The Reader's Advisor Online blog pointed me to an interesting article from Saturday's New York Times. The latest additions to American Girl's collection of historical dolls are nine-year-old Julie and her Chinese-American friend Ivy, who live in San Francisco during the tumultuous and freewheeling 1970s. The dolls accompany a new series of books from American Girl, the first of which is Megan McDonald's Meet Julie.
Um... I was nine years old in the 1970s. Can't say I wore anything like the bell-bottom denims, embroidered tunic, or knitted hat sported by these fashionable young ladies, however. I think I was a bit too young for that; they're dressed more like sophisticated versions of my teenage babysitters than like me. No doubt the styles are meant to resemble those of young adults, unless things were different in San Francisco. Instead, I'm having not-so-fond recollections of Jordache jeans, feathered hair a la Farrah Fawcett, barrettes, and turtlenecks with vests. On the other hand, the red plaid top and dark green jeans do look pretty familiar.
With regard to the NYT piece, I also remember the bicentennial, watching news about the Vietnam War on my friend's parents' TV, and Carter's election to the presidency (which we learned about during 2nd grade recess). My hair was nowhere near long enough to roll up with orange juice cans, though. That practice is actually news to me.
About Me
- Sarah Johnson
- Collection management librarian, readers' advisor, avid historical fiction reader, NBCC member. Book review editor for the Historical Novels Review and Booklist reviewer. Recipient of ALA's Louis Shores Award for book reviewing (2012). Blogging since 2006.
Sigh. I was old enough to wear some of those clothes.
ReplyDeleteDo they still sell orange juice in cans?
As far as I know! Although I haven't bought it that way in ages.
ReplyDeleteThat makes me old too!! I remember my mom rolling her hair in orange juice cans to straighten the wave out of it.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, I had a tunica style blouse with embroidery like the blond girl. And plateau shoes.
ReplyDeleteFloor length skirts you wrapped around your waist and knotted was another thing I loved.
Wow. I'm an aspiring historical fiction writer and I can't believe I JUST found this cool blog. Just wanted to say hi. And to me the 70's aren't far enough back to have people growing up in the era considered "old." So no worries!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should have said I was "historical" :) Hi, and thanks for visiting!
ReplyDeleteThose floor-length skirts are/were pretty cool.
Oh, dear. I was nine years old in the 70s too. In the San Francisco Bay Area. It's a bit lowering to realize things one has lived through qualify as historical fiction ;-). My favorite fashion of the time was the long skirts and peasanty-blouses and dresses (I was fascinated by history even then and liked to pretend I was living it :-). I remember tryin the orange juice can thing once but I decided rollers were easier. A bit later, I did have feathered hair (into the 80s, in high school). I was actually in Boston on a business trip with my parents in 1975 (while the Red Sox were losing the Wolrd Series) when they were already gearing up for the Bicentennial and loved all the historical exhibits. I remember watching the 1976 election returns with my parents and hanging a "Carter Won" sign on our door the next morning.
ReplyDeleteTenoys fugit... though sometimes I prefer to play with that second word in a vulgar way.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this blog.. I just added a link to it on my own on Novels Set in Dark Ages and Medieval England at http://medi-novels.blogspot.com. I also write The Blue Lady Tavern http://blueladytavern.blogspot.com and The Anglo Saxon England Blog http://saxonengland.blogspot.com. I'm also the one who wrote "How To Become a Fictional Character" for Susan Higginbotham's blog.
Nan Hawthorne
That was supposed to be "tempus"...
ReplyDeleteI wore either my school uniform or my girl scout uniform through much of the seventies, but I do remember the shampoos that had beer in them, and wanting a pair of buffalo sandals. I certainly wasn't as stylish as these dolls. They do sell orange juice in cans but it's frozen orange juice.
ReplyDeleteIt has clearly been a real long time since I've bought orange juice. Peasant-y blouses, though, I still like. I may even own one!
ReplyDeleteI pay so little attention to today's shampoo offerings that I never realized that the original green Clairol Herbal Essence wasn't sold anymore. You know, the one with the woman with flowers in her hair on the label (this is from memory). We have book-length catalogs of old ads in my library, organized by decade, and I saw that one listed in the 1970s book.
Nan, I'll go check out your blogs - they sound interesting.
Having met Megan McDonald in 1977, I really feel old, especially because she's retained a youthful outlook.
ReplyDelete