JI Hannah – great job you are doing! I was in junior high, as we called it, which was 7th, 8th and 9th grades in the mid 70s. A lot of people associate a specific sort of hippie vibe with that period, which was certainly true for some, but honestly, I have one word for you – polyester. Polyester flare pants, polyester shirts (frequently made of a revolutionary fabric called “Qiana”), sweater vests, earth shoes (a lot of emphasis on weird soles that were supposed to be more comfortable for walking) and wacky platform shoes (I had red oxfords with chunky white soles – go figure).
There was also an interest in the 50s during that period revived by the movie American Graffiti, the Broadway show Grease, the TV show Happy Days, and the band Sha Na Na, which also had a TV show – so you saw some of those type of clothes too – and even the 1940s/wartime interest due to groups like the Pointer Sisters, Bette Midler, and a rediscovery of the Andrews Sisters.
So what I’m trying to say is that the period wasn’t just about the back to earth hippie stuff – there was a lot of retro going on, too, even for young teenagers.
Candace Kintzer Perry
Curator of Collections
Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center
105 Seminary Street
Pennsburg, PA 18073
(215)679-3103
www.schwenkfelder.com
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of The avant garde tweener
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2015 3:03 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Looking for middle school/jr. high artifacts
Hey everyone,
I am 14 years old, and no museum professional, but I was hoping to get some professional help on my online museum.
My museum's focus is on middle school. I have been fortunate enough to have gotten a sizable amount of artifacts from friends/family/my school, however, it is still not very much, and I'd like to grow it further. I patrol Etsy and eBay for middle school related relics and I frequent antique stores, but there just doesn't seem to be much there. I was wondering if any of you had suggestions of where to look? I'd prefer to get artifacts from the 60s or before, since I already have a lot from nowadays, but I'm open to anything!
Alternatively, if you have anything left from when you were in middle school that you can scan and send to me to put in the museum, that would be great! I have been looking for more physical things, since most of what is up on the site was loaned to me to scan in, but I definitely won't turn away any artifacts sent to me.
Thank you,
Hannah
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