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It looks as if you left yourself open to this one, cil.
Yikes.
The truth is I am probably in better physical shape now than I was back then.
However, CD is a PG forum and contrary to what I may have led you to believe, I really am not an exhibitionist.
Sorry y'all, this is one history post for which there is no cite.
It's different for everyone. Especially when you consider that now I'm looking at life through the prism of a 49 year old man. Back then, I was looking at life through the eyes of a child/adolescent.
What I remember, though, is that life wasn't as complicated or stressful. Nowadays, everything is technological and while it saves us time, it also requires more of us. Life was definitely simpler. No ATMS, microwave ovens, video games, DVD players, Ipods, cable TV, internet or cell phones. You had to write a check to get extra money and any store would take it. You had to wait for food to actually cook. Board games were the rage or just playing games outside (fresh air, exercise and sunshine anyone?). Music was played on record players, eventually eight track and cassettes came around and eight tracks went away. Transistor radios gave us music and news--and they sucked. There were maybe four television stations--the three main networks and the local station that played reruns, nothing else--and there was more quality TV to watch than today with nine million stations.
Phones were the rotary dial and sometimes you had party lines where you shared the same phone line. You'd pick up the phone and hear your neighbor jabbering away!
Society had more class back then. You didn't hear filthy language on the street, in the store, at a ball game. There was much more civility. No such thing as drive by shootings, crack, crank. Drugs were not as ubiquitous. Families seemed to stay together more often, although who can say if this was a good thing for some of them?
I think because life was simpler, people were less cynical. What frightens me is that today's youth will look back on 2008 as "the good old days". What does that say about twenty years from now???
I was just a kid in the 70s. My best memories either going to the swimming pool with my mom and sister or travelling in our blue station wagon from Midland to see my Grammy in Fredericksburg. My mom thought it was important for me and my sister to be "involved" so we were put in ballet lessons, Girl Scouts, etc. I was allowed to listen to very little disco and watched the Love Boat but not Charlie's Angels, etc. The neighbors at the end of our cul-de-sac were an eccentric couple, Mary Jane and Stanley. Mary Jane wore heavy eyeliner and had divorced her first husband. They were extremely nice and interesting, in a way that I can't explain. They had a trampoline so Caryn (my sister) and I would walk to their house to jump on it. We had "block" parties. My mom let us go see Grease but was upset because Rizzo got pregnant and the movie was filled with references to it. The older kids on the block dressed up like KISS for Halloween which I thought was scary. Cher had a show with Sonny (which I loved) but then they divorced and she started going out with Greg Allman or Gene Simmons, I forget which. That was my first tabloid news. John Denver had his own show too and was a huge star. There was a real kooky song that my neighbors had on 45: Mr Jaws.
My parents divorced in 1980, but the 70s hold a special place in my heart before things got so weird and complicated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobmulk
I
What I remember, though, is that life wasn't as complicated or stressful. Nowadays, everything is technological and while it saves us time, it also requires more of us. Life was definitely simpler. No ATMS, microwave ovens, video games, DVD players, Ipods, cable TV, internet or cell phones. You had to write a check to get extra money and any store would take it. You had to wait for food to actually cook. Board games were the rage or just playing games outside (fresh air, exercise and sunshine anyone?). Music was played on record players, eventually eight track and cassettes came around and eight tracks went away. Transistor radios gave us music and news--and they sucked. There were maybe four television stations--the three main networks and the local station that played reruns, nothing else--and there was more quality TV to watch than today with nine million stations.
Society had more class back then. You didn't hear filthy language on the street, in the store, at a ball game. There was much more civility. No such thing as drive by shootings, crack, crank. Drugs were not as ubiquitous. Families seemed to stay together more often, although who can say if this was a good thing for some of them?
I think because life was simpler, people were less cynical. What frightens me is that today's youth will look back on 2008 as "the good old days". What does that say about twenty years from now???
Yeah, what all of you above have said! One of my favorite things from the '60s/'70s was the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. Finest jet fighter the U.S.A. has ever built. It was awesome in the air but I truly believe maintenance was an afterthought (and I have the "Phantom Bites" to prove it). I STILL think it's the best-looking aircraft ever built. And even though I was too young for Viet Nam, it and other USAF/USN/USMC fighters did well there. We built some awesome aircraft in the '50s/'60s/'70s. Hope we never lose that ability...
If the sixties were a stormy adolescence, then the 70s were college and young adulthood with not a lot of responsibilities.
Radio was largely AM, and filled with some of the best music ever. There was also a generous helping of crap, but overall it was hugely creative and varied compared to anything after the mid to late eighties. (I have to say that the past few years I see things turning around for the better.) Picture a 1971 Mach I Mustang, Alpine 20 watt per channel AM/8 track with two extra mono speakers in back. Wolfman Jack on the radio, KOMA clear channel Oklahoma City, Saturday night cruisin' main. On 52 cent a gallon gas.
Speaking of, cars began to lose their horsepower and their looks. Most everyone where I lived ran late sixties and very early seventies machines, some modified to run some fairly impressive quarter mile times. However, any car people out there remember how squirrely bias ply tires were? Horsepower was great, handling marginal at times. But the sound...man, there is nothing short of the new Bullitt Mustangs, Vettes and Vipers that can compare. The new Japanese hot rods may be a bit faster and handle much better, but sound like a horse on bad oats. Sorry for that, but am an unapologetic V8 and VTwin exhaust junkie.
Let's see...much less swearing, minimal social diseases, discos (yeeech), MAD magazines with truly good artwork and very original content, no cell phones, PDAs, and video games were pretty much Pong and I believe Atari late in the 70s. Foosball was a passion most places, and many of us earned extra money suckering the city boys who thought we couldn't play. (We couldn't....for the first three or four games ).
The moon landing in '69, a nervous presidency, real Saturday morning cartoons, the Carol Burnett show, Dean Martin roasts, Bob Hope Christmas specials. Lots of guys trying to make a Torino look just like the one on Starsky and Hutch. No computers anywhere, credit cards were almost non-existent and hard to get. Big black eyeglass frames with little silver footballs on the corners of the bows. No contact lenses, and the best you could do for questionable reading material was the underwear section of the Sears/Roebuck catalog. It was a great day if you could score a Playboy from an older brother.
Bell bottom pants, even elephant bells, tie-dye left over from the 60s, peasant skirts, and polyester - lots of polyester. Anybody got a prom picture with the requisite three piece wide lapel polyester look? How 'bout with platform shoes? Ocean Pacific was cutting edge in summer shirts. You might have gotten it at a Brass Buckle outlet.
On the plus side (and forgive me, but I watched girls exclusively) pants rode with a bit more panache, bikinis started getting the French lines more right (I lifeguarded for extra $$), no rasta around, NO PIERCINGS!!!!, no tramp stamps, and much less makeup. Thanks to Tina Turner and and far less sugar in the diet, the girls I grew up around could usually make a pair of high heels really work. And thanks to Catherine Bach, we had those cut-off jeans, and the holy grail, the halter top.
Smaller houses, kids shared bedrooms. Many families of 6+ shared 1 bathroom
There were maybe 1 or 2 fat kids in the entire school, we were all thin and in good shape
I think the "70's Show" does a good job at depicting teen life in the 70's
Music was better. Rock was king. Going to concerts was a big deal and you waited in long lines at record stores that had Ticketmaster outlets to buy your tickets
Papers written for school were typed, often at the library. Research for them was done in the library with books. No internet then. Made us read much more.
No one wore baseball caps unless they were playing baseball.
Only the military and "bad boys" had tattoos.
We went on one on one dates - guys would come over to your house to meet your dad.
The guy would plan the date and pay for it.
When we wanted to talk with our friends, we'd go out and talk with them in person. We used the phone much less. It was more expensive and most people had 1 or 2 in their homes.
We'd cruise around in a car and go "cruising". Friends would chip in for gas money. We'd listen to music, smoke cigarettes and drive around endlessly.
We had more freedom. We went "out". Parents were less paranoid back then.
Some of us (me, lol) hitch hiked to school regularly. Hitch hiking was still common then
More of our peers were from 2 parent households. Divorce was less common
Big families - many kids from families of 4, 5 or even 10 kids
We all had jobs as soon as we could get them. Parents would sign a job permission slip so we could start working in sophomore year of high school. We all wanted them because our parents bought us much less then parents buy many kids today
No color TV's until the late 70's
No cable TV. 1 or 2 TV's in the house and way less options
Midnight shows at the movie theaters! Those were great!
We married younger. Married people we met in high school or college or a party, etc. Had our first kids by age 25 and our first mortgage around that time.
House parties - under age drinking in the basement when parents were home. Now parents are thrown in jail for this.
We ate McDonald's and other "junk" food about 3 times a year. My school at "Mc Donald's Day" and it was a BIG deal. Some of us only ate McDonald's on that one day. We'd get a cheeseburger, small fry and small Coke and were really excited about it.
High schools had outdoor smoking areas
Never drank diet pop until Tab came out. Maybe drank 6 cans a week - tops
American cars were awesome then. Pontiac GTOs', Buick Skylarks, Chevy Camaros, etc. Japanese cars were called "rice burners" and hardly anyone had them
More products were made in the USA. TV's for instance were made here - Quasar, Motorola, Zenith, etc.
All of our stereos were made in the United States too, as were most of our clothes
Stuff made in Japan back then sucked
Jobs - many of our dad's had 1 job their entire lives and our mom's didn't have to work
People still got pensions from their jobs and you count on having a job for life
TV was free - no cable then
TV programming ended around midnight with the national anthem and a daily reflection
Travel was much more expensive. Only kids who's parents had money went on airplane vacations. Most went on car trips. Many never went to Disney until they became adults with their own kids
People tended to live closer to other relatives. There wasn't yet the amount of suburban sprawl back then. Everything seemed closer.
When you got a tear in your jeans, your mom sewed on an iron on patch over it. Everyone did it so you weren't embarrassed.
Our parents were younger. Being 10 and having a 50 year old mother was unheard of unless you were her 5th child.
Life seemed simpler even though we didn't have many convenience of today. Many homes had no dishwashers, no snowblowers, automatic sprinklers, alarm systems, etc. Many things had to be done manually but yet, they got done. People were used to working harder in some ways. My dishwasher recently broke and I went into a panic. Then I reflected how we never had one when I was growing up - ever.
Kids rode their bikes or walked to school. I grew up with no one that was driven to school by their mom's. We walked in packs of kids. In my town, if your high school was far, you took the bus - the public bus. I took 3 each way to school. In winter, I'd leave the house at 6:15 to get to school at 8:15. It became habitual.
In some ways it was better and I suppose in some ways it was worse. As kids, we had much more freedom so that was great. But many of us could not depend on our parents to buy us what we wanted or drive us around. it was a trade off. I loved growing up then, just like you'll reflect on growing up now one day with good feelings about it.
Papers written for school were typed, often at the library. Research for them was done in the library with books. No internet then. Made us read much more.
No one wore baseball caps unless they were playing baseball.
Only the military and "bad boys" had tattoos.
When we wanted to talk with our friends, we'd go out and talk with them in person. We used the phone much less. It was more expensive and most people had 1 or 2 in their homes.
.
We had more freedom. We went "out". Parents were less paranoid back then.
No cable TV. 1 or 2 TV's in the house and way less options
We ate McDonald's and other "junk" food about 3 times a year. My school at "Mc Donald's Day" and it was a BIG deal. Some of us only ate McDonald's on that one day. We'd get a cheeseburger, small fry and small Coke and were really excited about it.
Jobs - many of our dad's had 1 job their entire lives and our mom's didn't have to work
People still got pensions from their jobs and you count on having a job for life
TV was free - no cable then
Travel was much more expensive. Only kids who's parents had money went on airplane vacations. Most went on car trips. Many never went to Disney until they became adults with their own kids
Life seemed simpler even though we didn't have many convenience of today. Many homes had no dishwashers, no snowblowers, automatic sprinklers, alarm systems, etc.
Kids rode their bikes or walked to school. I grew up with no one that was driven to school by their mom's. We walked in packs of kids. In my town, if your high school was far, you took the bus - the public bus. I took 3 each way to school. In winter, I'd leave the house at 6:15 to get to school at 8:15. It became habitual.
In some ways it was better and I suppose in some ways it was worse. As kids, we had much more freedom so that was great. But many of us could not depend on our parents to buy us what we wanted or drive us around. it was a trade off. I loved growing up then, just like you'll reflect on growing up now one day with good feelings about it.
Great list. I especially enjoy your last paragraph.
I agree with almost all of your list, and quoted the points that especially resonated with me. We did go on faraway vacations, but my dad worked for United Airlines. Still, mostly we went on car trips.
I remember when my kids were little, I was such a Mean Mom for making them ride their bikes to soccer practice.
lisak64, thanks for some of those reminders. I especially have some good and even funny reminders about
Quote:
Kids rode their bikes or walked to school. I grew up with no one that was driven to school by their mom's. We walked in packs of kids. In my town, if your high school was far, you took the bus - the public bus. I took 3 each way to school. In winter, I'd leave the house at 6:15 to get to school at 8:15. It became habitual.
I too rode my bike nearly everywhere, and had to either walk or ride a couple of buses to get to high school. A bunch of us would meet at a corner, and if we were early enough, we'd buy pickles, big fat juicy sour pickles at the neighbourhood delicacy store to eat on the way to school.
And, not everyone had a bike, and mine was the group's shopping cart, and stroller: We hid our group pack of cigarettes in my basket and secretly went to smoke, together, one cigarette at a time, until we ran out. I think it took more than 2 weeks.
I got caught and took the heat, but thinking back on it: dark streets, hiding cigarettes, sneaking behind buildings to have a smoke, pickles in the morning, stuff that seems like nothing to young people today.
We ate supper together. watched one of the three available tv channels together. At our house in Indiana we had one phone.And you could abuse it and it ALWAYS worked. At our home in Tennessee we still had a "party line" If your parents werent home and you got into mischief, your nieghbor could spank you. Your preacher, teacher or coach had better be obeyed. 5 or 6 guys could chip in whatever change they had in thier pocket and that was enough gas and cig $$ for the whole night. Car trunks were so big that you could hide 2 or 3 people in there to sneak them into the drive in movies.
I also remember my mom making cake, frosting, pies, cookies all from scratch.
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Grease is the word!
).
