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I was a kid in the 70’s and although I don’t miss the rabbit ears on my parents TV, getting up to change one of our 5 channels or polyester pants and shirts with starched collars, I do miss a few things. Here are five of the things I miss most from the 1970’s.

Marathon Bars

Whenever I got a chance and a few coins in my pocket I’d get on my bike and ride to the nearest corner store to pick up this delectable candy treat. These days, I’d have to go to the United Kingdom or Australia for a Curly Wurly which has the same braided chocolate caramel but I’d miss the cool ruler on the side of the wrapper.

The Marathon Bar I’m talking about should not be confused with the Marathon Bar that is what’s now named Snickers. Love the Mork suspenders on this UK ad for Snickers when it was called Marathon.

Gum Without Artificial Sweeteners

My favorite gum was always Fruit Stripe. The sweet burst of flavor, the bright striped colors, and of course the cute zebra, made this the perfect gum for kids. Luckily you can still chew Fruit Stripe and it’s really one of the only gums that doesn’t have an artificial sweetener. Next time you stand at the check out line browse through the gum ingredients and even if you see sugar on the label you most likely will find phenalynaline, sucralose or aspartame.

I know Jack LaLanne would say no to gum all together but I say no to gum with artificial ingredients. It’s a start anyway.

Glass Coca Cola Bottles

Alright I know first sugar in gum and now sugar in Coca Cola. The sugar is the least of my worries, ever since my first taste of Sweet Tea I’ve loved that bold caffeine flavor, not to mention the slightly hyper effect it gives me.

There was something so wonderful about carrying around a big glass Coca Cola bottle, especially on a hot summer day. I consumed enough of these to stunt my growth at least a couple inches.

I saw the old school bottles being sold at Costco but they were imports from Mexico made with pure cane sugar and were very expensive. What the world needs now is Coke in a glass bottle, and more apple trees and honey bees.

Rollerskate Rinks

Oh how I loved my roller skates. I’m not a great roller skater now but I could roll with the best of them back in the day. I watched The Facts of Life just so I could live vicariously through Tootie being allowed to skate inside the house. Check out this great 8mm clip from YouTube user alecwally23. His sister made it in the 70’s for a class project in high school.

Disco

Ahh how I loved doing the hustle in my bedroom lip synching to my K-Tel records. I really believed I would grow up to disco the night away at Studio 54 with the Solid Gold dancers and Miss Piggy. Unfortunately by the time I was 18 disco was dead and I couldn’t afford a ticket to NY anyway. Instead I was in Tijuana, Mexico dancing to Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam.

For those of you who don’t think you can dance disco, feel free to practice at home along with this video:

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I was cruising the internet late Saturday night and stopped by moviefone.com. Since this is the first official weekend of summer I found their Summer Movie Guide and had fun checking out lists dedicated to the sun and fun season. From summer comedies to summer chick flicks, and an info packed roll call of The Biggest Summer Openings, I soaked up the movie trailers, photos, and box office earnings information.
With trivial overload my mind was jolted into wondering what my personal favorite summer movie of all time is. Since I can never pick just one of anything, here are a few of my favorites:

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

So this was the film that gave me JDOCD, otherwise known as Johnny Depp Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The merging of my favorite Disneyland park ride with the charisma of Captain Jack Sparrow was too much for my system to handle. Like so many in the world, I was altered by this amazing merger and very happy because of it. Of course I like the last two Pirates movies, but the novelty of the first one can’t be beat. Captain Jack Sparrow coming into port on his sinking ship, I mean boat, is probably the best scene of any summer adventure.

Jurassic Park

I remember the hype and excitement about this film in 1993. How time flies, aye? Fifteen years ago I was nice and cool in the comfort of a movie theater, devouring artificially buttered popcorn and Cherry Coke. This was the perfect summer blockbuster for the big screen. Action, comedy, landmark computer generated animation, special effects and being directed by Steven Spielberg helped add this one to my summer favorites. How many summer hits can one man create?
There are rumors buzzing that 2009 might bring with it a Jurassic Park IV. For those of you involved in the making of this film try to grab some DNA from the original and make sure Jeff Goldblum is in it too. What is Jeff Goldblum up to these days? I’ll leave that for another insightful blog post.

Jaws

According to Wikipedia, Jaws is regarded as a watershed film in motion picture history, the father of the summer blockbuster movie and one of the first “high concept” films.

I was only five years old when this movie hit the screen and I watched with my eyes closed and hands over my ears for more than half the film. I wasn’t nice and cool in a movie theater for this one, instead I was wearing my footed jammies, all cuddled up in the family station wagon at the Drive-In theater. Ahh, the days of snack bar intermissions and the real Coca Cola! Good times!

So what’s your favorite summer movie of all time? Okay, you don’t have to pick only one. What are a few of your favorite summer movies?

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