i cant believe IKEA used to sell this... (1971 catalogue reaction)

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This is the third video in our new series we're trying out (the first episode is on our main channel). We've be reviewing and chatting on our livestream every week over on Twitch. If you want to watch the full TWO hours of us reviewing these old school IKEA catalogues, be sure to head over to our Twitch channel ( / thesorrygirls . But for those of you who want a shorter, condensed version of our thoughts, this KZbin video is perfect for you!
We stream every Wednesday from 4-6pm EST!! / thesorrygirls
Check out all the archived IKEA catalogues here : ikeamuseum.com/en/explore/ike...
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[@katharinemolloy8545]

Just a note, $31 in 1971 had the same buying power as about $230 dollars today. So little cheaper than most sofas at Ikea today but still not bad considering.

[@TamarLitvot]

Thanks! I was mentally screaming “inflation! Use the CPI-U calculator (if in the U.S.)!”

[@Ridikulucius]

+ the rate was also completely different (1 CAD = 5 SEK in 1971 vs 8 in 2023).. So the 255 SEK back then was worth 51 CAD, equivalent to ~380 CAD today. Currently on Ikea Canada, the cheapest 2p couch is 249 CAD ;)

[@MyEu4ia]

Yeah.. my parents bought the house I grew up in for 300.000 Swedish krona in 1983 and it was sold in 2007 for 1.2 million Swedish krona. There was protests in the 50s because the milk cost 1 krona (people thought it was a robbery and went berserk for this) and now a milk box is like 12 krona so times are changing 😅

[@guitargirlae]

Don't forget, the kallax was called the expedit like ten years ago!

[@jonnapeters4673]

A friend of mine had lived in Germany in the 90s and had furnished his apartment solely with IKEA. Eventually he moved back to Canada and I helped him IKEA his first space here - and there were a number of things I picked he vetoed because he'd already bought the exact same one back in Germany 20 years earlier. IKEA really said if it ain't broke don't fix it.

[@ginkgokraut]

Only, they made "improvements" and a lot of the furniture - while classic in design - doesn't last as long as it used to.

[@Sara-gs7gh]

In Sweden it's standard to have a outlet over every window to plug in lights! We really love small lamps in every window and offcorse switch to a christmas star in the winter. 💡⭐️ This was very nostalgic to watch! This is what alot of senior citizens places look like! They freshed up in the 70s and haven't changed anything since.

[@helenjholmberg3411]

I've never seen that, is it a thing that's different for where in Sweden you live perhaps? I live in the south :)

[@Beruthiel45]

I bought an electric brass Xmas star from our Edmonton IKEA when it first opened, and have never taken it down from my living room half circle window since. I just change the bulb most years. I love the star in the dark December and January. 💕🤗

[@linneah8211]

​@@helenjholmberg3411I live near Örebro and pretty much all my windows have an outlet for a light😊

[@marciarindal4226]

I first visited my Norwegian cousins in the mid-80s. I learned a coffee table was always tall because this was the height comfortable to serve coffee in the afternoon, which is very traditional. I suppose the younger people use low coffee tables now; but after this first trip, I changed to the taller table and use one to this day as my coffee table. Also, I went into the first IKEA just west of Stockholm, as well as the IKEA in Oslo. I found that handmade Oriental carpets and candles were two things that were so much less expensive at IKEA and hauled some home on the airlines. Later I went to the IKEA in Edmonton, then Minneapolis and Seattle. Traveling I went to the one in Cairo, Egypt, was so fun to see the differences in what products are shipped. As a side note, if you were young and didn’t have money in the 1970s, it was not a fun home decorating time with so many rentals having avocado shag carpet, avocado appliances and way too much brown upholstery. I am glad, however, Becky, that you can mix some good pieces along with newer styles. I am 70 and very much enjoy the Sorry Girls, especially when you two are together. Thank you for your entertainment. 10:37

[@caroledwards1182]

Very interesting, really enjoyed this. For those who might not know: Back in the 60's being "square" meant you were not cool so telling someone to be there or be square meant if you didn't go (usually to a party), then you would be uncool.

[@MiMi-ux4yo]

As a Swedish speaker, something about this was very comforting. I want to see videos from more years.

[@TheSorryLife]

we did the 80s on the stream this week if you want to go watch!

[@linneah8211]

Yes, happy to hear I'm not the only swede who thought this was oddly comforting

[@happyelg]

Your comments on pendants over a coffee table is so funny to me as a Swede and Dane. I literally have a low pendant over my coffee table in my living room (where I also watch tv) right now, so do my parents and so did my grandparents 😂 it’s pretty and nice to have some lighting there sometimes!

[@Goejsendk]

I was just thinking it! Dane here 😂

[@linneah8211]

Yess, from Sweden and my grandparents have both high coffeetable(easy for fika👌) and a pretty low pendant over it in the living room with the tv

[@suza.5306]

I feel like the "be there or be square because youre not around" "WHAT omg you're lying" moment was such a classic example of Becky's and Kelsey's friendship dynamic

[@LeticiaCarvalho06]

This video just unlocked the most fantastic memory for me. My mom had A LOT of decor magazines when I was growing up, most of them from the 90s, and I remember that I loved going through them, imagining how cool my bedroom would be. Gosh, I wish I still had those magazines now.

[@dbdnights]

The timeout seat was 100% Dad's seat. He never wanted anyone sitting next to him and he sure as hell didn't want to have kids on him hahahaha No joke, I would absolutely choose the solitary seat now too

[@MyEu4ia]

Haha! I’m Swedish and it’s funny you haven’t seen a pendant over coffee table before because I think it’s rare not to have it in Swedish living rooms. 😊 also it’s fun with ikeakatalogen! The catalogue used to come out every year and delivered home to you and it used to be my favourite mail day 😁

[@katymaloney]

Swedish and english both have germanic roots, hence the similarities. ;) Same with Norwegian and Danish. My favorite swedish word is "badstrand", which is the same in german, it means beach. xD When I went to Finland, their second official language is Swedish, I went to a "beach" in Helsinki, it was literally just rocks by the Baltic sea... A bad strand indeed! lol

[@Beruthiel45]

Reminds me of my aunt and uncle taking me and my cousins to Hayling island when I was visiting them in Hampshire from my home in Tyneside. I was devastated at the shingle beach. Where's the sand! I cried, these are stones! Unsung beaches on the Northumberland coast, beautiful sandy bays for building castles and plodging in tidal pools. 😊

[@katymaloney]

@@Beruthiel45 I did really enjoy the Helsinki “beach” experience anyways, it wasn’t small rocks/pebbles, moreso big flat rocks where you could lounge in the sun by the water, it was still nice! Other places in Finland have sandier beaches… And northern Norway has surprisingly beautiful ones, though I’m sure the water is colder even than the water in the Baltic… xD I’d like to go visit more of the “northern” countries, even the north of Canada…! We have surprisingly gorgeous beaches!

[@gzk88]

In Afrikaans (Dutch offshoot), "bad" means "bath", and "strand" means "beach". So this would translate to bathbeach. 😊

[@mapleleaf0]

@@gzk88 Exactly the same in German. Again, that also makes sense since these are all Germanic languages. I do take the point from another poster, though, that "catalog" comes from Greek (which is also highly present in English).

[@mapleleaf0]

Also, can I just say I had no idea we had such an intellectual group watching The Sorry Girls?! Why not, tho, right?

[@dorrolorro]

About the "waiting room design" - some of the articles are referring to decorating public spaces, so that is why 😅 Love from Sweden!

[@paulag1109]

This was so great, loved the commentary and how much you gals love the “70’s”. That was my teen years so going through this “Katalog” brought back memories. However, my parents home was very traditional and I didn’t know of IKEA until the 80’s. Some of my friends homes were way more mid century, 70’s and I was so jealous of them. One friend had purple shag carpet and a white Chesterfield. Her parents were so hip, lol. Now my home is more mid century and contemporary. 💜

[@ue9r6]

Yep pendants were for mood lighting, and yes cards were played but more often listened to music with incense burning, people still smoked then too....i miss the 70's sooo much

[@waterbitten]

I need a long form version of this, it feel like it ended just as it was getting good.

[@waterbitten]

I love the low pendants over tables and side tables, I feel like they work the same as lamps. They're for vibes.

[@kelseylannan4884]

low pendants over side tables would work well. they would offer the lighting of table lamps without taking up space.

[@1bwash]

That like media unit wall with seating area at 7:06 is wild. That would be amazing to recreate. What a great idea to just put a cushion on part of the install and call it seating!

[@nicoleadel]

I'm not certain, but I think the low pendant lights in the ads are like that just to have the fixture visible in the close-up of the living room set

[@1agapim]

Just a small correction: katalog and catalogue both come from the Greek word κατάλογος , which is pronounced katalogos and means the same 😊

[@sierraolsen9031]

Is this a reference from the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding? 😂

[@1agapim]

@@sierraolsen9031 absolutely not! You are welcome to look it up!

[@phangirlable]

I have a mid 1970ies cabinet (cupboard with two doors on the bottom, display cabinet with glass doors on top) in dark wood in my living room that one of my aunts bought shortly after the first IKEA opened in Germany. It's beautiful, timeless and works well with pretty much any style. It's probably quite valuable by now but this is one of my forever furniture pieces. :)

[@helenjholmberg3411]

The ivar is the same as in the 70s, they have added and removed different parts for the ivar over the years. My parents got an "original" big one in the basement and it's still going strong after 50 years!

[@RandomAs77]

The be there or be square moment 😂😂😂😂 I also was like whaaaaaat is THAT what it means 😂

[@olliejilliangil8382]

I really like this! I’d love to see more of these on KZbin. I’m always at work during the streams.

[@Triumphantmama]

I work at a very hi-end beige store and what I see happening now is more adult roommates that aren’t “partnered”. So the “waiting room phenomenon” is for -cousins and roommates and adult sibling and multi -generational spaces where people gather but not necessarily “cuddle.” Also in this economy more differently-abled people need to not squoosh into deep upholstery or tilt sideways on giant sectionals when others pile in… it’s very democratic… I have an IKEA catalog collection somewhere in a box. I could never let them go…

[@JazzyBabe56]

Swedish goodbye sounds like "Hay-Doh"...♥

[@hereforit2347]

I discovered IKEA in the late 80s when I got my first apartment. They had a classic chintz sofa I wanted SO bad. In the 90s they had plush, colorful, wool Persian rugs that were incredibly beautiful but out of my price range at the time. I don’t remember when the first IKEA store came to my area but I did buy a computer desk for my daughter from IKEA in the 90s and got a few area rugs, baskets, and kitchen items I still have today. IKEA is NOT what it used to be. But in the 90s and early 2000s their rug game was *EPIC.*

[@TamarLitvot]

This was so much fun! Both the look back at ikea (before it was even in North America) and your take on it.

[@eatme9970]

Having the pendant lamps low mesnt you would be less likely to disturb others with the light. Blue light messes uo your ability to sleep. Someone could work at a bedroom desk without disturbing their partner or siblings. People can play cards in the living room and the brightness won't be such a shock to people trying to use the bstbroom at night.

[@anneleblond]

Yes, please bring back the classics as is !

[@sweatersleeve]

Love this video. The bookshelf behind you is looking so good and cool btw

[@nath7283]

Loved this. Please do more!!

[@vanessap386]

Love the cozy vibes podcast feeling in this vid!

[@Amanda-jd8xs]

Fyi, thise 70's chairs were insanely comfortable. Nothing was grey 😊 And English was a Gremanjc kanguage prior to 1066.

[@katarinalundgren4547]

I love your content and this video was so much fun!! Whenever I watch you guys make over a dining space I'm like, they need to lower that pendant!! lol must be because I'm Swedish. Pendant lights over the coffee table is quite common here in Sweden but was probably more common before TVs.

[@ginkgokraut]

255 SEK in 1971 would be 2345.04 SEK today counting in inflation. That'd be 287,54 CAD. But yeah...taking the Vitage IKEA factor into account those sofas would probably sell for much, much more.

[@Goejsendk]

A really nice watch, comforting and nostalgic. Being a Dane and growing up with IKEA I could recognise these styles in my grandparents and parents' homes, just mixed with the classic danish interior pieces like the Y-chair and HP pendants - which was and is hanging low! 😂

[@lovingmayberry307]

Loved this! You guys are hilarious! 😊💜😉

[@johannamolandervatz7884]

Adjö! Its like super old/fancy way of sayin good bye Your so cute! lovin this more vidz with IKEAs old kataloger!

[@UlricaGrondahl]

Hi! FYI: Catalogue is the English British spelling of the word. Swedish is "katalog", which is a simplified Swedish spelling for the same word. Swedes study British English in school, therefore you’ll see a lot of it in Sweden.

[@DigsRetro]

I used to have to order my IKEA katalog from Canada and couldn't buy anything until like the 90s when I could finally mail order from the IKEA in Virginia. It wasn't until Atlanta got an IKEA, that I finally got to visit one. A few years later we finally got an IKEA in Orlando.

[@annebarboza]

idk but i couldn't stop smiling and giggling the whole video!

[@viivi4196]

I know basic swedish bc we have to study it here in finland so this was super fun!

[@lorimecikalski3079]

(Child of the 70's here), I always thought be there or be square meant that you weren't cool if you didn't attend, you were a square.

[@wee0007]

I about spat out my drink over the “it’s giving” thing 😂

[@miaclee]

Adjusted for inflation that couch would be $161 USD today for anyone curious

[@abramcollette]

Is the low pendant so low to fit in the frame?

[@agnes8610]

'Real ones would know that it's a Prisma, not a Kallax' Poor Expedit is crying in the corner like the typical forgotten middle-child 😭

[@user-iu2lj1hu6r]

Video idea!! Recreate a set up from the Katalog :D

[@mac17mckenna]

More of this please

[@davis51369]

Why isn't anyone saying anything about ikeas photo shot at 3:20. I usually don't notice stuff like this but it drove my eyes crazy. Notice the end of the white couch and how its two different rugs

[@user-er1yz3xo7s]

You need to diy frosted bauble chandiler!! Pleaseee!!!!

[@Myraisins1]

Love it!!

[@angelaindublin]

Omg I thought the same about the chair, screams bdsm lol

[@tamaraharmon720]

This was fun 😄

[@robinrosen-sharp6011]

I wonder if the pendants are low so they can show them in the catalogue picture but it’s not really the functional level

[@MoteOfDust430]

That was fun

[@twaaja]

Tell me why "because you're not around" also blew my mind lmao

[@hgred]

Can we get more vintage ikea catalogue videos please! Maybe a series

[@jonnan24]

Some of the rooms where described to be for public areas. That's why it looks like a waiting room ;)

[@maddieg6447]

Wait at 3:39 tell me the light fixture that they point out looks like it came from a trombone!?

[@abhitianand2613]

wait, i want more ikea katalog reviews 😢

[@corrieb8106]

You wondered if the Alex piece left and came back. Well, no it didn't! I remember noticing that it was the Alex and then the next time I was in Ikea it had a new name.

[@AimeeMAnd]

okay but when are we going to get a thrift flip challenge reminiscent of 1970's Ikea?

[@erikaplante-jean7745]

Maybe they put the lights super low so it shows in the picture

[@reginefeidal7940]

can you do the 90’s next??😂

[@dorrolorro]

The most common way to say goodbye in Swedish is "Hejdå" (pronouced hey-doh)

[@tobistraumfabrik333]

Katalog is German too :D

[@shellsisacoolpear]

Ikea loves making minor adjustments and changing the same and selling essentially the same items for decades.. half the time the adjustments don't improve anything and just make it annoying to not ge able to get the exact same thing again. They do it with shelving and brackets. 😒

[@purplehipporecorder]

The '70s furniture looks more comfortable than in 2023, until you hit your head on one of those pendants. Bring back COLOUR!

[@purplegrrl711]

Can you do more please

[@eddieramirez3992]

Be there or be square does mean that lol well to me it does

[@CaliMel184]

Not related but it's funny you all left in your subscriber goals bar for June in the video? I never really thought about the fact that most of you that have channels probably have something like that going every month. The metrics on channels must be really interesting to try to analyze.

[@ginkgokraut]

Or maybe Swedish and English share some of the same roots...like, they were populated around the same time and the people mixed throughout the centuries.

[@charlottekendall]

Square is slang/derogatory and means that you're boring/dull/conventional. So basically if you weren't wherever "there" was, you weren't cool.

[@amCoodlah]

Just a guess, but the pendants might just be low to make framing the picture easier. If they were high up they'd be out of frame, and if you zoomed out to see them you wouldn't see the detail on the other furniture as well.

[@janetjedrzejczyk1903]

🤍

[@thecunningkrugereffect]

This video had a lot of potential, learning about the history of the designs, or recreating/redesigning an OG ikea piece, but honestly, it was kind of lacking. Just kinda seemed like a stretched out short. I'm a big fan of most things you guys do though!

[@phangirlable]

This is their second channel, they usually don't do this kind of stuff on this one.

[@thecunningkrugereffect]

@phangirlable I know, but I've found that historically this channel was better than this video.

[@vanessap386]

I thought it wasn't long enough!

[@brittanymitchell9215]

Hej då!

[@spaghettisandwich289]

Bring back the 70s where everyone had cool furniture and no one said “its giving”

[@lindaroyal8161]

I don't know Ikea existed in the 70's, I only discovered it about 29nyeatscago.

[@CoverediCake]

They celebrate 80 years.

[@CoverediCake]

Their first product was like a leaf shaped small table.

[@lorettarenard5645]

by the way, no one bought IKEA in the 70's

[@RebeccaABeaudoin]

Ehhh unoriginal

[@wee0007]

Why did we ever thing carpet in the bathroom was ok? 🦠