We all have memories from our early years of life. I would say the ones who had a childhood in the 70's such as myself have the market on crazy stories and unique experiences. But actually I think nostalgia is all relative. Kids who grew up in the 80's or 90's have just as many things to be embarrassed about as the rest of us. I mean there was a period of parachute pants and a little band called NKOTB.
Our experiences shape us for sure. I grew up in a time of Easy Bake Ovens (those magical light bulbs!) and sweaters with my initials monogrammed on them. My parents were ahead of the game though, and named my sister and I with the same initials. That way, hand me downs with the letters MLB worked just fine for BOTH girls. I do think growing up during that time period definitely afforded us more freedom. I routinely left my house at 7 am in the summer time not to be expected or seen again until noon and then again maybe at 8 pm. If a child today were to do that an Amber alert would most certainly be called. We rode big green bikes with baskets and were never tethered to a cell phone or the Internet. I spent my days with my neighborhood buddies making mud pies, riding bikes, playing hide and seek and swinging. Not once in my early years did the idea of sitting indoors staring at the TV or a video game come into play. I wanted to be outdoors.
The 70's produced a myriad of products that would raise an eyebrow or two today. Such is life. We live. We learn. We progress. Which does not remove the scars that are left from a childhood of bell bottoms and the occasional bread sacks tied around your feet to help protect you from the one dusting of snow the south got every 2 years. Yet we evolve somehow.
One of the most memorable articles from my childhood seemed so innocuous at the time for me. I would go to take my nightly bath and, like any other girl, would have my barbies dutifully lined up around the tub ready to be cleaned. Luckily for me, my mom had a handy dandy Barbie shower hanging from the shower spigot. It was green in color and was basically a plastic pouch with a long tube and then a "shower head" at the end. You had to dip it in the water to fill it and then could undo a clip and the water would start to flow. Every night I would take my barbies and lather their hair with suds and then use the magical shower wand to rinse them off. One fateful evening, my mom happened to come into the bathroom as I was in the progress of rinsing Skipper. She walked in, noticed what I was doing and stopped dead in her tracks. She took a long drag off of her smoke and said, "Misty, what are you doing?" I said, "um it's barbie shower time." She gave me the most quizzical look that slowly turned into one of horror as her eyebrows moved closer and closer to her hairline. What I realize now, is that here was a woman, standing in a bathroom, watching her daughter use her feminine hygiene apparatus as a shower head to wash her barbies' hair. My poor mom. I probably would have smoked too. Or just had more boxed wine.
My friend was recently going through some of her relatives things and happened upon one of these exact models. She knew my story and was kind enough to save the item for me, box included. The box lists the item as "a combination between a douche, enema and water bottle." And the sticker says eight dollars and thirteen cents. What a bargain for the multiuse item.Think how much money they could have made if they had only thought outside the box, literally AND figuratively.
I love your stories. Thanks for sharing.
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