For today’s Wordless Wednesday post, Kathy from The Junk Drawer has graciously agreed to share some Christmas photos from her childhood. She has two pictures; in the first one she and her siblings are glasses-free, and in the second one all three of them are sporting a pair of glasses.

As she put it, 1972 was “A Good Year for Ophthalmology”

Christmas, 1971: Michael with good eyes, Ann with good eyes, Kathy with good eyes.

New Year’s Day, 1973: Ann, Michael, and Kathy with glasses.

If you want to share your seventies (or eighties) pictures with the world feel free to send them my way and I’ll add ‘em to the collection

Thanks to Kathy for submitting these great pictures.

I don’t typically stray into the world of politics in this blog, but a 1972 advertisement for Nixon’s re-election campaign caught my eye today. Complete with images of Nixon shaking hands, butterflies, Nixon smiling, people hugging, and a catchy theme song, the ad is an interesting look into seventies culture and politics.

What do you think about this ad?

Few cars embody the very essence of the seventies like the El Camino. And nothing says “I love the seventies” like an El Camino T-Shirt.

You can buy yours now from NoNeck’s Muscle Car Site.

For inspiration, I leave you to feast your eyes on this 1972 El Camino:

Tags 1972 . El Camino

Tonight we gathered the family together, grabbed some cheddar popcorn, and watched the 1972 film Silent Running.

Silent Running stars Bruce Dern, who plays botanist and misanthrope Freeman Lowell. The movie opens with Lowell tending to beautiful gardens filled with lush greenery, cute rabbits, juicy cantaloupes, and verdant forests. Surprise! These gardens are not on planet Earth. These gardens are in futuristic domes located on the spaceship Valley Forge in orbit around Saturn. The mission of the Valley Forge is to save and faithfully defend the natural resources of Earth – “its soil and minerals, its forests, waters and wildlife” – because there are no plants or wildlife on Earth any more.

One day Lowell and his crewmates receive orders to blow up the forest domes with nuclear bombs so that the spaceship can be used for commerce and industry. Lowell, being the fanatical Johnny Appleseed of Space that he is, decides to go renegade. He murders his crewmates and charts a course to the rings of Saturn with his robot friends Droid #1 and Droid #2 (also known as Huey and Dewey). The rest of the movie follows Lowell’s adventures as he travels through space with his Droids and tends his beloved forest.

Although one can’t help but be sympathetic with Lowell’s ambition to save the Earth’s remaining forests, it is impossible to be sympathetic towards Lowell the character. He’s a bit whiny and given to making incoherent speeches about the environment that would compel the most diehard environmentalist to burn down a forest rather than listen to more of his prattle. (Spoiler Alert!) In the end I wasn’t terribly sad when he blew himself up with a nuclear bomb. Good riddance!

Highlights of the movie include:

• Lowell teaching Huey and Dewey to play poker. Surprisingly enough, the Droids have amazing poker faces.
• The scene where Lowell is in his garden, blissfully fondling tender greenery, and accompanied by a very seventies-ish folk song by Joan Baez about children running wild in the sun. Then a hawk flies onto Lowell’s outstretched arm.
• The Droids. Brendan, my 11-year-old, was especially fond of Droid #2.
• The special effects. Not bad for 1972.

Tags: Silent Running . Bruce Dern