could jump off the roof onto it.
5. We spent many an afternoon winding through the drainage tunnels under our town. Many times we would get several blocks underneath the streets. Of course nobody knew where we were in case we ever got stuck.
6. Fire. A really bad one. We set a few things on fire that we probably should not have. Especially at the houses that had fireplaces. Anything plastic was meant to melt!
7. Climbing trees. We used to climb some trees so high that we were on branches that could barely hold our weight. I remember feeling a few trees lean so far that I thought I was a goner.
8. Throwing things at cars. We had a ritual of throwing eggs and snowballs at cars. Our biggest problem there was that we usually threw from one of our own houses and those that got hit knew where to track us down.
9. Pool hopping. Many times we get a big group of guys together and go from pool to pool hopping in and running like heck. We would hit the hotel pools and as many backyard pools as we could find.
10. Sledding down hills on pieces of cardboard. This one did cause me to get 6 stitches when I ended up hitting a broken bottle with my knee.
11. I may add to this list as I remember more long lost adventures that we had as yutes.

I know there were many other things that we did that we knew were on the "do not do" list but as kids you do as much as you can get away with. Like I said earlier, we all made it to adulthood and we're no worse for wear. What daring things did you do as kids?

Labels: 70's, Fun Events, Memories, Parenting

Well, history was made tonight. Our five-year-old ate her first sandwich. Yes, that's right, we forced our child to eat a plain ham sandwich. I know you're thinking we're such bad parents and kids should not be forced to eat things they do not like. Unlike the days when we were kids.

The list of things that she won't eat include sandwich's, hamburgers, pizza, ketchup, BBQ sauce and a few other grossly horrific food items. We've let her get by with this for some time now because she does eat carrots, sweet potatoes and most other foods.

Tonight's historic event was followed by my speech about what I had to eat as a kid. If you grew up in the 70's you might remember a few of these. The absolute worst was liver! You know the liver that looked like a steak. I think that might have been a food I refused to eat a time or two. When I did eat it I was holding my nose, literally, and would fill my mouth with some liquid to get it down. If today's kids only knew!

Other foods of contention included hominy. What in the heck is hominy anyway? Then there were the oldies but goodies like broccoli, brussel sprouts, spinach and lima beans. Yes, lima beans! Who eats lima beans? What about spam? Are your kids eating spam? On the holidays we had to eat unearthly things like black eyed peas and stuffing.

On the other hand, I also remember the great things I ate as a kid. Who didn't grow up on fried bologna sandwiches, Spaghettios, mac and cheese and frozen pizza?

My how the times have changed. So, when my girls grow up and read this many years from now, remember that mom and dad weren't so bad after all.

Labels: 70's, Daughters, Dining, funny moment, Memories, Parenting

Our generation is getting a little grief for our addiction to the iPhone and the BlackBerry. Folks older than us just don't understand the connection we now have with the world through a small handheld device. Wait a minute... or do they?

I seem to remember a time in the 70's when our parents and the folks older than us were cuckoo for cocoa puffs. It wasn't the iPhone back then, it was... the CB radio! My gosh! Talk about an addiction to something new that connected you with other people.

The CB addicts not only had their own language but they had their own movies, their own songs and their own "handle". Did you have a "handle"? I'm not sure I remember too many things that were a bigger craze than the CB radio. Anyone remember the song "Convoy"? Wow! What a cool song, Rubber Duck, come on.

Smokey and the Bandit also helped propel not only the Trans Am into Pop Culture but also the CB radio. So the next time an old foogie gives you a hard time about your iPhone, just remind them of a time not so long ago when the country was spending useless hours talking on the CB radio.

10-4 Good Buddy, I'm off the air.

Labels: 70's, Memories

January 20, 2009 is a historic day. We will inaugurate the first black President of the United States. My daughters are to young to understand exactly how significant that is but they do know that it is something special. With all of this presidential stuff going on I got to thinking about the presidents I have seen in my lifetime.

I saw President Richard Nixon at Vance, AFB in 1974, President George H. Bush at Convention Hall in 1992 and I saw President George W. Bush's landing at Vance, AFB in 2006.

I've got a small collection of things from the Nixon visit to Enid. My great grandma was a huge Nixon fan and she waited 3 hours in the sun to see him. These are the things I received after her death.


In 1974, I was not heavy into politics. As a matter of fact, at eleven, I really knew very little about politics and the news. I do remember that countries were always getting attacked by guerrillas. Being just a youngster, I always wondered why gorillas were attacking people. Little did I know.

I do remember hearing about Watergate but not really understanding what all the fuss was about. The first election I really remember was Ford/Carter. I spent the night with my best friend the night of the election and we got to stay up until we knew who the winner was projected to be. Of course, Carter won and we went to bed wondering what was going to happen to the country. I was a republican even then.

Labels: 70's, Enid, Memories, politics

It's my sister's 47th birthday and she is now officially older than me. You see we've both been 46 years old for the last 23 days. My sister and I were both born in 1962 and we are not twins. Huh?

My sister was born in January and I came along later that year in December. Growing up, many people thought we were twins. We even looked a bit alike at a very young age (see photo below).

Luckily we outgrew the look alike thing and I ended up with the good looking gene while she ended up with the mediocre gene. Sad but true.

My sister and I grew up in the 70's when there really wasn't anything to do. No video games, no iPod, no cable and no VCR. My only hope to find adventure was to terrorize my sister.

My favorite terror plot was taking the talk thingy out of here phone. In those days we had to hold a receiver that was connected to the phone by a cord. You could unscrew the receiver and remover the sound making device. My sister would run into her room and answer her phone only to hear the person on the other end repeatedly say, "Hello? Hello?" I would normally be under her bed laughing my butt off.

Listening under the bed with an old cassette tape recorder was another fun activity. My best friend and I would sneak under the bed and listen to all of her boring phone conversations. We would usually hear something like this, "Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? You've got to be kidding me? Are you kidding me?"

Eventually we would get bored and spring out from under the bed, leaving my sister screaming for mom at the top of her lungs. We had many more good times pulling pranks on my sister which I will detail later. I just want to end this post by saying happy birthday sis and beware, there might be Saran Wrap stretched over the toilet seat next time you sit down!

Labels: 70's, Family, funny moment, Memories, Photo, Sisters

I re-post this in honor of the King's birthday...

I remember back in the 70's when my sister and I would stay up late on the weekends and watch the Friday or Saturday night late movies. In those days there were only 3 major TV stations and no VCR's or DVD players. Ultimately there would always be an Elvis movie rerun. As bad as the acting was, they still remind me of my youth and I get a kick out seeing them from time to time.

I actually remember the day Elvis died 31 years ago. We lived in a rent house on south Johnson street in Enid and my mom's best friend called. She told me to tell my mom that Elvis had died. I don't think I really thought that much of it because by that time Elvis had faded from the spotlight.

Later in life I made a trek to Graceland on my way to the Atlanta Summer Olympics. For some reason I felt the need to find a tiny memento of the King. On the tour there were signs posted and cameras watching every step so it wasn't like I could just nab a book or something from his library. I would have taken a light bulb from a lamp if I could have reached one. Everything was kept pretty much out of arms reach.

As the tour began to wind down I knew my chances were running out to leave with a part of Elvis history. That's about when I saw a glimmer of hope. It was the grooviest, greenest, lushest shag carpet I had ever seen! It was like there was a mile of it covering the famous jungle room. I'll have you know that green is my favorite color and I wanted some of that green shag carpet!

Although there was a rope keeping me away from my lush, green pasture I quickly noticed that the carpet actually went all the way up the walls! Wow! What luck. As the tour exited the jungle room area, I plucked one single strand of green shag carpet from one of the jungle room walls.

I still have that strand today and if you feel the need to be close to Elvis, just give me a call and we'll break it out and watch Jail House Rock together.

Labels: 70's, Curtis Tucker, funny moment, Memories, Olympics

Many posts on my blog deal with my fond memories of growing up in the 70's. The kids of the 70's are now adults and are influencing the world. The events of those years shaped us and made us who we are today. They were awesome times and I look back on those memories with great fondness.

It seems I'm not the only one trying to remind people of those eventful years. Architect Darryll Sherman, a fellow 70's youngster has turned author and written an account of his 1970's childhood. His new book, My '70s Book, has been released and is poised to bring back all of those 70's memories.

Do you remember having to do real chores to earn your allowance? Do you remember a time when you had to make up your own games and use your imagination when playing? Or how about getting one big gift at Christmas and sometimes even having to share it with your brothers and sisters? If any of these memories ring true for you, you will this new book.

Many of us easily identify with My '70s Book as it takes a sentimental journey back to a typical childhood in 1970's suburbia. What child of the '70s doesn't remember riding around on their stingray bike with the banana seat? Or playing yard games like croquet with the whole family? There were no cell phones, no computers, and no Gameboys to constantly entertain kids. Children had to use their imagination and make up their own games. Squirt guns were the ultimate outside toy! An electric light saber was created by waving a stick around and making noises with your lips!

My '70s Book includes lists of many of the bands, movies and television shows that defined the decade. Sherman even includes some of the popular commercials and advertising slogans that will have readers reminiscing about their days in front of the tube. Who can forget "Ancient Chinese secret, huh?" or "I can bring home the bacon; fry it up in a pan!"

Perhaps the most poignant part of Sherman's book is the chapter "Things we had and took for granted" where we realize how much life has changed for American families since those simpler times. Back then, the neighborhood was safer and kids could stay outdoors all afternoon playing until dinner time, when the whole family would sit down and have a home cooked meal ... together.

Find out more about this walk down memory lane at bookstores like Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders and others.

Read more http://www.my70sbook.com

Labels: 70's, Getting Old, Memories

The best holiday children's shows were around when I was a kid. The Peanuts holiday specials, the Grinch, Frosty, Rudolph and a few other less remembered claymation type shows like the Little Drummer Boy.

These holiday specials bring back so many good memories that it is virtually impossible for me to not watch them when they come on, much like the Wizard of Oz.

Although, by today's standards they are very simple, I think that is what has made them last for so long.

I'm trying to pass that warm fuzzy feeling on to my daughters and they are getting excited for this evening because Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the whole gang are on tonight!! Yippee!! It's officially the holiday season once you've seen A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Gather the family around the TV and watch this fun holiday classic.

Our family loves these shows so much that we stick the CD with the songs from a Charlie Brown Christmas into my car and listen to it over and over. The girls love the Charlie Brown theme song and ask for it every time I start the car. I've requested that they both learn to play it on the piano.

The show runs tonight, Tuesday, November 25 at 7:00 p.m. on ABC (Channel 5).

Happy Holidays and eat much turkey!!

Labels: 70's, Daughters, Fun Events, Memories, Parenting

Labels: 70's, Curtis Tucker, Photo, Sneakers

The street that my friends and I lived along in the late 70's was a very wide avenue lined with older two story houses. Along every block there were very large elm trees that would cast great shadows over the bumpy sidewalks running along either side.

Each September would bring the beginning of Fall, the cooler air and the turning of the leaves on the huge trees standing in the front yards of most every home along the avenue. September also brought the beginning of the great cardboard box adventure.

I think I love Halloween so much because it brings back so many memories of my best friend and I and the adventures we had while building our own haunted maze inside his old, multi-room garage.

Our quest would begin with our carefree hunt for the biggest and best cardboard boxes in town. We were both in junior high and couldn't drive so we relied on our trusty old bicycles. You know the ones, bright colored paint, banana seats, chopper style handle bars, goofy white grips and chrome fenders. Real junior high nerd bikes straight out of the seventies.

My bike was multi-colored with reds, oranges and blues while my best friends was mostly green. We would ride these modes of monster transportation all over town searching out appliance stores, furniture stores, dumpsters and the most coveted place of all, the funeral homes. You see, couch boxes were good, refrigerator boxes were great, but coffin boxes were the piece de resistance of our haunted maze.

There was one slight problem when finding these magnificent boxes. Getting them back to the garage on our bikes became a small adventure in itself. Read more...

Labels: 70's, Curtis Tucker, funny moment, Halloween, Memories

Way back in the 70's the coolest thing about a phone was getting an extension for the coil cord connecting the hand receiver to the phone. Having that extension would allow you to walk all the way into the next room without having to carry the phone. Wow! What technology.

That wasn't the only cool thing to come along in the 70's in the way of telephone advancement. Remember when rotary phones were old school and the new technology was push buttons!! We were so advanced it wasn't even funny. And to think we didn't even know that slim line phones with push buttons on the receiver were just around the corner.

Fast forward to 2008 and the phone has evolved into the cell phone which has evolved into the most important piece of electronics in the modern world. You may be laughing and saying to yourself that the computer is the most important piece of electronics in the world today. Well, as all iPhones owners know, the iPhone is a computer!

The Tuckers should be known as the iFamily. At last count we had 10 iPods and 4 iPhones. We are definitely Apple Geeks and own four Mac computers.

The iPhone is the coolest piece of technology ever invented. It's a calendar, an address book, a camera, a photo album, a MP3 player, a video player, a text messenger, an email system, a weather forecaster, a calculator, a GPS system, an electronic map, an answering machine, a clock, an alarm, a stop watch, a notepad, an Internet browser and a phone! But that's not all! With the latest software, the iPhone has become thousands of more applications.

My newest favorite application, shown on my new iPhone in a photo taken by my old iPhone, is called iChoose. Have you been driving around trying to decide on where to eat? Can't decide if you should buy something or not? Are the kids unable to settle an argument?

iChoose solves all of those problems and more. Use the heads or tails coin or the yes/no button and instantly make life decisions that were once so hard to make. With the touch of your finger watch as the coin flips from heads to tails over and over again until it lands on the only probable choice. It is the ultimate decision maker, restaurant chooser, argument solver and all around fun application.

If you don't have iChoose get it for free. If you don't have an iPhone, call me, I have a slightly used 40 foot coil extension cord available for your handheld receiver.

Labels: 70's, Curtis Tucker, funny moment, Memories

I was a kid in the 70's. As I look back I can't believe how many things didn't even exist back then. Here are just a few of the things we lived without...

1. Wireless remote control
2. Music videos
3. DVD's/Videos/VCR's
4. Portable music players
5. Personal computers
6. Cordless phones
7. Microwave ovens
8. Video games
9. Cell phones
10. Cable TV
11. 24 hour news
12. Airbags
13. Cartoon Network
14. Digital cameras
15. Email
16. Internet
17. iPods
18. Microwave popcorn
19. Space shuttles
20. Disposable cameras

Labels: 70's, Memories

There are so many cool memories from the 70's. I am going to list what sticks out in my mind the most and the things that influenced me the most. This list may grow as time goes by. This is not a list of everything from the 70's, only the things that had an impact on me, that sneaker wearing kid who grew up in the 70's. Enjoy!

1. My most favorite Farrah Faucet poster
2. Charlies Angels of course
3. Bell bottoms with sneakers, tattered
4. The Gong Show! Gene, Gene...
5. Land of the Lost & the Sleestack
6. Billy Don't Be A Hero - Song
7. The Night Chicago Died - Song
8. CB radios and Convoy Song
9. The Warriors Movie
10. Phantasm Movie
11. Asteroids Game
12. Monty Python & The Goodies
13. Sonny and Cher
14. Klackers
15. Only four TV stations
16. TV antennas
17. No remote controls
18. Saturday morning Bugs Bunny
19. Davey and Goliath and Jot
20. Vacation Bible School
21. Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots
22. Saturday Night Live
23. Midnight Special
24. The Banana Splits
Read more of my 70's influences...

Labels: 70's, Curtis Tucker, Memories