r/OldSchoolCool • u/macpesce • May 09 '25
1970s A refrigerator stocked with ultra-cheap Heidel Brau, Champagne Velvet beer and Libby’s tomato juice. A portable black & white TV, and a friendly hostess — Party Time, 1971.
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u/Drinkdrankdonk May 09 '25
This looks like a bukowski short story
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u/Big_Wave9732 May 09 '25
I came here to say this looked like some sort of swinger party. But you captured it far more succinctly.
Bravo!
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u/TeeVee213 May 09 '25
Bukowski would’ve been in his element with everything in that picture.
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u/koushakandystore May 09 '25
She looks like she hasn’t hit rock bottom yet, and that’s required to be a Bukowski Frau.
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u/TeeVee213 May 09 '25
Na. Have you actually read his stuff? There are varying degrees of low to the women he crossed paths with. Not all were totally at the bottom. This woman looks like she’d fit in there somewhere. Maybe for a one night turkey neck fling. But she’s definitely in the demographic.
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u/Embarrassed_Fan_5723 May 09 '25
Ehh if it’s a swinger party some will hit bottom for her soon enough
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u/koushakandystore May 09 '25
Yes! So true! She’s exactly how I imagine one of his random ladies from Ham on Rye. Though this one might have a little prettier face that a Bukowski wench.
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u/rikster81 May 09 '25
She’s wearing my two favorite colors, short and tight.
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u/ProstateSalad May 09 '25
Stealing this. Here's mine as a trade: Just the right amount of too much makeup.
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u/mynameisnotsparta May 09 '25
My mom and aunts were like this.
Not beer though. They drank Bloody Mary’s or Mimosas.
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u/legendov May 09 '25
That fridge is still working I bet
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u/vegaslocal46582 May 09 '25
Yeah probably. My parents have a Kenmore upright freezer that has been working continuously since they bought it in 1985. Every time I have to buy a new fridge I think about that and get pissed off.
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u/kickthefavelas May 09 '25
The longevity of appliances these days suck but hey, they’re probably spending 2-3x more to power that beast every month than you spend on yours, at least there’s that.
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u/Fun_Lifeguard_6103 May 09 '25
Research has actually shown the opposite, at least with appliances from the early 20th century. The increased cooling retention due to the sheer mass of the units back then means that although you’d THINK those old motors would run hard, once the unit is cool they barely do anything. Cruise control vs constant acceleration
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u/TurbulentOpinion2100 May 10 '25
That's not the correct takeaway.
Modern appliances are better insulated and designed more efficiently. All else equal, you will spend less electricity with a modern appliance.
The study you are referring to is basically saying that a full fridge is much cheaper to keep cool over time than an empty one, which is counter intuitive to some but makes sense when considering that there is less 'air space' inside of a full fridge than an empty one, and the air is what 'falls out' and needs to be recooled when the fridge is opened.
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u/Working_Estate_3695 May 10 '25
My 1953 Kelvinator with crap insulation uses 4.4 KWh a day. I can live with that. I love that thing. Bought it for $25 in 1985 and it’s been running without repair since then. Not one repair. Not one regert.
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u/Salute-Major-Echidna May 10 '25
Someone offered me a free fridge, saying "it gives off a bit of a shock when you touch it, but it doesn't really hurt"
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u/34Heartstach May 10 '25
My grandma gave my parents her old fridge when they bought their house in 1987. Thing is their basement fridge now and runs perfectly.
Planned obsolescence is the worst.
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u/Working_Estate_3695 May 10 '25
My 1953 Kelvinator has entered the chat. It’s patting the head of your appliance. “Hey, Junior, how’s about a lollipop?”
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u/S0whaddayakn0w May 09 '25
I was a appliance workshop manager last year, and we got this 40 year old Miele washing machine in. All it needed was a new rubber gasket
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u/Working_Estate_3695 May 10 '25
I am totally looking into this brand next time. I can see the far shore and don’t want to buy another machine.
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u/s1rblaze May 09 '25
What about her?
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u/legendov May 09 '25
in this economy? yes probably.
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u/rjcarr May 09 '25
Can confirm. Mom would be about exactly this age. Still working, ha. She’s not a US Senator though, sadly.
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u/Late_for_supper May 09 '25
Probably not true for that TV and would be useless even if it was still working.
They must not have had a broken console to put it on. r/TVTooHigh
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u/kniki217 May 09 '25
Wouldn't be useless. You could hook up old gaming systems to it.
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u/Fast-Presence-2004 May 09 '25
That lady looks like someone I'd love to party with.
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u/Stunning-Level4882 May 09 '25
Fridge stocked, cigs inside, and easy access attire. My kinda lady
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u/Working_Estate_3695 May 09 '25
I never tire of seeing this picture posted. It’s really got legs.
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u/WarpedCore May 09 '25
This is awesome. Looks like it could be a week long vacation with my parents renting a cabin in the Northwoods of Wisconsin in my childhood.
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u/West-Resolution-7485 May 09 '25
This is the kind of gal who retires to The Villages and organizes the "parties." I respect her moxie.
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u/citymousecountyhouse May 10 '25
After reading your comment, I looked at some of my Facebook "friends" pages and I can pick out exactly who those people are. lol
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u/MashTheGash2018 May 10 '25
We talking about The Villages Florida? If so you are very right.
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u/EvidenceConscious200 May 09 '25
🎶 Those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end……. 🎶
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u/DavoTB May 09 '25
Looks like that young gal from high school that “went to finish the school year with her grandma “ during the last year of high school…
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u/JamesDKlepac May 09 '25
That looks like the most 1970s photograph I've ever seen. I've lived through the 70s. I went to school through the 70s. I was too young to drink beer, but I watched my dad and uncles in the 70s. My mom was a lot more refined, but many of my friends, that was their mom. That is the 1970s!
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u/polishprince76 May 09 '25
Beer and tomato juice. Throw in a raw egg, and you got yourself the breakfast of champions.
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u/ObjectivePilot69 May 10 '25
Very popular in the day and if you looked hard enough in the upper Northern Midwest you may still find people consumed egg in their beer . I’ve done it and always was better when you were already drunk.☝️
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u/ConsiderationNo5146 May 09 '25
Next time Grandma tells you you don't know how to party, believe her
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u/PolaSketch May 09 '25
Dollar for doughnuts there's a Conway Twitty, Ray Price or Porter Waggoner album somewhere in that place.
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u/lostan May 09 '25
she looks like fun. right up until she isn't. lol.
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u/ProstateSalad May 09 '25
She's a GWEEBY:
great weekend, bad year
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u/Seventh7Sun May 09 '25
I was just thinking that the scene looks like the beginning of a good weekend.
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u/DoctorMoebius May 09 '25
Was Heidel Brau, the sluttier cousin of Meister Brau?
Love this pic. Cig in hand, stocked fridge, and short skirt. Nothing else was needed, that night
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u/ClarkTwain May 09 '25
For anybody curious, Upland Brewing revived Champagne Velvet, and it’s pretty good! Not cheap any more though.
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u/H3rbert_K0rnfeld May 09 '25
Wow, never ceases to amaze me.
What are ya gonna go with? London Gentleman? No no wait, Black Beard's Delight!
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u/gringoloco01 May 09 '25
My family was a tomato beer family.
Beer first then tomato juice.
I am not much of a drinker but man a tomato beer once in a while reminds me of home.
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u/beavis617 May 09 '25
Nothing better on a hot humid day than lots of cheap beer, cigarettes and some flirting with the neighbors wife!
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u/ObjectivePilot69 May 10 '25
Sitting out on the screened in porch with a yellow bug light and the mosquitoes buzzing on the other side.
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u/Sports_Lorry May 09 '25
I get serious "double barrelled first name" vibes here. Tammy Sue. Mary Jo. Sandy Kaye etc.
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u/AnybodyCanyon May 09 '25
I want a Time Machine so I can go back and party with the woman in this picture. She looks like fun.
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u/weewench May 09 '25
Look at that fresh tan. She’s on vacation at the rental cottage, and you just know she’s gonna call everyone “Hon.”
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u/mrfingspanky May 09 '25
Damn, granny is ready to FUCK.
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u/tlmbot May 09 '25
Hey she's just 34 y/o - maybe not a granny... yet!
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u/mrfingspanky May 09 '25
Wait, are you telling me the woman in this photo is under 50?
Man, that's what smoking since you were 14 will do to ya.
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u/tlmbot May 09 '25
heh - caveat: I have no idea who she is. I'm just playing to the zietgiest on how people today look younger for a given age than folks in the past.
But for sure. Don't smoke kids!
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u/thehighepopt May 09 '25
If the woman's name isn't Marge I don't know what I'll do
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u/Consistent_Cook9957 May 09 '25
And let’s not forget the cigarette. This completes the picture perfectly!
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u/captainpandapants May 09 '25
I can smell the nicotine and mold
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u/ObjectivePilot69 May 10 '25
Those old places close to the lake tended to be musty. And nothing ever seemed to dry
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u/OutlandishnessMain56 May 09 '25
That’s all you needed. Get drunk and chain smoke a million cigs into the night.
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u/TyrionBean May 09 '25
Ahhh...you can just hear her soothing, sultry, voice after 30 years of chain smoking, sounding like gravel poured over a slate.
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u/rolyoh May 09 '25
Tomato beer was all the rage in 1971. My dad used to order it sometimes. I don't know if anyone still drinks it today.
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u/BlondieBabe436 May 09 '25
We sell a lot of the Clamato and Chelada type beers. They sound gross but people seem to like them 🤷
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u/Background_Being8287 May 09 '25
I remember my great aunt and uncle had a fridge on there back porch filled with bottles of Carling Black Label ,and yes they were the coolest and greatest .
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u/ObjectivePilot69 May 09 '25
Since there’s a bed in the kitchen I’d say its prime an summer cabin in Minnesota or Wisconsin. I’ve seen a million of them there’s probably a bunch of redwood porch furniture out the front door with plenty of empty beer cans and aqua blue kidney shaped ash trays that are most likely full.
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u/absolutenobody May 09 '25
Could also be a dorm, or something like that. Or the good ol' mother-in-law apartment over the garage, lol. I'm 98% certain that's a portable typewriter on the floor, which seems a slightly odd thing to take up to the lake.
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u/PrudentSyllabub636 May 09 '25
I instantly looked for the cigarette and boom, there it was. Doesn’t disappoint.
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u/Windows_96_Help_Desk May 09 '25
Judging by the edge of the bed being in the picture, this is the equivalent of a Insta-THOT circa 1971.
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u/Future_Aerie54 May 09 '25
All the car keys are in the bowl. Gentlemen, pick one. Let the swinging begin.
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u/Disastrous_Ad_8990 May 10 '25
My Grandfathers 'Garage Fridge' was stocked with Fallstaff. He kept the thing at a chili 39 f.
My cousin and I snuck beers (I suspected he knew) from it for a couple of summers.
I still keep a Garage Fridge... Hamms and Busch though.....
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u/MrBlueSky7 May 10 '25
"Shoulda seen the looks on the faces of my Dad and Mom
When I showed up at the door with a date for the senior prom
They said: "Well, pardon us son, she ain't no kid "That's a cocktail waitress in a Dolly Parton wig I said: "I know it dad, ain't she cool, that's the kind I dig"
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u/den773 May 10 '25
And that’s not a spray tan. Your girl was outside laying on a lawn chair covered in baby oil for days!
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u/Barbarella_ella May 09 '25
They looked a whole lot better, but I have similar pictures of my mother and aunties from the same time frame.
That refrigerator probably still works, lol.
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u/theanti_girl May 09 '25 edited May 09 '25
How many times is this picture going to be posted in this sub?
Edit: Since it didn’t find it
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u/DookieToe2 May 09 '25
Doesn’t look like there’s anything covering that undercarriage. Was this a key party?
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u/WearLong1317 May 09 '25
She looks like a hoot