Close your eyes and you can probably still hear it: the clunk of an 8-track changing programs right in the middle of a song. The ’70s were loud, colorful and a little bit groovy, and the stuff we owned showed it. Here are the 70s nostalgia items that filled our bedrooms, basements and station wagons.
Want the big picture first? Our 1970s nostalgia hub has the music, movies and moments of the decade.
1. The Pet Rock (1975)
Gary Dahl packed an ordinary stone in a cardboard carrier with air holes, added a tongue-in-cheek training manual, and sold more than a million of them in the 1975 holiday season. It may be the purest fad of the decade.
2. Mood rings (1975)
A heat-sensitive stone that changed color with your “mood.” Black meant stressed, blue meant happy, and everyone checked theirs during a test at school.
3. Lava lamps
Invented in England by Edward Craven Walker in 1963, the lava lamp found its true home in ’70s dens and dorm rooms, slowly bubbling away next to the stereo.
4. 8-track tapes
The 8-track arrived in the mid-’60s and ruled car dashboards through the ’70s. No rewinding, just clunk, next program. If you loved tapes, you’ll smile at our retro cassette tape tee, the format that finally replaced it.
5. Home Pong (1975)
Atari’s Home Pong hit Sears stores for the 1975 holidays, and suddenly the living room TV was a game. Two paddles, one square ball, endless arguments.
6. The console TV
The family TV was furniture: a wood-grain cabinet with a dial you got up to turn. Our retro ’70s console TV tee brings it back without the rabbit ears.
7. Roller skates and roller disco
By the late ’70s, rinks had mirror balls and disco on the speakers. Lace up the memory with our vintage roller skate tee.
8. The Big Wheel
Louis Marx and Company introduced the low-riding plastic Big Wheel in 1969, and through the ’70s it was the loudest thing on every driveway.
9. Shrinky Dinks (1973)
Two moms in Wisconsin came up with the idea in 1973: color a sheet of plastic, bake it in the oven, and watch it shrink into a hard little keepsake.
10. Weebles
“Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down.” The egg-shaped Playskool figures arrived in the early ’70s, and that jingle never left our heads.
11. Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle (1973)
Ideal’s wind-up launcher sent a little Evel flying across the living room floor. Every kid tried to jump something with it.
12. Polaroid SX-70 (1972)
Polaroid’s folding SX-70 spat out a print that developed right in your hand. Everyone waved it, even though you didn’t need to.
13. CB radios
“Breaker one-nine.” The mid-’70s CB radio craze peaked when C.W. McCall’s “Convoy” went to No. 1 in early 1976. Everybody had a handle.
14. Simon (1978)
Milton Bradley’s Simon flashed and beeped a pattern, and you had to repeat it. It was the must-have gadget of Christmas 1978.
15. Vinyl and the 45 adapter
Every record player had that little plastic insert for 45s, and every family lost at least one. Our 45 RPM adapter tee is for anyone who remembers stacking singles. More on that era in the timeless allure of vinyl records.
More ’70s memories
Still humming the Bee Gees? Read when disco died, and how it came back, browse our timeless toys story, or find what was number 1 the year you were born. Then test yourself with our free oldies quizzes.
Wear the decade, too: our ’70s retro disco tee is a crowd favorite.
70s nostalgia items: quick answers
What were the most popular fads of the 1970s?
Big ’70s fads included the Pet Rock, mood rings, CB radios, lava lamps, roller disco and 8-track tapes.
What year did the Pet Rock come out?
Gary Dahl introduced the Pet Rock in 1975, and it sold more than a million in that holiday season.
What was the first home video game console in the ’70s?
The Magnavox Odyssey came first, in 1972. Atari’s Home Pong, sold through Sears in 1975, made home video games a hit.
Are I Love The Oldies tees real vintage?
No. They are brand-new tees with vintage-inspired designs, printed just for you after you order.
