Redartz: Hello friends; today I'm using that line from a classic Beach Boys tune to set the stage for our discussion. Indeed, today's topic will require a bit of memory work and imagination: testing our abilities of recall. Recall what, you ask? Your childhood room; your space, your private place. Whether you shared a room with a sibling or had a room all to yourself, try to remember as much as you can about it. What did you have on the walls? How did you fill your drawers and shelves? Where did you keep that all-important stash of comic books? Were you a 'neatnik', or , shall we say, disorganized? Take a few minutes, close your eyes, and return to that special place in your house that was all your own.
I'll start off, cheating a bit as I have a photograph or two (which some of you may have seen before, sorry to be repetitive)...
First up is my bedroom from my pre-teen years; shared with my brother. My bed was on the left, with the remnants of a Wacky Package stuck to the footboard. Though it doesn't show here, I was rather obsessively neat and my brother and I kept our sides separate (he was 'disorganized'). Hot Wheels and GI Joes were under the bed, microscope and slides on the desk (I was, and still am, a science nerd). Not seen here is our bookshelf, home to those great Marvels, DCs and Disneys from the time. Oh, note the reel-to-reel tape recorder on the desk: I loved to use that to make my own 'radio talk shows'.
Finally we have my room after age 10. Our family moved to a new house, and my brother and I now had our own rooms (our sister already had her own space). Note the 70's vintage green paneling on the walls, with a red shag carpet! By this time I'd moved to Archie comics, which were safely ensconced in a drawer. On the shelves here you can see several Monogram plastic model kits, including the Cherry Bomb which apparently I had just been working on. Also on the shelves are a selection of "How and Why Wonder Books", a fascinating series of books about science and nature sold at our local drug store alongside the comics. It was in this room (not in the photo, unfortunately) I also had my first humble stereo, and could play lp's and use the accompanying headphone set. Oh, it was perfect. Oh, you may have noticed the bare walls. It was only a couple years later that those walls would be adorned with the FOOM poster, and the Spider-Man poster that came with the Marvel Value Stampbook...
Okay, so much for my room. Let's 'go over to your house' and check out what you had...
8 comments:
In my formative years my room was upstairs in a bungalow. Lots of nooks and slanted walls. In one of those nooks my comics were stacked flat in boxes of all shapes and sizes.
Being in the midwest tornado warnings were a summer regularity. Without a basement the carrying of all those boxes down to our neighbors basement was a 2 to 3 time a year event.
Like you Redartz I had Wacky Packages stuck to my dresser drawers, also Odd Rods, those monsters in hot rods, were stuck all over.
Oh the memories!
Love it Red! You are lucky to have photos!
The comics and a whole lot of stuff in our house was stored in "Harry and David Fruit of the Month " boxes.
The headboard stickers were numerous: auto supply parts, xox cola, Disney, and "Super Fuzz" Odd Rod!!!
The models on the shelf were the funny cars "Snake" and "Mongoose" and the battleship Tirpitz!
Boy I could go on and on.,,lol!
Around ages 4 to 6, my room had some great toys, from plushes of Pooh Bear and the talking Bugs Bunny, to the fold-out Batcave set from Ideal. I also had a tracing light board on a small desk for drawing Disney characters.
During my grade school years, my room was full of Hot Wheels, Chopcycles, Disneykins, and lots of model kits. My stack of Disney and Archie comics were neatly stacked in a corner of my closet. I also had a stack of Gulf gas station magazines of Disneyland comics and stories. My St. Louis Cardinals baseball cards were also stacked here, along with Wacky Packs.
My desk showcased my many Snoopy motorized model kits, my Disney snap-it model kits of Pirates of the Caribbean & the Haunted Mansion, my Ratfink model kit and the many Universal Monsters model kits.
I had a blacklight hanging next to my bed, so I could look at all my psychedelic posters glow, including a 'groovy' Smiley poster, a 7-ft tall Frankenstein poster, a Peter Pan & Wendy poster and a Winnie the Pooh for President poster from 1968.
Though my sister had a thick pile carpet, I insisted on indoor-outdoor carpeting that allowed for marbles and Hot Wheels and various cereal box toys to roll without any difficulty. Our hallway was hardwood, so I could play with my battery-operated robots with no problem, as well.
In one corner next to my desk, was just enough room for me to play Disney Imagineer and recreate my own version of Disneyland, using a See-and-Play Disney Castle set of Disneykins and everything from Reynold's Wrap to string to anything I could find to cobble together a Skyway, Monorail, Submarine, Jungle Cruise, etc. I was pretty obsessed with Disney (still am).
In a small bookcase, I had as many Peanuts paperbacks as I could find, along with Encyclopedia Brown, Disney Nature books, along with Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island and movie adaptations of the day.
Of course, my 21 pound long-haired persian cat (solid muscle, not fat - was comfortable indoors or out) would always be hanging around, but never messed with my stuff. He would chase after Superballs, but knew not to damage anything.
We moved 4 doors down the street to a larger house, where I had a much bigger room. This was good because by then my comics collection had grown substantially. My room had two closets, so one was used to store my stacks of comics - soon to be replaced with Dinosaur Boxes of same comics - and FOOM posters and Star Wars posters and more.
Now that I'm much older, I still have many of these same items displayed in my downstairs mancave. When we built our house, we put in a beautiful wall-to-wall bookcase when my Dad and I finished the rest of the basement. We also put a shelf along the trunkline, so when you look up, you see figures and toys and images chronologically showcasing Disney cartoons, movies, park attractions, etc. Similarly, the second half of this shelf showcase Marvel figures, DC figures, other favorite cartoon, TV, movie icons. It's like revisiting old friends every time I go downstairs.
Sorry to be so long-winded, but this is obviously a favorite subject. Hope you enjoyed my reminiscings.
I'd definitely fall into the disorganized column. I too had a sticker-covered dresser and numerous posters on the wall. And sometimes my bed was so full of stuffed animals that I could barely fit in it myself!
Great memories everyone. I had my own room - my 2 older sisters shared. I think I once shared at the BAB that I had one of those closets with sliding double doors. At one point, before I knew any better then to cut up my comics, I filled those doors with pictures of Marvel heroes taken from comic covers of the early 70s. One door was filled with individual pics of various characters usually accompanied by that hero's logo. The other door was covers of heroes in battle with villains. Man, did I ruin some covers.
I also remember using my room to make things and set things up - Hot Wheel tracks, tents made with old sheets draped from a desk to a dresser to the bed probably held in place by being weighed down by a box of comics, making superhero clubhouses out of big cardboard boxes for Mego action figures...those were the good ol' days.
Also love "In My Room". I came to be somewhat of a Beach Boys fan much later but whenever I hear that song it evokes memories like all of the ones you guys expressed here.
Tom
I had a fairly small room, but a good-sized built-in cabinet and a nice closet. I kept my comic books in a couple of medium sized cardboard boxes and a big trunk in the closet, and my other books in the cabinet. I was a voracious reader back then.
I also had a pretty big collection of music cassettes.....some newer stuff at the time, plus oldies. Plenty of variety and entertainment.
I had several posters on my walls and closet doors.....Hendrix on one, Earl Campbell (toughest running back ever). I also collected some of the Robert E Howard paperbacks that included a poster. Those were on my bedroom door.
Lots of good times back then. I don't ever remember being bored. :).
Thanks so much for the rich memories and fine comments you all posted! My apologies for being absent; this week (actually this last several weeks) have been nuts.
Charlie- yes, being a photo fanatic from an early age did have it's advantages...
Disneymarvel- great story, great memories. I'd have loved to visit your house!
Nothing special about my childhood room, had all my toys tucked away in two large cardboard boxes. Whenever I felt the urge to play with my little green toy soldiers or some cowboys and Indians, I'd just pull them out and play with them. My walls were bare, no posters.
- Mike 'plain and simple' from Trinidad & Tobago.
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