A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

A few days ago, Harry Turtledove, one of the authors I follow on Twitter (and the only one with whom I interact regularly on that social media platform), posted this whimsical Christmas wish list from the 1970s: #70sChristmasList Harvest gold refrigerator Avocado stove Betamax Quadraphonic sound system English Leather, or maybe Brut Cargo pants for the guys Hot pants for the women Platform shoes A leisure suit A case of Miller Lite Or of US-brewed (aka ruined) Löwenbräu I thought this was clever, amusing, and cool, so I replied with a #70sChristmasList of my own: #70s ChristmasList Stereo system with LP/8-track/AM-FM radio Brut, or English Leather Wacky Packages Star Wars figures (by Kenner) Billy Joel albums Star Wars OST 2-LP set Superman OST 2-LP set Classical music LPs A Bridge Too Far book Over the past few days, I've been going through the decades (the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s) and thinking of typical Christmas wish lists based on the trends of the...

A few days ago, writer Harry Turtledove (a novelist who specializes in the alternate history sub-genre of science fiction and is known for his Worldwar series, as well as his novel about Spanish-occupied Britain, Ruled Britannia ) posted this whimsical #70sChristmasList tweet on Twitter: #70sChristmasList Harvest gold refrigerator Avocado stove Betamax Quadraphonic sound system English Leather, or maybe Brut Cargo pants for the guys Hot pants for the women Platform shoes A leisure suit A case of Miller Lite Or of US-brewed (aka ruined) Löwenbräu Inspired by Mr. Turtledove, I've decided to share similar Christmastime wishlists across the decades, starting with the 1970s and ending with the 2010s. The wishlists are not real lists that I handed out to family and friends before the holidays. I mean, sure, Mom (and sometimes my older half-sister) would ask me to write a short list of things I wanted for either Christmas or my birthday, but more often than not my friends, who ...

#80sChristmasList The 1980s coincided with my high school and college years. They also coincided with the last decade of the Cold War, the advent of new technologies, and the emergence of Tom Clancy and the technothriller genre of popular fiction. The following is a sampling of various Christmastime lists from across the decade, although the default year is 1985, which was my freshman year at Miami-Dade Community College. I eventually ended up owning all of them; if I didn't receive them during the holidays, I'd get them later as birthday presents or, as in the case of my first personal computer, an out-of-the-blue gift from a relative. And, of course, once I got a few jobs, I'd buy things on my own. Personal computer (I was given one in 1987, an Apple IIe that cost approximately $2,100, or $4,774.56 in 2019) New-release VHS tapes of feature films (average cost in 1985: $79.99, or $190.85 in 2019) Novels by Stephen King Novels by Tom Clancy Music albums on...

© John Atkinson Wrong Hands Recently, Harry Turtledove - the author of such alternative history novels as Guns of the South and Ruled Britannia - posted his #70sChristmasList on Twitter: #70sChristmasList Harvest gold refrigerator Avocado stove Betamax Quadraphonic sound system English Leather, or maybe Brut Cargo pants for the guys Hot pants for the women Platform shoes A leisure suit A case of Miller Lite Or of US-brewed (aka ruined) Löwenbräu Inspired by Mr. Turtledove's whimsical wish list for the Christmas/Hannukah holiday season, I've decided to share my own wishlists as they would have appeared over the past 40 or so years . Note: The lists reflect my particular tastes and circumstances at the time, and include items that I ended up receiving for Christmas and/or birthdays, was surprised with on occasion or ended up purchasing myself. (In the case of the 1970s, which reflect the Christmas season of 1978, I earned an allowance of $5-per-week by doing chor...