That was then..............

For a few years now I’ve been marveling at the resurgence of all things 70’s. Hell, it’s understandable, I grew up in the seventies and they were fun, unique times. Just think about it, bellbottoms and afro’s – even my pigment challenged brothers were wearing afro’s. Kool Aid at dinner time-the red kind. Turn on the cartoon channel these days and the only cartoons worth looking at, with a few exceptions, are cartoons of the 70’s.


Woody Wood pecker was probaly the most violent cartoon ever made- except for Jonny Quest, you actually saw Dr Benton Quest and his trusty assitant, Race Bannon shoot people- dead. Is it just me or did Jonny Quest look like he was Race's son instead of Dr. Quest's?- I guess there was no DNA testing available. Of course you had Bugs Bunny doing his thang- and the Road runner, Freud could have a field day writing papers on those two shows. Looking at the Flintstones as a adult I found that the writers were writing episodes with two levels of humor- one for the kids, and one that went right over the heads of kids for the adults watching- ingenious. Remember the cartoon Popeye? Not the new stuff they eventually made, but the ones we watched growing up. Popeye was a weird dynamic involving spinich, speech impediments, tattoos, penitentiary grown forearms, violence, and love for a bony-assed babe named Olive Oyle.


Thinking about the 70’s made me think of one of my favorite childhood toys- the Sears Spyder bicycle.(pictured above) This bad boy, cheater slicks(tires), banana seat and all, was sitting under the Christmas tree one Christmas morning. I thought I was set for life- I mean there was only one bike better, the Schwin Krate, and there was no way in the hell my parents were ponying up close to a hundred dollars for a bike, very few in my neighborhood could. I can remember rolling down the drive way on Christmas morning and it seemed like the whole neighborhood was rolling on Spyders. People talk about America’s love affair with the Car, Shit, it started with bicycles as kids. We rode them every where, I believe we easily put 15 to 20 miles a day on those bikes, easily. Neighborhoods and towns were a hell of alot more bicycle friendly growing up in the 70's.


There is not a week that goes by without seeing a report on the problem of obesity in kids these days. Looking back there were chubby kids when I was growing up, but you just didn’t see as many kids over weight as you do now. It was those damned bikes we rode, they were heavy as hell. I bought a mountain bike a couple of years ago that a seven year old could hoist above their head. Also the gearing of our bikes –one gear mostly- meant that going up hills you had to exert some effort, or risk getting left behind.


It’s sad really what kids have to do to ride a dayum bike in safety these days. First you have to load up the bike, drive to a nearby park, get the bike out, strap on that funky looking bike helmet-yeah, some counties have a helmet law for kids riding bikes. Ride the bike, take the silly ass helmet off, (I know somebody is gonna tear me a new one about bike helmets) load the bike up, head back home, unload the bike and hang it up in the garage. No wonder so many kids are obese these days, more time is spent getting ready to ride than riding. All we did was mount up and hit the street, everyday, all day. Yes, we had some good times.

Later'