Friday, September 26, 2014

Celebrate: Childhood Memories & Freebies


Every Saturday night in the 70s my family would gather in the living room with a big plate of Mom's chocolate brownies and watch a set list of shows:




Such happy memories!!
That made me think of a candy I loved as a child that I never see anymore - Candy Dots

And this toy I desperately wanted as a kid -- Operation!

Do you have fond memories of special TV shows, candy, or toys you loved as a kid? 





Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors

Here are Foxy's suggestions for Sept 26, 2014:

Free Giveaway of YA Fantasy novel, ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW by Jordan Elizabeth, coming from Curiosity Quills Press on October 29, 2014. Enter to win an eARC copy from Cathrina Constantine’s blog. (until Oct 19)

Free Giveaway of YA Sci-Fi, SURVIVAL COLONY 9 by Joshua David Bellin, published by Margaret K. McElderry Books. Two signed copies available from My Book Addiction. (until Oct 5)

Free Giveaways of a bunch of books!! See Tara Tyler's blog (scroll to the end of the post; ends Oct 6)

For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com




This post is part of VikLit's blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. To be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is follow the link and put your name on the Mr.Linky list, and then be sure to post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! 

40 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

We watched all of those shows. Funny, we only had a couple channels, and yet there were a lot more shows to watch that were worth watching.
I don't have fond memories of my Slinky. Stupid thing never went down more than two stairs.

Unknown said...

OMG! These were some of my fav shows. Enjoy your weekend.

Julie Flanders said...

All of those shows bring back great memories! Aww. I was the world's worst Operation player. My hands shook so much I set the damn buzzer off every time. LOL it's a good thing I never actually had any interest in being a surgeon.

Cherdo said...

I loved Operation! I remember how excited I was when I got it for Christmas, and then how ticked I was when someone would lose one of the little bones.

Childhood, I miss you.

Loni Townsend said...

The 70's were before my time, plus I didn't get to watch much TV. But we loved playing Clue, Spoons, and Rummy. I think my fine-motor skills would never live up to Operation. :)

Jeff Chapman said...

Those candy dots are still available. I've seen my kids with them. I remember watching MASH and Centennial (that mini-series based on Michner's novel).

Melancholy and Menace said...

Oooh! Operation was one of my favourites! I wonder if someone will release a gory version for grown-ups, with blood covered bones etc.

SK Anthony said...

Hey, I still like playing Operation with the kids lol and now I really want chocolate brownies . . .

Suzanne Furness said...

Operation is my kind of game! Don't think I've come across those candy dots before.

Carol Kilgore said...

I remember all those shows! And the candy dots.

Lori L. MacLaughlin said...

Operation was fun, but I jumped every time the buzzer went off. Saturday morning cartoons were always my favorites. I watched them even when I wasn't a kid -- in age, that is. As for candy -- Cracker Jacks and Sugar Babies. Yum!

stephen Hayes said...

I watched all of these shows in the seventies. And when I was a kid I'd buy that paper candy at the smoke shop next door to the local theater and smuggle it inside. We must be about the same age.

shelly said...

My favorite shows were All in The Family and The Carol Burnett Show. I remember The Operation Game. All my friends had one. For some reason, my mom wouldn't let us have one.

Kate Larkindale said...

I got an Operation game for my kids for Christmas one year, but they were so scared by the buzzer noise, we've never played it again.

I grew up largely without TV until I was 12, so I don't really have memories of those old shows. I remember MASH though. Loved that one.

Andrew Leon said...

I always wanted Operation when I was a kid, too, but do you know what I really wanted? Hungry, Hungry Hippos.
We never had any non-traditional board games.

messymimi said...

While candy was fun, i remember going down to the corner store and getting an ICEE as my favorite treat.

Catherine Stine said...

Ah, yes, I remember all of those things. We used to go to a penny candy place in New Hampshire when we went up there in the summer. LOVED that place and it had those candy nub thingys.

Unknown said...

Does Nsync count? Haha. I loved them. Also I think my friends and I watched these movies on repeat a thousand times: A KNIGHT'S TALE, 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, & ZOOLANDER. Oh, and GOOSEBUMPS and TALES OF THE CRYPT are fond moments of my childhood. I also watched a lot of HALLOWEEN and FRIDAY THE 13th. So that probably explains my messed up mind.

I was reminiscing with a friend the other day on how exciting it used to be to go to the Blockbuster and get to walk up and down the isles to find JUST the right movie during sleepovers. I kinda miss that.

Luanne G. Smith said...

I loved all those shows! Bob Newhart was hilarious. And Archie Bunker! Good stuff. :)

Leandra Wallace said...

We loved Cadbury eggs! We'd founder on those things come Easter time. My fav show as a kid was whatever was on the cartoon channel out at my grandparent's. =)

T.F. Walsh said...

Very cool... never heard of candy dots before. I remember when we first arrived to Australia in the 80s I used to watch Tarzan in black & white... it was my favorite show...hehe Probably helped that I couldn't speak a word of English but could still follow what was happening on the show:)

Ava Quinn said...

Awesome stuff to celebrate.

My family watched those and Barney Miller, MASH, and of course I watched Wonder Woman. My grandmother would watch Lawrence Welk, but I've repressed most of those memories.

How about those root beer bottle candies? They had a wax bottle you pit the top off of and drank the syrup inside. Ugh! I can't imagine doing that today!

kimlajevardi.com said...

I remember those shows and dots. :) My favorite toy memory isn't my own but my brother's. He got a Castle Grayskull for Christmas one year (think Barbie house for a buff warrior cartoon character), and my aunt and uncles spent hours putting it together. Even when my brother tried to sneak between them to play with what was an obviously finished castle, they continued to say they needed to finish. The whole time they were laughing and playing with the various parts and his over-sized barbarian of an action figure. Funniest thing ever!

Annalisa Crawford said...

We had Operation, which I loved, but Mum never replaced the batteries, so it never went beep! My random childhood memory is watching Dallas with my mum on a Wednesday evening, and sharing a bar of Dairy Milk chocolate.

DMS said...

So fun to see your 70s memories. :)

I always loved watching the Muppets and Saturday morning cartoons. Candy necklaces were a delicious treat. Oh- and Kool-Aid of course.
~Jess

Birgit said...

I watched all those shows including MASH and Columbo. Columbo was a 3 part of the same series, the other 2 being McLeod and McMillan & Wife. I also watched The Sonny & Cher Show and Saturday Night At The Movies with Elwy Yost. I loved Kerplunk, Clue, and Masterpiece for games. As for candy.... I loved these round chalky suckers in 2 tones-top could be light green and the bottom a light purple. I loved Count Chocula. Thanks for bringing up great times

L.G. Keltner said...

I grew up mostly in the 90's. I was feeling nostalgic about pogs earlier this week. They were the most popular thing around for awhile, but then they disappeared completely. Lots of fond memories though.

JeffO said...

That may have been the greatest lineup in TV history. Not only were the shows funny, they were smart.

We were young at the time, so I remember really looking forward to The Brady Bunch/Partridge Family combo that aired whatever night that was, and then there was The Wonderful World of Disney (I think that was Sunday at 7).

Anonymous said...

I'm still a fan of the Carol Burnett show; I always liked it when they cracked themselves up during a sketch. Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers are two of my other favorite '70s shows -- and Rockford Files, of course.

Vanessa Morgan said...

Such fun memories. I was obsessed with anything that had to do with smurfs.

Dianne K. Salerni said...

Oh, I remember watching those shows! Also -- Gilligan's Island (in reruns), The Brady Bunch, The Sonny and Cher Show. I hated Lawrence Welk, but sometimes we were forced to watch it. My parents were bored to tears by Doctor Who (the old version) on Channel 12, but my brother and I loved it.

What my parents hated worst of all? The Monkees! Meanwhile, my brother and I used to sit poised with a cassette player in front of the TV, hoping the Monkees would play a song we didn't have already recorded. When they started to sing -- we hit RECORD. This was when our younger sister would start to cough (fakely) or my dad would decide it was a good time to phone his deaf uncle and talk in a really loud voice ...

Cathy Keaton said...

I only caught the second-half of the 70's, so I mostly remember the 80's. I loved Family Ties, The Brady Bunch, Fraggle Rock, etc. Most of the candy I used to eat seems to still exist, except Tidal Wave and Lemon Heads. Also, a bunch of my fave breakfast cereals are gone now, too. The 80's were all about sugary cereals.....

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

I missed out on the candy, but I remember the game. So much fun!

Annie said...

My sister had that Operation game! We played it a lot. But Monopoly was a family favorite. And I remember curling up on my dad's lap to watch Little House on the Prairie (translated in French) every Saturday night. Ah, such good memories!

Al Diaz said...

I didn't watch these shows but I do have fond memories of many shows from my childhood. About toys, marbles were my favorites. Marbles and cubes.

Annie Neugebauer said...

Cute! I actually saw those dot candies at a candy store just the other day. Walking into that shop was like entering a magical wonderland. They had ALL of the stuff I used to love when I was little! Another childhood candy I'd forgotten about are those orange and black gummy spice drops during Halloween. Do you remember those? I found a box of them at the store and eating them is a major sensory throwback! So fun!

mshatch said...

OMG, wasn't The Bob Newhart show the funniest? And I remember candy dots, too!

Anonymous said...

I somehow missed candy dots.

All in the Family and The Carol Burnett Show are so dear to me. I loved watching those shows as a child.

cleemckenzie said...

I loved the Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Burnett Shows. Missed out on the brownies and the Candy Dots. I loved Big Hunks--candy that is. :-)

Shah Wharton said...

I don't know any of those shows. We had different ones in UK I guess. I remember loving the classic movies, dramas, comedies, and horror series. But I don't remember watching things as a family, which is a shame. I envy you that.

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