The ’70s is indeed one of the most colorful decades. It is during these eventful years where people have innovated vastly on fashion and likewise on technology. Most born during that period are fortunate to witness how technology has evolved from its neonate phase to where it is today.
Fun fact: gadgets used at home were not even called as such in the 70s. They were referred to as ‘home appliances’ or ‘machines’.
Here are a few of those interesting and popular items from the ’70s:
The Television Box and Its Antenna
Before TVs got slimmer and wider, they looked like a box (with a huge tube inside). Antennas sticking out of it (like that of bugs’ antennae) are used to receive the signals for the shows. For clearer viewing, huge antennas were installed on the rooftops of houses which appeared to be clothes-hangers suspended up in the sky through metal rods. The higher and the bigger, the better.
Cassette Players
People used to sing-along to the hits of Queen and other famous 70s bands using a cassette recorder. Whereas today, we can easily download songs or live-stream music, cassette tapes with films and rollers (too mechanical to describe) need to be inserted in order to play the music. Truly classic.
Film Camera
‘Ready, smile!’ Give it your best pose as using film to take pictures can be very costly as there is no way to delete the shot once taken. Once you consume all the film, you need to run to developing centers and wait for days before collecting the developed photographs. And yes, selfies were not a thing of the past primarily because there was no front camera. There’s no way of checking if you look good while saying ‘Cheeeeze!’.
Video Cassette Recorders (VCR)
Before mobiles with cameras were invented, special events such as birthdays were captured using huge video camera recorders. These videos ‘on demand’ can, later on, be watched using VCRs. There’s no beating the classic way of reminiscing nostalgic moments, most especially if done over buckets of popcorn and endless cups of soda.
The Walkie-talkie
‘Break’’ and ‘copy that’ were a few common words when communicating with the use of walkie-talkies or two-way radios. These are indeed the primeval version of our mobile phones. Speaking the ‘radio’ lingo made one look really ‘hip’ and cool in the 70s. ‘Roger that?’
The Rotary Dial Telephone
Place your finger on the hole that matches the number you wish to dial and turn itall over till the end. Repeat the same for the remaining numbers and voila.. at last your call goes through. Interesting, right? People from the 1970s were definitely thrilled when push button phones were finally out in the market.
The Typewriter
The loud tip tapping and the resounding ‘ping’ when moving to the next line, as well as scrunched paper, strewn all over, are familiar scenes when using typewriters. There is no way to quickly delete errors so you just resort to throwing away papers after papers. Poor trees. You would understand why computers and printers were welcomed with open arms a few years after.
However we see it, these gadgets are the primordial versions of what we have today and they sure have become hidden gems. Maybe you can find them on Mungenow Classified.
