As a child, do you remember the Saturday mornings when you woke up early to watch cartoons instead of going to school? Saturday mornings were special for children in the 60s and 70s, and it’s a time that kids today won’t understand with their smart phones and streaming apps. Let’s remember the things that made Saturday mornings so great.
Table of Contents
- 1 1. Racing to Watch Saturday Morning Cartoons
- 2 2. The Cereal Box Experience
- 3 3. Pajama-Clad Freedom
- 4 4. The TV Guide Planning Session
- 5 5. Commercial Break Adventures
- 6 6. The Breakfast Buffet
- 7 7. The Pillow Fort Command Center
- 8 8. The Sibling Negotiation
- 9 9. The Static Station Sign-Off
- 10 10. The Anticipation of Next Week
- 11 11. The Phone Silence Rule
- 12 12. The Vitamin Contest
- 13 13. The Comic Book Commercial Rush
- 14 14. The Weather Watch
- 15 15. The Schoolhouse Rock Education
- 16 16. The Saturday Morning Soundtrack
1. Racing to Watch Saturday Morning Cartoons
Before you could record TV shows and watch shows whenever you wanted, kids were only able to watch cartoons once a week. Every Saturday morning, kids would wake up before the sun, grab their cereal, and sit in front of their TV for the entire morning. They would watch shows like Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, and Scooby-Doo, and if you missed an episode, you would have to wait an entire week to watch it again.
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2. The Cereal Box Experience
Every new box of cereal was an experience. Kids would reach inside the box to get a prize that could be a toy or a color-changing spoon. The cereal box was also a source of entertainment. Kids would spend their breakfast solving puzzles, reading comics, and cutting out offers from the box while their cereal got soggy.
3. Pajama-Clad Freedom
On Saturday mornings, it was acceptable to stay in your pajamas. Parents understood the rule and relaxed their expectations for getting changed. We all wore the same pajamas to keep warm and comfy as we lounged on shag carpets and vinyl-covered sofas.
4. The TV Guide Planning Session
We would spend our Friday nights figuring out which shows we wanted to watch in the Saturday morning TV guide. Seeing as we only had three or four channels, we would plan out our morning to catch all the shows we wanted. If we missed an episode, we had to wait an entire week (or longer) to watch it again.
5. Commercial Break Adventures
Timed perfectly for quick trips to the bathroom, cereal bowl refills, Grab another blanket, and adventure returns. We learned to estimate how long we had before our show came back and missing even a second of a show was tragedy.
6. The Breakfast Buffet
Not being allowed to watch TV until you made your own breakfast was the true rite of passage. Pouring your own milk and spilling sugar on the counters as you created unique cereal combo creations was a way to show how much you didn’t care about nutrition. Captain Crunch, Frosted Flakes, and Pop-Tarts became the breakfast of champions.
7. The Pillow Fort Command Center
Making a good sofa fort created a lot of emotion. We built forts from all the blankets and couch cushions and pillows in the house. These simple structures become our command centers for cartoon viewing as we watched for hours and hours.
8. The Sibling Negotiation
Wars were fought on our living room floor as we negotiated for supremacy in TV show watching. One TV with 7 little kids watching. Our complex systems of trading tv time were as good as any international treaty.
9. The Static Station Sign-Off
Good things came to an end when the cartoons stopped playing around noon. They were often followed by sports or news. The dreaded transition marked the end of our morning paradise. We were forced to get dressed and find new entertainment for the rest of the weekend.
10. The Anticipation of Next Week
When Saturday afternoons arrived, we would already be thinking about the upcoming Saturday morning cartoons. We would get excited over the predictions each preview gave us, and we looked forward to the next week’s shows. The excitement was half the enjoyment.
11. The Phone Silence Rule
An unspoken rule for Saturday mornings was that no one would call the house until after the cartoons were done. Everyone in the neighborhood shared the same ritual, which meant the wall-mounted rotary phone stayed quiet. People, even adults, would save their phone calls for the later afternoon as a way to be courteous.
12. The Vitamin Contest
Competing for the best Flintstones vitamin was part of the morning routine. Everyone traded their vitamins and fights would break out over the rare Great Gazoo. We turned the vitamins into a trading hobby and for us kids, it was collecting.
13. The Comic Book Commercial Rush
We would put our comic books down as the last commercial ended and we tried to remember all of the stories until the shows returned. The comics were beside the TV to allow for easy access and the commercials always seemed to be just the right length to squeeze in one or two action pages.
14. The Weather Watch
When bad weather came, it would bring us the worst enemy ever: static. Someone would have to manually adjust the antenna while we watched the sky for any clouds that would interfere with the signal, like we were amateur weather people. We thought holding odd positions at the TV would help improve the signal.
15. The Schoolhouse Rock Education
Between shows, we learned all about grammar and government with the help of Schoolhouse Rock. Little did we know that we were learning while singing “Conjunction Junction” and “I’m Just a Bill.” Because of the catchy tunes associated with these lessons, many people even recall the lessons years later.
16. The Saturday Morning Soundtrack
The theme songs were a huge part of the experience and we knew every single word. From the over the top “Spider-Man” intro to the fun “Josie and the Pussycats” theme, these songs became the soundtrack to our early years. We would sing it at the top of our lungs for our parent to enjoy and then become annoyed by it.
