It was a thick, clear plastic material that had raised triangular bumps all over it (I guess to provide traction for the slippery stuff). It was seen on automobile seats, couches, chairs, and nearly anything else that could possibly come into contact with the human derrière.
In the 1960's, it was everywhere.
I remember my parents taking one of their biannually-bought new Plymouths in to have this stuff put on the spacious bench seats. When mom and I went to pick up the car, we had to drive with the windows down due to the endless square yards of extremely redolent new plastic wrap.
The polyethylene artificial epidermis was ice cold in the winter, blazing hot in the summer, and quite uncomfortable to bare skin in any weather. However, it kept the upholstery, cocooned a millimeter of so beneath its surface, immaculate.
I'm still not sure why my parents would go to all that trouble to protect the already plastic seats of a car they were going to trade in in a couple of years anyway. But at least they resisted the temptation to cover the couch.
We had friends we would frequently visit in my hometown who had their furniture encased in this stuff. And while the couch no doubt looked the way it did when new, you couldn't tell, as the plastic wrap provided a diffused view of the original upholstery.
Perhaps it was installed as a safeguard against guests who might stay too late.
Anyhow, one of the memories we enjoy as Baby Boomers was vast square footage of upholstery safely wrapped in clear plastic coverings.
Comments (6)
What??? Fingerhut stopped carrying those outrageous seat covers?
How about J.C. Whitney?
Posted by Tim Benton | February 6, 2007 11:26 AM
Posted on February 6, 2007 11:26
In the summer of 1967 we took our '64 Buick LeSabre - non air conditioned - on a trip to California from NY. We, too, had the Fingerhut seat covers. My parents were in the front and my two siblings and I were in the back.
It got very hot that summer, and all we could do was peel most our clothes off and sleep with the hot wind from the "455" a/c coming in on us. Then, when we stopped to see an historic site we had to peel ourselves off of the plastic, leaving triangular indentions on any piece of exposed skin that was unlucky enough to adhere to the plastic.
My mother still reminds us that we slept halfway across the country that summer. But, after we got home and took the seat covers off I can still remember the car smelling like it just came off of the assembly line.
Posted by Mike Conklin | March 21, 2007 10:44 PM
Posted on March 21, 2007 22:44
Here's a pic of those gawd-awful Fingerhut clear plastic seatcovers our parents bought religously with every new car:
http://i7.ebayimg.com/04/i/000/96/e8/191e_3.JPG
[img]http://i7.ebayimg.com/04/i/000/96/e8/191e_3.JPG[/img]
Posted by Stan | April 5, 2007 6:51 PM
Posted on April 5, 2007 18:51
Thanks, Stan! Article rewritten with your illustration :-)
Posted by Ron Enderland | April 5, 2007 7:49 PM
Posted on April 5, 2007 19:49
I too remember those wonderful clear plastic seat covers! I feel they were great! Too bad we don't see them as much anymore, They did wonderful in protecting our car's upholstery and not to mention a nice textured feel!
Posted by Jessie | May 30, 2007 1:37 AM
Posted on May 30, 2007 01:37
Very Sexy Indeed, those clear plastic seat covers! Wish we had them all over again! I gets both my girlfriend and myself horny for sex as we enjoy the hot clear plastic seat covers! We would love to see more clear plastic seat covers for our sexy group!
Posted by Jessie | June 6, 2007 4:40 AM
Posted on June 6, 2007 04:40