To say I was born in the early 70s

[Jumell]

So..

proper Gen X …

the thing that mark my generation out are this :

free school milk at breaks then said milk being taken away

music we were into typically Duran Duran, Wham, Culture Club

common for Dads to drive but not mums

The domestic sitcom - e.g Terry and June being popular when we were prime TV watching age

being at the cusp of the O Level/CSE / GCSE transition

SOME* Less academic kids did YTS - some of the more academic kids looked down their noses at this option

Disco Roller skates in vogue 🙌

VERY un PC language at school

if anyone’s a similar age to me, what are your memories!!

oh and we loved Swap Shop and a good annual !

Liverpool FC winning everything

Why Don't You
Jackanory
Swapshop
Bagpuss
Willo the Wisp

Angel Delight
Jelly and ice cream
Blue Nun

Ra Ra skirts
Leg warmers
Drainpipe jeans
Shoulder pads

Perms
Pastel lipstick
Blue mascara
Heavy blusher

Taping the top ten off the radio on a Sunday
Walkman
John Peel
Live Aid
Bohemian rhapsody

Sam, is that you?

Getting into trouble because we called a chatline for 10 mins giggling down the phone to some random lads from the estate down the road who were doing the same thing... and ran up a massive bill.

double ended mascara - grey one end and electric blue the other who used the grey?
Avon iced champink lipstick or cafe au lait, with matching nail varnish.
Lace gloves like madonna for summer, fingerless gloves in winter.

Banjo chocolate bars

😂

My dm drove/drives and unusually my dgm and mil also drove

Watching Monkey on a Friday eating a bacon sandwich for dinner.
Playing out all day eating whatever berries we could and scrumping.
Being in a car with two smoking parents and pleading for the window to be opened 😶‍🌫️
Walking to school in all weathers

Ah you reminded me I used to get Look In! Those were the days… and we had all the best TV programmes then too. Bagpuss, Ivor the Engine, Clangers… 😊

Ooh love this!
Such nostalgia!
Ski Sunday, the muppet show on a Sunday evening (I was allowed to stay up for this).
The snooker world championship!
My mum used to go late night food shopping on a Thursday while my dad looked after us after work. She said it was her 'me time'......
Bejam
Gardeners question time on a Sunday afternoon after lunch. Very boring.
Those ball hoppers which was a ball with a plastic rim which you jumped up and down on (not space hoppers)
I had a pogo stick which I never mastered.

Right. So:
Sinclair ZX81, with the extra 16k of RAM on the back
When that blew up, ZX Spectrum
BBC Model B at school
Later, Atari 520STFM (and 1040STF at school)
One of our teachers having an Escort XR3i in diamond white and thinking he was cool (he was not)
Raleigh Grifter bikes
Just about everyone wearing bloody moon boots in winter

And yes to pp Why don't you and Willow the Wisp!

Ankle length skirts with the tassels around the hem.
Ra-ra skirts.
Being a bridesmaid in a froofy peach dress with a fucking massive bow on my not insubstantial 15yo arse thanks Julie

The Top 40 really mattered ij those days too. I remember having a 20 minute conversation at Guides when a particular song by the Jam went straight to number one.

Also songs staying at number one for MONTHS

Ultravox - Vienna
Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart
Spandau Ballet - True
Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You GoGo

I feel like these songs were at number one for months on end or maybe it just seemed like that.

@BlastedPimples
Those headbands with springs on and glittery balls bouncing around on the springs

Deely Boppers!

Spending your afternoons and weekends riding your bike around the estate with your friends.

Spending the entirety of the school holidays outside, only coming home for tea.

Calling home, letting it ring 3 times then hanging up. And parents knowing that it meant to pick me up from a pre-arranged location. Meant no need to use a 10p on an actual phone call.

Answering the phone with your phone number.

Taking phone calls sat on the bottom stair. Oh the joys when cordless phones made an appearance and I could take a call in my bedroom!

Watching TV all together as a family, whether it was a David Attenborough documentary or The Jewel in the Crown (I was quite young, remember it being a bit saucy!).

Getting really excited by the films on TV especially at Christmas

Obsession with the Megan Follows Anne of Green Gables

Playing 'the advert game' (shutting eyes and first to guess as correctly wins).

As a late teen, making compilation tapes for boyfriends with a subtext in the chosen songs!

Finding it so easy to get a Saturday job at 16.

Going on a language exchange (state school).

French francs were a thing!

Oh iced champick. I’d forgotten about that. Also twilight teaser lippy

Yes we loved a good annual, Christmas Day night reading!

Omg you could even get the Swap Shop Annual!!!!!

Boots 17 Sweet Ice lipstick (God knows why, it made people looks like corpses)

Ah, teachers cars:

Citroen Dolly in cream/burgundy cool now, not so much then
Rover SD1 Vitesse - and he was a history teacher too!
Morris Minor.
VW Beatle before they got cool.

This is such a lovely thread. Bringing back so many memories. I remember having a BMX and my mate had a Chopper and we used to swap being out for hours just riding around… bliss.

Teachers throwing board rubbers at you or whacking the metre ruler on your desk when you were talking in class

Calling home, letting it ring 3 times then hanging up. And parents knowing that it meant to pick me up from a pre-arranged location. Meant no need to use a 10p on an actual phone call.

DH and I still do this to let each other know we're on our way home.

A computer room at school (BBC Microcomputer) which was only populated by nerdy boys. Girls and those not doing science, you will have no need of a computer in your life.

Off to Woolworths for some cover stick, Rimmel Heather Shimmer topped with the stinger of Lipcote! Then squeeze into the photo booth with your mate. Black and white unless you were flush and didn’t mind the orange curtains behind you.