Mork Suspenders
This week Robin Williams passed away. I will always remember him best for his role on Mork and Mindy. He inspired a big fashion trend that dominated my junior high years — rainbow suspenders. My...
View ArticleBoy Troubles
What we have here are boy troubles. Yep. Serious boy problems. This tangled Slinky will never walk down the stairs again. An entirely separate problem would be if you bought this thing and your house...
View ArticleThe Possibly True, Real Inspiration Behind Cyndi Lauper’s Hair (Daily Photo)...
If you’re lost you can look and you will find me, time after time. — Cyndi Lauper, 1984 This is my first Crissy Doll. It’s only been about 40 years since I first asked Santa to bring me one. Oh,...
View ArticleGen Xers Playing On The Freeway and Other Free Range Things Before Free Range...
Back in the 1970s and 80s, half of all Gen-Xers grew up in households headed by single moms. They didn’t call us free-range kids back then, but I suppose that’s exactly what we were. Latchkey kids that...
View ArticleThe Syracuse College Students Killed By Terrorists, 1988
The disappearance of EgyptAir 804 has made me think a lot about Pan Am Flight 103 and the Syracuse College students killed by terrorists on December 21, 1988. I was in college at the time and more than...
View ArticleHow Generation X Got Its Name
A guest post about how Generation X got its name by L. M. McDougald The Gen X label, as we know it today, is the primary definition for those born roughly between 1961 and 1983. As these odd creatures...
View Article1970s Chicago: 20 Beautiful Pics of Children
The following pictures of Generation X in 1970s Chicago were part of the Documerica series sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Series. Creative Commons License applies. Which picture do you...
View ArticleGen X in New Zealand, 1976-82 (Beautiful Class Pictures)
These beautiful class pictures feature Gen X in New Zealand between 1976-79. They reveal some popular trends from the Gen X childhood era. The pictures are from Plateau School in Te Marua near the...
View ArticleJustice For Etan Patz, First Missing Kid on a Milk Carton
Etan Patz‘s killer was finally convicted yesterday. The 6-year-old boy went missing on May 25, 1979, after he left home to catch the school bus. The bus stop was just two blocks from the family’s...
View ArticlePan Am Terrorist Attack: A Millennial Honors Syracuse Student Killed in 1988
Last year, I promised to write about each of the 35 Syracuse college students who died in the Pan Am terrorist attack on December 21, 1988. Unfortunately, life has a way of getting in the way of all my...
View ArticleHow We Change Time
by Chloe Koffas, Light From A Pixel How We Change Time When you are a child who is only five or six years old, you excitedly and impatiently wait for the celebration of your birthday or an upcoming...
View ArticleRemembering Our Mothers: Silent Generation Mom Tammy, 1970
In honor of Mother’s Day on May 14, I will be sharing pictures of Gen-Xers with their Mothers (either Baby Boomer or from the Silent or Lucky Few Generation). This first picture is Tammy. It comes from...
View ArticleMatching Mother-Daughter Indian Costumes Document Prevalence of Cultural...
Look at these highly-detailed matching mother-daughter costumes featuring a Native American / Native Peoples theme. Although this is completely taboo today, the photo documents the prevalence of...
View Article1970s Baby Equipment: “Dangerous” Stroller, Swing, Crib and Car Seats
Here is a series of photographs from the Nelson archive (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED) that feature Gen-X babies and 1970s baby equipment. They underscore for me the work of the the U.S. Consumer Product Safety...
View ArticleWhen I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Flannel (Parody)
When I am an old woman 👵🏻 I shall wear flannel with a Raspberry Beret that doesn’t go, and has always suited me, and I shall spend my “entitlement” on Shasta sodas and fingerless gloves and Candie’s 👡...
View Article1968 Family Vacation: Yellowstone National Park
I love to see my friends’ vacation pictures on Facebook. In the years before social media, it was rare to see such pictures — at least in my world. What about yours? I do recall my friend Sandy doing a...
View ArticleHarvest Gold Memories
Guest Post by Chloe Koffas, Light From A Pixel Editor’s Notes: One of the longest-running Gen X blogs shares the title of this post. Check out Harvest Gold Memories. The photos in this post feature...
View ArticleRevealing Letter From Russian Gen-Xer on Latchkey, Soviet Childhood
Editor’s Note: The following post was originally a comment about the Soviet childhood left on the Who Is Generation X page. I thought it offered a revealing and fascinating glimpse into life for Soviet...
View ArticleThe Gen-Xers From Picher, the Nation’s Worst Environmental Disaster
The year I graduated from college, 1990, the United States was in a recession and more than 40 percent of new college graduates worked in jobs that did not require a college degree. (1) Struggling to...
View ArticleLife Is Not A Journey
I first saw this video posted last week in a private Google group on generations. It features a monologue by Alan Wilson Watts, a British philosopher. Watts was born in 1915, and a member of the G.I....
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