I am starting a series where I do an in-depth analysis of unique lifestyle photos that I have come across. The first is one of my favorites from circa 1984…
Time for the “Pick Apart”:
1, My younger brother, Jon (laying on the couch) is probably 9 years old. He is sporting his Tony Dorsett Dallas Cowboys quasi-jersey, along with my mom’s classic bowl-cut that each of her three sons got every time they sat in her barber chair.
2. Youngest brother Mike is around 4 years old. Back in the 1980s, shorts were called shorts because they were short, as Mike clearly demonstrates here. We can almost see which superhero pair of underoos that he is wearing. He is also sporting the classic high-striped sports socks that ruled the 1970s and early 1980s. He is wearing a sweet pair of Jaclar tennis shoes. Growing up in Louisville, Ohio, those sneakers could only be found at Tournoux’s Value Mart sporting goods store. Mr. Tournoux always had great deals on obscure items.
3. Speaking of shoes, it appears that the Momma Aljancic did not enforce a ‘no shoes in the house’ rule. Jon could care less that his grubby old shoes are dirtying up the couch. Speaking of which…
4. Gotta love the matching red-plaid couch and ottoman set. As a Catholic school teacher, my dad wasn’t rolling in the big bucks, so that furniture set stuck around long enough to be out of style by at least two fashion eras. Speaking of out of style…
5. Did you notice the sweet green shag carpet? That was installed in when I was born in late 1970. Legend has it that my dad switched the carpet order to shag while my mom was in the hospital after giving birth to me. Good call on that move, dad. Shag carpet proved to be timeless! I can remember that mom would literally rake the carpet with a leaf rake to spruce it up from time to time.
6. Classic knit afghan throw blanket on the couch, compliments of grandma.
7. My parents went all out on the throw pillows! I think Mike is laying on a sack of grain! Jon, on the other hand, has his stinky shoes on our patriotic pillow. That pillow pattern really goes well with the whole decor theme going on here.
8. It looks like Jon is enjoying a bland snack of Cheerios. I guess that there were no rules about eating on the couch either.
9. Mike is displaying his family famous habit of sucking on his two middle fingers (I was a classic thumb sucker myself).
10. My older sister and I are not in this picture because we are likely out pulling weeds, mowing the lawn, or doing some other chores while the two Less brothers here–as in Worth Less and Use Less–lounge around watching TV.
11. And what are they watching? Forensic analysis failed to come up with a conclusive answer. But if my memory serves me correct, it is one of these three cartoons: G.I. Joe, Transformers, or He-Man.