I was a child in the 1970's and from what I remember, it was not a particularly attractive decade. Who could forget 100% polyester clothing, avocado green kitchen appliances and the Ford Pinto? My mother and grandmother were very much into sewing and crocheting and I grew up wearing some interesting concoctions which were quite tame when compared to what I found in a book called The Museum of Kitschy Stitches by Stitchy McYarnpants. The author has collected old pattern books and leaflets for crochet and knitting from the 1970's and early 1980's. Having seen this, I am thankful that no one ever crocheted a pants suit for me. The book is full of models wearing the finished products with some witty commentary.
Interior design in the 1970's is the subject of James Lileks's Interior Desecrations: Hideous Homes from the Horrible 70's. Did anyone else live in a house with shag carpeting? My shag carpeting had nothing on the high-pile monstrosities in some of these homes. One photo shows someone's prized living room with all white furniture, a huge coffee table with three giant ashtrays that looked like dog food dishes. Lileks has tackled other cultural phenomena from our collective past including Gastroanomalies: Questionable Culinary Creations from the Golden Age of American Cookery. There is picture after picture of strange chunks suspended in a gelatinous loaf of some sort. In Mommy Knows Worst: Highlights from the Golden Age of Bad Parenting Advice, Lileks reveals America's obsession with the regularity of its children and the many products on the market to make it happen. Also, I am amazed that any of us are still alive considering one particular product advertised as an infant bed for those long car trips which was basically a cloth-covered cardboard box that you would place, unsecured, in the back seat.
