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Old 05-20-2014, 11:24 AM
 
Location: Shawnee-on-Delaware, PA
7,945 posts, read 7,302,129 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by STB93 View Post
I would like to know what was it like back in the 1970s decade? I am 20 and I often watch clips and see pictures of what it was like back then but I would like to know from your experiences for what the 1970s were really like?
I was born in 1960, was in 4th grade on January 1, 1970 and graduated high school in 1978. On December 31, 1979 I had already flunked out of college and was working as a teller at a savings and loan in New Jersey.

The 1970's were like the 2010's in many ways. There was a general feeling of hopelessness, or "malaise" as the popular press called it then, that America's best days were in the history books and the Japanese would soon take over everything.

While the social revolution of the 1960's was rooted in being pro-racial equality and anti-war, by the 70's we had fallen into a state of permanent revolution perpetuated by a pro-revolution commercial and political establishment.

Watch the movie Taxi Driver to get a good idea of what the 70's were like. And I haven't seen Summer of Sam, which was about the year 1977, but that was probably the most definitive year of the decade. The mayhem, the riots, the looting, the psychosis, and pornography everywhere. (Although I will say that the looting of the 14th Street Crazy Eddie in June 1977 during a blackout may have been a turning point in the public's general sympathy toward urban rioters).

Listen to Tom Robinson Band's "Winter of '79".

Watch footage of the Yankees 1977 World Series win. Watch the fans hanging over the outfield walls, ready to storm the field even before the final game was over, and the cops doing nothing. (Compare with footage of the Mets 1986 World Series win a mere 9 years later in the same city).

Really, except for punk rock the 70's sucked.

 
Old 05-20-2014, 11:28 AM
 
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^But at least the 70s gave you Star Wars. That was awesome.
 
Old 05-20-2014, 11:50 AM
 
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just found this topic - I have to add -

this was before the rampant plastic surgery that just about every celebrity has nowadays. they screw their face up so bad oftentimes that the actor/actress you remember from the 1970's does not look anything like that anymore. (like the girl from Dirty Dancing that screwed up her nose). Also people were not generally athletic build - especially the girls, women had a more softer look and not so skinny, well except there was Twiggy in the 1960's.. but for the most part, women had more curves, and we wore the white and very light pink lipstick. We went to the beach and slathered on tanning oil to get a nice tan, the darker the better. No fake orange tanning booth. no computers, no cell phone, but we did just fine. Commercials for "say no to drugs" scared many of us from experimenting with drugs. We believed the commercials. music was great! people sang. Not this stupid fake computer-ish voice modulation.. people really sang. Just watch the movie Woodstock and you will see real genuine singing. Back then, things were new and interesting, tv programs changed with All In the Family and got more political. TV programs actually confonted people with the views going on, racial stuff, war, liberals, etc. looking back though, a lot of stuff Archie believed back then which seemed stupid some of it really makes sense now.. like the conservative views he had. too much of that is lost and now our country is run by too many liberals that dont respect values and, well i better stop here before i get mad at the situation now in America. but the 1970's were pretty cool and groovy!
 
Old 05-20-2014, 12:04 PM
 
Location: London
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Wasn't New York City just about to go bankrupt in the 1970s?
 
Old 05-20-2014, 12:24 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO View Post
just found this topic - I have to add -

Commercials for "say no to drugs" scared many of us from experimenting with drugs. We believed the commercials. !
I think your memory is a bit off there. The "Just Say No" campaign was launch by Nancy Reagan in early 80s. Before that it was simply the threat of a long prison term that was used to discourage drug use. The 70s were when the horrible Rockefeller laws started in New York and spread across the nation. We're still dealing with the impact of those laws today.
 
Old 05-20-2014, 12:53 PM
 
Location: Brooklyn, New York
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The 70s were my youth - ages 15 to 25. Speaking for myself and my friends, the decade was about partying. The smell of weed was everywhere and it was cheap! Of course, it probably wasn't as potent as what is on the market these days but we didn't know any better. We were outraged when the price went up from $15 an ounce (or "lid") to $35 or $40. This was around 1974. If you worked in an office, as I did, there was a lot of lunchtime drinking and after-work happy hours. I worked at an insurance agency in 1978 where we would go up to the roof and light up a joint with never a thought of getting caught.

I remember the anti-disco rally - I was living in Chicago at the time. I thought it was great because I hated disco. I had a good friend who loved disco and who had worked as a DJ but I could never get into most of that music. The whole disco scene just seemed so fake to me. I was into rock and jazz in the 1970s.

The drinking age was 18, although I didn't go to bars much until I was 21. My friends and I would go to the bars on Lincoln Avenue - it was so much fun! Sometimes we'd stay out till daybreak (bars in Chicago stayed open late, maybe they still do). Drinks were cheap and if there was a cover charge (when a band was playing), it was $1 or $2. We had very little money so we'd sit and nurse our drinks for hours. The waitresses must have hated us!

I wasn't really aware of whether the economy was good or bad. For me, the 70's was mostly about partying and music. Then the 80s came and it was time to get serious.
 
Old 05-20-2014, 01:25 PM
 
Location: Cold Springs, NV
4,618 posts, read 12,226,090 times
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It was surely a much more prosperous America than today. You knew you could get a job, raise a family, and live life. Much different than you're lucky you got a job of today.

I enjoyed reading the posts. I was there, and am thankful for it.
 
Old 05-20-2014, 01:41 PM
 
Location: Salinas, CA
15,408 posts, read 6,158,632 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by North Beach Person View Post
It did.

The 1970's were a decade of gas lines and rationing. Wage and price controls. Loss of national prestige. No matter your own opinion on the war itself the US abandoned the South Viet Namese, who were promptly conquered by the North. The World looked and saw a country unwilling to honor its agreements.

It was a decade that saw basic industries contract, shut down and when offshoring began in earnest. High inflation coupled with high unemployment and declining GDP combined to erode the standard of living. Interest rates approached 20% for houses and cars. There were serial recessions throughout the decade.

Whomever says that a college degree "guaranteed" a job either didn't live through the time or doesn't have a firm grasp of history.

Watergate eroded trust in the government which continues today.

Not as rosy as others have painted it.

How much longer should we have stayed in Vietnam? We were there over a decade. It is almost always people who did not get drafted for combat that say that. Easy to say when you are not the one making the sacrifice. The best answer is that we should not have become militarily involved there in the first place.

You do make some good points, but at least Nixon paid a small price for Watergate in the 1970's and resigned (should have been more, but Ford did the pardon). The additional price was the GOP losing the White House as Jimmy Carter would be elected in 1976. By contrast, what price did Bush and Cheney pay for the myriad scandals, fraud and deceit surrounding the Iraq War and cover-up of Pat Tillman's death details? None. At least there was some accountability in place back then despite the eroding confidence.

I was fortunate to have been too young to have to worry about a job back then, but the San Jose area at that time where we lived (Silicon Valley) was doing better than most of the country. I don't think my father got laid off during that decade despite the economic issues. He may have right around 1970, then got hired again and got a transfer to Silicon Valley.
 
Old 05-20-2014, 01:46 PM
 
Location: Oceania
8,610 posts, read 7,850,642 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alphamale View Post
The same as today but there was more lead.
What does that even mean?
 
Old 05-20-2014, 01:49 PM
 
790 posts, read 1,259,753 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jzeig104 View Post
An attitude that the world was really changing, and that we were going to make it so much better.
Ironic huh
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