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What it was like being a kid in the early 1970’s
metallicman ^ | 10OCT18 | editorial staff

Posted on 10/09/2018 7:29:41 PM PDT by vannrox

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To: vannrox

1971
For a good chunk of the year nuns ruled my weekdays until 3pm.

Late afternoons were for ‘smear the queer’ and other ball games. Sometimes we played with ropes.

When at home I had to listen to my parents.

My parents were married and lived together (and did until they died).

Saturdays were for fishing with my father. We used a 2 cycle motor which used an oil/gas mixture. It had 5hp and I could drive it. It made lots of smoke but we thought carbon was good for plants.

Children from the local large city would ride into my neighborhood on bicycles. In the group one bike would contain 2 children - the rear one would have bolt cutters in his hands for severing locks from the bikes of my friends.

Gilligans Island was a popular TV show. Danger Will Robinson was a phrase you heard on TV. Speed Racer was still watched.

A war was going on but we didn’t know much about it until my friend’s much older brother died in it.


21 posted on 10/09/2018 7:58:12 PM PDT by posterchild (anti-science: thinking a fetus is distinct from a tumor and sex is determined by chromosomes)
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To: vannrox
Turning sixteen and driving opened your world. Beer easy to purchase. Drive-ins still around. Big cars that could hold 6-8 teens or just you and your girl. Big block engines. Cops liked a good,short chase.

Disco sucked.

Did I mention the original Cotton Bowl Jams?

KZEW...The Zoo.

22 posted on 10/09/2018 8:00:43 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's fore sure)
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To: vannrox

Other than the Army in ‘69/71, the 60’s and 70’s was the best time of my life.


23 posted on 10/09/2018 8:00:55 PM PDT by umgud
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To: vannrox

Bicycling down steep freaking slopes without a helmet.


24 posted on 10/09/2018 8:05:54 PM PDT by rfp1234 (I have already previewed this composition.)
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To: vannrox

I graduated in 65 but still remember the 70s. It was not that different from the 60s and the 60s in rural Florida was not like the 60s in California.

There is a TV show titled “That 70s Show”. I sort of liked it then realized every one of them were doing drugs, drinking while underage, and having sex.

That is not remotely like when I was in high school. The more I watched it the less I liked it.


25 posted on 10/09/2018 8:06:45 PM PDT by yarddog
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To: vannrox

Seems we were more social and did more activities with friends back in the early 70’s. The 9v battery operated transistor radio was the portable device if one used them at all or just on occasion. The 8 track player was short lived and soon gave way to cassette players. Politics? Who gave a rip about that stuff as a teenager. Families overall were much more intact back then too.


26 posted on 10/09/2018 8:07:43 PM PDT by tflabo
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To: fireman15

Yeah, I think I saw 1 episode and didn’t identify with that show. I don’t think I’ve seen a sitcom since. On top of that, the episode I saw was something about a foreign exchange student losing his ‘green card.’ Foreign exchange students don’t have a permanent resident ‘green card.’ Are the writers stupid or do they think their audience is?


27 posted on 10/09/2018 8:08:33 PM PDT by posterchild (anti-science: thinking a fetus is distinct from a tumor and sex is determined by chromosomes)
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To: lgjhn23
1971 was pretty much the last year for the big Hemi-powered cars from factories of Dodge & Plymouth. It was the peak of the muscle-car era.

You are basically correct. 1967 was actually the last year there were no pollution control regulations for passenger cars. If you take a look at engine specs you will find that compression ratios for most engine families peaked in 1967 to 1970 and started decreasing from that point forward. Changes were made to the way specs were reported in 1971 to basically hide the decline.

28 posted on 10/09/2018 8:10:02 PM PDT by fireman15
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To: fireman15

Why would compression ratios decline? Aren’t they more economically efficient?


29 posted on 10/09/2018 8:14:05 PM PDT by posterchild (anti-science: thinking a fetus is distinct from a tumor and sex is determined by chromosomes)
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To: vannrox
I remember the endless coverage of the Watergate hearings . I was angry it preempted the shows I wanted to watch. I also remember the long lines of cars waiting for gas under Carter (or Gerald Ford's ridiculous ‘Whip Inflation Now’ Buttons. ‘WIN’)
30 posted on 10/09/2018 8:15:02 PM PDT by Nateman (If the left is not screaming, you are doing it wrong.)
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To: vannrox

I’ve read this and other of his before, usually worth the time to read aside from his weird stuff.


31 posted on 10/09/2018 8:17:34 PM PDT by bigbob (Trust Sessions. Trust the Plan.)
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To: NorthMountain

I was never that good at making friends, but I did learn how to do it. I had to take a chance, every so often, develop a thicker skin and a better sense of humor. It’s hard to learn that online, I would imagine. It probably takes a lot longer, because you can just ‘disappear’ from an uncomfortable situation with literally, the press of a button.
Skype On...Skype OFF, so easy!


32 posted on 10/09/2018 8:21:35 PM PDT by lee martell (AT)
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To: vannrox
Some of my favorite pop songs from 1971:
33 posted on 10/09/2018 8:22:57 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: vannrox

Southern California. Corona Del Mar 1971. Skin diving a lot. Working in dads tool and die shop in S. El Monte. Visiting friends Tony Capanna at Hot Rod City in Torrance. Keith Black of Keith Black Racing Engines. Ed Iskiderian of Isky Cams. Building mini bikes. Jr. All American Football, Corona del Mar Coronas. Reluctant Nixon voters my parents were. They were happy though that the Kennedy’s were shot. Parents liked George Wallace. Alice Cooper. Deep Purple. Black Sabbath. ZZ Top. Who’s Next.
Basketball practice Sunday nights. TV trays. Huntley and Brinkley.


34 posted on 10/09/2018 8:23:22 PM PDT by atc23 (M*NKEY - there, I said it!)
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To: vannrox
As far as the 'Racist’ stuff goes, they were busing white kids to black schools as if somehow by a process of osmosis or some mystic force it was going to make black kids into better students. All it did was get my older brother beat up and me and a younger brother terrified we were going to be bused to the same school. Mom did the wise thing and moved rather than expose us to that racial hate from the black side.
35 posted on 10/09/2018 8:24:59 PM PDT by Nateman (If the left is not screaming, you are doing it wrong.)
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To: vannrox
Then in the late 70s we just stared into video games ruining our thumbs and eyesight.


36 posted on 10/09/2018 8:25:19 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (Leave the job, leave the clearance. It should be the same rule for the Swamp as for everyone else.)
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To: vannrox

Read it. Loved it. Thanks,
Good memories... right in my early - mid teen years.


37 posted on 10/09/2018 8:25:51 PM PDT by Ken Regis
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To: vannrox

I’m trying to resist talking about the music of the 70’s b/c I don’t want to disrespect the poster by hijacking the topic.
Still, in my head, I often take little trips back to that time, and listen to the Top 100 tunes of the year on New Years Eve. All that really seemed to matter then, who the Top 10 songs were.


38 posted on 10/09/2018 8:26:44 PM PDT by lee martell (AT)
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To: Deaf Smith

Yeah, the smallest engine we owned in the 70s was the 318 V8 in my Dodge... Heck, my mom drove a car with 400 cid.


39 posted on 10/09/2018 8:27:50 PM PDT by ThunderSleeps ( Be ready!)
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To: vannrox

I was the mother of 5 in the early 70s——the stories I could tell,and I’m sure there are PLENTY I never heard.

.


40 posted on 10/09/2018 8:28:33 PM PDT by Mears
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