Just joined this thread, but some I didn't see there are; 'Mr Juicy' (from the school tuckshop for me), and I wonder if anyone remembers 'Fujitsu 10' car stereo, serious gear in the 70s! The Panasonic cassette player pictured earlier in the thread was indeed truly low fi, my brother and I had one exactly like the one in the picture, it was christmas and birthday presents combined for both of us from one year from my grandparents it said Panasonic on the front, and on the back "National Panasonic" and made in Japan and all details of the unit like it was a precision device. My brother and I used that thing as a music machine and tape recorder and experimental toy to way beyond its design limits for about 6 or more years until we were teenagers and got better gear. It was still working last I saw it though which was about a decade ago maybe its still around somewhere..
Interesting though, the TVs were just called National during the late 70's early 80s, I recall the TVs then became National Panasonic and then eventually dropped the National part of the name, my Grandfather had a National TV - the colour was amazing for the time, we used to be up in Sydney at Christmas and we'd have the Sydney Hobart on the National and the cricket on the Thorn/Rank Arena cause the colour was so good on the National, and the Harbour never looked so blue - I actually still have a National Quintrex portable that gets used every day and is working fine.
I remember those coloured anodised aluminium picnic cups that came in a zip up leather container, (it'd be cool to have a set of those!) Haminex Cameras, the beginning of home video games with, simple black and white TV pong, and then later, Atari bi-planes (flash!). Pizza Hut used to be a real sit down restaurant with waiters and red lights and curtains, red and white check table cloths, and red candles in glass bowls.
Incidently, Sunnyboy orange was still available in its frozen triangle/pyramid shape just two years ago in Canberra at Lyneham Shops (it may still be on the market) and I actually had a STUD cola about 8 years ago in Lismore, but I hadnt seen it since the 70s prior to this and havent seen it since.
I remember by the 80's Lucas had a brand of driving lights called "Mean Mothers" (I actually have a set I scored a while back - even has the dashboad switch with Lucas written on it) and I remember that in 1977, (I was 7 years old), my family driving along the Cahill Expressay over Circular Quay from the western side, the was a huge billboard ad for channel 7 Sports ("Super 7" with the 7 logo in colour and a colour border and a massive, absolutely massive picture of Dennis Lilleys face looking out over the quay) about where the building they call 'the toaster' is now. I remember getting my first impression of what being famous must be.
Byron mentioned the Tab Cola Ad with Elle Macpherson in the red swimsuit, its also hard to forget the one with the girl in the white swimsuit (from about 1982) - I even remember the words! ("Tab Tab Cola what a beautiful treat, Just right for beautiful people... And every Tab has less than one calorie!")
Speaking of advertising jingles try these ones on;
"Unless your name is Rockafella or if theres gold down in your cellar, its Datsun 200 B... !!"
"Datsun 120Y its the apple of your eye...!"
I also remember being able to buy fireworks as young as 7 years old just down at the local shops, individual ones for 20c and 50c, or bags for about $2.50, we used to have fire cracker wars as kids, shoot the 8 ball shooters at each other, (we couldnt usually afford the 10 and 12 ball shooters) break the parachute bangers up for the gun powder and make our own bangers with toilet paper and sticky tape - thyis went on for about two maybe three cracker seasons, amazing nobody got hurt, but hey, kids are tough!. It all stopped when one kid in our neighborhood got a hole burnt through a parka jacket and we wernt allowed to play with fireworks unsupervised after that!
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