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I was born in 1967.

I remember when we tuned the TV to the channel we wanted by turning this dial on a box, then you could hear the antenna on the roof moving, with this sort of CHUNK! CHUNK! sound.

I signed a petition in high school to get MTV added to our cable lineup. It was a big scandal since it showed these things called “videos” that might be glorifying drugs (gasp) and sex (GASP!)

Our senior year, we had to turn in a ten page paper for English. I had to type each page out, and there couldn’t be any Wite-Out on it, so if I mis-typed, I had to start the page over.

Gas stations had full-service pumps and if you pulled into one, an attendant ran up, you told him how much of what kind of gas you wanted, and then while it was pumping, he checked your car’s oil and washed the windows.

There were Four Food Groups-Meat and Beans, Milk and Cheese, Fruits and Vegetables, and Breads and Cereals.  A healthy meal had one serving from each. We never used the words “protein” or “Carbs”.

“Body on Tap” was a shampoo  with Beer in it.  The commercial had a lady saying “I just washed my hair with beer!”  I also remember Flex, and Breck, and Tame cream rinse that came in a tall white bottle and smelled fantastic.

I remember Maybelline Dial-A-Lash mascara, and the Cover Girl eye shadow kits with the four shades of blue. The diagram on the back showed you how to apply all four shades at once, which I did.

I remember Tussy roll-on deodorant, and Mitchum- “so effective you can even skip a day!”  There was no such thing as body wash, we used bar soap in the shower.

Our hair-styling options were mousse, gel, or hairspray.  Gel was pretty much those jars of Dippity-Do, which you scooped out with your fingers and glopped onto your damp hair.   When Vidal Sassoon products hit our stores, everyone I knew stopped keeping a tall can of Aqua-Net in their locker and switched to Vidal Sassoon. You could smell it on the girls in my school like it was perfume.

Speaking of perfume- My sister wore “Poison”. There was Charlie, and Enjoli, and Jean Nate (Pronounced Nah-TAY) body splash. That commercial had a lady getting out of the bathtub, pouring Jean Nate into her hand, then splashing it up onto her LEG. And then it showed her dressed as a jockey riding a horse. Because nothing enhances the horse-riding experience like smelling like lemons.

We wore Bonne Bell Lip Smackers, and then Maybelline came out with Kissing Potion, which was a liquid lipgloss in a tube with a roller ball. Mine was Strawberry.

I thought the 80s was an interesting time for clothes.  The preppy years started in 7th grade, when we wore pastel Oxford shirts untucked, top two buttons undone, sleeves rolled up. With khakis (also called “Chinos”) and Bass Weejun loafers with a penny in the slot in the front.  For dressing up there were Candies sandals, and for summer we wore wood-soled Dr. Scholl’s sandals. How those didn’t kill our feet I have no idea. I loved mine.

Also popular that year was the Prairie look. White ruffled shirts, usually with an attached piece around the neck we tied in a bow, and long denim skirts with ruffled tiers, worn with turqoise jewelry and cowboy boots.  We had Shaker sweaters made by Forenza,  and jeans by Calvin Klein, Jordache, and Gloria Vanderbilt.

There was a brief “Flashdance” trend in high school, my Mom had a FIT when I asked her to buy me a sweatshirt only to cut the neckline out of it.  And Junior year (1984) there was a Neon phase.  Sweatshirts, t-shirts, socks, headbands, all in these shades of neon pink, blue, green, yellow. Think those glowsticks kids carry on Halloween, then imagine yourself wearing it HEAD TO TOE.

“Color Me Beautiful” was this line of makeup that women sold at home parties. They would drape scarves around you and then tell you what “season” you were, and sell you the makeup that looked best on you.  You also got a fabric swatch for your purse so you could pick the  best shades when shopping. I couldn’t believe it when I googled it and found out that Color Me Beautiful still exists! I’m a Summer

Play along in the comments if you want to share your 70′s and 80′s memories!

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