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Archive for the category “Growing Up Gen X”

29 Jul 2026

ABC’s “One Big Family” Promo

Turn Up The Volume…

This gloriously cringeworthy 1980 ABC “One Big Family” promo brings together a delightfully bizarre smorgasbordof network stars, including: 

Howard and Marion Cunningham waltzing about while “The Fonz” looks like Bradley Cooper in Licorice Pizza.

Ted Knight attacking the choreography with the confidence of a man who clearly did not rehearse.

Tommy Hanks before he was Tom Hanks.

Doc and Julie off the boat while Vicki searches for a new television family.

Cathy Lee Crosby’s shoulder shimmy followed by John Davidson’s triumphant fist pump. That’s incredible!

Shirley jazz-handing while Laverne tries her best not to look irritated and embarrassed.

Joyce DeWitting like the Regal Beagle just announced last call.

Burgess Meredith bringing Oscar-caliber dignity to this footloose fiasco.

Benson looking like he just discovered this nonsense was buried in his contract.

And my personal favorite: Captain Barney Miller apparently dancing to music only he can hear.

Enjoy!

Steve

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17 Jul 2026

When the Library Had Wheels

Grade school in the ’70s, The Bookmobile would periodically roll into the school parking lot like an educational ice cream truck.

The moment that bus arrived, we’d climb aboard and inhale that unmistakable aroma of old paper, diesel fumes and absolutely no concern for child safety.

The official purpose was presumably to encourage reading. In reality, you chose a book because the cover had a dinosaur, a haunted house, Bigfoot or a kid solving crimes.

There was always one kid who picked a book about math, science or something else suspiciously intelligent, thereby scheduling himself for a wedgie shortly after the Bookmobile departed.

Once you made your selection, the librarian stamped the little card in the back, providing documented proof that at least 14 children before you had sneezed directly into it.

There were no computers or barcodes. Just a librarian, the Dewey Decimal System and the very real possibility that the book you wanted had already been checked out by some kid named Todd who would never return it.

The Bookmobile was our Amazon Prime on wheels… if Amazon only visited occasionally, smelled like a city bus and threatened to fine you twelve cents.

Back when a bus full of books was all it took to make the school day exciting. I miss those days.

Steve

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11 Jul 2026

Big Wheel Days

Ah yes… the original muscle car of the suburban streets. Before driver’s licenses and horsepower… before our parents had any idea where we actually were… there was the Big Wheel.

Every neighborhood had that one kid who got it first, and instantly became a celebrity. The rest of us would be like, “Cool… mind if I try it for 3 hours straight?” And when you finally got your own it was Game over. You now had a low-slung plastic chariot of dominance.

We weren’t just riding. We were racing, drifting like Fast & Furious: Cul-de-Sac Edition. Handbrake “safety feature?” No way, it was a tool to lock up the rear wheels and slide sideways into Mrs. Donnelly’s mailbox like absolute legends.

We’ll never forget the sound… that glorious KRRRRRRRRRRRRRR as you peeled out down the driveway like you just launched off the starting line at Daytona. No helmets or pads. Just hair in the wind fun and a strong belief we were indestructible.

Those plastic rear wheels worn down flatter than a pancake after about a week of aggressive cornering. Didn’t matter, just made you faster, right up to that uncontrollable spinout of doom anyways. 

Each outing ended the same way: One kid flipped it, one kid cried, another blamed the brakes. But, of course, we all went right back out to pound the pavement five minutes later.

1975 Big Wheel Commercial

Today’s kids have tablets. We had a plastic hot rod with a cool handbrake and zero adult supervision. Those were the days!

Steve

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