Pink Songbooks - Green Bibles

Those of us who've been around long enough will understand the title. What we are looking for here are examples of the Society's lack of taste.
For example, I'm sure our Kingdom Hall wasn't the only one in the 70's with dark brown carpeting that rose halfway up the walls and a nice trendy rubber plant in the corner of the platform!

Nic'

. http://communities.msn.co.uk/altJehovahsWitnesses

Nic,

The keyword I'm focusing on here is pink. That should be the first red flag. (that sounds funny. pink and red flag. heehee)

Anywho, the last hall I attended looked like someone came in with 50 gallons of Pepto Bismol and a leafblower. A true ocular assault.

I could go on, but I'm already feeling nauseous.

riz (not a fan of pink)

what's wrong with a pink songbook?

Green Bible? Yes I agree it looks insipid.

Ozzie

Around 1960 the wife of the Congregation Servant at the KH I attended decided that the best color for the entire inside of the KH was pink. So the walls were painted bubblegum pink, which went very well with the pea-green highlights of the ancient green-brown of the asphalt tiles of the floor. Quite a sight, really.

AlanF

The orange cover on the "Paradise Lost-Regained" book I read as a child was rather uninviting.

Also, how about new-system fashion: The lady who does the gardening in the paradise scene (you know who I am talking about) until recently had been portrayed as wearing a (made-for-the-ministry) skirt while tilling the garden. Mygawd, how could she be so radical and wear something comfortable, like those rebel blue jeans???

You guys are gonna short cicuit my brain. Those were the days for bad taste I'll tell ya. I remember them well.

__
zev
Sitting on the Wrong Side of the Fence Class

I agree with Ozziepost.

I liked the pink song book. I still have a deluxe version with the shiny pink cover and the gold edged pages.

You can always tell a JDub library...the shelves look like a box of Crayola.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

I remember one hall I was in, the new carpet they put in looked like pizza throw-up. No lie! It was terrible.

OrangeBlossom,

LOL!

(passing on the pizza)
riz

Actually, the only NICE hall I've ever been to is the one I just left. Understated elegance, soothing wallcoverings, a pleasant baby-changing room complete with counter and sink and rocking chairs, large foyer, graduated seating -- but STILL "dusty rose" covers on those theatre-quality seats!

The absolute worst was a Hall I attended in PA which still had 70's orange, avocado, and mustard chairs -- you know, the ones with short wooden armrests and "silver" metal frames so they could be easily stacked? -- with a multihued orange carpet, in the mid-90's!!!

outnfree

When we built ours Hall the inside color was ORANGE! Very in for the time period. And brick, for accenting it up front for the stage. Two BIG fake potted trees too! OOOH! Ahhh! And grass paper on the walls. We had windows back then too. Now it has been redone in teals and tans and the new "Taco Bell" colors! The windows were blocked up and now "new light" can't get in or out! But they put in "new light" fixtures instead. Heheheh....Sorry, couldn't help myself!
Lindy (Antique)

In the early 90s when my husband was doing MANY hall builds and redecorating projects, it seemed to me that the Society bought out every bolt of mauve/teal/purple carpet on the planet, and every bolt of dusty rose/teal spotted chair covering made. They were ALL the same exact thing! And they all started to fray and ravel and wear out at EXACLTY the same time :)

The bathrooms however...could have used being ripped out totally and replaced after so many bazillions butts and diapers and cleanser scrubbings that they had no ceramic left.

Hello again all.

Not just the awful KH decor and book covers but the illustrations inside.

The characters in the Bible story book had the most hideous taste in clohtes in my opinion. No wonder God destoyed the world in the flood if people were going about like that. Also (I think it was story 10 or 11) the hideously coloured rainbow behind Noah? Either the artist was colour blind or they were short on ink at the printing room that day.

In the orange "Paradise" book. Does anyone remember the picture of the man holding up a naked baby to be sacrificed to some guy on a throne with a cows head on? That scared me shitless at our group study. Come to think of it, most of Mad Freddie Franz's books were full of surreal pictures!

Our Kingdom Hall in the 70's had a lime green carpet with plastic neon orange chairs, the sort you get in bus station waiting rooms that are designed to give minimum comfort no matter your posture. The library not only looked like a crayola box but stank of piss owing to the damp in the cupboard the books were kept. The damp also affected the piano used for songs before the advent of the sound system. It was always off key. At least thats what the bonkers sister who played it said!

Every time I smell a damp stale urine smell I am reminded of the Kingdom Hall. Purely co-incidental of course.

Rick (not of H20)

mr. angry,

i couldn't agree with you more. when i read the part about the hideous rainbow behind noah i burst out laughing because i too thought that was the most revolting choice of colors when i was a child. and the cow's head. LOL. what always made me laugh were the pictures in the wackytower and asleep! magazines where the men were supposed to be gangsters and thugs, but they were always dressed in 'meeting shoes.' attention to detail is not a strongpoint at hq i would assume.

riz

p.s. welcome to the board! i'm looking forward to your posts. i see that you also have a twisted sense of humor. yay!

I'm sure they print in whatever color is on sale.

You guys had it made. The first hall I remember was an old plumbing supply building that we rented. No decor, wooden chairs and an old piano that I learned to play from house to hous on from an annointed sister.

The thing I remember most was that the bathroom was behind the speaker stand, so it was either hold it or walk in front of the entire congregation and hope that the speaker had a loud voice.

hugs

Joel
www.joelbear.com

Haha - this thread brings back memories! I grew up during the puke color phase of the Kingdom Halls. I have fond memories of that shag carpet that went up to my knees.

Riz brought up "meeting shoes". It's funny how JW talk is so different from normal people. There was no such thing as dress clothes - it was meeting clothes: meeting shoes, meeting shirts, meeting socks. I was the only kid in school who had 5 (meeting) suits. Boy, those things were highwaters on me! It must have been pretty expensive for my parents to keep up with two growing boys going through suits left and right. The sad thing was that my younger brother eventually out-grew me (he's 6'8"!) and I started wearing "hand-me-UPs"! Not cool!

rem

Hello Mr. Angry,

(Wasn't he a character on a Radio 1 breakfast program?)

The orange plastic chairs brought back many unhappy memories. We had a KH with blue carpeting, orange chairs and a similar dank smell. It was one of the worst designed halls ever and also suffered from having an army cadet (boy soldiers) hall off the property. (It was behind a pub too!) On Rememberance Sunday the cadets would fall-in and start their parade from the KH parking lot. Used to really upset one elder!

It was a dreadful hall and the congregation that met there was not much better. After a couple of years there we were assigned to a different hall in a different town. Some years later I was reassigned again this time back to that hall when 3 cong's were formed into 5 and just prior to a new "qick-build".

I don't know what ever happened to the old hall. When I left the area the hall was being used to store DC equipment. Probably illegally as the hall's tax exempt status did not include using a church as a warehouse.

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

The baptism outfits! Oh my! We forgot about the baptism outfits!!

Hold onto your stomachs as you click this link.

http://www.viewimages.com/viewimage/?imageid=780651&promotionid=1&partnerid=2&type=results

Shame it's not in colour (I think!)

Nic'

. http://communities.msn.co.uk/altJehovahsWitnesses

Now this has been some good readin'! Hey Riz, I like your comment, . Got a good laugh on that one. This is a little off the subject, but , being a christian, there's a wealth of christian music from contemporary to worship & praise to rock. I was just curious what kinda music do JW's use in their services, or what are they allowed to listen to?

Agent,

Many years ago, they had a nice collection of songs. They borrowed some of the music from the classics and added lyrics. They also took some good gospel songs and changed the words to fit their beliefs. One day, they decided that these songs were of pagan origin, got rid of them and wrote their own. Their songs now are insipid, mediocre music. Awhile back there was a thread on this subject. The search function found at the top of the page is not working for me, so I have not tryed to find that thread.