November 30, 2006

Hanging in there... for -- what is it? -- 30 years?

I believe I have discovered the last surviving "Hang in There, Baby!" poster.

Hang in There, Baby!

Do you remember these things? They used to be all over the place in the 1970s. This one, you can tell by the faded colors, has been hanging in there all these years. I sort of remember what this poster meant when it was so popular, but it has by now acquired many layers of meaning. I can't tell whether it's richly ironic or sadly pathetic or whether it got back to being sweet again or whether it's gone on to being annoying the way it was in the 70s. Is it still up for no other reason than that it hasn't been taken down? It is behind a file cabinet (on what has long been an unused door between two offices). Or is the professor in the office trying to tell us something? And, if he is, what are the chances that it's "Hang in There, Baby!"?

Googling around, I found this old Ask Metafilter thread asking where to get the old poster, and that notes that "RetroCrush celebrates it." Do click on the RetroCrush link. You'll enjoy it. For one reason or another. I'm pretty sure.

(But it makes me think that the poster I've photographed here is an imposter. A second-rate follow on kitty cat, something like Jane Mansfield to Marilyn Monroe!)

19 comments:

reader_iam said...

It's got some company. At my in-laws house, they still have posters hanging up in one of the bedrooms from the time when they're kids were, well, kids. This poster is on the ceiling, over the bed (along with a number of posters of the same era). Over the years, each of the grandchildren in turn has lain in that bed, "reading the ceiling."

Originally, I'm sure it was left up for no other reason than it hadn't been taken down. Now, I think it's 'cause of the grandchildren (five reading, two to go).

reader_iam said...

"their" kids ...

Mark Daniels said...

I remember when Richard Nixon was going through his troubles, Ohio Congressman Sam Devine and a few other Republican representatives presented him with one of these posters. They felt that Nixon was being unfairly maligned and that he needed to keep on in spite of the mounting evidence of criminality in his administration and the shrinking support he enjoyed in Congress and the country. Nixon, of course, didn't "hang in there," resigning the presidency in disgrace, effective August 9, 1974.

Mark

knox said...

I love all those "cute" old animal posters. As a child, I had one of a mother koala with like 5 babies that said I need a vacation!"

X said...

Among those many layers of meaning is the fact that, determined or not, that kitty is long dead.

Rick Lee said...

Just yesterday I commented on the blog of some young person who printed the "Desiderata" poem in a post. This person was unaware of the history and the millions of black-light posters it spawned. Re-reading the poem, I remembered why we liked it so much back then. It may not be deep but the message is still pretty good.

tiggeril said...

Could someone explain the physics behind Carmen Electra's bikini top in that Retro Crush link? I've been wearing bras for a long time myself, but I'm still baffled.

Anonymous said...

In our house in Tulsa when I was in 3rd & 4th grade (mid-70s), the previous owners had painted the "keep on truckin'" guy as a mural across one of the walls in the den.

AmPowerBlog said...

I wonder if the "hang in there" kitty poster was as "all over the place" as the Farrah Fawcett swimsuit poster of the "Charlie's Angels" era. Now that was a popular poster, at least among adolescent boys and untold countless others who couldn't resist Farrah's pearly whites!

Burkean Reflections

Anthony said...

It makes me kind of sad knowing the little buggah is dead and gone. I hope he had a nice little cat life.

Steven said...

Townleybomb, credit your quotes! Marge deserves better than plagiarism!

Anonymous said...

I love it! My hang in there baby poster on the ceiling of my 1970s bedroom had a kitty hanging from the knotted end of a piece of rope.

Anonymous said...

omg, those breasts at that link...those are huge, heaving breasts that invite prolonged, lingering stares...

Revenant said...

Could someone explain the physics behind Carmen Electra's bikini top in that Retro Crush link?

I think that's a necklace of some kind rather than a bikini top. Either that or its glued to her boobs; models and actresses do that sometimes.

Unknown said...

Now if you can just find the last remaining Keep On Truckin poster ...

Bissage said...

Drew W: It was a slogan popular among recovering alcoholics. Others included "One Day at a Time", "Live and Let Live" and "Another Friend of Bill's", if I remember correctly.

Now that that’s all settled, what was up with those 1980s rainbow window decals?

mikeski said...

Was it just the "Hang in there, baby!" version or did it include the "Friday's coming!" variant?

knox said...

Was it just the "Hang in there, baby!" version or did it include the "Friday's coming!" variant?

Not to be confused with the one with the sad puppy dog captioned: "Monday Again?"

The only remedy to this saccharine is :
http://despair.com/

...or Jack Handey!

GrowlGrrl said...

OK, this may date me, but I've already come to terms with being an old bat: I had a roommate who owned this onerous poster in college in the 70s and dared to hang it in our room. She wore a button-down cardigan, a hairband and sensible shoes. I wore combat boots, fishnets & 1940's silk faille jackets. I hated her and that freaking poster even more.