J.C. Penney's 1975 catalog: Brace yourself
The reading that I did at The Greenfield Hills Congregational Church in Fairfield, Connecticut on Saturday was my favorite yet. I will post about it shortly but first I must write about the gift that they gave me.
In "But Enough About Me," I write about one of my favorite activities as a kid in the seventies, which was paging through J.C. Penney catalogs. (My father worked there for 35 years.) Well, my hosts, the fabulous Patane sisters (along with Rev. Dr. Alida Ward and Rev. David Johnson Rowe) somehow unearthed some Penneys catalogs from 1975. Hours of fun. Oh, yes.
Family pajamas with matching striped caps.
"Dad, can I have this sweater vest with an outhouse on it? It's all the rage at school."
You're never too young for your first leisure suit.
Look at the girl on the right: Brooke Shields, who used to do catalog modeling. Smiling bravely in her giant overalls. Good acting training for later.
For the aspiring Herb Tarlek from WKRP.
Again with the overalls. Not just any overalls. His N' Her overalls.
Fresh! Kicky! Fun!
You're never too young for a polyester pantsuit.













We spent hours with these catalogs too! It's such a flashback - I even recognize the models. One of our games was each of us got a random page and would have to choose which outfit we HAD to wear to school if we absolutely had to. As you say, hours of fun - thanks Jancee!
Posted by:Ann Harvey | September 24, 2007 at 10:17 AM
I think I had that leisure suit! I was five.
Posted by:Mike | September 24, 2007 at 12:48 PM
While I guess the "outhouse" is supposed to be a windmill, at first glance I really thought it depicted a good old fashioned Klan cross burning. Yikes.
Posted by:Aaron T. | September 24, 2007 at 09:10 PM
i actually lived through this decade! thank goodness, i survived. lol.
Posted by:Denise Brown | September 25, 2007 at 02:48 PM
I actually dressed my three sons with matching clothes from Jaque Penne! We even looked in the girls' department since the boys clothes were a bit boring!
And...........my middle son wants one of the leisure suits right now and he's thirty-three!
Posted by:C. DeGreen | September 25, 2007 at 03:23 PM
This is a delight of epic proportion. I have ordered the his and her overalls for my friend and her husband and expect their eternal gratitude and friendship for the gesture. Thanks for the tip.
Posted by:Kristen | October 14, 2007 at 09:44 PM
Jancee:
This one tops the other one! The yellow pantsuit had me laughing so hard (along with your caption) that I had tears streaming down my face!
Thanks for this walk down Memory Lane.
Ken Slavin
Posted by:Ken Slavin | October 17, 2007 at 12:54 PM
The girls' two piece sets pictures says "Also Chubby Sizes". That's a polite euphemism for being chubby I suppose.
Posted by:Alan Davies | November 23, 2007 at 07:49 AM