Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not much really to add to this except for two things and forgive me if someone had already mentioned them.
Yes smoking was everywhere back then IF we are talking only cigarettes. Cigars and pipes not so much as back then they were considered for "old men" like George Burns for example. Today it seems younger people are into cigars and pipes and no I am not talking about the "marijuana blunt" thing either. Stuff like Skoal was popular too and actually many back them felt the use of Skoal and other smokeless tobacco was safe too and yes later on they would find out it was not. FWIW ads for Skoal could still air on TV & radio until 1986 and cigars until 1980 !!!
Top 40 radio at this time really was a mix. Country bands/artists such as Alabama, Kenny Rogers ( who had one of 1980's biggest hits called "Lady" ) and the Oak Ridge Boys got airtime on those stations often beside KISS, Hall & Oates, Blondie and Toni "hey Mickey" Basil. I guess Top 40 then would be considered adult contemporary nowadays. MTV would later change all of that.
oh forgot one thing...collection agencies !! Back then if you owed a debt they could call you at anytime even at 3 o'clock in the morning and unfortunately many of them would use foul language and make threats too even if what they say was totally BS such as "..if you don't pay us within one hour we will start garnishing your wages and call up channel 7 Eyewitness News to let everyone know what a deadbeat you really are". Today all of THAT practice is illegal and you can sue THEM for it too.
That was because country became more "pop" in the 80s, not really the other way around, largely due to the influence of The Eagles who popularized the idea of country "bands" ie: groups like Restless Heart or Alabama that took off in the 80s. Don't forget Dolly Parton who was a regular crossover into the pop charts in the early 80s. Fast forward to the 90s and you have a traditionalist movement in country led by the likes of Alan Jackson, George Strait, etc...
Eighties music is pretty influential in music today, far more than the 1970s or 1990s music. Bruno Mars, for example, is pretty much an homage to Michael Jackson. Popular rock groups are using riffs that sound like they could have come from the 80s straight from Psychodelic Furs or something like that.
The way I explain it... how many movies made in the 2000s do you hear use Paula Abdul songs set the mood? Now how many use The Police songs? A lot more.
Not much really to add to this except for two things and forgive me if someone had already mentioned them.
Yes smoking was everywhere back then IF we are talking only cigarettes. Cigars and pipes not so much as back then they were considered for "old men" like George Burns for example. Today it seems younger people are into cigars and pipes and no I am not talking about the "marijuana blunt" thing either. Stuff like Skoal was popular too and actually many back them felt the use of Skoal and other smokeless tobacco was safe too and yes later on they would find out it was not. FWIW ads for Skoal could still air on TV & radio until 1986 and cigars until 1980 !!!
Top 40 radio at this time really was a mix. Country bands/artists such as Alabama, Kenny Rogers ( who had one of 1980's biggest hits called "Lady" ) and the Oak Ridge Boys got airtime on those stations often beside KISS, Hall & Oates, Blondie and Toni "hey Mickey" Basil. I guess Top 40 then would be considered adult contemporary nowadays. MTV would later change all of that.
oh forgot one thing...collection agencies !! Back then if you owed a debt they could call you at anytime even at 3 o'clock in the morning and unfortunately many of them would use foul language and make threats too even if what they say was totally BS such as "..if you don't pay us within one hour we will start garnishing your wages and call up channel 7 Eyewitness News to let everyone know what a deadbeat you really are". Today all of THAT practice is illegal and you can sue THEM for it too.
Speaking of county, what would you say about Shania Twain, Taylor Swift, etc.
1. We were given the strap at school until we were old enough to threaten the teacher with retribution.
2. Only three TV channels and they didn't broadcast 24 hours.
3. Outside of TV, main entertainment in the home was music. We bought a lot of records (vinyl) and having a quality sound system mattered.
4. We played sport all the time. Organized sport at school but also soccer after school with friends. None of our play was 'structured'. We were free until dinner time.
5. We rode our bikes (pedal) everywhere.
6. We went to the soccer matches every week. They drew big crowds. Think 134,000 for Scotland v England.
7. Lots of people smoked. I didn't but was, to a certain extent, the exception.
8. Main drink was beer and lots of it.
9. Very little 'fast food'. Fish and chip shops were common and takeaway Chinese or Indian the norm.
10. Most shops closed at 5.30pm and were closed on Sundays.
11. Main source of news was the TV and newspapers.
12. Best place to meet people (i.e. girls) was in pubs or discos.
13. There were no malls. You went shopping on the High Street (Main St. in the USA).
1. We were given the strap at school until we were old enough to threaten the teacher with retribution.
2. Only three TV channels and they didn't broadcast 24 hours.
---
Sounds a lot like the 60's in the US.
We began to get more than 3 TV stations in the 70's, our first malls were built in the 60's as well.
We didn't have much fast food either, although we didn't have many Indian restaurants until the 90's or Chinese joints until the 80's. Mostly pizzerias here in America.
Stores were closed on Sunday here as well in the 60's.
We didn't play exotic games like soccer, but we played unorganized basketball, baseball and football.
People smoked everywhere here as well, the JC Penney's in Baden PA still had ashtrays on their sales floor in the early 1990's.
In the early 70's, before 1973, gasoline was so cheap few cared about gas mileage. Gas was an "other" expense. My first car had only an AM radio, but that was all that was needed. There were several top 40 stations, two country, and two urban contemporary. At least one all news, but no loudmouth political commentary station. I actually liked AM back then you could drive 200 miles with the same station.
Interesting conversation with Dave Barry on NPR last week. He is a well known local Miami news columnist and humorous fiction author...Anyway he mentions his experience of parenting in the 70s basically was to let kids do what they wanted regarding their personal time so allowing parents to enjoy a bit of free time for themselves. No helicopter parents or soccer moms as a norm. (Although I do recall a few and their sons were regarded as Mama's Boy) This confirms my own experience that M and P were too busy and so let fend for ourselves in our free time once duties-school and house stuff, were finished.
That's pretty much the way I grew in the mid 70's-mid 80's. After homework and chores I was out of the house- free to go. I played baseball and I walked to my games with my friends, or if a mom wasn't busy she gave us a ride.
I had no helicopter parents, I was free to go. The rule was to be back home 30 minutes after the street lamps came on.
I explored the woods, the neighborhood, played baseball, kickball- there used to be 15-20 kids that would join in and play games in the neighborhood. It was a good time.
(edit- that was mostly the suburbs of Wash D.C.- Berwyn Heights and Adelphi MD.)
Re smoking back then, it was crazy in many public places. Restaurants, bars, nightclubs, almost always had a cloud hanging in the air.
Bowling alleys were terrible. I can remember going to tournaments with my Dad in the 1970s, he didnt smoke but almost every other bowler did. By the 2nd game you could not see one end of the alley from the other end due to all the smoke.
When I started working full time in the early 80s people smoked right at their desk, all day long.
We began to get more than 3 TV stations in the 70's.
That was especially true it one was lucky to get cable at time. Not really talking about the then few number of cable channels like HBO, CNN and the old CBN family network but the over the air network channels from other markets. In Northern Virginia for example many cable systems at the time would offer not only the local Washington DC channels but even most if not all of the Baltimore channels too and a few had even offered a channel or two out of Richmond as well. Today with so many local stations now claiming "exclusive rights" and stuff that practice is pretty much rare nowadays.
Re smoking back then, it was crazy in many public places. Restaurants, bars, nightclubs, almost always had a cloud hanging in the air.
Bowling alleys were terrible. I can remember going to tournaments with my Dad in the 1970s, he didnt smoke but almost every other bowler did. By the 2nd game you could not see one end of the alley from the other end due to all the smoke.
When I started working full time in the early 80s people smoked right at their desk, all day long.
I worked for Southwestern Bell from 1978 - 1981, and yes, we smoked at our desks.... I look back now and feel REALLY sorry for the non-smokers back then.....
even crazier.... I had my first knee surgery in March, 1981 and the hospital asked me if I wanted a smoking or non-smoking room!! yes.... a smoking room in the hospital....
and that knee surgery?? they admitted me the night before the surgery to make sure I was properly prepped and kept me for about a week AFTER the surgery.... started me on PT and everything!!
when I had the SAME surgery on my other knee in 1998, I only stayed one night post-op and checked in the morning of....
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
