Oh, gee. Here I go reminiscing again.
I’m fortunate to have so many happy memories of childhood in the 1970s. When the fast pace of modern life wears me down, I like to think back to those innocent times when I didn’t have a care in the world.
Nostalgia, don’t fail me now. Here are moments — big and small — that brought me joy as a kid.
∎ The best Christmas present I ever received was a beagle puppy named Viva. I remember her long ears flopping as she bounded across the living room to lick my face. It was love at first sight for us. We were inseparable for nearly 18 years. Thank you, Mom and Dad!
∎ I can still hear the clink of marbles from sandlot games of clearies, steelies and boulders. Playing for keeps was a daily pastime as I knuckled down to vanquish my opponents. For over 50 years, I’ve kept my childhood winnings in a cloth bag, so I guess you can say that I still have all my marbles.
∎ As I walked along a sidewalk, I noticed the silver gleam of a sprinkler head in the grass. Wait a minute. That wasn’t a sprinkler! It turned out to be a Kennedy 50-cent piece lying on top of an Eisenhower dollar coin. I felt so rich.
∎ I loved my yellow Schwinn Sting-Ray. Upon that mighty steed, I rode to school and roamed the streets in search of adventure. I thought the bicycle needed a name, so I called it “Banana Beauty.” Neighborhood kids laughed at me but I didn’t care.
∎ While climbing a tree, I discovered a robin’s nest with three eggs. What a beautiful shade of blue. I left the eggs untouched and carefully climbed back down before the mother returned.
∎ I met my Portage Path pals at the Highland Theatre every Saturday for the matinee. We sat on the left side, seventh row, and enjoyed such G-rated movies as “Treasure Island” and “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams.” When I visit the Highland today, I still gravitate toward the seventh row.
∎ One cold winter, the water froze like glass on Turkeyfoot Lake. No snow, no bumps, no cracks. Skating on that smooth surface felt like gliding through an icy wonderland. Such exhilaration.
∎ While my friends and I played in the basement, my grandmother Nina surprised us with a tray of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, toasted and open faced, for us to enjoy. She sure loved to feed kids.
∎ “Hogan!” the kids cried out. “Hogan’s Heroes” star Bob Crane was a celebrity guest at the All-American Soap Box Derby in 1976. I watched reruns on WUAB-TV 43, and he was a superstar to me. The only thing that would have made it better is if Colonel Klink (Werner Klemperer) had come to Akron with him.
∎ Grins & Smiles & Giggles & Laughs was a strange name for a breakfast cereal. My appetite for it waned shortly after I collected all five refrigerator magnets from specially marked boxes of the smiley-faced product.
∎ I depleted many weekly allowances on the purchase of trading cards at Bill Holdren’s Sparkle Market. I must have consumed hundreds of sticks of bubble gum while completing “Star Trek” and “Space 1999” sets. When I finally filled in the last few cards, I was so proud.
∎ A Panasonic tape recorder was an endless source of amusement. I didn’t own many prerecorded cassettes, so I taped songs off the radio, captured audio from TV shows and created silly skits with my friends. I guess this was the YouTube of its time.
∎ I bought the first issue of the Marvel comic book “Nova” for 30 cents at Coventry Pharmacy. I just knew it would be worth more someday. Well, I recently saw one for sale on eBay for $22. When Marvel finally turns that book into a blockbuster movie, you will be jealous of my vast wealth.
∎ I wrote a fan letter to “Halloween” star Jamie Lee Curtis, and she mailed me back an autographed photo. At least I hope it was Jamie and not some Hollywood publicist. The signature looks legitimate, though. I kept that picture in a frame for years. Too bad she spelled my name “Marc.”
∎ The old walkway between the Akron Civic Theatre and O’Neil’s parking deck utterly fascinated me. The floor sparkled like a million stars when I crossed the narrow bridge. I always stopped about halfway through to hear the sound of rushing water from the Ohio & Erie Canal below.
∎ Thump thump thump thump. I played my first game of Space Invaders in the Quaker Square arcade. Blasting video creatures was a nerve-wracking experience. Pew! Pew! Pew! Kaboom! I kept blowing up. Although I deposited many quarters, I never got any good at that darned game. It was still fun.
∎ One August night, my buddy Tim and I viewed a meteor shower from atop his garage. We laid back and counted more than 40 meteors streaking across the sky, although I wonder today if some of those sightings may have been fireflies. Don’t tell Tim.
Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: These moments brought joy to the life of a 1970s kid | Mark J. Price
Reporting by Mark J. Price, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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