Hello Dear Readers and welcome to past where this blog spends most of its time!
Today we’re going to take a look at some slightly bizarre 70′s decorating solutions solved by the overly imaginative editors of our 1975 edition of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine:
1975 Better Homes and Gardens
1970′s Perplexing Decorating Problem: “I keep forgetting where the basketball is supposed to go.”
“Pop-art Bangboard $38
Back in the 70′s, before effective ADD medication was developed, kids sometimes got distracted while playing basketball and would often forget what they were supposed to be doing and why!
So Better Homes and Gardens put their decorating experts on this perplexing problem and lo and behold, they came up with this Rockin’ Basketball Backboard Arrow Reminder!
Simply throw the ball up in the air and make it go into that thing the arrows are pointing to! Problem Solved? No . . . Problem Super Solved √
1970′s Perplexing Decorating Problem: “My 70′s kitchen is boring.”
It’s. . . . beautiful?
1975 Better Homes and Gardens begs its readers not to throw away those kitchen utensils, broken tools or what Grandpa left on his dinner plate last night. Why? Because they’ve got an idea! All you do is:
1) Set aside some kitchen garbage
2) Purchase a big piece of plywood and cut it into a circle.
3) Paint the circle ugly silver.
4) Glue kitchen garbage to ugly silver plywood circle.
5) Spray paint the whole kit and caboodle with ugly silver spray paint.
6) Drum up enough courage to mount decorating solution for boring kitchen on the wall for everyone to see!
Problem Solved? No . . . Problem Super Solved √
1970′s Perplexing Decorating Problem: Our Baby’s Nursery Isn’t Strange Enough.
Swinging Crib $15
1975 Better Homes and Gardens liked to appeal to everyone, even people who desired that their baby be housed in a very strange nursery just like the one they probably grew up in.
The instructions are a little complicated but suffice it to say you just need to attach some rope to your baby’s crib and somehow suspend it from the ceiling. Don’t worry it’s probably safe.
Once that’s done, the only thing left to do is light the room with one 15-watt light bulb hanging from the ceiling on a long cord, place a creepy doll on the crib rail thus ensuring that all the shadows cast will be eerie and strange!
Problem solved? No . . . Problem Super Solved √
And there you have it Dear Readers, a 1970 ‘s solution to all your most perplexing 1970′s decorating problems. Who says living in the past can’t be productive?
Until next time . . . I love you
make sure the light bulb swings in an opposite arc to the crib for maximum shadow creeping. The boogey man won’t have a safe place to hide.
Oh yes! Good point Brain. I can always count on your brain to come up with tips like that! Thank you! ;D
Oh lovely, not only do kids already climb out of their cribs but heeeeeeey! let’s SWING kids OUT of the crib from now on
Hahaha! I didn’t think it through that far Andy. Oh that poor baby. No wonder it doesn’t look very happy!!
Suspension bridge through the night and through the day until saved? Yeah I’ll pass
And they probably had a 8 track tape playing rock-a-bye baby non stop in the background!
OH lordy! 8 tracks!! gah! to think I remember those gigantic bricks O_O
Well, at least they were easy to find!
if light bulb is hung just right, it could also double as a mobile..
Haha!! Oh! So true Bucky! What a great idea!
If you could see the 1970′s rugs my mom still has in her living room…
But that crib thing looks a little dangerous.
Oh that crib really takes the cake! Oh I hope your mom always keeps her 70′s rugs! They are probably worth a lot to collectors!
I need to take a picture of them…
Well if you do I hope you’ll post them. I’d love to see them. (Oh but better not mention your plan to your mom!
)
It’s okay… we all tease her about the rugs. But we all love them.
All about the 70′s, and not one mention of disco… nice!
I think 1970s babies had the bet 1970s decorating ideas – namely, spackling the walls with 1970s French Casserole.
What? It’s not like anyone actually wanted to eat that.
Yes! That explains everything! And here all this time I thought we were supposed to be eating them, when actually they were wall spackling. You can’t believe how much I’ll be slapping my forehead over that one!
That crib and bedroom is just plain scary! I wonder how many DYI dads attempted (and failed) at that one – eeeekkk!!!
I hope none of them attempted it. Can you imagine the lawsuits that would go on today if someone tried it and their baby got injured — which looks inevitable!
But I guess in those days, nobody really thought about about safety much. I know we used to tuck our seat belts in our cars out of the way so they wouldn’t bother us! HA!
You all just don’t understand the way we thought in the ’70′s.
No surprise. Neither did we.
So true! We only had an inkling of what a colossally ugly area we were living in. Thank goodness! ;D
Lol!! The kitchen art has to be one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen. Maybe it’s a porthole into the world of Pottery Barn Catalogs? Hahaha!
I’ve heard of soap on a rope, but crib on a rope…? That’s just cray, as Lily would say. Hopefully the baby doesn’t have any motion sickness as I imagine the moving crib, or vessel, simulates that of a ship on the high seas. Ahoy little baby!
OMG!! LOL!!! Lisa! A portal into the world of Pottery Barn Catalogs!” haha! It is one of the ugliest things I’ve ever see too. What were they thinking? The article said to use broken kitchen utensils. How do you break a cupcake pan? HA!
Super Cray!! And that poor little girl is probably in therapy right now!
That nursery is terrifying, I bet there is a ventriloquists dummy hiding under the bed
Oooooooh! I think I see a bit of his hair sticking out from under there! YIKES!
That baby sure looks like he/she is having a blast in his/her new swinging crib. Or not.
HA! I know. That poor little thing. She looks terrified. I know I would be in that situation, even at my age!
I had a backboard like that out in our driveway when I was a young ‘un. My parents had such faith in my intelligence, the basketball they gave me had directions printed on it: “See Backboard.”
I never did figure it out, really… : (
ahahaha Markie MacGiggles strikes again! LOL! I love your parents!! They had such faith in you!