The first ‘children’s liberation’ album, ‘Free To Be… You And Me’ – featuring stars like Marlo Thomas, Mel Brooks, Harry Belafonte, Alan Alda, Diana Ross and Shirley Jones – was catchy, upbeat, and like nothing else, and by 1976, had sold half a million copies.
Donna Summer burst onto the disco scene in the 1970s with a bang – her four #1 singles all reached the top chart spot within 13 months of each other – including ‘I Feel Love.’
After moving to a new house, a man named Wilbur finds the previous owner left behind a horse. It’s Mister Ed, a talking horse! But Ed will talk only to Wilbur, meaning confusion and hijinks soon ensue.
For 7 seasons, the original Fantasy Island TV show featured Ricardo Montalban as the mysterious Mr Roarke, the overseer of a mystical island where people could live out their fantasies,
The Twist was one of the first big dance crazes, and dozens of artists recorded copycat songs. But there was a question: Is The Twist immoral? Religious leaders weighed in.
Gilligan’s Island was the hit sitcom that ran for a total of 98 episodes over three seasons – from 1964 to 1967. Find out more about the show and sing along to the theme song here!
Each episode of Adam-12 portrayed a day in the life of an LAPD ‘policeman’ as realistically as possible, with officers Malloy and Reed facing the tragic and amusing events of life in a big city.
The first film to exploit the latest disco craze, it stared a hot TV personality, John Travolta, and features a soundtrack overcrowded with highly pluggable Bee Gees songs.
Kodak’s disc camera was was lightweight, foolproof (with auto-exposure and built-in flash), affordable, and used a brand new kind of film cartridge… but it was only sold for six years.
The vintage Spirograph toys let you create millions of colorful, startlingly beautiful extraordinarily intricate designs in infinite variety – all you needed were pens, paper and the kit’s plastic gears and wheels. Take a look!
Anyone who lived through the great videotape format war of the late 1970s to early 1980s will never forget the big question: VHS or Beta? Here’s the Betamax side – the player that ultimately lost.
“Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” became an unexpected – and unforgettable – classic. It combines the story of a boy who wins a lifetime supply of chocolate and a colorful musical with intricate sets and wild visual effects.
“Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down” is the memorable slogan that helped sell millions of these wobbly wee folk from Hasbro/Romper Room. Take a look back at some vintage Weebles here!
The Addams Family TV series portrayed the everyday life of one kooky and spooky family. Although the show had a huge impact on pop culture, it only ran for two seasons – from 1964 to 1966. Meet the cast and hear the snappy theme here!
MTV, a ’round-the-clock television channel for viewers who grew up on rock ‘n’ roll, started with a library of 400 music videos, and went on to delight millions of viewers.
Disco dancing was characterized by a casual, controlled, rhythmic movement of the whole body, with a pulsing vertical motion through the knees. Try some of the top moves!
It would be hard to find anyone between the ages of 30 and 50 who didn’t watch Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood as a kid. And there’s a good reason for that.
Between Saturday morning cartoon shows, animated Schoolhouse Rock was on TV from 1973-1985. Here’s a Grammar Rock classic, A Noun Is a Person, Place or Thing!
Remember the old Palmolive dish soap ads, featuring Madge the Manicurist (actress Jan Miner), who was always telling women how terrible their hands looked?
A chewy retro ’60s energy snack developed for astronauts became known as Pillsbury Space Food Sticks – treats in chocolate, caramel & peanut butter flavors.
Ask Bea Arthur how she resembles ‘Maude,’ the female chauvinist she plays on TV, and the stately, gray-haired actress lays it on the line – just like Maude.
Widely regarded as one of the most innovative television shows of all time, The Twilight Zone premiered in 1959, and would go on to dazzle, delight and frighten audiences for the next five seasons.
Good Times aired from February 1974 through August 1979. Developed by Norman Lear, it was a spin-off of Maude, which was an All in the Family offshoot.
The Flintstones TV cartoon sitcom ran for 6 seasons in the ’60s. Find out how the story began, plus see the opening credits & the catchy theme song lyrics!
Take a little 60-year leap back in time, and see how San Francisco looked back in 1955 in this video homage to the city by the bay.
Once part of everyday life, now only people of a certain age will remember this stuff. Here are 25 things most people under 25 have never seen in real life!
Here’s one of the most unforgettable songs from Schoolhouse Rock: Conjunction Junction. One of the first in the “Grammar Rock” series, it made its debut on televisions nationwide in 1973.
Sunday sightseeing around town and afternoon jaunts in the countryside are shiny new adventures when you’re driving a fun-loving ’56 Chevy!
Retro shampoo commercials from many decades ago were so achingly wholesome and sincere, it’s easy to see why some ’50s stereotypes persist today. Take a look!
After the war, industry was booming, and they needed workers. This 1946 vocational guidance film gives us a little insight into the world of telecommunications at the midpoint of the 20th century, from switchboard operators to engineers.
Laverne & Shirley ran on ABC from January 27, 1976 to May 10, 1983. The comedy starred Penny Marshall as Laverne De Fazio, Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney, as well as Michael McKean and David L Lander as Lenny & Squiggy.
This widely-beloved cartoon music video for ‘I’m Just A Bill’ came out in 1975 as part of Schoolhouse Rock, a memorable series of animated shorts that ran with the Saturday morning cartoons.
California — particularly Los Angeles — is notorious for having awful traffic — but as this video from the ’50s will prove, that bumper-to-bumper freeway crawl is nothing new.
Wherever Elvis Presley goes to howl out his combination of hillbilly and rock ‘n’ roll, the lean, 21-year-old Tennessean is beset by teenage girls yelling for him.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the 1985 TV season is the success of ABC’s “Growing Pains,” a family sitcom starring former talk-show host Alan Thicke as psychiatrist Jason Seaver.
Playing off the popularity of the traveling exhibit of the Treasures of Tutankhamen, actor and comedian Steve Martin debuted his parody song ‘King Tut’ on an episode of Saturday Night Live in the spring of 1978.
The Courtship of Eddie’s Father was a TV sitcom about a widower and his son, Eddie that debuted in 1969. The memorable theme song was by Harry Nilsson.
In her first special, “Diana!” on ABC. Sunday. April 18th, Diana Ross displays not only her exciting singing talent, but a flair for comedy and impersonation. And in her choice of guest stars — Danny Thomas, Bill Cosby and the Jackson Five — she demonstrates sound judgment as well,
If you have ever wondered what it would be like to have lived a century ago, or to have wandered the streets of a much younger Manhattan, you will be amazed by this footage from New York in 1911!
Safety Last! was one of the best-known movies of the silent film era, and gave us the iconic image of Harold Lloyd, dangling off a huge clock.
A Louisiana boy with the fervor of a music with-the-modern-beat is burning up the radio, television and film industries. He is 21-year-old Jerry Lee Lewis, of Ferriday, Louisiana.
From the late 1970s: Bumble Bee. You can tell it’s the freshest-tasting tuna. And you know something? Kids can tell, too.
Los Angeles in the ’50s Take a retro peek back at the Los Angeles area of yesteryear! In addition to the huge cars (plus the
On The Andy Griffith Show in 1964, Nabors let loose with his deep natural voice, and stunned America. Here’s Gomer Pyle astonishing the citizens of Mayberry with his voice.
Back in the ’80s, Incredible Hulk & Courtship of Eddie’s Father actor Bill Bixby was the spokesperson for Dietac diet pills. Here’s a look.
Disney’s ‘Third Man on the Mountain’ represents the first successful effort to capture the mystical quality of James Ramsey Ullman’s stories about man’s struggle to master the heights.
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood a television show aimed at preschoolers, debuted in the US on February 19, 1968, and original episodes aired until August 31, 2001.
Where Did Our Love Go? The first #1 hit for The Supremes, “Where Did Our Love Go” was originally written for fellow Motown group
The King of the Swingers Louis Prima, a star since the 1930s, was known as “The King of the Swing” — so he was the
New York-born Dick Clark, the pioneering powerhouse in the music and TV industries, was best known to the world for his show American Bandstand, and for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
Coke keeps you thin! (1961 Coke commercial) In this 1961 Coca-Cola commerical, actress Connie Clausen explains that Coke is low in calories and will help keep
New VCR by RCA to debut The fledgling home television video tape cassette recorder (VCR) industry, only a year old and with a mediocre track
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Note: ClickAmericana.com features authentic historical information, and is not intended to represent current best practices on any topic, particularly with regard to health and safety. Material on this site is provided for education, criticism, commentary, cultural reporting, entertainment, historical reference, and news reporting/analysis. Now that you know, have fun looking around!
