QotD: 1970's ephemera

I saw an old wallet for $45, complete with original cellophane card holders. I remembered those — my very first kiddie wallet had cellophane holders, and they cracked and splintered after little use. They were replaced by thick plastic inserts that added an inch to the wallet's thickness — and now that I think of it, that wallet had a thick scuffed friction-generating finish that supposedly made it pick-pocket proof. Dippers couldn't filch your roll; the sides of the wallet put up a fight on your behalf. Of course, that meant you couldn't get it out unless you dug your entire hand into your back pocket and hauled it out, which made you look as if you had a full-cheek butt-itch. All that and crepe-soled platform shoes and rayon bellbottoms in a brown-and-white houndstooth pattern. It's a miracle anyone had sex in the 70s.

James Lileks, Bleat, 2006-09-25