Memories from Childhood

I got an email recently of all these things from the 1970s and since I'm mostly an 80s baby, a lot of them didn't pertain. But a few of them did.

First, the Donnie and Marie Doll. I had these. Sadly. I got them from McCrory's at the old Como Mall (now the Appletree Business Park.) I might have even got them in the 1980s, but maybe they were just carry overs from ones that didn't sell in the 70s. No doubt. Donnie was the only boy "Barbie" doll that I had, as I never got an official "Ken" doll. I got through it. He had this fly outift on, and came complete with his own silver microphone which attached to his hand. Marie had one too, and by the time she got retired in the late 80s, her dress, with the fun scraggly fabric, was all rolling up at the bottom and looked awful. But from what I remember, she fit into all the traditional Barbie clothing, so she did fine. A few years after I got her, I got Pretty In Pink Barbie for passing my swimming test (that was in the first grade.) Now I don't have a picture of Pretty in Pink Barbie, but she was way hot. Now I know Peaches N Cream Barbie knocked her out of the water a year later, but pretty soon Day to Night Barbie hit the scene and kicked both of them to the curb.

Onward to something I wanted, but never actually got. I always wanted an official pair of Dr. Scholl's Clogs. I wanted the "real deal" clogs, the ones that covered the whole front and top of your foot. My best friend had them in Blue, and man, they were phat. She let me wear them around her room, but never for that long. What a bitch. (She knows that she was a bitch back then, I have told her and she agreed.) I did have a pair of the "other" kind of clogs (pictured here.) They were from KMart, and I'm not sure if they were actual Dr. Scholl's, they could have been but they might as well have been Zzips for all I cared. (Zzips was the generic brand of sneakers from KMart, also known as Buddies, more on that later.) Sure these clog sandals were loud, but you couldn't exactly wear them year round. The full clog could be worn year round, esp. cause you wore them with socks.

On a side note, these are labeled Exercise Sandals. I'm sorry. What exercises did they think we'd be doing in these? I remember playing hopscotch and the bastards flying off!

Back to Zzips. I remember sitting in the cart at KMart and listening to the jingle about Zzips and thinking they were cool. Of course I was like 5. Obviously if I fit into the cart, duh. Anyway - if you got these and were in like first grade, that was fine. But if you busted in wearing Zzips in 5th grade, you'd hear this

"Buddies, Buddies make your feet feel fine, Buddies, Buddies sale for $1.99"

Obviously I did not want to wear Buddies. Boy, kids can be so cruel! I do recall getting dressed like a real dork back in the day. I had the generic jeans, I remember my best friend had Jordache Jeans - REAL Jordache Jeans that cost $29.99. What a bitch! When you were 7, $29.99 was a lot of money. Looking back I realize that I'm fine for having worn generic, but I am still not over those Clogs. I bet they'll come back again. All things come back. Maybe one day I'll have a chance to buy them again, in blue, in a size 9. And I'll probably wear them one time and think "what was I thinking wanting a pair of shoes made of wood?" and never wear them again.

And by the by - am I the only one who misses the Como Mall? Iwent to see many, many $1.50 movies there on a Friday night, and purchased many many boxes of 3/$1 candy at the McCrory's. Coincidentally, I also owned a shirt from McCrory's. I can admit that now because it was in 7th grade. I told you I was a dork, dudes!