1972: A Good Year for Ophthalmology
embarrassing June 17th, 2008Cleaning out a drawer today, I came across an interesting combination of Christmas pictures taken of me, my sister Ann, and my brother Michael.
When I held them side by side, I noticed something about us had changed between 1971 and 1973:
Christmas, 1971: Michael with good eyes, Ann with good eyes, Kathy with good eyes
New Year’s Day, 1973: Sometime in 1972 we all went blind.
I’ll leave you to pick apart these pictures. Ask anything you want. Let’s start with Ann’s pants.
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June 17th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
how did you all go blind at the same time very odd
ann pants arnt not as bad as the mix match pants
and why does your brother have a pony
June 17th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
burn regan i got the first comment
June 17th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
regan i got the first comment
June 17th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Oh my. This picture will make me go blind. A spelling game? Okay, I can’t tell if that’s mom or you, but a SPELLING GAME? For CHRISTMAS? And why the tank top in the winter?
June 17th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
I once owned a pair of paisley bell bottom pants so I will refrain from any fashion comments..:)))
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June 17th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Peace out, man!
June 17th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Check your email. Anyway, Cool pics. Wasn’t 1973 the year of the great Flash when America was invaded by the eyeglass aliens?
Rattln Along’s last blog post..Death and Dying
June 17th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Oh dear, I have to admit to having a pair of light blue, paisley trousers too - some time around 1968 I think. By 1971 I think I was in velvet hot pants and showing far more than I should have ;O)
Maybe 1972 was a year for bumping up glasses sales.
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June 17th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Probably something do do with colour television and cathode rays.
tfa’s last blog post..In Defence of the White Meat
June 17th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Actually the clothes aren’t that bad - around that time I was wearing a rather fetching pair of checked bell bottoms in egg shell blue - they were great - just like Jimmy Osmonds - and to complete the outfit I would have had a shirt with F**k Off collars and a tank top - when I wasn’t wearing my Bobby Moore T-shirt.
Oh and at the weekend my mother dug out my first pair of football boots - they are so sweet - size 10. I’m gonna give them to my son.
tfa’s last blog post..In Defence of the White Meat
June 17th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
LOL this is hilarious ! You guys were so cute !
In my family only I have been spared from lenses.
My dad has had glasses since college and my mom and bro both got theirs somewhere in the 90’s
I get the “Wait till you’re 40″ comment time and again.
Jaffer’s last blog post..The Mosaic Picture Meme
June 17th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Well I don’t think the clothes are that bad considering I see much worse on the streets of New York everyday! What I am concerned about is the almost matching glasses! Lack of selection or lack of kid input? Your all still cute thought and happy.
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June 17th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Hey, how come your brother got the good present? If I recall, that was the Palomino version of ‘Pauncho’ from the Best of the West collection. I had the sorrel ‘Pauncho’ I also had ‘Thunderbolt’ and ‘Lightning’ and Cowgirl Jane. What original names, LOL!
June 17th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Everyone in 1972 went blind… it was a latent reaction from all the 60’s psychedelia.
And hubby still has that same toy horse your brother is holding….
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June 17th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Regan, the tank top must be so Aunt Kathy can show off her guns.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
I love your blog!!! I check frequently for updates. LOL I SO wish I was alive in the 70’s, and this blog post just reaffirms it
June 18th, 2008 at 1:18 am
lmao….omg. Was that the same year as that nuclear leak? (I had those pants, btw)
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June 18th, 2008 at 1:18 am
Here’s a completely inappropriate and boundaryless question. Were your parents happily married? My sister got glasses early on and my parents were not happily married. I just acted out and was a giant pain in the ass so I got all my rage out. Years later a shrink in NY told me that children often get glasses when they’re young, sort of a metaphor for not liking what they’re seeing at home. Ever since, I’ve always wondered about that. Or maybe some trauma that occurred in your family? Aren’t I annoying?
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June 18th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Maybe you were all like me and cheated on your eye exams so you could get glasses and look older and certainly more mature.
Peggy’s last blog post..Blown Away
June 18th, 2008 at 4:29 am
I just noticed that my pajama bottoms that I am wearing in 2008 are eerily (scarily) very similar to the ones that I’m wearing in 1971. I’m going to the mall now. Must stop the insanity.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:00 am
Both of my Children now have glasses. They don’t have to wear them all the time but do need them to read. Unlike me, which I need mine or I’m blind. Ive never seen the game Deal and Spell.
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June 18th, 2008 at 5:11 am
1973!!!???!!! OMG, you’re just a kid!! I was 21 in 1973 and had my first kid already. I think I’m going to go put in my application for Social Security now. Jeez!!
My first pair of glasses had plain glass in them. When I was in fifth grade I was convinced that I needed glasses and the eye doctor made a deal with my dad and gave me a pair of dated frames with plain glass in them. Solved all my problems…for about a week. Then I found out what a pain in the butt glasses are.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:28 am
EVERYONE: Here is a more incredibly stunning picture of Ann wearing far worse pants than these. Prepare your eyes. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Pants on Acid.
For the record, Ann dresses very well now. Only the best monochrome pants for her.
brooke — I don’t know how we managed to go blind simultaneously. It’s not as though we only started to see an eye doctor that year. Weird, eh? I believe that pony was a gift to Ann. She was into horses as a child.
Regan — Well, these were the days before Nintendo, mind you. Board games were all the rage. As for the no sleeves shirt, I always ran hot (still do), so I’m guessing I was sweating in the middle of winter.
robert bourne — And I bet you wore them proudly! Like we all did. Interesting that bell bottoms never made a comeback. Or did they and I’m just pretending they haven’t?
Mama O — I said the same thing to my sister when I called to tell her what I found. I’m sure they thought they were way cool doing that. Peace, love, dope. And dopes, we were.
Rattln Along — Thanks for the modified pic, but I’m keepin’ it real. Crummy old picture and all! Yes, that was the year of the four eyes invasion. They attacked us all at once.
Babs beetle — Velvet? Hot pants? Wow. Just wow!
tfa — From your description, you must have been quite a sight. Of course, I have no room to talk. Egg shell blue? Gah!
Jaffer — You are lucky. My entire family wears glasses or contacts. And we all got them early on. You are very lucky so far, but yeah, wait til you’re 40. Everything starts to break then. Trust me.
Tiffany — Yeah, but now they call that stylish and everyone wants to look like that! Ironically, the glasses look that way because of kid input. We all got to pick them out ourselves. Kids aren’t supposed to have choice at that age, for a reason.
Shadowsrider — I think that was Ann’s horse and he just picked it up for the picture. Was hoping Ann would explain her fascination with horses then. She had several. Ann, come on. Tell us about the one who lost its tail and what you did about it.
Maureen — We probably should have worn sunglasses to take the psychedelic colors down a notch. Good grief. So great your husband still has that horse! I’m sure Ann’s never made it past grade school.
Amy who wants to blow her nose — You slay me. Wasn’t I buff for a six year old?
Jaime — Oh, thank you! Yes, you missed the worst fashion decade on record. Pity. Or not.
DrowseyMonkey — Funny! I think the Three Mile Island crisis happened in 1979. If we’d lived any closer to it, we probably would have worn gas masks over our glasses. Now that’d be a sight.
Suzy — Our parents are actually happily married 62 years. Incredible, ain’t it? Hmmm, I think that shrink was scraping the bottom of the barrel for theories. BTW, who needs a shrink when we have blogs? It’s my therapy.
Peggy — You might be onto something. Believe it or not, I actually wanted glasses and thought I looked good in these. I really was blind, wasn’t I?
ann of the shampoo bag — At least you don’t leave the house wearing them. You don’t, right?
Curtis — They’re lucky they only need to wear them while reading. I hated mine for years and years. Strangely enough, there was a period of years when my eyes improved, but then I needed them again in my twenties. I don’t have any memories of playing that spelling game. But I sure look happy to get it, don’t I?
Lee — So funny about your plain glass glasses! Boy, you wanted them BAD! Yes, they are a huge pain. I’d have LASIK surgery if I wasn’t so afraid that something would go wrong and I’d really be blind. Besides, LASIK isn’t the be all, end all. I’d still have to wear reading glasses. Can’t win.
June 18th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Oh, too cute. How come you’re not throwin’ out the peace sign, Kathy? And was the tank top a sign that you were already “too hot to handle” back then?
Love the toy horse.
JD at I Do Things’s last blog post..I Eat (some of the) Lucky Charms so you don’t have to
June 18th, 2008 at 7:47 am
where did you get that dress/shirt in the 1973 picture
June 18th, 2008 at 8:19 am
So many of your pictures mirror the ones from my childhood. To offer a counterpoint to the “troubled marriage” theory on eyeglasses, my parents divorced when I was 14 and not one of us (there are 5) needed glasses until adulthood. I must be some kind of freak — I still don’t require corrective lenses and I’m over 45. Even my opthomologist is amazed.
June 18th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Oh, and is there a grapefruit on the tree?
June 18th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Love the seventies pictures! If you are interested I’d love to post them over on my blog (which is about the 1970s and 1980s) - just let me know
RollerKaty’s last blog post..Seventies Saphrym
June 18th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Did you get ANY fun gifts?
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June 18th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Oooooh I would have so rocked the Pants on Acid. I was also a fan of the “maxi-dress”. Am I dating myself? Anyway- I’m assuming you’re holding Deal n’ Spell because it was your favorite gift. Explain yourself.
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June 18th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Your brother looks really young for a Notre Dame student…
Daisy the Curly Cat’s last blog post..Wordless Wednesday: News you can USE!
June 18th, 2008 at 10:54 am
All those glasses were probably part of your gifts for that year as well, since your parents seemed to be into giving “responsible” things like puzzles (I think that’s what Ann is holding) and spelling games. Did they give you a slide rule too?
Jeff’s last blog post..The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only
June 18th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Yep, this happens in lots of families. All us kids needed glasses in our 40s. It’s just a question when. I don’t have any questions as I dressed similar in the 70s as well. Have a great day.
Comedy Plus’s last blog post..Animal Lovin’
June 18th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Mom thought she was so hip. Born in 1971 and dressed in all those weird 70’s clothes by ‘76 for kindergarten. Worse was the matching of the fabrics and the big long socks that were cotton when I wanted the pretty party socks.
Lauren’s last blog post..Worldless Wednesday
June 18th, 2008 at 11:29 am
JD at I Do Things — I don’t know. Cuz I can’t follow instructions and I’m a doofus? Let’s go with that. The tank top cracks me up because I almost never go sleeveless now. Flabby Arm Syndrome and all. I miss those 0% fat days…
brooke — The same place we got these ridiculous outfits.
Susan — Wow! No glasses for any of you until adulthood? You are all freaks, but in a good way. Like your eye doctor, I’m amazed. And jealous, I might add.
Regan — I don’t see one. Which pic, and where exactly?
RollerKaty — Please do! I would be honored!! I just recently discovered your blog through Entrecard. I subscribed a little while ago. Great stuff over there. I really like your pad.
Carla — What? Those don’t look like hours and hours of fun-filled play time? I keep looking at how happy I appear to be. Bookish nerds enjoy spelling games.
sue — Everyone needs a pair of Pants on Acid. Kids wear pajama pants in public, why not those? Basically the same thing. I have no recollection of playing Deal and Spell, but I do remember my Etch-o-Sketch very fondly. When I got that, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
Daisy the Curly Cat — Notre Dame was also the name of our high school, but you’re right. He was too young for either HS or college. Daisy, you’re so smart. I think it’s your glasses!
Jeff — I’d almost be willing to bet my salary that you got at least one science kit or ant farm growing up. Come on. Fess up. You were a total geek nerd dork, weren’t you?
Comedy Plus — I don’t have any questions as I dressed similar in the 70s as well. Yes, but can you prove it? Consider this my official dare to get you to post an example on your blog! Do it! Do it! Pretty please!
Lauren — The matching fabrics were dreadful. And “matching” is really debatable. God, if I didn’t see these pictures again, I wouldn’t believe I’d actually worn that stuff.
June 18th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Gone are the days when “Dial-n-Spell” was an acceptable gift for a child. How sad.
Bruce’s last blog post.. My - POV
June 18th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Your kid smiles fill me with sunshine, I have to say. No matter what was going on you are always 110% committed to smiling as hugely as possible.
All I can say about the glasses thing is that my blindness came on all of a sudden; I came back from summer vacation and couldn’t see thet board anymore. The day I asked to sit in the front row was the day a letter got sent home with me, and the next thing I knew I had a pair of round purple frames.
Shieldmaiden96’s last blog post..Whatever you do…don’t mention the war….
June 18th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Nice way to divert the attention from your pants, Kathy, in the picture. Yours aren’t much better, y’know?
At least, you didn’t wear polyester jumpsuits like I did when I was a kid…at least, that’s what they looked like.
unfinishedperson’s last blog post..One of those things that make go you hmmm, then WTF?
June 18th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/warriors34/?action=view¤t=grapefruit.jpg
I pointed at it and circled in red.
June 18th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
LOL! I think Regan is referring to that 1/2 grapefruit right behind your brother’s right ear in the 2nd picture. You know, that one that has the grapefruit hanging on the tree?
Jeff’s last blog post..The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only
June 18th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
First, it appears that Michael has an ear of some sort protruding from his neck!!!
Also, I am loving the Dial ‘N Spell!!! A nifty gift for a future blogger!!!
As a side note, 1973 was the year of my birth!!! 12-28-73 to be exact
KFJ’s last blog post..’80’s Fix Wednesdays
June 18th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Regarding the horse: I’ll never forget that day. We were sitting side by side on the sofa. I was on the end holding horsie with its tail facing toward the armrest. Mike suddenly jostled me, causing me and horsie to bump against the hard armrest. Horsie’s tail snapped off completely at the rump. I used a plain white tissue as a substitute tail. It was perfect, because now I had a flowing, movable tail.
June 18th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Bruce — If a game doesn’t ding, buzz, play music or shoot bullets, kids don’t want it. Sad indeed.
Shieldmaiden96 — Aw, thanks. I don’t look like I could have been any happier, do I? I’m sorry for your purple glasses. You’re serious? Purple? Egads!
Unfinished person — Oh, but I did have polyester pant suits. But thankfully no pictures to prove it. My favorite was coral-colored. You could have spotted me a mile away. I thought I looked hot.
Regan — Yes, now I see it. Not sure what that is. Looks kind of like a poinsettia plant on a flat disc. Or a grapefruit.
Jeff — Doesn’t everyone think of grapefruit when they think of Christmas?
KFJ — I also loved flash cards and a box of those tiny cardboard letters to spell out words and sentences. Simple things for a simple girl. Glad you missed being my age in the 70s. You probably enjoyed better clothing in the 80s.
ann of the shampoo bag — And didn’t we try to glue the plastic tail on over and over? It worked, but as soon as you started playing with the horse, it’d fall right off?
June 18th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Anne, every horse like that I owned back then suffered the same fate. The tails just weren’t that sturdy. And the fact tails were a perfect handle to hold when the horses was ‘galloping’ across the floor didn’t help. Since there were the days before Super Glue, all we had was elmers and Scotch tape. Neither worked. I never thought of a tissue, clever! My horses were all bob-tails.
June 18th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Is Kathy the one in the middle?
Kathy, please stop by my site before I truncate my most recent post. I can’t wait to hear your comment.
Happy trails.
Swubird’s last blog post..LADY GODIVA
June 18th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
What do you have against “peace?” You weren’t making the sign!
You know, I was graduating from high school in 1973. (I know, I’m old. But I’m glad Lee is much older!) Seeing your picture as a little girl gave me a “small world” kind of feeling. I am so grateful for the whole blogging thing. It allows people from different parts of the world, from different walks of life, different generations, to find human connection. I would have never been aware of your coolness. Like in your pictures.
June 18th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
What do mean by you all went blind?
My Bug Life’s last blog post..The Sleek and Stylish One
June 18th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
1971 , the generation of platters and Elvis? not sure now…but I like your pictures. They speak of a common bonding that you have with them, and the glasses - speak of genius?
Jena Isle’s last blog post..CHAPTER 5 - UMMA AYAM SINSANA ( WHERE ARE YOU NOW?)
June 18th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I had pants similar to Ann’s that had an elastic waist and stripes in a leopard print pattern. The pants, which always seemed to be wrinkled at the seams so they crawled up the outside of my legs, came with a shirt that had an appliquéd cat on it made out of the same leopard print. There’s a picture of me wearing this chic outfit with an accessory that really completed the ensemble: a whistle dangling from a long ratty string tied around my neck.
Try not to hate me because I’m beautiful.
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June 18th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Michael’s pretty funny with the model horse and his Notre Dame shirt! He looks like Spock on Star Trek.
And Kathy, clutching Deal ‘N Spell so hard you couldn’t or wouldn’t make the peace sign is hysterical.
Sweet memories!
Jenny’s last blog post..You Say Yamato
June 19th, 2008 at 4:20 am
Shadowsrider — A broken tail sounds painful, doesn’t it? IIRC, Ann had a half dozen horses. I recall only one of them who suffered that fate. Must have been her favorite!
Swubird — I’m surprised no one mad fun of me as The Toothless Wonder in the first picture. Or is everyone just being kind? You’ll see my response to your recent post. You’ve done it again. Leaving me wanting more!
FerdC — I must have been worried I’d drop my precious spelling game to the floor. Either that, or I was too stupid to know what a peace sign was! I’m grateful, too, for our connections. I’m so glad these little glimpses of me add a little to the mix. I love sharing them!
My Bug Life — Well, not quite blind, but I feel that way when I’m fumbling for my glasses. And even then it’s a problem. I think I need reading glasses for my reading glasses.
Jena Isle — You know, I hardly got into Elvis. Somehow I missed that whole craze. Yes, let’s say the glasses make me a genius!
Carla at WordPlay — What a picture you’ve painted! But can I just say, God bless elastic waistbands. So was the whistle used to call attention to your awesomeness?
Jenny — He does look rather Spockish! I was clutching the game, wasn’t I? Especially the left hand. Don’t let go!
June 19th, 2008 at 8:45 am
i think its a grapefruit
June 19th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Ok, put a tip in your jar, are you at your limit yet? LOL!
shadowsrider’s last blog post..Invasions!
June 19th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
brooke — OK, let’s call it a grapefruit. Why not?
shadowsrider — Just popped you a note. Thanks so much for buying a link. Hope it sends you lots of new readers!
June 19th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Those photos are too fabulous to pick apart! LOL How weird that you all got glasses about the same time.
Corrina’s last blog post..Happy Hump Day
June 19th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
I got glasses at 16. Fortunately I do not believe a photo exists of those 70’s fashion glasses. LOL! I wore glasses until the ‘Nose Incident’ and then had to get contacts. As requested, the rest of the story on my blog.
Shadowsrider’s last blog post..The Nose incident…
June 20th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Great pictures. It really took me back to when I wore clothes like that. Thanks for sharing.
Henson Ray’s last blog post..Mouth Organ Karaoke–MAMMA MIA!
June 20th, 2008 at 8:00 am
I am a child of the 60’s /70’s also. I had to dig a lot of “your mother dresses you funny” pictures out to participate in http://pinksandbluesgirls.wordpress.com Throwback Thursdays. BAD BAD time for fashion of any kind LOL
Dawn @ Coming to a Nursery Near You’s last blog post..I really don’t like Summer
June 20th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Peace out, Michael!
June 20th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Corrina — Oh, you’re such a sweetheart. I’ll assume you found something to ridicule, but just kept it to yourself. Come on, how about my missing teeth?
Shadowsrider — 16. Tough age to have to get glasses. I stopped wearing glasses in the 7th grade, then needed them again at 21. Weird. Thanks for the nose story. It made me snort!
Henson Ray — Now spread the horror and post some of your own on your blog, would ya? They can’t hurt you now.
Dawn — You know it. Although I’m not sure I’d have dressed myself any better if allowed to pick stuff out myself. It was going to happen either way.
BabaBooey — Yo.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:12 am
[...] As she put it, 1972 was “A Good Year for Ophthalmology” [...]
June 30th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Your parents have had to have had some sort of coupon!
Oh leave Ann alone everybody
- heck i would wear pants like that today with a simple fitted black tank, etc. It would work!
Is that a popup book (just looks a bit flat due to the photographic equipment), and is that a Breyer horse or a different kind.
TheSnackHound’s last blog post..Kindness in Unlikely Places
June 30th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Your parents have had to have had some sort of coupon!
Oh leave Ann alone everybody
- heck i would wear pants like that today with a simple fitted black tank, etc. It would work!
Is that a popup book (just looks a bit flat due to the photographic equipment), and is that a Breyer horse or a different kind.
TheSnackHound’s last blog post..Wacky Packs!
July 1st, 2008 at 7:10 pm
The SnackHound — She did actually have much, much worse pants. But of all of us in the above shots, those take the cake. I have no idea what that book is, and I doubt Ann would remember it. Not sure of the horse, either!