Fess up!!-Who among us....ever wore "Toughskins" from Sears

[underpants]

The absolutely indescructable jeans that NEVER "broke in". Come on you know you did.... you might have a had a very frugal mom who ironed on the knee protection (to make them last longer not to protect your knees).

Come on admit it.

http://www.searsarchives.com/brands/toughskins.htm


Sears touted the new line of Toughskins children's pants as "The toughest of Sears tough jeans...lab tests prove it!" Toughskins debuted as a new blend of materials, including Dacron Type 59 polyester, DuPont 420 nylon, and cotton.

To demonstrate just how tough the new jeans were, Sears launched a famous "Tough Jeans Territory" ad campaign in 1974, in which Sears constructed a trampoline out of the Toughskin material.

[tk2kewl]

1. made from the same stuff as all-season radial tires

[BigMcLargehuge]

2. those were the pants of my childhood

the damn it they never broke in. It was like wearing stovepipes. They came in dozens of festive colors too.

I liked the rust colored ones I had, and the froggy green.

[underpants]

13. Oooh look Billy has ORANGE ones

Billy is so cool

[GumboYaYa]

3. Raising hand high.......

That was my brand, but they weren't so tough. As you noted, invariably the knees wore out and had to be patched. I had Toughskins with patches on the patches (we were real poor).

[FlashHarry]

4. Orange and brown plaid Toughskins, as I recall.

Yep. I loved 'em. I guess Levi's Sta Prest or Lee Leans were too expensive...

[progmom]

5. my husband owes the bald patches on his shins to toughskins

his dad worked for sears, so those were the jeans the family wore. :scared:

[underpants]

10. My step dad did too

My mother missed out on the employee discount by about 5 years.

[Blue Diadem]

20. LOL, I bought them for my kids cause I got the discount too and

they hated them. My oldest recently reminded me how uncomfortable they were.

[Shell Beau]

6. I have never even heard of those and I am so

thankful that I haven't!! :-)

[ScreamingMeemie]

7. Me, I loved my Garanimals!

THey matched! And I hear they are back! :hi:

[candy]

8. Every one of my 5 kids wore Toughskins----The entire neighborhood did

I had forgotten about them---Thanks for the memory!

[underpants]

18. Did you buy them extra long and roll up the pants legs?

and then roll them down as your kids grew? My mom did. Funny, we never grew "out" the clothes of the 70's wouldn't let you.

[candy]

28. Of course I did---and I even repaired the knees with those-----

ghastly press on thingies that made them stiff.

Most of us were on budgets so the entire neighborhood was "cool' in their Toughskins.

And the hand-me-downs,don't ask!

[AngryAmish]

9. My mom put patches inside and outside the knees

Still managed to bust a few pairs open.

[underpants]

15. Man did that ever wear on YOUR knees

My mom did that too. Often pre-emptively-like the day she bought them.

[AngryAmish]

21. Same here

[trotsky]

11. *raises hand*

Couldn't afford to get anything else.

[Hugin]

12. Here!

They weren't so tough... I promptly destroyed
mine playing "British Bulldog" AKA "Red Rover, Red Rover".

Somebody tore the back pocket clean off of 'em.

[davidinalameda]

14. of course I did

who of our generation didn't

[underpants]

16. East German Lightbulbs

I think Sears fell prey to the East German Lightbulb syndrome. Right after the Wall fell one of the first things into East German (for some reason) were western (GE) lightbulbs. The East Germans had used government made lightbulbs-very harsh, no "hue" to them. Well a few months later the electric companies started getting calls about a lamp going out. At first they didn't know how to respond-many of a generation had never had to change a lightbulb...they never burned out. The western ones of course do, so you have to buy more. The East Germans hadn't built that in, they basically made them for life.

Imagine one a light bulb would cost here if it was a one time sale.

Anyway that I think is what was wrong with Toughskins-they never wore out. Sears switched to LEvi's (yes Sears jeans were Levi's with different rivets) and got to sell several of them as the wore out instead of just one pair of Toughskins.

[Kellanved]

33. nothing especially German about it

Thanks to the 1924 Osram/GE agreement, western bulbs are specified to last 1000 hours. Soviet bulbs were specified for 5000 hours; Chinese bulbs still are. There are a few "Binninger bulbs", a GDR invention, still in existence. Those have a specified lifetime of 150,000 hours, but they were never produced in significant numbers.

[underpants]

35. Really?

Wow I never knew there was a specific reason for it.

Thanks

[flvegan]

17. My brother and I both did. I still wore mine out.

[Blue Diadem]

19. Yep..they were some tough jeans..I worked there during the 70's

in the kids dept. You would not believe the scams some people came up with since the knees were guaranteed to not wear out before your child outgrew them. They would make a razor type cut, obvious straight sharp slice in the knee area with no other wear..and of course, they wanted them replaced with a bigger size. Our policy was to replace them with the same size. Most people didn't buck the policy..but one woman, who did that every time her kid would grow, would go to our other store and return the replacement pair for the next bigger size. We'd notify each other when she returned the pant..and sure enough..within a few hours she was across town getting the bigger size she needed.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

22. I did.

I was one hyperactive kid too. No wonder mom bought them for me.

[Phentex]

23. They still sell a version at Sears.....

the knees are reinforced with the heavy duty stuff. The rest is just denim.

[GOPisEvil]

24. *raises hand*

After I wore the knees out, my mom put patches on them. :D

[underpants]

27. I wonder if that had anything to do with the "grunge look" of th 90's

Now that I think about it.

[Red State Prisoner]

25. They rocked!

I remember the knee pads becoming visible after a prolonged period of time. I'm sure if they buried you in pair and left you untouched for 2000 years, the toughskins would be all that was left. They'd probably be wearable too.

[SoCalDem]

26. I always bought jeans at Sears.. My boys needed the "Super slims"

any others just fell off their butt-less little bodies:)

[KurtNYC]

29. I had those

And they were almost never in stock. The salespeople would say "well that is not a very common size, we'll have to order it."

Later when I filled out and wore a size 10 shoe and 34x34 pants, other salespeople would say "well that is a very popular size, we're out, we'll have to order it."

[SoCalDem]

30. I actually did order them from the catalog.

we lived about a mile from a sears catalog store, so it was very convenient.. Those were the cutest little jeans..and they did wear well. I don't think the super slims were toughskins, but they were sturdy:)

[KurtNYC]

31. An ad from 1976...

[Reverend_Smitty]

32. Seeing pictures like that...

make me so glad I missed out on the 70's :P

[YankeyMCC]

34. Guilty as charged