You might be an Australian child of the 70s/80s if... You remember Hector the Road Safety Cat sing: "look to the right, look to the left, and look to the right again; then if the road is clear of traffic; walk straight across the road, DONT RUN!, walk straight across the road" You remember the Ma-na-ma-na song - done by the MUPPETS. 20c worth of mixed lollies could last you hours...and 50c, well only older kids could afford that much. Icypoles were 5c and paddle pops were 20 c. Sunnyboys and poppers were your stable school diet. You decided against rushing out and buying a CD player because you objected to the fact that you were being forced to change your collection. Picture this ... after your nightly bath, in dressing gown, ugg boots or moccasins, bean bag, Milo, dumadumadumaduma-COUNTDOWN!! Summers were long and hot. Coke adds life! Fanta tasted like fanta should. There was Tang and Tab. Hey Hey Hey, it's Fat Albert time. You wondered how the Coke girls and boys got inside that big clear beach ball. You remember the advent of AIDS, Ecstasy etc etc. You remember spending the whole day at the beach with no sunblock at all ................ whats more, you didn't get burnt - much. You wore a leather band around your wrist and believed that any boy/girl that broke it, you had to sleep with them. Basketball was only played by Americans. Dunlop Volleys were a viable option. Sneakers in general were sneakers and not more advanced than your fridge. Doctor Who scared you silly. You remember the FIRST space invaders (someone in your street had an Atari right?). You queued up to see The Village People Movie. You saw Grease and ET at the movies. You went to a Drive-in with your parents...in your pyjamas. You had a $50 walkman that had FAT headphones and chewed tapes after the first three days. You had a Commodore-64 that took hour to load each game. Microbees were advanced. Floppy disks were ACTUALLY floppy. You actually went through at least one pair of thongs/flip-flops a year because you wore them so much. You remember when the first people in your street got a video machine, it was top loading and there was no such thing as a remote control. Beta vs. VHS wars. You remember a few years later they developed a remote control - but it was attached by a cord to the video that was always too short to operate it from the lounge anyway. Tommy Lee was known to you only for his musical abilities, not the ones shown in the video with Pammy Lee. I love rock and roll, so put another dime in the jukebox baby... It's the final countdown da na na na ... I wear my sun glasses at night... You were at school on Ash Wednesday 1983. You remember real water restrictions. You desperately desperately wanted one of those cool six wheeled buggies that the Banana Splits drove. Stubbing your toe whilst running across the road in summer barefoot, trying not to burn your feet raw was an annual experience. You remember those plastic "Peters" icecream signs glowing at the top of the milkbar. You watched Hey Hey It's Saturday..... before breakfast! You remember the fuss over the swearing in ET...did you hear the one about the father who dragged his kid screaming out of ET because of the "Penis breath" remark?? High schools were high schools and Techs were techs...none of this Secondary College rubbish. Tab, so right for beautiful people. You remember Azaria Chamberlain. You used to go to VFL matches to see the South Melbourne Swans. Leopard footprints on the soles of your schoolshoes were ace! You saw Star Wars in the cinema (the first time). You remember buying Wham! on LP. Matchbox cars or Barbies were essential to your development. You had cardboard dolls (or your sisters did) that came with books of paper clothes that you tore out and stuck on the doll. The kid with the pool was your best friend...until someone got an INGROUND pool. wow! The only place you could get a pizza was Pizza Hut - and it was expensive !!! You put chip packets in the oven to make shrinkies. An essential part of your packed lunch in highschool was a Prima, unless you bought a frozen Sunny Boy. You played dress-ups in your parents funky clothes that you would kill to get your hands on now. You had a terry toweling hat that had yellow plastic sunglasses built into the brim that came down over your face. You weren't wearing flannelette because it was cool. You didnt want the hairdresser to cut above your ears until late high school. Fags were called fags and nobody batted an eyelid when 8 year olds walked down the street with a lolly/candy cigarette hanging out their mouth. You got tough summer feet every summer without trying. You remember when electric typewriters came in. You werent old enough to go to Alien. I was made for loving you baby.... You can't stop the music... Video killed the radio star.... Hey mickey what a pity you don't understand... I come from a land down under...
Any of this ring a bell??
Posted by Stitch (Member # 2895) on :
That's awesome!
I used to love making shrinkies in the oven, I always found Twistie packs to be the best.
I couldn't go a day wtthout a Prima in my lunchbox.
Don't forget -
Watching Young Talent Time on a Sunday night.
Waiting for Secret Squirrel every afternoon during school holidays.
Trying to decide between watching The Goodies or Perfect Match every night.
Thinking the greatest day of your life was when your school allowed you to wear Desert Boots.
Making mix tapes recorded directly of the radio.
Watching Scott and Charlene's wedding on Neighbours.
Crying when Molly Jones died.
Being given the day off school because Australia won the America's Cup.
Wondering what the fuss was about when Tasmania was left of the map of Australia during the Brisbane Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.
Bob Hawke shaking up Australian politics so much that even primary school kids talked about him.
Playing 2 square (or 4, or 8, or 10, depending on how many kids there were wanting to play)
Posted by Jessie the Sunflower Goddess (Member # 1877) on :
I can't relate because I am not Austrailian! But I think that is awesome all of the work that you put into this post! I knew that Stitch would appreciate it fer sure, dude!
Posted by The Mouse Avenger (Member # 4406) on :
Not Aussie, but I can certainly add two things to the list:
1. Watching The Great Mouse Detective on video over & over again 2. Listening to Purple Rain & singing along to the words
Posted by Mane1980 (Member # 4240) on :
I Ain't Assie but I can relate to some parts of it:
Coke adds life! Fanta tasted like fanta should. You remember the FIRST space invaders (someone in your street had an Atari right?). You saw Grease and ET at the movies. You went to a Drive-in with your parents...in your pyjamas. You had a $50 walkman that had FAT headphones and chewed tapes after the first three days. Floppy disks were ACTUALLY floppy. You remember when the first people in your street got a video machine Beta vs. VHS wars. I love rock and roll, so put another dime in the jukebox baby... I wear my sun glasses at night... You saw Star Wars in the cinema (the first time). Matchbox cars or Barbies were essential to your development. You had cardboard dolls (or your sisters did) that came with books of paper clothes that you tore out and stuck on the doll. walked down the street with a lolly/candy cigarette hanging out their mouth. You remember when electric typewriters came in. I was made for loving you baby....
Posted by StevenHW (Member # 509) on :
Part of Australian80sChild's post:
quote:Basketball was only played by Americans.
Wow, how things change!
I don't think I ever mentioned it here, but I happen to be a fan of women's basketball, more so than men's basketball.
You'd be suprised at the number of Aussie women who play in the Women's National Basketball A$sociation (WNBA), the leading pro women's league in the U.S.
Lauren Jackson, Tully Bevilaqua, Suzy Batkovic, Kristi Harrower, Sandy Brondello, Penny Taylor-Gil, Trish Fallon, Laura Summerton, Michele Timms, Katrina Hibbert, Carrie Graf, Belinda Snell, have all either played and/or coached in the WNBA. And there may be more in a few years!
Posted by Stitch (Member # 2895) on :
Lauren Jackson is from Albury, about 45 minutes drive from my town.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
But I think that is awesome all of the work that you put into this post! I knew that Stitch would appreciate it fer sure, dude!
![[Smile]](smile.gif)