First Weblog

you knocked back the o.g. la hoya terminators for some converse?

madness.

1970 -- CCM Tacks or Super Tacks Hockey Skates. Had to have 'em if you were even going to show your face on the team.

Back them there was really only two choices. Bauer Supremes or CCM Tacks. Supremes were more level horizontally and good for defense players. Tacks were forward tilt and built for speed and finese. with a good sharpening leaving about three inches of blade in contact with the ice they were and are amazing. Could even get a season and a half of use, based on # of sharpenings.

Still love 'em. Perfect fit, support and can spin on a dime. Still cost too much.

I remember wearing an adidas track suit to gym class in 6th grade (1981). I looked SHARP, I tell ya. Royal blue with the tri-stripe down each side. I wore it mostly because I didn't want to wear the school-issued red shorts and t-shirt, but I think I was also compensating for my lack of athleticism...

the nike "revolution" commercial...

How viral of you.

I hear ya on that Revolution commercial. That did it for me, as well.

That is so strange...

I still have a killer nike t-shirt (the original logotype) that my 3 year old now wears. Wouldnt be caught dead without my Mcenroe grey/white/green trainers designed by Tinker Hatfield (ca 1983). Met him once in Beaverton and when I saw those things sitting on his shelf I almost passed out.

Ditto on the CCM Super Tacks. Although I never could (and still cant) afford those pups.

It may sound strange, but Spaghettios. We were never really allowed 'junk food', and when we went to my grandmother's house, she would feed us Spaghettios (sp). That reall stands out in my mind. Maybe that and G.I. Joe, of course Star Wars figures.

Spaghettios. Gosh. We weren't allowed to have that either at my house, but when I spent the night at my friend's his mom always had some in the cupboard and we ate it cold after midnight---so we wouldn't wake anyone up cooking in the kitchen.

Toys. Of course. What child doesn't get caught in the web of brands in a toy aisle. Surely, we all have memories from those days.

Levis

Jeans or cords, no other pants

I think it was a bit of an anti-design ideal in the begining

Today I'm a bit laxer, but Levis are still no. 1 in the closet.

Soccer was my early game of choice. At four or five I remember seeing Umbro for the first time. If you had an Umbro kit, it meant you were serious about the game - at least from where I'm from and it meant your team was going to be an a formidable opponent. As the years went on, Diadora became the “it” brand, then it was Lotto and Hummel. Those were the days.

Levis, funny hearing that name. I banned jeans from my closet between 1992 and 2004 for two reasons: I didn't think they were comfortable and I found khakis and Dickies hipper. Needless to say, I gave in and bought a pair of jeans in 2005 when my wife insisted that I give them a try.

But, I still won't wear Levi's. It's just a weird preference.

"Those were the days."

Michael, when you go to the store, what do you feel--actually feel--when you see those brands? Good feelings? Bad feelings? When seeing those brands, what do you miss about them?

Jason, there was a definite rush of endorphins, that's for sure. It was like steroids for kids. It was the thrill of the search and finding something that no one else had. Often I would have to go out of province to find something that wasn't readily available. What do I miss now, well I still look for the somewhat obscure, but nothing is really rare. Now it seems like semi-modification is the rage.

Customization. Yes, Michael. I agree with that one. It's so challenging to have something original, so people are taking it upon themselves to craft a unique image/style/look. You're onto something there.

Ahhh the days of "Everything Jordan" comes back to haunt me. I remember doing everything I could from mowing the yard when it didn't need it to begging so I could afford the first edition of Air Jordan shoes. To be one of the first in our school was basically saying you were the coolest...ever. I think i wanted the plastic keychain with the Jordan icon and nike logo that came with them as much as I wanted the shoes.

But of course... who has keys when your that age so as it so happens placing a shoelace around the keychain turned it into the coolest necklace... ever. I feel bad for the embarassment my parents had to endure with me and my new necklace. Then year after year they would come out with a new pair so the cycle would continue for years to come. Oh what we do for a brand... especially a brand that makes you socially superior at age 14.

Off to call my folks and apologize for my embarassing childhood.

Mine was Puma tennis shoes (blue with a yellow swoosh to match my H.S. tennis team colors) and a yellow Izod shirt. They were identifiers that I was "really" an athlete, after spending grade school and middle school as an obese, non-active kid. They meant I had turned myself into an actual varsity tennis player.

...i sometimes get grossed out at myslef by my weird allegiance to nike. i will literally not buy another brand of sneakers.

i feel like they are committed to good design, and at the same time, i know they are definetly the corporate ogre. so there's that, not to mention the whole production/sewatshop thing.

but, in some way they have become a part of my brain, and i almost feel like they are part of the family...

"I didn't think they were comfortable and I found khakis and Dickies hipper"

And by Dickies, of course you mean those things you wear under collared shirts to make it look like you're wearing a turtleneck, right? Those _are_ hip!

Silly boy.

Here's my little anecdote...

Pabst Blue Ribbon was my earliest memory of consistent brand recognition. This would date back to 1988/1989 (I was born in '80). Syracuse was plastered with billboards of their oh so simple "PBR ME ASAP" campaign.

I was so intrigued by what this mysterious acronym meant. My father would just tell me that it was a bunch of jibberish. But I knew he was bullshitting me. I eventually figured it out, although my loose translation at the time was "give me a beer, quick!" As I got older I noticed the advertising for PBR was slowly disappearing but I respected it because it had me so intrigued for so long.

I didn't start drinking until I was 21, mainly because I was so into the straight edge/punk scene, but once I loosened up a little I rediscovered the brand and have come to love it for its old-timey, hokey, simplified, no-nonsense characteristics. And I don't even think it tastes that bad!

I love the brand so much, I've started a Pabst Blue Ribbon Social Club. We have membership cards and meet once a month!

Way to get em while they're young Pabst!

pabst . . . nike's first name (after dimension six) was blue ribbon sports, apparently because when the boys were sorting out their company and needed to slap a name on some contract there was a bottle or can nearby of the pabst and . . .

pabst is still franks favourite.

Hooo, boy. Here is a real gem.

As the youngest child, I completely imitated my older sister in pretty much every way, including fashion. Of. The. 80's.

She b-e-e-e-gged my mother to buy anything and everything Guess. Which in turn, spured my desire for such things, but I got them as hand-me-downs.

I have the distinct memory of an over-sized (okay, GIANT-sized) pink and turquoise Guess sweatshirt. When the day came when it finally became mine, oh did I EVER feel cool. By some stroke of genius, I also had the brightest idea of my life. I paired this sweatshirt with neon-colored suspenders, you know 'cause, like, everyone was wearing those in the 80's. Yes. I did that. I swear.

Ooooh, the shame!!! :-)

Funny how just getting to wear the popular brand was the goal, but not at all how I looked (ridiculous) while wearing it. Just what branding goes for, eh.

Pabst Blue Ribbon was the sportsman's beer when I was a kid and am guessing it still is? (it's not a major brand of beer here on the west coast.)

I remember the commercials of blue collar stiffs, clean as as a whistle in their snazzy and complete fishing outfits reelin' in a big mouth bass to the pabst theme song. But alas, it was never a brand I was akin or loyal to.

hehe, Margot: got a pic to post of your cool Guess outfit? I'll post one in Hockey Uniform and shoulder length hair if you do.....

Fly... let's see it, gregor.

Graham, nice bit of information on Nike. Who knew?

gotta scan it from a slide 1st -- give me a couple of days ;/>

My first shoe brand was a pair of Pony football/field shoes. Had to have them in 7th grade. Then, it was a pair of Nike Pegasus running shoes for cross-country track. Then, I started playing tennis for years after that, and wore through countless pairs of classic white and green Adidas Rod Lavers. Never changed. Still have a pair somewhere in the closet today.

Speaking of tennis, I've always played with a Wilson racket, starting with a wooden Wilson Stan Smith when I was 9 or so, then an aluminum Wilson Jimmy Connors—eventually graduating to the oversized composite big-boys. Never switched.

Beer-wise, my earliest brand memory was the Budweiser clydesdale song and the classic Miller Lite Great-taste, Less-filling commercials. We always had Miller Lite in the house, though I didn't start drinking till about high school. Pabst was always Bum Phillip's beer. And Lone Star was and is still the official crap beer of Texas. Tastes great cooked in chili.

Bazooka bubble gum was one of my first.

But my most serious 'brand' allegiances has to be Coke. When I order it, I make sure it's Coke. If they say its Pepsi, I order something else. If they bring me Pespsi when they say its Coke, I send it back.

As for shoes, I've pretty much stuck with Nike for years. But I usually buy them at the outlet so price isn't so much an issue.

Tan:

I just bought a pair of Laver's this spring. They're a bit different these days than those lovely original leather originals. Mine are blue and some utlra light material I can't pronounce. Unfortunately the gut strings of my wooden Wilson has brittled over the years....

Gregor-

Sadly I do not have have a picture of this. Cause it's SO much fun to share one's fashion faux pas with The Internet. NO, seriously, I totally would put that up if I had one.

The Guess sweatshirt incident was the first, but probably not the last time I fell victim to branding (Urban Outfitter's gaucho pants!) But I really really hope that the neon-striped suspenders+sweatshirt combination has died for all eternity (it's entirely possible that I finished off my stylish attire that day with black biker shorts, Keds shoes, and a frizzy side ponytail, but my memory has failed on those accounts)

Anyone in the whole world who got dressed and went in public in the 80's has got to have similar blunders though, because by and large most of the clothing that came out of that era was atrocious. Maybe branding in the 80's was just SO GREAT that everyone was fooled in to looking ridiculous. The joke's on us!!!

Advertising dollars in action:

"but, in some way they have become a part of my brain, and i almost feel like they are part of the family..."

Seriously though, Nike constantly shells out strong designs, durable products, and keeps a competative dollar value on it all. As much as a corporate orge as they are, I have to agree. Good damn shoes.

I'm partial to Adidas, myself. Namely because I had a bad incident as a child, involving a goat, 4 foot of rope, and a pair of blue-on-white Nikes ;x

Lone Star... is still crap (beer of Texas).

Someone find a rope for this guy. Blasphemy. Better yet hammer a size 12 Tony Lama up against his cushy ex-tx-pat dairy heir.

Rome-

The thing is, though, I am not sure if it si advertising, or the fact that NIke reminds me of being a child, that makes me love it so much.

Is it the advertising as a childhood memory, or simply the childhood memory?

Awesome point. I can relate- even though I'm still a kid.

I feel the same way about Nintendo (namely characters). I had a regular Nintendo and Super Nintendo while I was growing up, so Mario and the gang were close to my heart. To date, I still have a strange nastoligic-like draw to Mario-themed games.

Top Ramen

Oodles of Noodles! (oriental flavor)

HANDS. DOWN.

Maybe the name had something to do with it. It's catchy. But oh they tasted so good.

This question brought back lots of memories for me. I moved to Minnesota from NY when I was 10 years old, and found myself devistated when I learned that Minnesota did not carry Oodles of Noodles.

I wonder what they tasted like, I've been eating maruchan ramen noodles ever since. Hm.

Also. Second runner is Tropicana. I'm not going to tell you how many times I tried putting a straw in an orange.

Today however, I just recently switched from drinking no other orange juice than Tropicana to Simply Orange. If you haven't tried it, do. I've noticed that Tropicana has come out with an identical "anniversary carafe"...Simply Orange must have them making a run for their money

actually, after doing some research, that's exactly it.

Interbrand

Brands. Hmm. The usual for the most part but some that haven't been talked about here yet. Anyone remember Vaurnet (sp?) sunglasses? Jordache jeans?

With my shades, cutoff adidas/nike tshirt and jordache jeans, I was da man!

In later years (college) I was actually less brand conscious - the greater focus being on being fit and intelligent so I could woo women...!

All things put paid, this is actually a thought that comes back to me very often: brands come and go, but being in shape is ALWAYS in style.

The ESPRIT canvas tote bag. I don't think there was a girl in my 4th grade class who didn't have one. We all wore uniforms so we couldn't wear the clothes, but that bag was my first introduction to the unforgiving world of brand name fashion.

A few more have come to mind...

Swatch Watches and the infamous Swatch Guard. The only watch in recorded history where wearing more than 1 was considered "totally wicked cool".

Powell Peralta for any old school skaters out there. (Not that I was one but I sure tried) No NASH riders allowed!

Of course McDonalds who we have to thank for some of our 2nd grade pictures in Husky Boy overalls.

That scientific phenomenon the Aerobie. Because no other "Bee" would do.

Vanilla Ice Album... admit it you all had it.

This reminiscing has made me hungry, I think I'm off to McDonalds to have a burger and throw my Aerobie while listening to some Ice Ice Baby. My 5 swatches say it's lunch time.

Staedtler Mars Plastic erasers! In grade school they'd hand out some hard shiny pink thing that was only good for ripping holes in your paper. My dad noticed my frustration and gave me a Staedtler. Eventually *everyone* had one. And the cool kids had the retractable clicky stick erasers.

More recently... in university all the cool kids had the Leatherman Wave multi-tool.

I think my first conscious thoughts about brands/branding came from toys. Most toys are the brand themselves, but a few were competing for nearly identical spaces in kid's hearts. The ultimate toy branding dichotomy? Gobot vs. Transformers. I played both sides, so to speak, but I recognized the 'superiority' of the Transformers toys.

A combination of sheltering from pop culture by my parents and my inwardly-oriented nature meant I didn't really tap into the clothing brands thing until a few years after most. Even then, I was a bit of a weirdo. Shoes were the most potent for me. Not sure which were first, but the first pair of shoes I remember were Star Wars branded. Then I think it was Nikes, mainly because of their iconic identity, rapid rise to ubiquity, and the fact that both of my parents were runners. I still remember trying to figure out whether Op (Ocean Pacific) clothing was cool or not. I think I ended up deciding it was not. Not sure why.

It took me a long time to realize that branded items were not 'The Way Things Are' and were instead just companies and advertising. I thought of things like Tide and Nike and GI Joe as immutable factors in the universe. I think my attraction to design is deeply rooted in how I, as a child, viewed branded items as items of authority, and their design was the voice of that authority. To be able to recreate these visuals was a way to wield the voice of authority and permanence. Plus it was fun.

Paper Mate Flair felt tip pens. Had to be Flairs.

(They made a lot more colors back in '72.)

And Bic Clics.

>I still remember trying to figure out whether Op (Ocean Pacific) clothing was cool or not.

OPs weren't cool because they weren't authentic. Hobie was the authentic ocean-wear brand. Hobies and Vans.

>Someone find a rope for this guy.

Come 'on Felix. Can you honestly tell me that you like the taste of Lone Star? It tastes like it was brewed with wastewater from the Texas City refinery. I used to think that was what real beer was supposed to taste like, until I moved out ot Texas and had my first introduction to microbrews.

I'm with Tan. Hobie, Local Motion, and HIC were the hip ones. I always saw OP as the "Kmart" of surf wear.

An interesting question for parents is what is the brand you (and I) introduced and hooked them into brand loyalty with?

For my kids:

The girls was American Girls Dolls and paraphernalia

For the boy it was Thomas the Tank Engine books, trains and anything related.

ummm, hhmmm

is what is the brand you (and I) introduced and hooked them

"them" is our kids

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Adidas Sambas or Reebok Pumps.Maybe I'm a bit younger but if you didn't have a pair in elelmentary school something was wrong with you. Also, Starter jackets were big, especially ones with college football teams like Syracuse or Notre Dame. Now Starter products are sold at Wal-Mart. Interesting...

I'm with you on the Pumps. That was actually the first thing that came to mind. I had to have them SO BAD I ended up using some of "my own money" since Mom thought it ridiculous to pay $125 for shoes.

I have to agree with her...unless they are Birk's.

The thing that comes to mind immediately is shoes in elementary/middle school. Around 2nd grade converse Chuck Taylor's came in wild 80's colors. I remember the mint green and pink hi-tops that folded down. Also, I would have died for the airwalk prototypes, remember those? Around the same time kids were starting to wear Michael Changs and Jordans. When the JordanIV came out with that crazy strap that came to the top strings; those just blew my mind. Kids who would wear them untied were the coolest. The pumps, The catapults, the hexalites, gels, air pockets...the gimmicks that controlled us all back then..I tried to keep up the best I could but the prices were really outside of my mom's shopping budget. Even now I still sport the classic looks of Nike Dunks. I guess I still adore my kicks the same as always- but now I shell-out the cash for them. I am surprised I didn't kill my mom from the shock of the price tags.

"airwalk prototypes"

I remember getting those with money from my paper route. I think I actually though that they made me bulet proof. ;)

Airwalks?

What, no Vans?

Aeropostale

Bugle Boy Jeans

Jamz

Converse Chuck Taylors

Vans Checkerboard Slip Ons

Bright Yellow Sony Sports Walkman, even thought they broke every year, I had to get a new one.

So has the iPod replaced your craving for a Walkman?

So has the iPod replaced your craving for a Walkman?

Yes it has, and its more durable. My 10Gb 2nd Generation iPod is kicking strong, going on three years this christmas.

Three years! I wish my iPod lasted that long... the poor thing has became a backup drive at home.

Like some of you here, a child born out of the early 80s era can relate to the dominant brands that were evolving culture at the time. I grew up in the Southbay area (South Los Angeles), so everybody wore whatever the gangsters had. Even regular girls wore whatever the gangster girls were rockin at the time. And you know, gangsters were more into hip-hop culture than anything. There weren't too many punk-rocker/goth gangsters, but they were usually categorized with the mexican/latino rebels who caused a ruckus among school grounds also.

ANYWAY, we were limited to the high-fashion shit because if a big ass Samoan 8th-grader spotted you rockin some new Jordan IVs, you were gonna get jacked. So the dominant wear was pretty much this:

Cross Colours - pants & ponchos

JNCO Jeans

Standard issue black Chucks

Nike Air Raids/Zooms

Clean, double-tee'd stafford white T-shirt

I'd save my money and buy the good shit to rock on the weekend. Good thing my underwear had pockets for change.

That's the hard-knock life, boyeee.

Those all bring back such memories. Hyper Color was hot too.

Well let's see...I am graduating class of 1994 so I grew up in the 80's.

Things I remember (and had)

Esprit tote bag (a lot of girls had them, but I was the one in the school with a black one with teal and hot pink handles)

Jellies

Plastic charm necklaces

Guess Jeans (tight rolled at the end)

Reebok high tops

The Orginal Air Jordan's (I feel old now!)

Hypercolor shirts

leg warmers

jean jackets with tons of "band buttons" on them