The ’60s and ’70s were oh so sweet. Like jello!

When I think back to my childhood, it goes something like this: First I think of my Barbie doll and the black vinyl case filled to the brim with clothes and accessories, which make me think of how much that collection would be worth now had my mom not thrown it out. It’s not as if she didn’t keep other useless things I had over the years. When I cleaned my room out after my mom passed away, I found my sun reflector, old ice skates, my “disco era” outfits, my ridiculously high-waisted pants. Why my Barbie, case, clothes and accessories she chose to throw out, I’m not sure.

When reminiscing, I think of all the differences between my childhood and that of the kids today. We didn’t have nearly as much as kids today, but we had more freedom, and much more fun. Had we grown up now, our parents would have been accused of neglect. 

Back in the 1960’s and ’70s, our goal was to get as brown as our skin could. Sunblock or sunscreen was basically nonexistent. We wanted to double the rays, so we typically lathered on baby oil to get that deep-baked look. For the kids, SPF numbers hovered around 2, 4 and 8. The idea that you would spray an SPF of 50 or even 30 wasn’t even an option.

How many of us wore seat belts in the ’60s? Who knew from seat belts? We piled into the car and sat on someone’s lap if we had to. Cars were very simple back then — AM radios and maybe FM in the Cadilacs, certainly no stero or XM radio. Cousin Brucie on AM was as cool as it got. Air conditioning was opening the window.

Although we had defoggers, my husband Jerry’s dad had no idea of their existence. Jerry and his brother were armed with dozens of towels on rainy and foggy days and would continually wipe down the front and back windows. This went on until one day a kid with American parents was in their car and made the outrageous claim that his dad’s car did the defogging automatically. The kid said it was on the panel on the dashboard. Jerry’s dad did some investigating and determined that the only button there which had no purpose was the “DEF” button. Need I say more? The towels were relegated to more conventional duties.