Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62820 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-13
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Synopsis
Do you remember when the Hacky Sack was all the rage? When it was absolutely de rigueur to have a Teasmaid in the bedroom? When, all of a sudden, we were eating Space Dust? And wearing Deely Boppers? Or saving up for a perm? The Bumper Book of Fads & Crazes takes you right back to the forgotten toys and gadgets we longed for and the trends we slavishly followed. What was it about them that captured our imaginations for the briefest, but most intense, of times? As we recall the taste of Sodastream cola and remember fondly our pet rocks, Richard Lewis, in joyful and comedic prose, gives us the stories behind the world's most popular fads and crazes - and our obsession with them.

Customer Reviews

All the toys & fashions you can remember and some you'd forgotten
This is the best book on seventies and eighties toys & crazes I have read. Practically everything you would want to read about is in here. I enjoyed reading about Space Dust, Evel Knieval, Marbles, Scalextric, Tupperware and Snake Belts - among other things. Although the book lends itself well to looking up particular entries, the whole book is very readable. The text is humourous but also informative - better than a lot of similar books. It would have been nice to have had some photos too, but you can get these in other books like TV Cream Toys. The only strange entries were those on 'milk' and 'yoghurt', which don't really belong here - but seem to have been included as a result of the author's phobia relating to milk based products!

A trip down memory lane ...ooh! Space dust!
This is a book where you find yourself looking up something out of nostalgic love (for me it was my ZX Spectrum) and end up remembering all sorts of other things. Before you know it you're flicking through the book like Johnny 5 from Short Circuit with a grin on your face as you relive those key moments, toys, sweets, and fashions from your childhood! You'll be showing the book to friends and family whilst asking "do you remember these...?!".

This is a feel-good book and Richard Lewis has explored each entry with humour and obvious nostalgia himself. Interestingly, the book also contains "Fad Facts" which are small info boxes in the book and these contain genuinely interesting facts. These often counter-balance the light-hearted nature of the main articles by exposing the commercial or corporate side of child focused marketing, for example; "In 2002, 95 per cent of children's television advertising was for fatty, salty or sugary foods".

In a nutshell: A fun book which will resurrect fond memories, leave you with a smile, and provide some good facts to impress down at the pub.

a dictionary of my wasted childhood
Reading this book was like stepping back in time. While it was great fun being reminded of things like 'Shrinky Dinks' and 'Space Dust', it was also scarily familiar - I think I participated in nearly every one of these 'fads' (though not the 'perm', thankfully).
I really like the way it's written from an insider's point of view. It's also very funny - made me laugh out loud a few times. And i loved the hornby-style page titles, too.