Remembering the '80's

-

In the '80's I was living in the San Francisco bay area and there used to be a nightclub on Columbus Street called Wolfgang's. It was a huge place with an upstairs and downstairs and they held concerts there. When no acts were booked, they catered to those under 21 years old by letting us in to dance with the older, cooler, over 21 crowd. (Besides the disco called the IBeam, this was one of the only places you could legally get into in the City if you weren't of age.) They'd stamp your hand so you couldn't get a real drink, but that was really okay because it was cheaper to drink at home.

At some point, Wolfgangs started an ad campaign where they'd bill their weekend DJ and video nights as "Dance Dance"; when you attended, instead of a hand stamp they gave you these nifty little buttons. In the beginning they just said, "Dance Dance #_" but later they got more creative and did different artwork and such.

Soon the Kabuki Theater, another place that opened its doors and provided a DJ and a dance floor, also started having "Dance Dance" nights and, subsequently, buttons.

Actually, I'm thinkin' now, I'm not sure which was first - Kabuki or Wolfgangs. Anybody know?

In honor of Crafting With Cat Hair's 1980's Craft A Long theme, I'm posting this Dance Dance memorabilia, with a couple of other classic '80's swag mixed in, for your viewing pleasure.

Damn, I'm showing my age!

Comments

Angela Catirina said…
Cool! I was in a tiny little, no nothing town in the 80 - and high school. No cool clubs in site. I do remember denim jackets being a wardrobe must have and everyone having collections of these little buttons peppered all over them. They were definitely a trend for the times!

One friend, in college, got a job at T.G.I. Fridays and it was part of his uniform requirement to have them for his work uniform. He called in recruits to help him decide which could be parted with for a work uniform and which would remained enshrined on his high school denim jacket. I remember all of the British band buttons stayed at home.

Great post! Brings back fun memories.
February 4, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Laurie said…
Oh how funny! I still have trouble resisting those tiny buttons when I see them, even though they're no longer "in" -- at least not like they were back in the day...
February 4, 2009 at 3:36 PM
Melissa said…
Love it! Thanks for playing along.

I used to have a jean jacket with tons of buttons. My favorite was my Wizard of Oz one, "Aunt Em, Hate you, Hate Kansas, Took the dog, Dorothy". I guess that really wasn't a very nice button after all :)
February 5, 2009 at 5:55 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baby Jesus Candy Cane Christmas Ornament How-To

-
Image
Here's a tutorial to make sweet baby Jesus ornaments: Materials: 3/4" round wooden balls blue felt like-sized small wooden stars flesh-colored acrylic paint yellow acrylic paint black permanent marker small button as star decor raffia natural excelsior "moss" silver thread or coordinating yarn candy cane You'll also need glue or a hot glue gun, paint brush and scissors Begin by painting the wooden balls with flesh-colored paint and the stars with yellow paint. When dry, draw two sleeping eyes on the ball. Meanwhile, cut small pieces of felt and make little rolls to represent the baby's body; tie with a tiny piece of raffia. Next, glue the wooden ball onto the top of the body roll of felt; if you wish, you can also cut a small wedge of felt to glue over like a little swaddled hood on the baby's head, but I think it looks cute without it as well. Glue the l
Read more

Flagler College in St. Augustine: the Tiffany connection

-
Image
We visited this wonderful building that began its life in 1888 as a lavish hotel built by Henry Flagler, one of the founders of Standard Oil, and now houses Flagler College . It is such a beautiful old building and in it we saw: these fabulous Tiffany chandeliers... on a spectacular painted and embossed ceiling in one of the hotel's drawing rooms.   I apologize for the quality of the indoor photos -- it was quite dark in the building. I had to laugh at these painted cherubs on the ceiling... and the way their ribbony robes encircle the chandelier mount! This large clock over the mantle is special because it's a Thomas Edison clock and because it is made from one piece of rare onyx.  We were told that Edison's "signature" on his clocks is the use of the incorrect Roman numeral "4". But the most spectacular feature of the building is that Louis Comfort Tiffany himself made the stained glass windows. Most of Tiffany's windows a
Read more

O Christmas tree, jeweled Christmas tree...

-
Image
Earlier in the season Rebecca and I went to a craft fair at a local high school, and there was one booth with the CUTEST little jeweled, framed Christmas trees! The gal was nice enough to let me photograph them.  Sorry it's kind of blurry, but it was dark in that high school gym! I know it's an older kind of craft (from the '60s and '70s) but she made them sweet -- not gaudy at all.  We were both SO inspired. So, last week we made it happen.  I brought a bunch of my old, broken vintage jewelry, some velvet, glue,  old frames, and we sat in her dining room and made a forest of little trees! It was so simple: first, we took a vintage frame and covered the backing with velvet.  We just glued it on. Then, we took our time arranging bits and pieces of jewels into a Christmas tree shape. When we were happy with the arrangement, we committed and glued the jewels down!  I love this avocado green velvet! And then we did it again.  We had so much fun playing
Read more