From 1972: Aletha, Viola, Bill, and Shirley Have A Party

1972

Prom 1977: All In The Family

Kids in 1977 knew that prom traditions often involved the family, be it borrowing your old man's Chevy for an evening of revelry, or posing with your mother under a tree for a photo.

Mom in the second picture incarnates why I love vintage things so damned much. Did she go to the beauty parlor herself that morning to have her hair teased so that a good foot was added to her overall height? Did she use spit to style her bangs?

As for the youth in the first picture, did his family move onto the Clutter Family farm after the cops and Capote left, or something? Talk about a desolate prairie. It looks like perhaps some sort of shantytown exists in the background. Perhaps this young man was going to prom at Jonestown! How did he get such a fashion-forward tuxedo in Guyana?

How could I forgotten today's prom tune? Here's The Sylvers with "Hot Line." This song peaked at #5 on the Billboard chart for two weeks in January/February 1977.

From 1977: When Parents Interfere With Halloween Fun

Highlights include Mom turning your bad-ass witch ensemble into a Ku Klux Klan outfit, and a little black boy being encouraged to put himself in whiteface. Also featured is a totally nasty-looking 70's porn dad during the voiceover about how "some adults like to hurt children," as well as a poor unfortunate little boy telling a real knee-slapper of a joke about wieners.

Enjoy.

Oh, Dad. I Miss You So Much.

Robert Edward Weiss

"Bob"

October 13, 1945 - September 28, 1999