Monday 24 February 2014

My 5 Top Gadgets From The 70's

The Teenager laughed as I told her how we used to tape the Top 40 charts using a state of the art Boom Box, I explained how difficult it was to try and press stop just at the right time so you didn't have the presenters voice on your mix tape.
This is me aged 4 rocking the Roll Neck look.

This got me thinking............I will admit, this did hurt a bit........................To how different gadgets were back in the 70's to now.

Here's my Top 5..................................................................................

1. The TV :- 70's television sets were 6ft high and 6ft wide and took up most of your lounge, in fact ours was so big I used to have my dinner on the top sometimes when no one was looking. There was no remote control and you actually had to get up off your bum to change channels....Or.....Get someone else to do it. These days they are just as big but wafer thin and have many functions as well as 3D screens which I will be honest and say "I just don't get".

2. Mobile Phones :- Well, to be honest we didn't have them back in the 70's and just relied on luck that nothing ever happened to us whilst we were out playing all day. I can remember my mum just telling me to be back before it got dark......................................How trusting was she................Little did she know that we built fires in the woods, jumped over streams and built camps using other peoples rubbish. These days my kids have to text me when they reach the end of the path..................Extreme Parenting.........

3. The Walkman :- I remember it well, I loved mine so much and thought I looked like someone from Fame as I strutted in my legwarmers and lycra with this giant brick like contraption attached to my Boogie Belt and huge headphones cello taped across my head. Todays portable stereos are somewhat smaller and thinner, the downside to this is you can pretty much loose them anywhere. I would of been amazed of you could loose a Walkman.....Trust me, I tried when a newer more swishy one came out.

4. Video Players :- Back then it was the good old Betamax System which was the size of a shed and made the most annoying noise when you ejected the tape. We knew we had made it when we purchased a VHS and used the Betamax as a coffee table instead. Now we have the DVD player built into the TV with no wires or anything.

5. Sat Nav :- Was in fact your Dad back then with a map and you Mum yelling at him to ask someone directions.........

So, there we go my top 5 favourite gadgets ever. These kids don't know how lucky they have it do they? Mind you I suppose back then we all thought we had it good too.....................Little did we know what was being invented right under our noses.

Keep It Real Folks
Peace Out
xx

I have linked this post up with the lovely Jaime over at.........

magic moments

60 comments:

  1. oh the joys of VHS and that was incredible for us!

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  2. hahaha! Great post! I loved my Walkman :)

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  3. Oh I remember them all as if it was yesterday! Brilliant!

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  4. Love this and we also had a remote control that had a really long wire to our top loading betamax video recorder!

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    1. Oooo yes I forgot about the long wire that everybody tripped over xx

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  5. I was a 90s kid (yes I am that young!) but I love this post so much! So funny, and completely agree about the walkman and the satnav!

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    1. Yippeee a 90's kid, I am so jealous of you. Thanks so much for reading my darling xxx

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  6. i used to love my walkman so much! and my cassette player, recording songs from the radio and pretending to be a dj, haha.

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    1. Yes, me too. I could never quite get it right though and always had a snippet of some bloke talking xx

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  7. :-D Yep ONE telly and until 1982, three channels, whichly mostly didn't show any programmes off peak and closed down at 11pm ! No mobiles - although I do recall my parents at various times having to come out to look for me as they were worried (though my Boy Teen invariably doesnt switch his on!) The Walkman : suddenly a soundtrack in your head like you were in a film ! & used to listen to compilation tapes made from the Top 40 on my Dad's massive stereo radio/record player/cassette player, sitting there fingers poised on start/record, it gradually getting dark until I could only see by the little orange On light. My hubby's family had the forgotten third VCR child - the Phillips 2000. Clunky&impossible to get tapes for he held onto it until we moved house! & Sat Nav - my parents never argued over maps but Dad always seemed to know where he was going !
    Great nostalgic post :-D X

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    1. How did we cope with just 3 channels, the best bit was the test card with the girl and the toy. Thanks so much for reading and your lovely comment xxx

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  8. I remember going out for the good ole Sunday drive or out visiting Aunts & Uncles (well that's what Sundays were for back then!)and constantly clock watching to get home in time to tape the top 40 and then the frustration of running out of tape for the No.1 song

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    1. Oh God yes I remember that too. Running out of that tape was a nightmare and just as a good song came on.xxxx

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  9. The Walkman - yey... I remember how happy I was when my begging finally paid off and parents got me one... I was over a moon!

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    1. Me too...........I thought it was the best thing ever. And it was indestructible too.......................I know this as I dropped mine down the loo....whoopppsss

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  10. I used to love taping the Top 40 there was a lot of skill involved getting the timings right!

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    1. Skill was a big issue with me, I never got it quite right xx

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  11. I remember getting the tape player ready every sunday afternoon. The good old dys lol

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  12. I used to tape the charts like that! I remember when the internet was new and we never had mobiles. It is so different now x

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  13. Ha ha we've only just got round to buying a sat nav! Great post - I love the fact that you used to eat your dinner off the TV. I've just been reading a book to Gwen with a picture of an old-school tv in it. She thought it was a tv with a bag hanging off the back!

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  14. I remember them all and i remember taping me singing too!!

    thanks for linking up with #MagicMoments .. this has made me chuckle x

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    1. Ooo yes, I did that too..........I knew I should of been on X Factor lol xxx

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  15. This made me giggle. I used to 'tape' the top 3 from the Top 40 on the radio every Sunday and like you said always tried to cut off the dj at the end or the beginning! Good times (or showing my age!)

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    1. NOt showing your age..............We are just what they called Experienced xxx

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  16. I had forgotten all about my believed Walkman! Bright red, mine way! My sister and I used to sit in our respective bedrooms in a Sunday evening, finger conveniently poised over the pause button! Ah, those were the days.....

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    1. I think mine was yellow and I wanted a red one hence why I tried to loose it xxx

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  17. Yeh and rewinding the tape to try and cut the bit out because you didn't stop it in time. You failed to mention the fact that the tv was black and white too lol

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    1. I can remember when it went colour too...................Amazing. xxx

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  18. I used to love my walkman - but I know when I was listening to it I never would have imagined that 20 short years later I'd be able to fit 10,000 albums on something the size of a pack of playing cards, and that we'd be able to walk around when on the phone - in the house let alone outside. Technology has come a long way :-)

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    1. Who would of thought it, it makes you wonder what on earth will be around when we are old and our kids are grown up xx

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  19. my mother in law still have vhs and still watching it. i think they are one of the best gadget!

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    1. I wish we had kept ours.........Have all these videos of the kids and nothing to watch them on now xx

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  20. Hehe I remember my dad used to have this huge roadmap and would actually map the route out and then he and my mum would fight all the way to Leicester and back (our usual place of visit!)

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    1. Same here, I can still remember my parents fighting over which way to go and my mum getting so cross that dad wouldn't ask for directions xx

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  21. Lol! Thanks for the dose of monday hilarity! Great post and lots of nostalgia.

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  22. I love a nostalgia post Sam, just brilliant! Adorable photo too! I remember all of this especially recording the top 40 which I did every week. Either got the DJ or missed the end of the song as you were convinced they were going to speak! I also had a portable record player LOL :)

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    1. Thankyou darling Charly, my friend also had a portable record player of which I was very jealous. xxx

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  23. I find it so weird and interesting to think of how much things have changed in only a few years!

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    1. It is indeed, who knows what is going to happen in the next 20 years....The mind boggles xx

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  24. Fab memories, I remember them all. Loved my walkman too.

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    1. Thankyou my lovely, seems the Walkman was the most loved by everyone xx

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  25. I remember these so well. The earphones on my Walkman always seemed to cut out - I had to hold the wire 'up' so the music wouldn't keep cutting out!!! Great post bringing back cool memories #magicmoments

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    1. Yes I remember that too, it was such a pain wasn't it. Thanks for reading xxxx

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  26. Love looking at old technology, it is amazing what we have now but are we happier? What did I ever do without the internet to find out stuff so quickly. I kind of miss us all not having mobile phones though, there really is no escape these days as you are expected to be contactable.

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    1. Me too, nothing like making your brain feel alive when you remember all those things xx

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  27. ...and the crest fallen disappointment when the Top40 tape sprung an inseparable relationship with the car radio added with the slight hope that it could possibly be extricated and wound back with an HB pencil and not be too crinkled to play! #MagicMoments

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    1. Ahhh the good old reliable HB pencil..........................I spent many a happy hour winding that tape back into its casing xx

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  28. This made me giggle :) I'm an 80s child but I'm sure those 'Top Gadgets' would be just as hilarious to kids today :)

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  29. What fantastic comments, I think I may do a whole series on Retro Stuff. Watch this space xxxx

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  30. My kids refer to my life before them as "back in the olden days" !

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  31. Ha ha ha - I used to love my walkman. It had no rewind button so you had to take the tape out, turn it over, forward it and then take it out, turn it over and put it back in again just to rewind a song ;-)

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  32. sat nave would have made my summer holiday memories much happier - I remember getting lost and lots of shouting around most of the European cities throughout my childhood! Great post which made me smile a lot. xx

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Love to hear your comments, and I will always try to reply xxx