For the fifth installment of this long-running occasional feature (you can read the previous entries from
2017,
2019,
2020 and
2021 on these links), here's another selection of print ads from comics and magazines, for the toys and sweets, books, games and badges of our youth.
I still think, as always, there's a certain amount of charm on display here - the ads are often hand-drawn and with muted hyperbole - as well as a lovely sense of wistful innocence, though that might be more the reminder of
stamped, addressed envelopes,
postal orders and things costing pennies.
Here, then, are a few more ads of our childhood, I hope they spark some memories for you...
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| 1975 |
I liked these a lot, though the fighting action was never as described. The wooden leg hidey hole was also great, though you didn't get a lot of room in there...
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| 1976 |
An electronic calculator in 1976 would have been a big deal - I wonder how many got nicked during lessons?
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| 1976 |
One of my childhood heroes (as I've written about here), I always wanted the repair station but never got one. I did have the figure though and treasured him.
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| 1977 |
42 years ago, as I write this and apart from The Wombles, Furry Friends and Paddington Bear, all of those products are still sold.
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| 1978 |
These ads were little (half-page) ongoing adventures, running across a range of comics. I always thought they were really cool.
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| 1978 |
My parents bought me this
Star Wars annual (which I still have) before we went on holiday (my sister & I were always bought a magazine to read on the way, usually the Summer Special of whatever comic we liked at the time). I loved it.
 |
| 1978 |
Ah, Corgi Superkings, James Bond and the wonderful
The Spy Who Loved Me (
which I wrote about here). Bliss...
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| 1978 |
Skateboarding was huge in 1978 and so, clearly, were Tom & Jerry.
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| 1980 |
"Dad?"
"Seriously son, we're not going anywhere near a National garage..."
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| 1982 |
Not the most obvious connection, obviously...
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| 1983 |
Ah, the Sinclair Spectrum and the Commodore Vic 20, fondly remembered (and rightly so) by people of a certain age. Now sure how far you'd get today with 16k though...
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| 1983 |
I remember the advertising push for this film (which was competing with Connery's rival
Never Say Never Again) and gleefully picked stuff up like this.
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| 1983 |
Choose Your Own Adventure books were a big part of my childhood reading and one of the first things we teens programmed when home computers became a reality. I often wrote an adventure in the morning, plotting out the lines and making sure everything linked properly, only to discover - more often than not - that it didn't save properly so I'd have to start again from scratch the next day. Happy days...
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| 1984 |
As video tapes began to take a hold (and the whole VHS/Beta battle unwound), lots of places turned into video libraries (especially corner shops). I remember going into Our Price and checking the rental racks, because to buy your own copy was prohibitively expensive (as you can see here). That
Spider-Man film, by the way, is cobbled together from two episodes of the Nicholas Hammond series, first shown in the late 70s.
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| 1984 |
You mean we can take our music wherever we like? Wow, the future truly is here...
The Sony Walkman was expensive, most of us made do with cheaper versions (mine was made by Alba).
If you're interested, more of my Nostalgic For My Childhood posts can be found here
