The Dukes of Hazzard

This was one show that I did not miss! I was in front of that T.V. every single Friday night, no matter where I was at, from family house to friends. I think half of America probably was tuned into this show at the time. I collected every single item they put out when I was a kid.

The television series The Dukes of Hazzard follows Bo and Luke Duke, two cousins living in a rural part of the fictional Hazzard County, Georgia, with their cousin Daisy and wise old Uncle Jesse, racing around in their customized 1969 Dodge Charger, The General Lee, evading corrupt county commissioner Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg and his inept county sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane.

B. J. and the Bear

This was a comedy series that I loved to watch and I even collected the toy line as well.

Greg Evigan starred as B.J. (Billie Joe) McKay, a professional freelance itinerant trucker who traveled the country's highways in a red and white Kenworth K-100 cab over semi truck with his pet chimpanzee, Bear (named after Bear Bryant, the famed football coach for Alabama, explaining the chimp's choice of headwear). He was constantly harassed by Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo (Claude Akins, who eventually spun off onto his own show, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo). Ben Cooper appeared in an episode of B.J. and the Bear and continued his "Waverly" character in The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo.

The Night It Snowed In Orlando

Yes, it snowed in Florida! I was asleep at the time, this is when we lived on 7222 Harwick Dr. in Orlando. I remember being woke up really early in the morning. The date was January 19, 1977. My parents woke me and told me it was snowing. I could not believe it, they dressed me quickly. I stood at the back sliding glass door, watching the snow fall from the dark sky. We opened the door and ran out, the picnic table we had in the backyard was cover in it and I learned how to make snow balls. We had a small snowball fight and I played out there for what seemed like an hours. I remember my mother telling me to try and make a snowball and save it in the freezer. I was so excited, I made two. The next morning, they had melted.That was such a magical night and one of my fondest memories as a kid.

The Little Van Goes was in the same vein as the "Mighty men & Monster Maker" kit. It came with plates, a base which holds the plates in place for transferring to paper, a crayon holder and instruction booklet. This was another great toy I had as a kid and countless hours making different style vans.

Mighty Men & Monster Maker

I loved using this one, you could created many different monsters or super hereoes. I think I owned several of these because I would lose the plates or sometimes break them. It came with 6 leg plates, 6 torso plates and 6 head plates, a base which holds the plates in place for transferring to paper, a crayon holder and instruction booklet.

Stretch Monster

I remember when Stretch Armstrong came out in 1976. He was muscled blond man wearing a pair of swimming trunks. Its most notable feature was that its arms and legs could stretch outwards, presumably without breaking. He was also gel-filled and this was very intriguing, you could pull him in many directions and we would never break. I did not own Stretch Armstrong but I did own, Stretch Monster, a reptilian green nemesis released by Kenner in 1978.

This was one toy that was so much fun until we got curious like all kids do and punctured a hole in his chest until the gel oozed out and he then he was tossed out. This was very depressing but I learned the hard way. Take pride in keeping your toys intact and they will last forever.

Flying Kites

I remember back living on 7222 Harwick Dr. and the fun my mother and I shared. We lived at the back of this housing development and behind our house was woods. The road that dead ended into the woods cornered our road, we would walk down to where the dirt road that ran off into the woods, this is where we flew kites. We would buy extra string to tie onto the kites attached string so it would go really high.

My mother would run and get it started and hand it off to me once it was high enough for me to control it. It was so much fun, we would get that kite soaring so high up it sometimes seemed unbelievable. These were some great memories with my mother.

This is just one style of kites that were popular back in the day. But we bought so many because they were so cheaply made that they would end up being damaged.