Summer of Photos from the 1970s: Polyester Turtle with a Bicentennial Belly

It may be possible that I had the most 1970's stuffed animal that ever was. Or at least it could have been a contender. He was a turtle that my grandmother made on her sewing machine from random material scraps while I worked on my summer tan running around the backyard blowing bubbles. While this photo is black and white, it's important to know he was made from polyester - mint green polyester. While avocado green got a lot of attention in the 70's, I think we need to take a moment with 1970's mint green. This was the color of the occasional men's leisure suit, and it was the color of some 1970's women's platform shoes - ones you would see in the back of someone's closet and know that no one had ever actually worn them. 1970s mint green may not have been as popular as some of the other well-known 70's colors but let me tell you that it is a color that deserves to be celebrated. It was the color of jello molds found in the cabinets of middle class homes across the U.S. for a couple of decades. It was the color of Tupperware, it was the color of that strangely delicious side dish that you'd see at 1970's potlucks: Watergate Salad.

Now you may be thinking that a stuffed turtle made from polyester is very 1970s, but wait, it gets better. He had a Bicentennial Belly. My grandmother used scraps from her 1976 curtains to make his belly.  These curtains brought up all kinds of intense and far reaching nostalgic history feels for those alive in '76, even though no one alive in 1976 had been alive in 1776. 

If you are thinking this turtle could not possibly be more 1970s, know that he lived for a time on shag carpet in a corner of my room. As a tot, I liked my stuffed turtle, and I also thought he was a little strange, but really wasn't that how most things were in the 70s?

This turtle had a black felt trim around his edges and black felt eyelashes, and dang it, those hilarious eyelashes are obscured by my hand in the photo. While I appreciate the black and white photo shoot my dad did of me in my room as a 1970's tot, I only wish this turtle could have gotten his own photo shoot - instead he will only be remembered by history as a stuffed animal merely in the background while the photo subject got more attention.

(c) 2024 All rights reserved by Chloe Craik Koffas

photo by Gary Craik

turtle by Eva Lee Craik