What were the 1970s like? (50s, facts, biggest, China)
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For sports fans Monday Night Football started in 1970 and has become a sports institution in this country. Back then there were fewer female fans than today, so it is safe to say many women cursed it while many guys were glad to have it. By the latter part of the decade it became very popular and especially the humorous interaction between Cosell and Meredith could have been put on Saturday Night Live even without the game! It provided a lot of laughs. (Today, MNF is more popular than ever. There will never be a reality show on my TV when MNF is on in the fall).
BTW, Saturday Night Live started in the 1970's, too! That also became an institution for awhile, but it is not quite as popular today.
Howard Cosell was a great sports announcer, but have you noticed almost everything good people say about the 70's revolves around entertainment in some way? The TV was good, the music was good, the movies were good, the fads were amusing, but the 70's came up short on meaningful things that advance our society in some beneficial way. What did we get in those 10 years, a pocket calculator, a digital watch? Wow, don't spend it all in one place, jeez. All the big ticket electronic products had a habit of breaking down about as often in 1979 as they did in 1970, all that stuff was pretty much junk by today's standards, record players needed expensive needle cartridges replaced every few years, the TV sets broke down all the time, attempts in the 70's to put more electronic stuff in cars meant the car would break down more often. Socially we were on the decline, economically on the decline, technology making very little progress in day to day living.
That's why I mentioned the environmental movement being the one bright spot in an otherwise cloudy decade. Going green was not a fad, in fact, one might say that since the first protections for the environment came from the EPA, therefore, Richard Nixon might deserve the title "Father of Environmental Protection". We should sing now......
Ten smog clouds and Nixon's coming, were finally on our way,
The air is getting cleaner, he started the EPA,
Gotta get down to it, his work is leading the way.....
Howard Cosell was a great sports announcer, but have you noticed almost everything good people say about the 70's revolves around entertainment in some way? The TV was good, the music was good, the movies were good, the fads were amusing, but the 70's came up short on meaningful things that advance our society in some beneficial way. What did we get in those 10 years, a pocket calculator, a digital watch? Wow, don't spend it all in one place, jeez. All the big ticket electronic products had a habit of breaking down about as often in 1979 as they did in 1970, all that stuff was pretty much junk by today's standards, record players needed expensive needle cartridges replaced every few years, the TV sets broke down all the time, attempts in the 70's to put more electronic stuff in cars meant the car would break down more often. Socially we were on the decline, economically on the decline, technology making very little progress in day to day living.
That's why I mentioned the environmental movement being the one bright spot in an otherwise cloudy decade. Going green was not a fad, in fact, one might say that since the first protections for the environment came from the EPA, therefore, Richard Nixon might deserve the title "Father of Environmental Protection". We should sing now......
Ten smog clouds and Nixon's coming, were finally on our way,
The air is getting cleaner, he started the EPA,
Gotta get down to it, his work is leading the way.....
We got a lot of important inventions out of the 1970s, actually. Some of the inventions were the microprocessor, the dot matrix printer, the laser printer, the Jarvik-7 artificial heart, the word processor, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the floppy disk, and cell phones. All in all, it wasn't a bad decade for inventions.
In almost exactly 1970, there was a sudden trend for people to say "Have a nice day", as people decided that they had had enough rancor and bickering and self-centered rudeness, and dedicated themselves to becoming kinder and gentler. The Smiley face was invented just before 1970, and by the end of the 70's, people genuinely wanted you to have a nice day. The Hippies introduced it in the '60s, and by the end of the '70's, it had quietly become de rigeur.
The simple Hippies, one could argue, changed the world more than anything that happened in technology, entertainment, or any other industry.
We got a lot of important inventions out of the 1970s, actually. Some of the inventions were the microprocessor, the dot matrix printer, the laser printer, the Jarvik-7 artificial heart, the word processor, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the floppy disk, and cell phones. All in all, it wasn't a bad decade for inventions.
Technology was advancing, but for most people, day to day living did not involve using most of the things you mention here. The 70's was a lag decade, a waiting period for technology to advance enough and work it's way down to the consumer level. The 70's were little better than the 60's or 50's in that regard. Too bad they never perfected the cryogenic chamber unthawing process so people could leave and come back later...lol. Even the environmental stuff had plenty of lag, never stopped the formaldehyde insulation, or helped the people in Love Canal before it was too late. Carter just about had to be hit in the head with a 2 x 4 to get him to declare that place a disaster area and help those people get out.
The entertainment was great, far superior to any other decade, lots of people with talent around in those days. That made the sting of what was going on in the real world much easier to cope with. Kind of similar to the 30's in a way, going to the movie theater to escape the horror. Been checking out Welcome Back Kotter on ME TV lately, those were some good 70's specimens to study and learn why NYC was in such bad shape back then.
Jtr88, nice chart and +1 for the thought, but I bet Ted Bundy wore one of those smiley face buttons to lure new victims , and Gacy probably said "have a nice day" as he was filling in the holes.
1. In the 1970s we had Disco. Today, we have Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. 2. In the 1970s we had Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter. Today, we have Barack Obama. 3. In the 1970s, Americans fell in love with stupid fads such as mood rings, lava lamps and pet rocks. Today, we have twerking, “planking”, crocs, wedge sneakers and pajama jeans. 4. In 1970, a gallon of gasoline cost 36 cents. Today, the average price for a gallon of gasoline is about $3.27. 5. In the 1970s we still had rotary phones. Today, we have iPhones. 6. In the 1970s, presidents were tapping the phones of their enemies. Today, the government is recording all of our calls. In fact, the NSA intercepts and permanently stores close to 2 billion emails and phone calls every single day. 7. In the 1970s, gum chewing and talking in class were some of the major disciplinary problems in our schools. Today, many of our public schools have been equipped with metal detectors because violence has become so bad. 8. In the 1970s, you could sit down and watch television with your children in the evenings without being too concerned about what they were about to see. Today, not so much. 9. In the early 1970s, Pong was the hottest video game in America. In the late 1970s, Space Invaders took America by storm. Today, the video games have become so incredibly advanced and so extremely entertaining that video game addiction has become a major problem. 10. In the 1970s, most of the products in our stores were made in America and we barely conducted any trade with China. Today, it seems like almost everything we buy has “made in China” stamped on it and our yearly trade deficit with China is now about 300 billion dollars. 11. In 1973, the United States was #2 in GDP per capita. Today, the United States is #13 in GDP per capita. 12. In 1970, the average woman had her first child when she was 21.4 years old. Now the average woman has her first child when she is 25.6 years old. 13. In the 1970s, the “inactivity rate” for men in their prime working years (25 to 54) was less than 6 percent. Today, it is up close to 12 percent. 14. For most of the 1970s, the average duration of unemployment was less than 15 weeks. Today, it is more than 37 weeks. 15. In the 1970s, Star Wars was released. It is still far superior to any movie that has come out so far this year. 16. In the 1970s, redistribution of wealth was considered to be something that “the communists” did. Today, redistribution of wealth is the official policy of the U.S. government. 17. In 1970, about 18 million Americans had manufacturing jobs. Today,about 12 million Americans have manufacturing jobs even though our population has grown far larger. 18. In the 1970s, many Americans regularly left their cars and the front doors of their homes unlocked at night. Today, many Americans live with steel bars on their windows and gun sales are at record highs. 19. Consumer debt in the United States has risen by a whopping 1700% since 1971, and today 46% of all Americans carry a credit card balance from month to month. 20. In the 1970s, most Americans still respected the U.S. Constitution. Today, if you are a “Constitutionalist”, you may get labeled as a potential terrorist by the U.S. government. 21. Back in 1970, the five largest U.S. banks held 17 percent of all U.S. banking industry assets. Today, the five largest U.S. banks hold 52 percent of all U.S. banking industry assets. 22.40 percent of all workers in the United States actually make less than what a full-time minimum wage worker made back in 1968. 23. In 1977, Elvis was found dead. Today, the entire U.S. middle class is dying. 24. Back in the 1970s, about one out of every 50 Americans was on food stamps. Today, about one out of every 6 Americans is on food stamps. 25. In 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman. When you wanted to listen to a particular song, you had to rewind your tape to find it. Today, everyone has iPods and it takes just seconds to sort through thousands of songs. 26. In the 1970s, the United States loaned more money to the rest of the world than anybody else. Today, the United States owes more money to the rest of the world than anybody else. 27. In 1970, the U.S. national debt was about 371 billion dollars. Today, it is more than 46 times larger. 28. In the 1970s, hippies were smoking dope, attending rock festivals and singing protest songs. Today, they are running the U.S. government
The 70s were a great time--though I had to enjoy most of it from the sidelines. I grew up in what today is called a dysfunctional family. Six days after High School Graduation I was in Navy Boot Camp and GLAD to be away from home. When everybody else was getting their drivers licenses I was living with an aunt and uncle who did not see this as their responsibility. I was sent back home the last two years of High School and dad did not see that I needed a drivers license as I could walk everywhere in our small town and once a week he took us to the nearest big town to get groceries--so what did I need to drive for? I was not allowed to get a part-time job, nor mow lawns for other people, nor touch dad's tools, though he did show me how to use an arc welder. It took me several years to get the things most kids left home with. I had to teach myself how to drive and then I had to find out about girls--kind of hard to swing by and pick a girl up when you don't have a car to swing by and pick her up in. Most of the time I was either in the Navy or going to college so was largely isolated from the job market, though I had no particular trouble finding work--probably because I was willing to do things other White Boys didn't want to do.
I had planned on becoming a science fiction writer (Google "JIPSI Life" to find a story I wrote about 70s-era kids 200 years from now--it was rejected by everybody in Hollywood.) (Most current science fiction isn't worth reading or watching--and most of it is not science fiction but rather horror or fantacy.) I responded to the Jesus Movement and began studying to become a pastor. I finally concluded that while I could preach a good sermon if the pastor was not there (in our small churches that was often the case) I was a failure at such things as grief councelling or persuading someone to give their heart to the Lord. I wound up becoming a factory worker, but should have pursued one of my high school daydreams of being a greenhouse farmer. I didn't calculate how much money I could have made till a couple of years ago.
I was a 1st grader in January of '70 and a junior in high school in December of '79; so I have lots of memories. In the late sixties and early '70's it was about Vietnam or just 'Nam. I remember watching the evening news with Walter Cronkite on black and white TV and seeing video of injured men carried out of the jungle on stretchers and airplanes dropping bombs. At the bottom of the screen were 2 black boxes one for the number of injured that day and the other for the number killed. At the same time were hippies. Long hair tied back in pony-tails, jeans and tie-dyed shirts and sandals. I remember hippie playing frisbee on the courthouse lawn in my hometown. My Dad, a WWII vet, said they were lazy and dirty. Some were and some weren't, but that gives a good example of what at that time was called "The Generation Gap". I remember the Watergate scandal and the televised hearings that were on TV the entire summer of '73 during the day on all 3 channels. I can remember my Grandfather and his brother, both born in the 1890's, arguing about "Tricky Dicky". President Nixon's resignation in '74 was one of those events that you remember where you were when you heard the news. The mid 70's was about Disco. It was everywhere, but by '79, it was at its end. I remember WFBQ in Indianapolis doing "Disco Destroyer". They would begin to play a disco song, but it was interrupted by sound of a needle scratching across the record and low voice saying "WFBQ, Disco Destroyer." They would then play Boston, Kansas, Rush or Zeppelin.
On TV, we watched, Happy Days, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Carol Burnett Show, Three's Company, The Bob Newhart Show, Sonny and Cher. When I got my driver's license in June of '79, my parents bought me a cheap used car. A 1970 Mercury Cougar with a 351 cu in V-8 and a 4 barrel carb for $1400. The muscle cars of the '60's were just cheap used cars in '79. If I remember correctly, gas in Indianapolis hit $1 a gallon for the first time that summer. No home computers, I never used a computer until I was a freshman at Ball State University in the fall of '81. And that was in the computer lab. No cell phones. Phones were wired to the wall and had a long cord so Mom could cook dinner and still talk on the phone. Unfortunately, the cord was usually tangled around itself. If you had touchtone (pushbuttons) that was cutting edge. Air-conditioning! I think the first car we had with air was a '76 Chevy Caprice. Air conditioned schools were almost unheard of. I went to 8th grade in a newly built school with air, but the next year went onto the high school built in the early '60's that didn't. What a great time to grow up.
Peace and Love 42 - that was excellent.! I could add to that list -
the difference in then and now - the amount of unwed mothers and amount of divorces.
the type of sex teens had compared to now - back then sex was treated differently, in the age kids started and the amount of times we said no compared to now where sex is so blatant and almost seems expected on a date whereas back then we said no more often.
the government was corrupt with Nixon, but nowadays with this current administration, every day more and more scandals are happening EVERYWHERE and in each department of the government (and now the worst treating our vets so shamefully
you could afford a home and car better than now, house prices are now a bigger chunk of the average income. a home could be bought for much much less back then. although, a lot of people were convinced that they "deserved" a home, (entitlement mindset) rather than having to work for it.
Fast food jobs were something you did in high school but after high school you either went to college or your worked your way up the job ladder and have a career. (i did that,, i didn't go to college but worked my way up to the profession i am in - on the job training and good opportunity); however, now we see on tv people of middle age, old age, and married people are fighting for the minimum wage to be higher - because they say they cant support a family on what they earn, however, macdonalds was only meant to be a temporary job while your in school. not a career. now its a career for many. (one note - the workers who are complaining about that should have paid the price, gone to college or trade school and that shoudl have been their way out).
back then, kids moved out of thier parents house, got on their own at an earlier age. i was 18 when i moved out, and now kids live with their parents till 27 years old - thanks to the economy and other such things, but it was unheard of to live with your parents till that age.. we just wanted to move out and live life as we wanted.
back then, you could count on social security, now i am not so sure.
one last thing, you could get a home for pretty cheap back then. of course back then you might think a property was expensive, but compared to today it was cheap. for example if you bought a house in Lincoln Park area of chicago, it was cheap but since that area appreciated so much, that $65,000 house is now worth maybe $1,000,000. think about some areas that were ghetto and slummy and dangerous and now look at the area - very expensive - i.e. Wicker Park - in the 1970's was majorly Hispanic and cheap, now look at it. New Town (Diversey and Broadway) was pretty cheap and alcoholics hung out there, now look at it. if i had only known this i would have bought a home and i would be rich!
or think about other areas of the city which changed which were considered cheap, dirty, dangerous, etc.. and now expensive!! and trendy! whites are now living where blacks used to live like around ITT campus on 35th and michigan, wicker park, young people are now moving back to the city, (fleeing to the suburbs was still popular) but now kids are coming back to the city, and gentrifying Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, the West Loop, River North, etc.
We sure as heck didn't think twice about consuming a greasy cheesburger and fries. Health consciousness was still some years off.
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