The ’70s spawned a sea of fads that seemed oh so cool while they were streaking across the pop-culture universe.
Looking now at these seven ’70s fads, we wonder: Just what were we thinking?
1. Pet Rock. It was the perfect pet, according to advertising executive Gary Dahl: no walking, feeding or housebreaking necessary! Of course, it didn’t provide much in the way of companionship, being … a rock. Complete with a 32-page official training manual, Dahl’s 1975 inspiration made him a millionaire although the fad only lasted about six months.
2. Earth Shoe. No doubt an appearance on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson helped launch the unconventional Earth Shoe to fame, but the real key to its popularity was the “negative heel technology” said by Danish designer and yoga teacher Anna Kalsø to help improve posture and reduce joint stress.
3. Klackers. From 19th-century bird frightener to children’s toy, “Klackers” consisted of two acrylic plastic balls on a string to be swung up and down, producing their namesake sound. Discontinued when reports surfaced of injuries resulting from the balls shattering, they enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the ’90s.
4. The Dorothy Hamill Wedge Cut. “For the short and sassy look!” So chirped America’s ice skating sweetheart, Dorothy Hamill, of her wash-and-go ’do in a popular 1976 Clairol TV ad. Touted as one of the few styles adaptable to almost any type of hair or age group, a modified version remains popular today.
5. Troll Doll. Necessity was truly the mother of invention in 1959 when Thomas Dam, lacking funds for his daughter’s Christmas gift, carved a doll for her. Soon mass-produced in plastic as “Good Luck Trolls,” the wild-haired and bug-eyed but perpetually smiling figures proved one of America’s biggest toy fads in the ’60s, with renewed popularity in the ’70s through ’90s.
6. CB Radio. “Breaker, Breaker, 1-9!” Introduced in 1947, the Citizens Band or CB radio was used by truckers during the 1974 Arab oil embargo to notify each other of open gas stations, then caught fire with the general public as a way to alert their fellow drivers to everything from police speed traps to the best fishing holes. Even first lady Betty Ford took to the airwaves, under the handle “First Mama.”
7. Streaking. While some may think of the bizarre trend known as “streaking” as a product of college campuses in the Swinging ’70s, the first such freestyle dash recorded in the U.S. is credited to Washington College senior George William Crump in 1804. Arrested and placed on academic suspension for a season, Crump apparently suffered no lasting ill effects, graduating from Princeton in 1805 and becoming a congressman in 1826.