The 70's and 80's in Ireland

Hotblack Desiato

thesandeman wrote: »

Nope. But it did remind me of a weekly (I think) magazine called 'Our Boys'. It was a kind of 'Ireland's Own' for young fellas.

'Our Boys' was a monthly (or bi-monthly?) magazine produced by that wonderful bunch of thugs and perverts the Christian Brothers.

http://irishcomics.wikia.com/wiki/Our_Boys

I remember buying it in the late 70s in school but most of the content seemed to be recycled 1950s stuff (Paddy Crosbie's "School Around The Corner" and Mucky Dunn and Murphy.)

Hotblack Desiato

Purple Mountain wrote: »

Would someone mind explaining a test card?

They were essential up to and including the 80s to set up an analogue TV correctly. You didn't just rock up to Power City and drive off with a TV in your car boot, you had a guy from the TV shop come out to your house with the TV and then he'd spend about half an hour tuning it in and adjusting the circuits. It was analogue "discrete components" in those days - no silicon chips - there were all sorts of adjustments inside the back case for picture size, alignment, colour balance etc. and no two TVs would leave the factory exactly the same so they'd all need adjustment.

From about 1990 on, TVs were still analogue but silicon chips processed and decoded the TV signal, so no setup was required any more.

Hannibal_Smith

I thought a test card was something the TV stations put up when they'd nothing on to see if the colours worked . There was a little blonde girl in one of them, writing in a blackboard a something?

The A-Team is my favourite ever TV show (as per the username), but the greatest American Hero, is my favourite 80s TV theme music.

iamwhoiam

Hannibal_Smith wrote: »

I thought a test card was something the TV stations put up when they'd nothing on to see if the colours worked . There was a little blonde girl in one of them, writing in a blackboard a something?

The A-Team is my favourite ever TV show (as per the username), but the greatest American Hero, is my favourite 80s TV theme music.

That was the BBC test card

JupiterKid

iamwhoiam wrote: »

That was the BBC test card

Indeed, and an iconic image of the late 20th century. It’s also better IMO than 99% of what passes for “art” these days. Made and first aired when BBC went full colour around 1970, it still looks fresh as the day it first aired nearly 50 years ago.

BBC test card, I salute you!!:D:pac::cool:

ohnonotgmail

JupiterKid wrote: »

Indeed,and an iconic image of the late 20th century. It’s also better IMO than 99% of what passes for “art” these days. Made and first aired when BBC went full colour around 1970, it still looks fresh as the day it first aired nearly 50 years ago.

BBC test card, I salute you!!:D:pac::cool:

That terrified me as a kid.

branie2

The A-Team

I love it when a plan comes together!

Grandeeod

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

That terrified me as a kid.

I always thought she had a really dodgey green knee.:D Here she is these days.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4214042/Test-card-girl-bemused-by-her-return-to-British-television.html

Sardonicat

I blame that test card for a generation growing up with clown phobia (I'm sure someone will be along shortly with the correct word).

I temember thinking it was a really stupid programme they put on before children's programmes came on air! I had no idea it was a device for testing the colour functions of your telly as we only had black and white 'til 1983.

And less of the nearly 50 years ago talk, please! It's far too ungodly an hour for a mid life crisis!

Hotblack Desiato

Carol Hersee and Bubbles the clown.

The clown was originally a light blue colour (same as his hat) but they needed a strong green colour in the picture, the other two primary colours blue and red being already present, so he got "retouched".

mikemac2

Beyond 2000 was an Australian TV show and looked at the amazing technology we would have in the future. Why isn’t a robot doing my 37.5 hour a week office job??

I don’t remember predictions but I loved this show. Cool theme tune too

It was quite cool to get an Australian show. Unlike the nordies and those on the east coast we only had two channels in the midlands and were glad to have them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ENrXAJ8_Sw

mikemac2

Started in 1988 so qualify. Your bike needed several of these, must have accessory. I reckon it was marketing genius by Kellogg’s

Many a time a brand new box of cornflakes would be opened & searched for the reflector before your brother or sister got it

Hannibal_Smith

I thought the girl had a yellow dress...clearly the test card failed on our TV

Duckworth_Luas

Some kind of miracle used to occur to me every Saturday morning during the early 80s.

Each day during the week it proved impossible to drag myself out of bed to go to school.

However, all changed on Saturday mornings with the prospect of cartoons.

branie2

Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries

From the 70s, but I remember RTE showed the series on Saturday mornings in the late 80s.

NewbridgeIR

branie2 wrote: »

Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries

From the 70s, but I remember RTE showed the series on Saturday mornings in the late 80s.

It was shown at the beginning of the 1980s too. I re-watched the lot on DVD a few years back. Great entertainment.

jimmytwotimes 2013

Buddy of mine had a Raleigh Vector. Thought it was coolest thing ever

branie2

I got a Raleigh Apple bike for Christmas in 1985

MonkieSocks

branie2 wrote: »

The A-Team

I love it when a plan comes together!

"I love it when a plan comes ogether"


"You missed a T"


"No, I'm Hannibal"...

gormdubhgorm

The 1980's

It was back when you had to meet people in town either under clery's clock or outside the GPO at a specified time.

You never knew, when people were due or buses....

For people of a certain age - you had to go to bed after Glenroe.

Strangers used to talk to each other on buses.

People used to look where they were going when they were walking.

Research was done by looking up old newspapers or microfilm.

It did not take long to check what was on the telly there was only two Irish channels, the BBC's, UTV and Channel 4

Channel 4 was great for the foreign films late at night (that young fellas did not watch for learning a language)

2FM was the cool station.

Gerry Ryan - told us 'just say no' (to drugs)

The Dart and the Irish Lotto were invented

Anyone who had a touch tone phone in thier house was fancy

In order of importance there was -

Charlie Haughey, Gay Byrne and God

tringle

The 70s.
The chipper opened at 5pm during the week but lunchtime on Fridays cos Fridays you had to eat fish.

Wanderly Wagon and then FortyCoats (80s maybe)
Thursday was Six Millon Dollar Man night with Ray and Chips for us and American Cream Soda
Saturday was Dr Who, those daleks scared the bejaysus out of me, the most horrifying things ever.

You were sent out to the street to play, it didn't matter if you liked the other kids or not you knocked on everyone's door to see who was coming out. The first question always asked was who else it out.

During the summer all the kids where just left out together until it got dark and the parents went to the pub.
We had piped TV piped gas and a 10p coin electric meter.

justincasey

Great memories... grass fights ,chipper vans and a door to door cake salesman everyweek ... we occasionally rented a top loader video for a few days

tringle

Post office savings books that you stuck 5p stamps into. You could tear out a full page and cash in 50p
A monthly Irish comic that you got in school, 4 versions for different ages. I think one was called Anseo.

Does anyone remember The Milk Competition, a story writing competition run in schools and sponsored by Bord Bainne. Was for 5th and 6th classes and one person in every class won a prize. They had a list of prizes that you picked from when you entered, I won a Weekend Case in 5th class.

twirlagig

Remember Free a Nipper?
And the Texaco stamps??

Speedsie

twirlagig wrote: »

Remember Free a Nipper?
And the Texaco stamps??

The petrol pump attendant in our local Texaco always asked 'do you want the little stamps?' so, we called him 'Little Stamp' for years.

And yes, he put the petrol into the car, couldn't be trusting amateurs!

Count Down

twirlagig wrote: »

Remember Free a Nipper?
And the Texaco stamps??

I faintly remember Free a Nipper - did Brendan Grace do the voice? What was the ad for, exactly? Was playing in a five-a-side soccer competition around that time and one team called itself Free a Nipple...:o
The Texaco stamps were stuck on a card and when the card(s) was full you could redeem the stamps for all kinds of junk. I got an American football and used it as a dog's toy. It lasted a week before the cur burst it, then tore it to bits in a temper.:(

The Crowman

twirlagig wrote: »

Remember Free a Nipper?
And the Texaco stamps??

Yes, wasn't it also Texaco that did offers for those things that were like spacehoppers but you stood on them?

Heroditas

The Crowman wrote: »

Yes, wasn't it also Texaco that did offers for those things that were like spacehoppers but you stood on them?

Lolo balls.
Anyone remember the "Jet Pets" that Jet used to offer with the tokens?

The Crowman

Count Down wrote: »

I faintly remember Free a Nipper - did Brendan Grace do the voice? What was the ad for, exactly? Was playing in a five-a-side soccer competition around that time and one team called itself Free a Nipple...:o
The Texaco stamps were stuck on a card and when the card(s) was full you could redeem the stamps for all kinds of junk. I got an American football and used it as a dog's toy. It lasted a week before the cur burst it, then tore it to bits in a temper.:(

The Nippers were these furry glove puppet yokes that were vaguely based on the Gremlins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg-gb9p65Z0

eviltimeban

I posted this on the All Things Retro forum a few years back, it was from an email that went around one time:

"Cast your mind back…way back…

I'm talking about Hide and Seek in the park, The shop down the road, Hopscotch, Donkey, skipping, handstands, stuck in the mud, football with an old can, Dandy, Beano, Twinkle and Roly Poly, Hula Hoops, Jumping the stream, building a swing from a tyre and a piece of rope tied to a tree, (If you live in Dublin the lampost), building tree-houses, climbing up onto roofs. Tennis on the street, the smell of the sun and fresh cut grass.

Keep going…Hubba Bubba bubble gum and 2p Flogs, macaroon bars and woppas, 3p Refreshers and wham bars, superhero chewing gum, golf ball chewing gums and liquorice whips, desperate dan and roy of the rovers, sherbit dips and Mr. freezes, marathon bars and everlasting gobstoppers.
An ice cream cone on a warm summer night from the van that plays a tune chocolate or vanilla or strawberry or maybe neopolitan

Wait ... Watching Saturday Morning cartoons ... short commercials, Battle of the Planets, Road Runner, He-Man, Swapshop, and Why Don't You?, Transformers, How do you do?, Bosco(SANDY), Forty-coats, the Littlest Hobo and Lassie, Chucklevision, The Muppet Show, MacGyver, Scarecrow and Mrs King, Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven, or staying up for Knight Rider and Magnum PI.

When around the corner seemed far away and going into town seemed like going somewhere.

A million midget bites, sticky fingers and mud all over you, knee-pads on your jeans, Cops and Robbers, Rounders, tip the Can, Queenie-I-O, climbing trees, spin the bottle, building igloos out of snow banks, walking to school, no matter what the weather, running till you were out of breath. Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt, Jumping on the bed. Pillow fights, Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles, Being tired from playing... Remember that?

The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.

Water balloons were the ultimate weapon

Football cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle.

And don't forget the Marietta sandwiches we'd make by buttering a cupla Marietta biscuits and stickin' them together. And that quare oul mixture made in a tall glass with HB ice cream and Taylor Keith Red Lemonade.

I'm not finished just yet...

Eating raw jelly, orange squash ice pops

Remember when ... There were two types of sneakers - girls and boys and Dunlop Green Flash and the only time you wore them at school, was for "P.E.", Gola football boots.

It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends, when nobody owned a pure bred dog, when 25p was decent pocket money, when you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny, when nearly everyone's mum was at home when the kids got there, when it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents

When any parent could discipline any kid or use him to carry groceries and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.

When being sent to the head's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home. Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of muggings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! and some of us are still afraid of them!!!

Remember when....

Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo."

"Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest. Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "Monopoly", the game of life and connect four, atari 2600's and commadore 64's. The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was germs. It was unbelievable that Red rover wasn't an Olympic event...

Having a weapon in school, meant being caught with a biro barrel pea shooter or an elastic band.
Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better, Taking drugs meant orange-flavoured chewable vitamins, Ice cream was considered a basic food group.

Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true..
Abilities were discovered because of a "double dare"
Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors

If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!!!!
Pass this on to anyone who may need a break from their "grown up" life...

I DOUBLE DARE YA!!!
Bagsy it, no returns and no magical changes"

bodhrandude

Anyone remember this sweet, it crackled in your tongue, would have loved to have got them when I started smoking a bit of dope and the occasional trip.

branie2

Wham bar, the sticky bar that got stuck in your teeth.

branie2

Does anyone remember the Sean the Leprechaun annual? I had a copy of it.

Kat1170

branie2 wrote:

Wham bar, the sticky bar that got stuck in your teeth.

A Time Out Bar, now there was a bar that would glue your jaws together. Came in a plastic yellow wrapper with a pic of a clock on it iirc.

The Crowman

bodhrandude wrote: »

Anyone remember this sweet, it crackled in your tongue, would have loved to have got them when I started smoking a bit of dope and the occasional trip.

My brother comvinced me to take some of that when I was four or five then told me it was poison

James Brown

'Black Jacks'. Into the fillings. The fella on the cover was the same model they used for Golly Bars. He got a fair bit of work out of Lyons tea as well.

Kat1170

Telecom Eireann ad with Bob Geldof. 'Phone wreckers are idiots'

Remember another one out at around the same time about drink/drugs with the tag line 'That's a sick way to live'. Can't remember if it was Bob in that one or not.

The Crowman

Monster Munch crisps with that thing on the back about famous monsters that was supposed to be a series but always just featured the Cyclops.

NewbridgeIR

Rancheros were the same - Wild West legends although they did mix it up a bit

Beef Monster Munch - could only get up North. Elusive down here.

Bacon Fries and Scampi Fries in pubs. The cardboard always had a photo of Cheese Moments that were unavailable here.

James 007

Double Dip sherbet was one of my favourites, anyone recall it

NewbridgeIR

James 007 wrote: »

Double Dip sherbet was one of my favourites, anyone recall it

Orange and cherry!

You can still get it in Quinnsworth Tesco.

Ash.J.Williams

James 007 wrote: »

Double Dip sherbet was one of my favourites, anyone recall it

Yeah it was two compartments in silver foil lined package with a candy stick?
Saw the liquorice one in a shop the other day

But I bought REFRESHERS instead the round hard ones in a packet not the yellow ones or the bigger tasteless ones that have the same name

Ash.J.Williams

There's was very few franchises back in the 80's so most shops negotiated individual supply contracts and therefore shops were curious wonderlands that you could browse.
Even better was having a summer holiday in another part of Ireland and their shops had stuff you'd never seen before.

Hotblack Desiato

Kat1170 wrote: »

A Time Out Bar, now there was a bar that would glue your jaws together. Came in a plastic yellow wrapper with a pic of a clock on it iirc.

Naah that was a Time Bar.

There was always a rumour going around our school that the local sweet stall (yep, there was a stall, a big old-fashioned pram outside the school every day selling sweets) was using hollowed-out Time bars to smuggle drugs and a "friend of a friend of a friend" was sold one by accident but of course no-one telilng this story had ever seen it

Time Out was a Cadbury's bar that came out in the 90s.

branie2

Sam Spudz crisps

branie2

Three of my favourite horror films came in the 70s and early 80s. The Omen trilogy

The Crowman

Remember crisps called Screaming Green Mummys? And the Barry McGuigan crisps?

coffeepls

Re double dip sherbet

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Orange and cherry!

You can still get it in Quinnsworth Tesco.

Oh yes... and me like a fool decided to relive my youth and bought it for me and my little niece (after all, I felt like enough of a gom buying it at all, so I acted like I was actually buying it for the young one).

Well I sure as heck had forgotten the way the sherbet went everywhere! Omg the child was covered in the stupid stuff and it was sickly sweet. I should’ve left it in the past!!

There was Big Bars. They were little bars that cost 5p.

Is there no equivalent to those septic 25p bottles of cola these days?

tringle

Yep I remember space dust, now called popping candy and used by posh cake bakers.
Time bars, the best way to lose a filling and the longest way to chew 5p.
And Curly Wurlys and Wagon Wheels were HUGE compared to now.
There was a kids radio programme on RTE radio about 3pm, every day they would call out random names to say hello ri, just random first names and we would sit and listen to see if they said hello to us. Then Ian Dempsey in The Den did it better, you could send in a photo on someones birthday and he would show it and say happy birthday to them, he showed my sisters photo when she was 7....the best thing ever.