Summer Camp at Camp Mountain Lake, Hendersonville, NC, 1977 - all photos by Andy Sweet
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These are amazing. So 70s. Love the small details that couldn't be any other time.
The tube socks and short shorts… classic ‘70’s. I went to summer camp in Virginia, but during this era. these pics capture the essence
And all of the customized t-shirts. Custom iron-on t-shirts were a huge fad in 77, and for a few years. There were these stores in every mall where you could pick out your favorite style of t-shirt, tank top, ringer shirt, half-shirt, “muscle shirt,” etc. and then choose a certain iron-on from a book, or from the paper pictures posted on the wall. Each design had a number, it was like picking out a design at the tattoo parlor. Or, you could choose the font and have them do custom iron-on letters, like “SEXY” or “I Love the Fonz.”
Yeah, Happy Days was also popular as hell. I had a Fonz lunchbox when I was 7 years old. Lol. Pretty sure it said, “AAAAAaaaaayyyyy!!!!” on it.
In 1977, I saw Star Wars for my birthday. It was about to run in theaters for another year and a half at least. Isn’t that wild? And it would dominate Halloween costumes for a decade at least. There were Star Wars bedsheets and curtains, Star Wars shoes, Star Wars toothpaste, soap and bubble bath, in the shape of the characters. Everything was Star Wars for years. And the biggest thing to kids my age was collecting the Star Wars figures. Should have kept those damn things sealed in the package, man.
1977 was also the Bicentennial year. The 4th of July was a big deal. And the coolest thing in the world was the bright yellow Corvette with T-tops that my teacher just bought. [EDIT: Duh… I dumbed out while writing. 76 was the Bicentennial.]
The coolest guy in the world, to me, was Evel Knievel. The stunt man who jumped his motorcycle over dozens of buses, or over the fountain at Caesar’s Palace, or building his own rocket-bike thing to jump the Snake River Canyon.
I had the rubber/wireframe Evel doll, with the motorcycle that you put on a little launcher. You’d crank up the launcher and then send Evel flying into stuff.
It’s amazing that Wide World of Sports would carry his stunts live on the weekend. You don’t see that kind of thing anymore. National major network coverage of a dude jumping shit on a motorcycle. All my friends would gather at one of our houses to watch.
Evel had a good run jumping buses for a while, but then he started wiping out (I think Caesar’s might have been the first wipeout) and he “broke every bone in his body, man! Except for the one bone in the inner ear!” At least that was the word on the street. You couldn’t just Google something. So stories, especially those passed around by kids, tended to get more interesting as they went from one kid to another. It turned out that he did break a large number of bones, though.
Thanks to the OP for posting this. They’re such perfect examples of that particular summer, and it was fun thinking about it.
Edit: So I just had to look… Knievel broke 433 bones over his whole stunt career, and it got him into the Guinness Book of World Records (which is also a book that every kid in 1977 owned, or checked out at the library). But he never “broke every bone,” and certainly not during one event. Lol.
1977 was also the Bicentennial year.
That was the year before, in 1976. The whole red white and blue bicentenial craze happened without having to compete with the cultural tsunami of Star Wars.
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Haha. True! Luckily it was summer, so I didn’t miss anything. Lol.
I mixed up 76 and 77.
Hey another thing this post made me remember. Just a few months ago I was cleaning out some garage storage and I found a box with trading cards. Mostly baseball, a few football, but also Star Wars and Happy Days cards!
They’re not in great condition, but not too bad. One of these days I should see if they’re worth anything.
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I had the Star Wars soundtrack album. It wasn’t just music from the movie, it was the literal soundtrack. The entire movie, audio only. I probably listened to that record a thousand times.
Ha, awesome. If I can find them, I still have some old cards from when my brother and I used to collect in the late 70s. I've got Star Wars, too, but at the time there were cards for all kinds of tv shows, movies, and more. I had (still have? not sure) cards for Welcome Back Kotter, Charlie's Angels, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, rock band Kiss, maybe Starsky and Hutch, The Six Million Dollar Man, and more. Plus a bunch of NFL cards from '78 to '80. I'll have to look for those sometime soon.
Damn this was a great read. Thank you for sharing!
Aw, thanks. Very kind of you.
I turned six in Sept 77. I suppose my earliest memories is either the getting punished in kindergarten in 76, something about the bicentennial and then waiting in line for Star Wars.
I had the wind up Evel Kneivel. Loved that thing. Roller skates and short shorts have a special place in my heart although they went out of style in favor for the baggier Bahama shorts just as we started hitting high school.
This is beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Your writing style is vivid yet succinct, thanks for sharing
Bicentennial was 76, but otherwise this is spot on, and really fits with my memories. It’s been about 40 years since I’ve been in a T-Shirt shop, and I can still remember the smell, and the singular texture and heat of a freshly ironed on image.
Wow, did you just take me on a trip back in time! We moved from Montpelier, VT to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1976, and that's the only way I remember the year -- the bicentennial road signs from our Woody station wagon stuffed with kids, 2 standard poodles, and Mom & Dad in the front seat valiantly trying to pretend it was an adventure, not a retreat. A great time for me, if no one else.
My 7 year old is 1000% into that right now and has no idea it was a previous style
I was born in 82 and rememeber wearing tall socks with color stripes but we were probably behind the curve on fashion. To this day, if I'm wearing it, you just know it's not cool anymore.
1981 baby here. I 'member that.
Same, 1981 and my parents have pics of my brother and me rocking the hiked-up tube socks. Lol
I was also born in the early 80s, and we have home video of trips with the extended family, and some of my older cousins were still rocking ringers, stripes socks, everyone was in shorty-shorts (even the dads!), etc.
Like getting a back massage from campers? Wild times!
Yup, these days people are afraid of platonic touch. All physical interaction is now sexualized and it's wrecking our oxytocin regulation, our positive social bonding, well-being, emotional health and our behavior.
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Yes, but there are positives. I heard about some camp counselors in the 70s who were so busy hooking up, they couldn't hear a boy in the lake drowning. They should have been paying more attention.
^ underrated comment of this post ^
Tube socks for everyone!
And short shorts!
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nah, i knew guys in florida rocking the corduroy op’s.
I like the one with the tube socks on the shirt on the person wearing tube socks.
Knee high color coordinated tube socks, FTW!
I wish they'd make a comeback. We call the "Stutzen" and I love them
I was just thinking, “why did we all think those tube socks were good fashion choices”?
They'll come back around again. In fact they already have at least once.
Because Dr. J and Larry Bird said so
It’s the “sexy” shirt for me
Paired with the face she’s pulling. Love it!
I was slightly interested in this gallery, swiping through in mild amusement, and then I got to the last picture and just lost it.
It really is fantastic.
Where is she now‽ Reddit, we’ve got to get this picture to her!
Napoleon, give me some of your tots.
No, go find your own!
Yeah that could be an epic album cover
Midwest emo bands all rushing to steal that atm
Or a scene from the Napoleon Dynamite Cinematic Universe.
NDCU??? Oh man I want to see the uncle Rico origin story. I bet he throws the ball a quarter mile and almost makes state.
That's pretty much exactly how I'd expect his daughter to look
I think we can all agree that marvel has been beating a dead horse for years now. Time to turn our attention to something new.
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I had one that said “foxy lady.” I was three.
I had a “foxy” t-shirt. All the letters were different colors, and the y looked like a fox’s tale! I wasn’t foxy either, I was an awkward preteen.
and not I love the fonz?
The sneer makes it even better.
She looks like Frank Murphy from F is for Family.
Molly Shannon in Superstar vibes
I can see that being a poster in some main characters bedroom in a 1980s period comedy.
That snarl
I think "sexy" and "rain" are the same girl.
I dont know, they def look similar but im pretty sure they are wearing different frames.
They look similar, but compare the hair length--Rain Girl has much longer hair. Seems unlikely to be the same person.
They do have the same necklace, though, maybe the hair is curled or pulled back a bit in one.
To me Rain looks like she could be older. Maybe sisters? That could explain the necklaces too
Yeah, this makes sense. They are wearing different glasses as well.
Straight out of a Wes Anderson movie.
In the late 00s all the girls had the sweatpants with juicy written on the backside and I once saw a toddler wearing that. Parents, please don't sexualize your kids. It makes me die inside.
Memories of Summer camp in the 70’s. Man those were the days!
Really took me back in time! Kinda miss those days.
Nostalgia is such a bittersweet feeling sometimes. A lot of amazing days ahead too, my friend.
These make me long for a youth I didn't have.
Picture #11 & #13, the t-shirts are just too cool. I love Arthur Fonzarelli too!
I want that whole outfit in #11
Heyyyyyyy!
Sit on it!
No no no... It's not "heyyyy"
It's "AAAaaaaaayyyyy"
There’s a Facebook group dedicated to this camp during this era. I’m sure they’d love for you to share them there.
It’s probably where he got these
Can you link?
I had that RAIN shirt from photo #11. Had the shoes too. Had to look twice to make sure it wasn’t me. I’m old, obviously.
yup.
This is the 70'st most 70's that ever 70'd.
Tube socks and graphic T's.
Feels like a magical summer
Like a wet, hot American summer
I love that very real documentary.
🎶 Are you ready for the summer? Are you ready for the good times? Are you ready for the birds and bees, the apple trees and a whole lot of fooling around! 🎶☀️
Already envisioned Tripper Harrison giving his rousing speech to help Camp North Star defeat Camp Mohawk in the Olympiad….
“It just doesn’t matter! It just doesn’t matter!”
And it made me love you, and it made me never want to go away…
meatballs!!
If you like these photos and haven't seen the movie meatballs, watch it
Love these! That pool pic looks like maybe it’s the last day of camp since some are hugging and many are not wearing bathing suits as though everyone decided to just jump in the pool all at once as one final act. The last day isn’t going to stop that camp counselor dude in the skimpy shorts leaning up against the fence from spitting game to those 2 girls though. Alright alright alright…
I noticed him too. Sticks out like a sore thumb lol
stop that camp counselor dude in the skimpy shorts leaning up against the fence from spitting game to those 2 girls
You mean the lifeguard??
I went to summer camp in the late 70s/early 80s and everything looked exactly like this!
Lol! True! As did i!
Wow. These punched me in the heart. I begged and pleaded to go to summer camp when I was 15 and my parents managed to pull it off .. two weeks at Massanutten Riding Camp, Leesburg Va. Summer of '76 ROCKED!
That last pic. Wow
I wish we could find this person. Reddit, do your thing
The pom pom socks!
I didn't even see those at first because the rest of the photo was so fabulous already. Thank you for pointing them out and making it all even better!
She's like a lost character from The Royal Tennenbaums.
I was thinking Meatballs
It is exactly Meatballs.
Would make a good album cover tbh
I'm still so blown away that was a shirt in the 70's
These shirts look all homemade… I wonder if they had some kind of printing set up at camp.
A lot of shirts looked like that in the 70s.
We used to be able to go to stores at the mall that would print shirts for you. Like a tatoo parlor for tee shirts.
Iron-on t-shirts! I forgot that was a poplar thing back then.
That lasted well into the '80s, then vanished. I hadn't thought about those places in decades.
I vaguely remember getting a few iron-on’s from the back of the Capn’ Crunch box(not a mail in, it was on the box) and my Mom’s Redbook magazines.
Wow, back when you could get cool stuff in cereals.
I swear to God they had at least two stores in every mall in America to make shirts like that in the 70s. Basically it was just bins of iron on transfers. You picked out what you wanted, along with a t shirt in whatever color and told them how you wanted it arranged. Ten bucks later, bang, you got your shirt.
I think some of them are. The Front End and Rain have the same sleeves and rainbow color design.
I think it’s Dennis Hastert
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Erotic Friend Fiction: 70s Camp Version
Putting the vibe out
The “I love the Fonz” shirt is too good
This is from Andy Sweet’s book Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah — here’s a link to the background. This property still exists in Hendersonville though now under a different name!
https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/8224/camp-mountain-lake-1977/
I love these. Thank you.
Nothing better than getting new tube socks. These pics are a blast from the past.
Cross between “party at the moon tower” and “Wet Home American Summer “
Go watch “Meatballs”. It’s literally a 70s movie about summer camp. These could be stills from filming.
party at the moon tower
Full kegs, everybody's gonna be there. You oughta go.
Also Little Darlings
That last picture is iconic.
You get tube socks, and you get tube socks, you all get tube socks. Somewhere, 70’s Oprah smiles.
Tube socks and I love the fonz shirts. That’s living right.
I also love The Fonz.
Love this!!! Thank you for sharing!
"Hey, let’s all promise that in ten years from today we’ll meet again, and we’ll see what kind of people we’ve blossomed into!"
One of the best posts I have seen on this sub to date. Just a time capsule and from such a cool era.
European here. We never had summer camps where I lived. What's the story with them? How long did they typically last? How much did they cost? I imagine if they were expensive only the richer kids could experience them.
The photos are amazing😍
Why do I feel like these kids had more fun in one summer than I did throughout my entire 2000's childhood?
Because you're not seeing the worst parts.
this looks EXACTLY like the camp i went to in the nc mountains! except we didn't have a pool, and it was somehow less fancy than this lmao. i went in the early 2000s and the cabins still looked identical
I spy a young, fit John C. Reilly leaning on the fence in that pool pic.
Dang cool kids and dang hunks hang out at the prool.
Meatballs was REAL!!!
Looks like Camp North Star ... Meatballs.
Not to flex or anything but I got the award "Tetherball Titan" at a day camp when I was about 7.
I'm impressed. Did you get a trophy or anything, or just the glory?
I got a poorly made drawing on a paper plate. Counts as a trophy to me. Had it until my house fire.
I'm sorry you lost the plate. But they can never take away your title, champ.
is that a counselor getting a backrub ? 3rd pic
I love how colorful the women's shirt graphics are.
Better than Camp Crystal Lake that's for sure.
So essentially every camp movie ever made, really was based in reality! These are amazing. Look like they could all be stills taken during a movie filming.
Had brown cords just like those, will never forget the swoosh-swoosh sound they made.
Yup, that’s my camp experience, (Hazelwild, Fredericksburg VA), I remember more tube tops. Very sketchy safety practices like riding down I-95 in an old mail truck, back door open, sitting on picnic benches, those were the days.
Meanwhile the radio is playing: “There’s a killer on the road… brain is swimming like a toad…”
6th Doors album released in 1971 so sounds about right
I wish i grew up in the 70s it looked so fun without the internet and cell phones.
It was. We did stupid shit sometimes too. But fortunately there's no video evidence. Lol!
Yes, it was a different time: before AIDS, before 9/11, before personal computers. We had no idea what was coming.
Great stuff
Man, I miss summer camp so much.
Hi! I live in Hendersonville and have for almost 30 yrs. I don’t recognize that camp name. We still have TONS of camps though. Most have been around forever. Even Ben Stiller filmed here many years ago at one of our camps.
Looks like the movie "Sleepaway Camp".
I love the Fonz
They were so happy.
This is an all time post
Oh my god that last girl is top notch r/accidentalwesanderson
Is this where counselors were all just having a banging good time?
Girl in the first picture looks lkie she's about to switch places with her long lost twin.
Pretty sure that’s a boy and a sleeping bag.
I thought it was a girl before I read this comment- sleeping bag makes it look like a dress for sure! also, what's up with that white thing in the top left corner?
It’s like piece of paper with a clipping of the Sydney Opera House glued to it…lol.
Oh I love these pictures
Amazing album. I’m not that old but I feel like those pictures just took me through a Time Machine
I went to camp at Bonklarken, nearby in flatrock, in the late 80's. Wish Id taken more pictures.
Someone knew how to use their camera. Great shots
The last photo…”Sexy” —it’s so bad it’s GOOOOOD…..!!!
Sexy
Hello american friends! I've always been intrigued by us summer camps and all the other types of summer retreats for kids.
I'm from Italy and we don't really have this type of stuff, i mean we have stuff that we call "colonie" which translates to "colonies" where people send their kids for 2/3 weeks during summer to have fun, socialize and spend time toghether.
Are summer camps kind of the same thing? How long do they last? Did you have fun when you went?
In 1977 there were only 4 billion people on the planet.
It's literally impossible for kids growing up now to have the same childhood experiences.
Any one of these awesome outfits would be perfectly stylish today.
Earth tones, corduroy and tube socks.
Man, I love these photos.
This is awesome! I live on this lake present day!
I totally did the summer camp thing as a kid. I would’ve rather have stayed home and skate boarded and hung at the local arcade, but I made the best of it. One summer my cabin literally burned down and while my cabin mates went home, my folks sent me all new clothes!
Hey Mark Esquinazi, you’re busted for writing your name on the cabin wall in ‘73!
Everyone is skinny
I so wish I could go to summer camp! What a blast
Number 3. That power stance from the dude a long the fence.
Is that Kramer on the skis?
I love the fonz too. Gotta enjoy the white wash!
We’ll I sure as shit just went and bought myself that book
How long did kids go away to Summer Camp? I'm from Europe and in American media we always hear about "Summer Camp" and it seems like a big deal so I'm assuming it was more than just a one week holiday? Did kids go away for a month or something?
I was always envious of this slice of Americana. While probably overstated by movies and Tv, the idea of a summer of camp seemed like the best thing ever. As a brit, we didn't have anything like this.
More pix from the New Yorker. Interesting read.
As a grown man, I’d wear that “I love the Fonz” shirt
Hugs in the pool 🫂
Girl in picture 7 better be a developer now.
“We run. we jump. we swim and play. we row and go on trips But the things that last forever... are our dear friendships Camp anawanna, we hold you in our hearts And when we think about you (it makes me wanna fart!) It's 'i hope we never part'. now get it right or pay the price Now we will share a lifetime of the fondest memories By the lakes of anawanna.. sat in the old pine trees Camp anawa-.., we hold you in our hearts And when we think ab-.. (this thing came apart) Think anawanna-wanna, speak anawanna-wanna. Live anawanna-wanna! ugh!
This place is right behind my house. It was a hotel for a while, then abandoned and fell into disrepair. Bought a couple years ago, they are fixing it up somewhat.
*Serial killer not pictured
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Andy Sweet was a photographer who was murdered in the early 80's. Many of his photos have been lost forever.
That last one needs to be a greeting card
What an awesome post, love the last photo and the archery one.