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Okay, I've been trying to figure out the name/brand of a tennis shoe that EVERYONE wore when I was in elementary school. Here's a picture of a similar shoe, although I think I wore a knock-off of this one. It's a Converse canvas track trainer tennis shoe and they were everywhere in the early-to-mid 70s. I'm pretty sure we got the shoe at either Sears or Anthony's, but I can't find a pic of anything from those stores to back-up my memories.
Speaking of Sears, I had this shoe, too; the WINNER. The folks at Converse made this for the kids of Sears customers who wouldn't buy their children the real deal, the Chuck Taylor Converse! The patriotic colors coincided with the nation's bicentennial and I wore these shoes until they were completely red; stained by the Oklahoma red clay. Didn't Sears also have the JEEPERS brand?
5 comments:
I had those same black shoes. I believe they also came in white w/ red & blue stripes also. I was thinking you could buy them at TG&Y.
Do you remember what they were called? Several listeners thought they were Fastbacks? I can't find anything about them online and it's driving me crazy.
Stacy, I think they were called fastbacks, too. I wore them in the early and mid-70s. I lived in NE Oklahoma and got them at Gibsons. The shoes I had were not exactly like the photo, but close and definitely a knock-off of something else. My folks never had the money for namebrand stuff. The ones I wore were black with four white stripes on each side. They were kinda like the track shoes without the spikes. Love 'em.
My mom bought Dickie's pants from Gibsons. I hated those things because the other kids wore better clothes and gave me crap for wearing low rent stuff. Now, kids are paying big $$ for Dickie's clothing. Go figger.
And don't be dissing leisure suits. I had a peach colored one in high school. Thought I looked pretty cool then. Now that senior photo is a gagger. LOL
From e-mail (stacy.barton@citcomm.com):
Stacy,
My husband STILL has a pair of FastBack tennis shoes!! He will not get rid of anything. These don't look like the ones you're looking for, but when that lady called in about them it reminded of Jack's shoe's. He doesn't wear them or anything, he uses them when he goes tube fishin'( can we say redneck!)
Also, he has some original GAPcirca 1977 corderoy(the real skinnny thin kind of corderoy) jeans still, of course they don't fit him but they look great on me(lol) they really do make you rear look good.
We always wore ATB jeans. The first pair of Nike's I can remember getting, I had to save up my own money in 1981, 8th or 9th grade. I was soooo proud of them because all the do-goody rich chicks all had them.
Anyway, just wanted to share, it is so funny hearing about Otasco, Ben Franklin and TG&Y. It has been years
Diana Smith
Stacy – I can’t begin to remember how many pairs of those shoes I had when I was a kid!
Mine were a bit different than the picture on your blog (probably because mine always came from TG&Y - $4 a pair if I remember right). They were black with the 3 white stripes too, but the sides of the white stripes weren’t smooth lines, they were zig-zag. And the tread on the thin soles were zig-zag also – because I’d sit in class with an ink pen and fill in the hollows of the tread in ink.
If you do ever find out what brand they were could ‘ya let me know?
And I loved OTASCO (Oklahoma Tire and Supply Company). Tires, automotive supplies, camping gear, tools, lawnmowers, bikes and toys. My dad bought my tricycle and first bicycle there. He took me there later and with my allowance I bought a white wicker-look basket with an obnoxious purple plastic flower on the front to attach to the handle bars.
And (drumroll) Kiddie City! Do you remember that toy store? There was one at NW 16 th and Meridian. I lived to go there.
Cool Oklahoma memories – thanks!
Becca
Stacy, I remember the blue tennis shoes with the white stripes from the 70's. We all called them "Starsky's" cause that's what he wore on the show Starsky and Hutch.My 1st son was born in 1976 and we bought him a baby pair of Starsky's. I still have them in my cedar chest! Love your show!
Susan
FastBacks is what came to my mind, too. That's what I had because we couldn't afford Nikes or Keds. In Enid, we got them at Anthony's. I did finally get a pair of Nikes when TG&Y had some for $15, LOL.
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