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"Keep on Truck'n"
Tight bell-bottoms
Small shorts
Iron on t-shirts
Frye boots
Suede Pumas
Mini bikes
Marlboro red/ box (.30 cents)
Never home
Far, FAR, F A R, fewer fat kids
It should be pointed out, though, that the early 70s were quite a bit different from the late 70s..
Early 70s music had a quite a bit of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc, while late 70s had a fair bit of disco, and pop rock. Vietnam was still much on the minds of Americans in 1972-73, while in 1977-78 people just wanted to forget all about it. Nixon in early 70s versus Carter in late 70s, different atmosphere.
Even hair styles changed. in the early 70s, for young men, longer hair, still parted on one side, became in vogue, and young women ALL had very long hair--just check out high school yearbooks. In the late 70s, all kinds of hair styles were in fashion.
The early 70s were much more interesting, being a carry-over from the 60s. The late 70s were more peaceful, in a sense, but also less memorable.
the '72-'73 period was my favorite years tho its only a naive judgment as i was only 10 at the time. i felt that 1979 was such an exciting year, tho a lot of awful things happened that year--the death of Donny Hathaway, Three Mile Island, the crash of AA flight 191, the Disco ****s rally, the trampling deaths at a WHo Concert and the seizing of hostages late that year
Too young to remember much from the early 70s ( born in 1968 ) but I do remember the late 70's living in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia ( Martinsburg )...here are a few things I can remember,,,
Us kids played outside a LOT. Gym classes we were required to dress up and when the weather was warm we were outside.
Supermarkets were smaller meaning more/less they sold just food and some other items since the ones in our area they did not have a florist making flower arrangements, no big deli offering hot food, no pharmacy but you could buy OTC items though like Anacin or cough syrup and of course soap and shampoo. In our area the supermarkets were still an union shop and they paid well.
Fast food like McDonalds, Burger Chef, Pizza Hut were popular and other than maybe those chain steakhouses like Bonanza if one had wanted to go to say a casual chain restaurant say like Red Lobster for example we had to go to either DC or Baltimore for that. Dittos with chains like Toys R US or Circuit City too. JC Penney, Sears, K-Mart and Montgomery Wards were the BIG stores back then though Sears did change from town to town. Some were BIG and offered pretty much everything while others were not that much larger than your garage so those stores didn't offer very much.
AM radio was king if one was into top 40 pop hits and disco in our area but if your FM radio was strong enough you could hear that music from DC, Baltimore or Richmond. Back in those days FM pretty much meant elevator music, gospel and country music. Local djs were "celebrities" though they certainly were not paid very much but they were LIVE and provided a flavor to the community. Today it's more/less if you heard one KISS-FM station you heard them all.
Television in the late 70's not only could we pick up the local DC and Baltimore stations but all of them were on our cable TV too and if one had a good antenna you could pick up a few signals from Central Pennsylvania, Richmond and Philadelphia too. TV News was coming of age by using names like "NewsCenter", Eyewitness News and Action News. Instant-Cams allowed for local live on the scene news reports and the weather people were starting to use radar and computers on the newscasts.
HBO was becoming popular in our area at the time but the downside was that they were only available within city limits and HBO wasn't even a 24 hour operation then either so many still went to the movie theater anyway.
Though ours didn't many of the other towns in our region back in the late 70s still had big department stores and many other shopping options.
Downside to the late 70s in our area....smoking was EVERYWHERE for starters as well as drinking. Not uncommon to see people drinking a beer while driving with kids in the back seat. There were even a few BARS that allowed kids to come with their parents so they can play the games like pinball while the parents smoked and drank. Some apartment buildings didn't allow those to move in with kids and if you were say a single male or even lived with a male roommate way too many folks would assume that you "had to be gay" even if you were totally straight. Oddly enough if it was a single woman or two females who were living together I don't remember many calling them lesbians.
For some reason I seem to remember the late 70's being a bit of a violent time. Not talking about crime but for some reason I can remember a number of times seeing fist fights in stores, restaurants even at school even among adults like the time in class ( I was in 4th grade ) a parent upset at the teacher over something he had did to his son had suddenly walked into the classroom and punched our teacher right in the face and looking back I don't think the parent was arrested either. Oh not only could you get spanked by your parents if you needed it but other parents and even strangers could spank you too and get away with it. Of course the positive thing about that is that kids tend to be well behave in public with/without their parents back in those days.
Last edited by tantan1968; 02-20-2015 at 11:42 PM..
These were my 1st grade though 10th grade years. I possess a good memory and note there were very few fat kids in my classes in this period. Physical Education and the Presidential Physical Fitness tests were mandatory from early years. I recall one kid who was unable to do a situp. He was teased terribly.
We ate all the time and ate trash foods during lunch time at school and at events but never seemed to be overweight as today's kids are. I suppose it was before the era of Supersizing.
Most of our daytime time was spent outside of the house, exploring the neighborhood or involved in sports. Later in HS,many kids worked which was the first real taste of the adult world. It was ok to work in a fast food place or retail. Best place was an auto parts store or music shop.
We never had to worry about sexual predators and drugs only late in junior high when were shown some videos on the effects. I recall the Miami P.D. would have tours for kids. Sort of like Scared Straight.
Parents did not stress if we were gone for hours. So long as tasks were done. No answering machines for most of the period so we knew to call at the appropriate time to advise we were over a friend's house for dinner and would be home later.
Proficiency at sports was the be all/end all in school. Later having a fast car added to the mixture. There was a drug culture crowd by the late 1970s in high school but they were a minority and ostracized!
No kid wanted to behave in a manner to warrant being known as black or redneck or gang or druggie type. (I still recall coach Lowe saying "Tie your shoes laces when you walk on my basketball court. What do you think you are a n----r?"
Cool was in but it was more of a manner of acting than entirely unconventional speech or dress as you(I) see now. Cool guys did have a certain walk. Hot chicks had a certain walk as well.
We brawled after school hours in the best imitation of championship wrestling but no one actually ever fought anyone.
Profanity was learned at school by those of us with older brothers(or abusive parents). Mine cursed in Spanish so did not learn f**k or s**t until early junior high.
Racial epithets were unknown to me until reaching early junior high. Had black casemates and they were black. Seemed normal.
We had no words that diminshed girls as there is now. Sexual advancement was described as playing a game of baseball. It was a big thing to Feel-up a girl.
Sexual orientation discrimination was unkown until early junior high. Back then it was Q***r or F*g. Gay was something Fred and Barney did as they rock and rolled around Bedrock.
Instead of today's computer games it was more tangible items- physical or exhibition of skill contests,traditional sports, plastic model building, matchbox/hot wheels car collecting, Huffy bicycle comparions and jumps. Some folks went into skateboarding, yo-yos, frisbees, nerf football, go-carts, BB guns, etc.
We spend a lot of time on the phone and in later years some had the awesomeness of conference call capability. Party line.
We all drank alcohol or puffed on cigarettes a few times a year at parties under the supervision of adults. Just enough to know what to do. It was like being a taster to the Borgias!
We craved Playboy magazine as the ultimate indiscretion when we hit the magic years.
We played a great deal of boardgames. Boys and girls included.-Mystery Date, Trouble, Life. Later Spinning the bottle was the big thing.
Adults were cool and to be emulated. Cops were cool and to be emulated. Anyone who joined the military was a loser. Action careers were cool. Office careers were dull. Moneymaking careers that did not involve geting out were dull. Money was not the prime mover in life.
Adults appeared much more at ease with life then.
We all learned CPR by watching Emergency.
Professional sports was spoken of in terms of performance and not financial contracts.
We could watch and discuss Roots without it becoming a hate whitey or white guilt fest.
We could watch and discuss Holocaust but still proudly brandish our Nazi marked aircraft/tanks/ships at modeling get togethers.
Benny Hill was racy and adult comedy. Monty Python was considered the epitome of wittiness.
We enjoyed monsters/horror but today's gore and torture fest films were unheard of.
We read a great deal.
We had very good memories as most of what was seen on tv was only available once per year and so you have to pay close attention. Same with reading. No quick reference for anything. Memorize and move on. I have an amazing memory now thanks to all of the time spent reading.
No one cared if you had a peanut allergy.
Did not actually meet any kid on pharma products for disorders until HS. First case of ADD ever in my experience.
Being in the Kiwanis was seen as cool. Being in the chess club was cool.
Having divorced parents was seen as sad. Being born out of wedlock made you a bastard. Also sad.
If you got hurt you were expected to shake it off and move on. Momma's Boy was the worse insult possible. Wuss as well.
It was cool to own a pack of Rubbers.
Ear piercing was only girls and something you saw in pirate films. It was unmanly in a male. Body piercing was for circus freaks.
Tattoos were only ok for Vietnam or Navy/merchant marine veterans, gang members, ex-cons who had done hard time. No one else in their right mind would sport a tattoo. Only gang sluts would have a tattoo. Well, there were always the circus freaks with numerous tattoos which are now common here in Miami.
It was ok to show your Dad's firearms to the neighborhood kids. To include the ammunition.
We did not sweat the SAT or ACT. Getting into college and a job afterwards was a given. We never thought our education system was broken.
Our parents and close adult relatives would discipline us in public with force and a will. They would get the Chair now.
Foul language by kids in public was unheard of. We caused a ruckus everywhere we went but it was good natured horseplay or out of curiosity. A bark by an adult would bring us back to society. Yes Mam, No Mam etc. Not the F-Off! you would get today.
Being unemployed or on Government assistance was seen as shameful.
People were just Americans of so-and-so heritage. Very few folks went for the hyphenation that occurs now.
I doubt you'll see MY comment on your comment due to it being so late to the post,but I like this comment of yours,very much. Most of your comment/recollections,is why I would like to rewind the world. The 1970s had it's problems(every decade did/does),but compared to the way things are these days,those problems,seem like no big deal. I'd trade up/upgrade to the 1970s right now,if it were possible.
^^Thanks, That was written during a more respectful era of the CD History forum. Now it will be criticized due to being political incorrect and the usual rose tinted condescension by those who know how to skirt the TOS. They know who they are.
Fashions and cars and appliances were ugly as sin, but it was a great time to be young.
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