An Impressive Display of Vintage Baggage

The Game Show Network is one of our go-to television channels when we just want something on in the background. We’ll watch Match Game, Family Feud, Deal or No Deal, you name it. We do wish GSN would show more classic game shows of the 1950s and ’60s, as they used to, but still the network makes it easy to pass a half-hour or two in pleasant enough fashion.

Now, here’s the guilty pleasure part: We occasionally even watch Baggage, the dating show hosted by (cringe) Jerry Springer. On this show, a trio of hopefuls vying to be selected for a date reveal their quirks and peccadilloes, and at the end of the show, the person who has chosen one of the three for a date reveals his or her own baggage, and is either accepted or rejected by the person they’ve chosen.

Like we said, a guilty pleasure. If ever you want to feel that you’re perfectly sane and in fact a great catch, this is the (freak) show for you.

We’ve idly wondered in the past whether, if ever we were a contestant on a game show, we would go full vintage with our attire (the answer is probably yes, as we own little else but vintage clothing), but we’d never before seen a contestant sporting a vintage look—until last night.

It was Nerd Night on Baggage, and a lovely young woman with an avowed appreciation for brainiacs with pop culture obsessions had three ComicCon regulars to choose between. We were surprised one member of that trio was dressed in vintage attire (we don’t know if his garb was original or repro, but by Baggage standards, he looked pretty sharp). Generally, the contestants on the show sport untucked shirts (even under a blazer or sweater—what is it with the untucking in Southern California?) and a very carefully tended “two day’s growth” of beard, a grooming trend we are eager to see ride off into sunset.

And what do you know, the contestant clad in vintage garb was selected by the young woman, only to reject her at show’s end when she revealed her own baggage: She refuses to drive a car and expects her boyfriend to do the same (it’s a green thing).

Call it Revenge of the Vintage Nerds.

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2 thoughts on “An Impressive Display of Vintage Baggage

  1. Thanks for posting this – a friend just sent it to me. Yeah, that’s me with authentic ’40s vintage jacket and tie (and tie clip), with replica high-waisted pants, etc. My own clothes, which the producers loved. (The only thing that wasn’t my choice, was they styled my hair different than I would have). It was fun being on the geeks episode. I’m active in the swing dance and vintage scene, and thought I should represent! :-)

    • Welcome, Nathan, and congrats on the Baggage win! You looked sharp on the show.

      Our only beef is that, while we agree that the young woman’s insistence that her boyfriend be willing to give up driving a car was unreasonable, you passed up a free steak dinner (we assume that was to be the prize; it usually is on Baggage) with her! Why not enjoy the free meal and an evening in her company on the show’s dime? You might have ended up with a good pal, if nothing else (and surely she doesn’t demand all her pals stop driving).

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