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LUNCH BOXES:

One thing many kids looked forward to when school started back each year was getting a new lunch box, complete with a Thermos. It was always fun to see who had what lunch box and to see what snacks each of them brought. Most lunch boxes were metal, but others were hard plastic and some a rather flimsy plastic--I know I had one of those kinds at one point.

Here is one I know I had (Strawberry Shortcake) and one I seem to have seen, but don't know if it was one of mine. The design looks familiar, but I have no clue who Polly Pal is. It looks like something I might have had, though. The Disney School Bus one is very familiar, though I'm fairly certain it wasn't one I had.

In this article on vintage lunch boxes, there are both famous characters and some unusual ones. I outgrew lunch boxes by fifth grade, but I had I been younger, I probably would have wanted some of the ones listed, like the Lisa Frank or Little Mermaid ones. And some of those pictured are questionable--who knew a character from a Cyndi Lauper music video would have a lunch box? And the Wee Pals? Until now, I had never heard of this comic strip. Obviously it never appeared in my home town newspapers or in those nearby.

I don't know what happened to all my old lunch boxes. Who knows what they would be worth today.

LITE BRITE:

Yes, it's true. This was our iPad. Putting colored pegs into a screen with tiny holes to create a picture, illuminated by a lightbulb. A sheet of black paper is placed over the screen and when the pegs are inserted, they bring out an illuminated image. Both blank sheets and pre-designed images were available and extra sheets could be bought separately, with characters such as those from Disney. 

I had a large plastic tub in which I stored my Lite Brite pegs. I was afraid of losing them, since they are so tiny. A lot of kids probably lost some of their pegs in their shag carpets, but thankfully we didn't have one of those our house.

This commercial for Lite Brite says it all:

Now there are virtual Lite Brite games, including one that was developed for the iPad in 2010.

LIP GLOSS:

What girl didn't enjoy wearing some flavored lip gloss? It was fun to receive these as Christmas stocking stuffers or birthday presents. The soda ones were especially fun.

LITTLE PEOPLE:

I was almost afraid to include this one, for those who might not know about this toy line from Fisher Price. The name sounds like something that would not be allowed today, yet the line is still produced, with contemporary designs. 

It was very popular, and I had several of the little dolls and play sets. There was even a Sesame Street series made for this line.

I'm pretty sure I had the A-Frame and the parking garage. I most definitely had the house with the yellow roof, the barn (which made a "moo" sound when the door was opened), and the school. Not sure I had the Sesame Street toys at all. 

The newer toys are designed like those seen below, and include lines for characters like the Disney Princesses and the characters from Frozen.

LITTLE HOUSE:

I had all the books in the series and watched the TV show every week.

I had the editions pictured above.  They are long gone, but I have been rereading the series gradually, obtaining library copies. I have never read the other series about other generations of the Ingalls family, as those came out when I originally lost interest in reading children's books. I read those a lot now, since I have been working writing one myself. Nor have I seen any of the later TV adaptations of the book. I now want to read Pioneer Girl.

LIBRARIES OF YORE:

I now seem to go to my public library more than I remember doing as a child. Of course, we also had the ones at school and going to get books was always fun. We would also watch films at the school library on occasion. Things have certainly changed from then. 

The card catalog was large filing cabinet with many tiny drawers (pictured above) where one looked to find a title they wanted. Photos like this have emerged on Facebook:

I already brought up encyclopedias, one source we used to gather info in those days. Another was the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, a yearly index of recent magazine articles. 

I well remember this dark green cover. Notice this one is from 1995. I was still in college at that time and this was one of things I was using for research papers.

And many will recall microfiche, a sheet of microfilm with reproductions of magazine or newspaper articles that had to viewed by a special machine. I never liked using these.

And this was how we checked out books then, before computer self-checkouts.

Now everything you want to find at a library is catalogued on the Internet. Newspapers and magazines still exist in print, and those who want to can read them free at the library. DVDs can also be borrowed, for those still into that stuff. Nice to get them free once in a while.

LIVE AID:

In 1985, Bob Geldof, formerly of the band The Boomtown Rats, organized a huge all-star benefit concert for famine relief in Ethiopia, known as Live Aid. It was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, on July 13, 1985. A large number of people attended at both venues. It was broadcast on ABC that night. It was known as "The day the world rocked."

The concert came in the wake of the hit single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", a charity record also conceived by Geldof. That song, in turn, inspired another benefit record, "We Are the World" by USA for Africa. 

A number of big name stars appeared at the concert, including Bob Dylan, Dire Straits, Tina Turner, Madonna, Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger. But there were many who were noticeably absent, like Bruce Springsteen, Boy George, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. According to a subsequent cover story in Rolling Stone (cover seen below, click here to see scans of the article), Wonder declined despite being initially asked to perform, and others, like Diana Ross, the Pointer Sisters and Donna Summer were unable to perform because of concert tours and recording sessions. A publicist for Jackson said the King of Pop had too many other projects he was working on. Prince was also absent, making only a video appearance.  

  

Despite its success, Live Aid seems little talked about today, though it did inspire several other similar benefit concerts  like Farm Aid and there was a benefit concert known as Live 8 in 2005, 20 years after Live Aid. Yet its anniversaries have seemed little celebrated. The most I can remember is a brief recollection on the 10-year anniversary in 1995, on a news radio station in San Francisco. And some have debated the event's impact on famine relief.

LAP SITTER DOLLS

Don't know what these are? Neither did I, and I had one. I didn't know what they were called until I found the ad below on Pinterest:

I had (and probably still do) the doll in front--Mary, the one in the red-checkered dress and white apron. I recognized her upon seeing this photo. I didn't now they were called Lap Sitter Dolls. I only knew her as Mary. She was one of my first dolls. Upon seeing the ad, I also seemed to recognize Baby Ann, in the rosebud-print dress. I recently found Baby Ann at Goodwill (My mom is selling the doll in the antique shop she rents a space in).

Made by Fisher-Price, the dolls had soft bodies, and came out in 1973. They were said to be made for toddlers. I don't know when I got mine, but I was only two when they came out. I most likely would not remember anything I had at that age! It had to have been much later that. I just know I loved my doll a lot!

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LEAVING for today. MAKE sure you come back tomorrow.