NOTE: Click on the appropriate links for letters archives from 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998 and 1997 Also, various Avocado Memories reviews are here.
4/30/08
I just stumbled upon your site... actually googling info on those stretched Coke/Pepsi bottles from the 70s! I had forgotten about those (yep, we had some sitting on the shelf in front of the glass block) until I just saw a pic in a magazine recently. I've been reading & laughing about your memories because I can relate...I was born in 1960 and lived to tell the tale of avocado green & harvest gold... and then some.
I'm very big on nostalgia & recapturing lost childhood items... I used to say for years how much I loved watching the kid game show, "Shenanigans" that was always met with a blank stare from the listener.
A few weeks ago I randomly stopped at a yard sale. There lying on the grass was the board game "Shenanigans!" I was surprised no one had gotten it since it was already afternoon & it was only $1. It looks like it has hardly been played with. Anyway, your toy page made me go, "oh, yeah, I remember that, too!"
Thanks for sharing your memories.
By the way, I didn't grow up in Calif but I currently live in a San Fernando Valley 1954 tract home which I am trying to get to look more like that era. It still has the cool gray & teal bathroom tiles. :)
tammy
4/29/08
I found your site while looking at some places that don't exist anymore. I so enjoyed reading almost everything. I'll have to come back another time. It made me feel that I missed a lot.
I was born in 1948 and had one sister and while our house in South Gate, CA., was much the same but without add-ons, a pool or patio, it sounds like you had a lot more fun. My parents had only one couch their entire married life, over 50 yrs, but no one was ever allowed to sit on it, save perhaps Christmas. I loved all of the changes that your parents made, it seems like they really enjoyed life. I remember always wishing for some kind of backyard living area. Yours shows that it didn't have to be overly expensive to have been fun. It was a waste too, as we had a large yard, but nothing was ever done with it except weeding and mowing. I did enjoy some rays out there in the spring and early summer on the grass, by myself on a beach towel.
Anyway, I just wanted to say, it was so smart of you to have taken the pictures that you did, I wish I had more. The best to you and your family. I have three kids now, 21, 25 and 27, married with one 7mo old. The 21 yr old still lives at home. I hope that I have given them good memories. The ones that you can laugh at are the best ones.
Thank You, Terrye
4/17/08
Dear Wes,
I just wanted to thank you for your toys from the sixties web page. I hit it about once a month because its fascinating. I had almost everyone of those toys myself and thought I would never see them again. Its fun to look at them on ebay also.
I have a question for you that may seem strange but since we were on the same wavelength in regards to toys maybe you might recall. In the sixties the six pack of fritos was offering a free giveaway in each 6 pack of Fritos. One of which was the dinosaurs you show on your website. I remember they were offering small plastic figurines of "monsters". The only two I remember were "harry scarey" and "tony boney'. I have searched the internet for years trying to see some mention of them but have had no luck. I figure if anybody would remember it would be you. I live on the east coast so maybe they did not offer it on the west coast but I thought I would ask anyway.
Sorry if this seems strange but it's like a 'quest" for me. I have located (thanks to you) my X-500 Space Base and my Astro Ray gun and my Monkey Division equipment so I figured" what the hell".
Anything you might remember about this would be appreciated.
Dave
4/11/08
Hi Wes, I found stumbled upon your site back in 2001. For some reason, the site popped into my head tonight and I was so happy to find that you are still up and running! Thanks for all you do. The site really brings back some great memories!
Best,
Carla
4/9/08
Wes,
I have been following Avocado Memories for several years after stumbling on the site.
It is by far the best description of that time period that I have seen.
Periodically, I check back to see if there are any updates.
Thanks for sharing the memories.
Ed
1/22/08
Wes,
Great site... I'm a little younger than you... born in '63, but I had similar experiences in the 60's and 70's, as the ones you document on your site. I sure wish I had documented them as you have.
By-the-way, that awful bubble stuff was called "Super Elastic Bubble Plastic" in the midwest. It was made by Wham-O and it was horrific. Not only was it flammable and toxic, it hardly ever worked. And a little glob of that stuff on the curtains sent my mother through the roof!
Other things you might relate to... copies of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles. The orange and yellow label was very hypnotizing on the turntable as it looked like the yellow was eating the orange, etc. Did Capitol Records do this on purpose?
Did you have a fascination, as I did with walkie talkies? I always seemed to have a cheap pair of them lying around as a kid... the ones with the red "beep" button. I think the signal went all of 20 feet. One summer day my brother and I used them to make a tape recording of an "Apollo" moon mission in which we saw a "bogey" while coming back to earth. It sounded pretty authentic.
Like everyone else I wish I'd hung on to my baseball cards (Reds fan then) - Topps only! I too put together models and did horrible things to them with a soldering iron to make my World War II German fighters look battle-weary. My Aurora "mummy" model was my fave... the one with the cobra.
I could go on and on, but I'm sure you've seen these types of comments before. Thanks again for a great site and wonderful memories!
Mark
1/16/08
Hey Wes,
What a trip! (yes, that phrase is still in my vocabulary...) I love your website! I stumbled on your website by accident while doing a "birth mother" search, and I can totally relate! I was born on June 22, 1958, and grew up in Monterey Park, CA.
One of my childhood memories includes going to the "Bozo" TV show, I remember seeing myself on the TV monitor when the camera was panning over the audience - I can still sing the BOZO theme song too! I think I even have the flyer from the show with the date and everything on it - somewhere in a box!
I still have my Kenner Easy Bake Oven in the box, and Chatty Cathy doll, and two life like "Playpal" dolls that my best friend and I played with!
I had a blue "Huffy" Stingray - I used to go to Western Auto and buy things like a bigger sissy bar, and reflectors and stuff to "enhance" my bike! I got a bright yellow "boys" (because even if you were a girl, a girl 10 speed wasn't cool) Schwinn Varsity 10 speed when I was about 15, this was my pride and joy - when I got my drivers license I sold it to the neighbor and within a week it was stolen! I told him to lock it up! My first car was a brand new 1976 Chevy Camaro - my mom said: "College or a Car" of course I opted for the car -- it was 1976, why did I need to go to college, I was going to get married and have babies...LOL!
I was a Dark Shadow fan also, had Tarot cards, black candles, etc... also!
Mom wasn't into decorating, she pretty much kept the same furniture they bought in 1948 (when the house was brand new), until the seventies...but my best friend Janice's parents were more "in style" when we were really young in the early sixties their house was decorated in Mid Century Modern Danish, with the three piece sectional sofa, kidney shaped formica topped coffee and end tables, and they even had a orange phone - oh and the mosaic pictures on the wall! In the late sixties they redecorated with the "Blue and Green" theme with mediterreaan style coffee tables and giant glass bubble lamps, and of course those resin grapes -- with the kitchen in Harvest Gold and Green, and her mom was in to doing crafts - so she "antiqued" the kitchen cupboards this green/gold color with black wrought iron handles!
My mother ran this non-profit type business called "The Americanism Center" during the sixties, it promoted Americanism as opposed to Communism, I used to hang out there alot with my mom, they had rummage sales and stuff like that - but the most memorable thing about it was meeting Ronald Reagan - he came to give a speech there while he was governer, I was excited - not because he was governer - but because he was a "movie star"!
One more thing - in that picture with you and "Leslie" on your Stingray - I had a bathing suit almost exactly like the red & white one she has on! I have a picture of that too somewhere!
I could go on forever - but wanted to let me know that you inspired me to do my own memories page on my "MySpace" page -
I know this email was lengthy - and like I said, I could go on forever - and thats why I'm going to try to do my own "avacado memories" page!
Stay Groovy,
Elaine
1/1/08
Wes! I stumbled across your awesome website and have spent many an hour perusing your memories. I was born November 2, 1952, so I'm a few years old than you. My "big" sister was five when I came to be, and in 1959, our "baby sister" was born. Like yourself, I grew up in an atmosphere full of toys, TV, and lots of fun. Here are some of my toy memories:
In the late 50's, probably about 58 (which is my first memory that I can pinpoint), I had a Robert the Robot that literally scared the s--t out of me! My dad would shut off the light and make it crawl out of our darkened living room toward me (I was sitting on the floor in the lighted kitchen). I can still see Robert's mouth-grid, outlined by the dim lightbulb atop his square noggin'! We played with that thing for years, until one of its arms actually fell off. He couldn't talk any more, either...but in 2005, I bought one of the Ideal Classics repros, and now he's once again in my possession (but still MIB!).
Another toy I remember vividly from that period was a toy dashboard, made by Remco, I think. It was yellow, with a red steering wheel. When you turned on the "ignition," you could actually flick the signals and make the windshield wipers work! Don't know whatever happened to that thing. We moved in 58, when I was 5, and a lot of my toys fell into a black hole!
I also had a kid-sized metal car, powered by push-pedal. That was big enough to do damage if you ran it into an unsuspecting victim! My sister had a Gilbert chemistry set that I was not allowed to touch, so I'd watch her make all kinds of noxious potions. Mostly I remember the smell of the alcohol burner! One of my earliest memories of my older sister was finding an Easter Peep in her bureau drawer and trying to take a bite out of it! Alas, the thing was hard as a rock, and I haven't liked Peeps since. Ha!
When Judy, our younger sister, came along, that's when the toy deluge started! My parents were big believers in having great Christmases and birthdays, and they always bought us stuff like comic books, coloring books, and those neat punch-out dioramas--Christmas-themed, mostly, but I also vividly recall punch out sets for The Sword in the Stone and The Beverly Hillbillies. Judy was truly a privileged child, and we showered her with every toy imaginable. She had several battery-operated thingamabobs, like a ladybut that flapped its wings and turned around when it walked into a wall. She also had a tin Marx robot, battery-operated, that I saw on eBay going for something like $1,000! One Christmas, my folks bought her a tin rollercoaster set that she played with for all of one day. It was eventually sold in a lawn sale sometime during the 70's, and nowdays commands big bucks as a collectible. Ah, you live and learn.
I was, of course, a monster kid and loved the Aurora models. Had every monster, plus the superheroes and spies, assorted vehicles and such. I loved Batman, too! As I said, my parents bought us comics all the time, especially when we went on drives and trips. Here's a memory: I'm sitting in our garage on the steps to the kitchen reading a story about a teenager who's bitten by a spider and becomes something called a "spider-man!" Yep, believe it or not, that was Amazing Fantasy 15, the first appearance of Spidey. Of course, we never kept the thing. Dang!
And speaking of comics, your memory of Ferro Lad's death brought a nostalgic smile to my face...for I, too, loved DC comics and began collecting them right before my 8th grade in the summer of 1966. I remember where I was when I first read the Death of Ferro Lad--sitting in our car, December 27, 1966! I'd just bought it, along with 7 other 12 centers (could get 8 for a buck back then). My comic collecting went on for years--in fact, I just stopped collecting a few years back! We're talking a near 40-year stretch!
Today, I'm a freelance writer, very big into nostalgia, and I oftentime write articles that deal with my childhood. The last article I did on the topic ran in Autograph Collector magazine last summer. I was and still am a fanatical autograph collector, with emphasis on classic Hollywood and especially Baby Boomer-related stars. I did an entire article on Dark Shadows, as well!
I could go on and on, but I wanted to touch base with you. I think we're kindred souls, and I do enjoy going down memory lane with someone who's actually been there. Excelsior!
Rod