Tag: 1970s

complete home decorating

Retro 70s Decor

Home and Garden 18 comments

Complete Home Decorating
Devitt
1978

Looking for a retro look? Want to induce nausea or maybe dizziness and headaches? Good for you! This book has that and much more! In many ways this book is a salute to home decor for the 1970s.

  • Harvest Gold and Avocado Green
  • Giant overpowering prints for wallpaper
  • Stripes and more stripes
  • Bean Bag Chairs

There are even a few quirks, such as a doll collection,a combo TV/Sewing center, and some weird accent pieces or “Objet d’art” – particularly, that planter in the shape of a head.

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macrame cover

No! Knot Again!

Craptastic Crafts and Hobbies 6 comments

Macrame
Bogen
1974

Time to take another ride in the way back machine to the early 1970s for some more groovy macrame. There are some nice choices in accessories for both home and to wear. Note the collar necklace. I am trying to think of an occasion that would call for such a necklace, but I am fresh out of ideas. Maybe you should pair it with the “skirt” featured in the next picture. (I think it goes without saying that you will need some kind of legging under the skirt.)

In the final picture there is a “vest” to wear, which I thought was a tote bag. Of course I have to wonder what one would wear underneath. Next to the vest there is some kind of costume. Maybe it is for a Halloween party where you are dressed up as a macrame wall hanging.

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tv slbum cover

70s TV for the youngsters

Entertainment 23 comments

TV Album
Herz
1978

If you are under the age of 50 or so, you might not recognize some of these programs unless you got lucky in re-runs. This little paperback is made up of what looks like publicity stills and script summaries. It’s pretty much a “meh” choice in the late 1970s.

We have featured a bunch of these nonfiction tv profiles for kids. Check it out here, here, and here. They are basically all the same book. The author, Peggy Herz has written a bunch of books about television shows for the juvenile audience for Scholastic.

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Meet David Cassidy

David Cassidy-Teen Idol

Biography 7 comments

Meet David Cassidy
Hudson
1972

As the resident “elder” at ALB, I can tell you that Cassidy was all that and a bag of chips in the early 1970s. Since this was the early 1970s and Cassidy was about 22, so this is mostly just fluff and stuff about the television show. I would imagine this was probably done by a publicity department with stills from the shows and his concerts.

Cassidy struggled with his fame and public perception his whole life. Struggles with alcoholism, issues with his father, the actor Jack Cassidy and toward the end of his life, dementia. Cassidy did pen a couple of memoirs: C’mon, Get Happy … Fear and Loathing on the Partridge Family Bus 1994 and Could It Be Forever? My Story 2007. Cassidy died in 2017.

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new young ideas in decorating cover

Groovy Teen Decor

Home and Garden, Talkin 'Bout My Generation 19 comments

New Young Ideas in Decorating
Walton
1970

Groovy teens everywhere will want to get their own rooms in shape…just like Grandma. All the decorating fads of the late 1960s and the early 1970s are here. Street signs? Check. Beaded curtains? Check. Gauzy drapes? Check. Peace sign? Double check. In 1970 this would have been nice choice for the young adult collection. The entire book reminded me of Rhoda’s Minneapolis apartment from the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

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finger weaving cover

Finger Craft

Craptastic Crafts and Hobbies 7 comments

The Basic Book of Finger Weaving
Dendel
1974

Another craptastic craft book for your consideration. The copy I happened to see was pretty beat up. That said, all I had to do was note the quasi “harvest gold” palette of colors to determine that this book was straight out of the 1970s. Looking at the crafts, you can see this is related to the macrame books of the same era. Everyone knew about macrame, but I never heard the term finger weaving used.

Of course we have some perennial 1970s looks: ponchos, vests, and a decorative collar. I believe I have seen a similar example of an afghan on every couch when I was a kid.

This is a weeder. The dirt on the book and a somewhat broken binding qualifies it for the recycle pile. Retro crafts can be something fun, but how about a book from this century?

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