After working in elementary school this long, having an elementary school student (feels like yesterday) and being an elementary school student (so long ago), I've seen a lot of fads come and go. Kids, like adults, covet stuff.
When I was in fifth grade, we were nuts for stickers.
This was before they were easily found in every store.
When Mac was in fifth grade, his peers were on the hunt for Beanie Babies. Remember that madness?
My first year teaching, many kids were totally into The Spice Girls dolls and Titanic--which had just come out on video (DVD's were still somewhat new then), but was not appropriate for them.
This spring, the fad of the moment is:
glitter filled balls.
Every girl seems to have one or wants one (the boys couldn't care less.)
So...
This week's question of the week, what was the hot fad or what thing were you clamoring for in fifth grade?
Hard to recall?
I always tell my kids what a fad is, and then I add an e to the end of the word because a fad will fade.
15 Shared Thoughts:
I had fads in my head in 5th grade. Not that my mom was awful or anything, but she wasn't one to go out and get me the latest rage because then she would have to do it for all of the other kids and it would never end. So. One fad that I made up with a couple of other girls in Mr. Stewart's 5th grade class (any relation to you, Ellen?)was fake fingernails. Yes, I was doing Lee Press-Ons before I knew what they were. Drop dabs of glue on a ruler and let them dry somewhat. Take the damp glue globs and press them on your fingernails and -- ta da -- instant Hooker nails. A gaggle of girls would be wearing these long things and they'd be lost in a sandwich by lunchtime. When I had 50 cents in my pocket, which was often, the big deal, aside from Tiger Beat Magazine with Donny Osmond centerfolds, was going to White Hen Pantry and buying a Whacky Pack that had trading cards or stickers in them that were a parody of a product that was already on the market. For instance, there was "Poopsie" which had a picture of a Pepsi bottle and a big, floppy nipple on the end. There were some others but because of my age, I can't remember them.
I LOVE living in the past -- it helps to deal with the present. This was a good Question of the Week, Ms. Stewart!
Troll dolls were one fad. I had one that I still have. We made all sorts of accessories for them out of fabric and farmer matchboxes and were constantly brushing and styling their hair. I loved my troll and still like trolls a lot. When they sort of came back in while we were still in Batavia many years ago, I got little troll earrings that are themed for Easter and Thanksgiving. Many people have told me I'm nuts to like something so ugly - but there you have it.
Ripping off the fruit loop from the back of a boy's shirt was something you did if you liked each other. My fifth grade boyfriend gave me the fruit loop off his shirt because we were in different sections of 5th grade, so I didn't have much of an opportunity to see him.
I'm thinking it was fifth grade when the Beatles made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and we began riding our bikes into town to get the flat piece of bubble gum with a card (like baseball cards) photo of one of the Beatles in with it. There were a variety of different shots, and you never knew which one you'd get - oh, the excitement and tension over wondering what we'd get and when we'd have some money to go for another one. I thought Paul was dreamy and my girlfriend went for Ringo. Maybe it was sixth grade, I'm not totally sure.
What's a fruit loop, Mara?
Chukabeads...that was me in 5th grade, wearing my Chukabeads. Wow, now there's one of those "Oh my God, I can't believe I actually wore that" moment. But, David Cassidy had them, so I guess I figured it was cool...
David Cassidy? Oh boy.
I liked Bobby Sherman better.
I don't even remember Chukabeads...
Oy, I'm old!
And I completely forgot to mention...the girls both have these glitter balls. I have to tell you, I don't understand this fascination. It's a ball. They have a gazillion of them.
And over time, I swear these things feels like the skin is wearing thin, and eventually, I expect all the glitter to be outside of the balls.
That won't be any fun.
I tell my girls to not bounce them inside. I'm wondering, because I hold them when it's their turn to play four-square if they think I want one. I can get them swirling so well...
:)
But I don't need to have one for myself.
Shannon, we did glue nails too (one of the reason my students' glue is packed away from their everyday reach!), and like all my beauty efforts, mine never turned out well at all!
I certainly don't see everything going on in my room, and my 5th grade teacher did have 34 of us, but tell me she never noticed us diving into our desks with a glue bottle???
when I was in 5th grade, Sweet Tarts came out! I remember exactly where I was on the playground when I had my first one. I couldn't wait for school to let out that day to go to the penny candy store (by horseback of course, no cars back then) and get my first pack. I was so popular that day. BTW, they hardened the sweet tarts since then. When they first came out, they crumbled in your mouth. Delightful!
I'm with you, Mary, on the original, crumbly Sweet Tarts! They were considerably more enjoyable than the miniature hockey pucks that Sweet Tarts have become.
Fruit loops are that little piece of fabric on the back of a boy's shirt that forms a half circle where the pleated part meets the other top panel on the back of the shirt. Does that make sense?
How they became known as a fruit loop, I'll never know. I'm trying to think if the cereal by that same name was even invented at that point. Certainly we wouldn't have been eating them at my house : )
You were correct that The Spice Girls and Titanic were HUGE in 5th grade... But I also recall there being a huge yoyo craze. Everyone had a Duncan yoyo and if you were anybody, you could do at least one or two semi-cool tricks.... I also remember beanie babies being pretty huge. It'sfunny because I remember 5th and 6th grade being the big "fad" years, where something ridiculous would become popular and everyone HAD to haev it. Something about peer pressure I suppose, but as time went on, it became cooler to be "original" (often to the point of being un-original... what a paradox). So interesting to observe the social behaviors of youngsters :)
glitter balls, really? we have a few of those here !!
i can't remember any fad persay... i just remember lots of stickers and posters of wham, duran duran, or kirk cameron. ;)
I had a charm necklace with oodles of plastic charms on them. I used to get them from Funway and for stocking gifts at Christmas. I seem to remember Garbage Pail kids trading cards around that time, but those may have been sooner. We competed to see who could get the newest Babysitter's Club book first and also loved reading Scary Stories to tell in the Dark at slumber parties.
Megan
Agnes, stickers were much easier to come by by the time you were ten. They were hot, all the girls around here collected them.
Kirk Cameron is still cute.
I took my sis to see Duran Duran in concert and they were incredible!
How many of those are in your desk drawer now?
Laura--
None, my girls are rules followers. They only bring them out to play with at recess!
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