Dinosaurs

[Arran]

I know this sounds a bit silly but when did dinosaurs enter popular culture? In the 1950s you would struggle to find any dinosaur themed products but in the 1990s they were commonplace.

[staffslad]

Re: Dinosaurs

I think it was the enormous success of Jurassic Park that really raised the profile of dinosaurs into the public consciousness in the 90s.

[Arran]

Re: Dinosaurs

I think it was the enormous success of Jurassic Park that really raised the profile of dinosaurs into the public consciousness in the 90s.

I'm well aware of the success of Jurassic Park but I'm sure that toy dinosaurs and books about dinosaurs for kids were available in the 1970s. There was the cartoon Denver the Last Dinosaur in the late 1980s which seems to imply that kids must have been familiar with dinosaurs at the time.

[Twocky61]

Re: Dinosaurs

Maybe The Flintstones brought dinosaurs to the public culture; their pet dinosaur Dino

[Arran]

Re: Dinosaurs

I have verbally been informed that the Natural History Museum sold dinosaur themed products in the 1970s but when did they become commonplace in the High Street? When did schools first have books about dinosaurs?

[Richard1978]

Re: Dinosaurs

I remember having a Dinosaur phase in the mid 1980s, my parents bought some models from the Early Learning Centre as well as a few book on them.

[Twocky61]

Re: Dinosaurs

Dinosaur's are cuddly really; despite the reputation they have lol

[Arran]

Re: Dinosaurs

I'm intrigued why out of the thousands of dinosaurs that existed only a small number are popular and familiar. You would even have difficulty finding a baryonyx - despite it being Britain's national dinosaur. I once had a toy polacanthus.

[staffslad]

Re: Dinosaurs

I'm well aware of the success of Jurassic Park but I'm sure that toy dinosaurs and books about dinosaurs for kids were available in the 1970s. There was the cartoon Denver the Last Dinosaur in the late 1980s which seems to imply that kids must have been familiar with dinosaurs at the time.

Absolutely agree. People were well aware of dinosaurs in the decades prior to the 90s, but I think Jurassic Park rocketed them to superstar status.

I remember that in the early 70s Brooke Bond gave away dinosaur cards in their tea for you to stick in a dedicated book. I think there were 50 to collect.

[George 1978]

Re: Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs became extinct millions of years ago, so not quite relevant to the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s. But saying that, they were part of kids' lives during that time - toys etc.

I know that the word "dinosaur" wasn't coined until the 19th century.

[Mulletino]

Re: Dinosaurs

I remember being fascinated by dinosaurs as a kid in the 70s, i had rubber dinosaurs and dinosaur model kits. My mate was way more into them than me and had heaps.

This was one of them, also had the Dimetrodon:



Possibly fuelled by popular films pre-dating my birth that were on TV sometimes: Journey to the Centre of the Earth, The Land that Time Forgot etc?

My Toddler now likes dinosaurs too, well he went through a stage, not as keen now but he does have some toys and tshirts.

[staffslad]

Re: Dinosaurs

Another programme that I think stoked interest in dinosaurs was the BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs and associated series. It strayed beyond the usual suspects of T-Rex, Brontosaurus (or whatever it is called now) etc, to show very early creatures. To me, this was far more interesting than Jurassic Park--no Raquel Welch with fur bikini in Jurassic Park .

Another I remember stirring my interest was an episode of Horizon on what killed the dinosaurs from around 1982. Right at the end it speculated how some species of dinosaur may have evolved if they hadn't been wiped out, and showed an evolved dinosaur wearing a space suit.

[Trickyvee]

Re: Dinosaurs

We did a dinosaurs in primary school in about 1983 so it must have been on the syllabus. At around the same time I had a dinosaur sticker book which I think came from Marks and Spencer's, so pretty mainstream. It had those vinyl stickers that can be peeled off and stuck back on multiple times to create a 'scene' picture. It had different scenes and dinosaurs depending on the period - Jurassic etc.

[Arran]

Re: Dinosaurs

Another programme that I think stoked interest in dinosaurs was the BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs and associated series. It strayed beyond the usual suspects of T-Rex, Brontosaurus (or whatever it is called now) etc, to show very early creatures. To me, this was far more interesting than Jurassic Park--no Raquel Welch with fur bikini in Jurassic Park .

Walking with Dinosaurs came out in 1999 long after dinosaurs became popular and familiar.

Another I remember stirring my interest was an episode of Horizon on what killed the dinosaurs from around 1982. Right at the end it speculated how some species of dinosaur may have evolved if they hadn't been wiped out, and showed an evolved dinosaur wearing a space suit.

I have not seen this programme. Is it on YouTube?

[Arran]

Re: Dinosaurs

We did a dinosaurs in primary school in about 1983 so it must have been on the syllabus. At around the same time I had a dinosaur sticker book which I think came from Marks and Spencer's, so pretty mainstream. It had those vinyl stickers that can be peeled off and stuck back on multiple times to create a 'scene' picture. It had different scenes and dinosaurs depending on the period - Jurassic etc.

I was thinking around the late 1970s to early 1980s. My mother was at primary school in the 1970s and there were only a few books about dinosaurs and none of the teachers knew much about them or could recognise different species.