Small Talk: The Radisson

[shapeshifter]

My earliest memories of shag carpet are ones of my parents criticizing it.

We never had it and I was under the impression that it was one of those things that was a flop with consumers from the outset. Like Ford's Edsel it was well known for being unpopular.

Maybe it quickly dropped in price and so was installed in low rent places, where once a carpet was laid, it was not going to be replaced except maybe after a flood.

Anyway, the place down the hall in '79 had the shag; I just had the hideous puke green.

The guy in the place with the shag carpet was elderly and so hired another tenant to do a little cleaning and laundry for him. She told me that to vacuum the shag carpet she had to go over it inch-by-inch with the vacuum hose nozzle with no attachment.

No wonder it was a "flop!" I bet landlords were able to purchase it for deep discounts.

[ToastnBacon]

Maybe it quickly dropped in price and so was installed in low rent places, where once a carpet was laid, it was not going to be replaced except maybe after a flood.

Anyway, the place down the hall in '79 had the shag; I just had the hideous puke green.

The guy in the place with the shag carpet was elderly and so hired another tenant to do a little cleaning and laundry for him. She told me that to vacuum the shag carpet she had to go over it inch-by-inch with the vacuum hose nozzle with no attachment.

No wonder it was a "flop!" I bet landlords were able to purchase it for deep discounts.

That is the way I'm remembering shag carpet, low rent and ridiculous.

I don't know if it every enjoyed popularity outside of a very small segment of the population that thought it was trendy.

[Stratego]

My earliest memories of shag carpet are ones of my parents criticizing it.

We never had it and I was under the impression that it was one of those things that was a flop with consumers from the outset. Like Ford's Edsel it was well known for being unpopular.

Shag carpet was a big seller in the 70's, likely late 60's also since I'm not sure when it debuted. It requires a rake attachment on a vacuum and that was one of the big drawbacks, the carpet would "flatten-out" requiring "raking".  Plus, there are no patterns, just a plain color.

[ToastnBacon]

Shag carpet was a big seller in the 70's, likely late 60's also since I'm not sure when it debuted. It requires a rake attachment on a vacuum and that was one of the big drawbacks, the carpet would "flatten-out" requiring "raking".  Plus, there are no patterns, just a plain color.

You're right, it was probably a relic of the 60s. Shag carpet would be very comfortable in a Venn diagram with hippies, lava lamps, beads, and twangy sitars.

[Bort]

Oh, there was lots of shag carpet to be had in my family. My grandparents' house AND my dad's house had it. And since they weren't much for redecorating, that stuff stayed around well into the '90s. Actually, I think my grandparents' shag carpet made into this century, it was old and disgusting but it was still there until fairly recently.

[ToastnBacon]

I don't really miss AM radio, because it sucked, but it is a fond memory of being a kid in the 1970s.

I had a decent sounding Panasonic portable radio and a big old Schwin touring bike with baskets over the back tire for delivering newspapers.

I'd wrap the Panasonic radio in a towel to keep it from bouncing around in the basket and listen to music as I rode. It was about the size of a lunch box, maybe a bit smaller.

I also had a Philco radio in my room that was from the 1950s that had vacuum tubes. It sounded great, and I loved listening to it at night when the AM signals bounced and you could pick up stations hundreds of miles away.

I can remember being home sick with the flu during the late fall of 1977 and listening to Carly Simon sing the theme song to "The spy who loved me" on it. It was poring rain and I was looking out the window listening to that song and wondering about the future, dreaming about being an adult.

I was so sad when it stopped working, but I eventually discovered the FM band and there was a decent college station in the next town.

Fond memories, but there is no way I'd want to go back to the 1970s.

I'm jealous of kids today, and would eagerly ask to be a kid in 2015, should I ever find a genie trapped in a bottle.

Hopefully, the genie would look like Barbra Eden and not that blue one from the Disney movie.

Edited November 22, 2015 by ToastnBacon

[ALenore]

When my husband and I went house hunting in 1985, there was one house we looked at that was okay, except for the fact that every floor was covered in orange shag carpeting.  There was just plywood underneath so we couldn't tear it up, and we couldn't afford to replace it, so we crossed that house off our list of possible purchases.    

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Bean bags, and/or Lava lamps anyone?

 

I loved sitting in a bean bag "chair" watching our Zenith with a ZOOM system.  The picture would have about a 2X zoom with one click. How could watching football ever get better than that?!  Oh.  That was our first remote control TV.  We almost went for a Curtis Mathes set, but the zoom feature was irresistible.  

[Bort]

Bean bags, and/or Lava lamps anyone?

 

I loved sitting in a bean bag "chair" watching our Zenith with a ZOOM system.  The picture would have about a 2X zoom with one click. How could watching football ever get better than that?!  Oh.  That was our first remote control TV.  We almost went for a Curtis Mathes set, but the zoom feature was irresistible.

That's exactly what we had! 13 channels that were displayed with little light bulbs because the channel labels were replaceable films (for the ever-unpredictable UHF channels, I think was the reason). The remote had a power button, channel up/down, volume up/down, zoom and mute. I believe my stepdad chose the Zenith because of the zoom button, too.

[AuntiePam]

Curtis-Mathes was the Lexus of TV back then.  Wonder what happened to them.

 

I've been rewatching, and noticed that the chairs around the table at the Gerhardt's don't match -- they're all different.  That must mean something, but I don't know what.  Floyd appreciates family history, maybe?  Don't get rid of something just because it's out of style?

[AuntiePam]

I have some unanswered (I think) questions -- not worth a separate thread:  Why was there blood on the wall in the motel room where Hanzee strangled Constance?  What was the Fargo judge doing at the Waffle Hut near Luverne?  What was the typewriter guy's court case about?  Who were those kids we saw running up the stairs at the Gerhardt place early in the season?  They looked like boys.  Where are Dodd's three other daughters? 

[Inquisitionist]

What was the typewriter guy's court case about?

 

I don't think we know, but whatever it was seemed to be tying up his financial resources and/or his ability to conduct business, so that he couldn't go ahead with peddling IBM Selectric Typewriters.

[AuntiePam]

Some minor things I'll always wonder about:

 

How did Bear hurt his arm?  It was in a cast from the beginning, no explanation.  Arm wrestling with Dodd? 

 

Why didn't Hanzee finish off the other Kitchen brother in the woods?  He cuts one brother's throat but just knocks Gale out and leaves him there. 

 

That last shot of Simone lying dead, hair spread out around her head -- it reminds me of something I've seen somewhere else, like maybe an album cover or a poster. 

 

Who was Charlie talking to in the phone booth outside the butcher shop, when he said something about going back to school?

 

Why did the guy pay for bacon and not pick it up in the first episode?  Why did Ed's boss give it to Ed?  Maybe the guy was going to come and get it the next day.  I thought maybe the guy who bought the bacon was the dead cook in the Waffle Hut, but it wasn't.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Some minor things I'll always wonder about:

 

Why didn't Hanzee finish off the other Kitchen brother in the woods?  He cuts one brother's throat but just knocks Gale out and leaves him there. 

 

That last shot of Simone lying dead, hair spread out around her head -- it reminds me of something I've seen somewhere else, like maybe an album cover or a poster. 

 

 

I instantly thought of one of the American Beauty posters when I saw Simone.  I Googled it and sure enough, it's very similar to my eyes.

 

I believe the explanation for sparing Gale was that he would bring Bulo's head back to HQ (Mike).  I believe there was some earlier dialogue about delivering Bulo's head on a platter by one of the Gerhardts.  Not sure, though.

[AuntiePam]

I instantly thought of one of the American Beauty posters when I saw Simone.  I Googled it and sure enough, it's very similar to my eyes.

 

Yep.  That's the one.

 

Makes sense about the head too.  I didn't stop to think of how the head got delivered.  So Hanzee does plan ahead.  (No pun intended.)

[AuntiePam]

I miss this show so much.  Santa brought Coen brothers movies and they're helping a little bit with the withdrawal, but it's just not the same.  Spring 2017 cannot come soon enough! 

[shapeshifter]

I miss this show so much.

I didn't think I missed it too much, but then I saw the subject line of an email from my bank letting me know that my cash-back bonus had been "activated" and I got a bit excited thinking I was being "actualized." Heh.

[AuntiePam]

One small thing that stood out for me was when Hank was at Peggy's house and she asks if he wants coffee.  She heats leftover coffee on a pan on the stove.  I think microwaves were still new and expensive in 1979. 

[Inquisitionist]

Yes, microwaves were not "standard" by 1979.  According to Wikipedia:

 

By the late 1970s, technological advances led to rapidly falling prices. ... By 1986, roughly 25% of households in the U.S. owned a microwave oven, up from only about 1% in 1971;

 

 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Peggy and Ed!  For realz.  

http://pagesix.com/2016/06/02/kristen-dunst-and-jesse-plemons-take-their-romance-to-the-streets/?_ga=1.12202036.1493149276.1389666711

[Ohwell]

There's a dead body somewhere.

[cpcathy]

How cute, I hope they succeed as a couple.

[Nancypants]

Hey Marge, how's the Fricassee?

[Nancypants]

Pretty darn good ya want some?

[shapeshifter]

Occasionally I have Gloria Burgle experiences with the really expensive Dyson hand dryer in the main restroom at work. It's comforting to know I'm not the only one.

[Bort]

Reminder: This topic is for non-show related discussion. No Fargo, no problem.