Monday, June 1, 2015

Shakedown 1979

So Mike totally came through last week with an adorable collection of family photos from the 1970s, including the astounding revelation that his dad was married in Herb Tarlek's tux. (OK, it's not that astounding, maybe--do an image search for "1970s tuxedo" and you will see that both Herb and Mike's dad were totally on trend.)

Now it's my turn to reciprocate, but I'm afraid the Seventies runs less strong in my family. As I said on the podcast, my parents were married in the 1960s--1965 to be exact, and we celebrated their 50th anniversary just last week!--so the pictures from and around their wedding are more Mad Men than WKRP in their vibe:


Which is not to say there weren't some memorable sartorial choices:


I could definitely imagine Herb in that jacket, fourteen years later, but 1965 Dad is just daring you, or maybe the dude directly behind him, to crack wise.

Since I know Mike loves the CanCon, I'll include this cute one of Mom, from the height of Trudeaumania in 1968:


My parents seem to have escaped the 1970s largely unphotographed, especially once you take out the ones of now-offensive Halloween costumes. (I hope those were all Halloween costumes...) But here's a big family gathering for my great-grandfather's 90th birthday in maybe 1975:


That's me in the front row, with shorts and black socks, looking enviously at the plaid pants on my cousin Rob and uncle Pat. My mom is in the second row behind my great-grandfather. The whole back row is my aunts and uncles--lots of serious 70s haircuts there. Note my grandfather's astounding moustache.

Here's me and my sisters at the cusp of the 1980s, Christmas 1979, rocking the wide selection of velour turtlenecks available that season:


And here's the most WKRP-y picture in my collection--proving, I suppose, which side of the Suits-Dungarees divide I was fated to fall on:


Three-piece. Brown. Corduroy. Neutral Good with Suit Tendencies. What would Mr. Carlson do?

2 comments:

  1. Rob -- I do not even know what to say about that photo of you in the corduroy three-piece suit. You're pulling a strong John Waters look at the camera but, man, that suit.

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    1. Fashions may go out of style, Brant, but style never goes out of fashion.

      (I think the Man in Brown said that in Unknown USA way back when. Undoubtedly I subconsciously based him on this picture.)

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