What it was like being a kid in the early 1970’s

metallicman ^ | 10OCT18 | editorial staff

[Nateman]

We weren't rich.Proposition 13 saved us from the high property taxes and from having to sell our house. Of course Governor Moonbeam (Jerry Brown) Was stridently against the Government losing it's grubby hands upon our money .

[Texas resident]

I am your age. We drank from the water hose. Played smear the queer on the concrete road. Got bloody and bruised. Toughed it out. Toughed us up. Our dads encouraged us and our moms treated our wounds at the end of the day.

[vannrox]

Oh, how about this...



And this...

[freedomjusticeruleoflaw]

In small town Ohio circa 1972 my Apple Krate was king.

[Fiji Hill]

It was not that different from the 60s and the 60s in rural Florida was not like the 60s in California.

I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles during the '60's. For the most part, the decade was pretty much a more prosperous, higher-tech--and more expensive--version of the 1950's.

Teenage motorists jammed the Boulevard on Friday nights as they "cruised." On Friday and Saturday, the local drive-in movie theater was packed. Churches were full on Sunday mornings, with Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Baptist, Lutheran, Quaker and Roman Catholic churches often needing to have more than one service to accommodate the crowds. At noon, their parishioners trooped into Bob's Big Boy or Jack's coffee shops, the Kon Tiki, and other eateries for lunch.

Jackie Gleason dominated the boob tube on Saturday nights, and Boss Radio KHJ ruled the AM band, blasting out rock and roll.

Even though this was a college town, there wasn't much evidence of the counterculture that was growing in other areas. In the spring of 1967, there was a "love-in" at a city park, but most of those who showed up were curious gawkers, with only a handful of hippies. There were a few vocal war protesters, and some of the teachers at my high school were obnoxious "Kennedy liberals"--whose political views were frequently challenged by conservative students--but in a straw poll of students taken just before the 1968 election, the majority of students favored Richard Nixon for president, and there was a surprisingly strong vote for George Wallace.

[BenLurkin]

http://www.lerctr.org/~transit/healy/Ooo-eee.wav

[Disambiguator]

I remember driving around in boyfriends car a gto with 8 track listening to all those songs 3 dog nite and grass roots

One of my friends had an early 60's Studebaker Lark sedan, and there was always a Deep Purple tape in the cassette player in that car. It was part of the "experience" of riding in that car. He later bought a 1974 Dodge Monaco police car, which was the exact same car (even down to the paint scheme) of the car in "The Blues Brothers." I think his cigarette lighter worked, though.

[Fiji Hill]

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.

I spent a few New Years Eves in the '60's listening to the countdown over KHJ or KRLA.

[alexander_busek]

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.

Too bad no one in your community had the sense of civic duty to "do something" about that.

Regards,

[RJS1950]

1970 dropped out of college, enlisted in the Marines, 1972 met my wife (also a Marine), got married, 1973 separated from Marines, restarted college. By 76 graduated, commissioned in the AF, went to Minot ND and by 77 had first son.

Pretty much the early 70s was a blur.

[MCH]

Interesting trip down memory lane, since I was 11 in ‘71. The only thing that jumped out at me that I really hadn’t seen mentioned in MANY years was a stupid song from the time by Lobo called “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo.” I had TOTALLY forgotten about that. Had to listen to it on youtube for instant OMG recall.

[Fiji Hill]

I hadn't heard of 99 Luftballons until now. Interesting tune.

[Publius]

Good video. An example of West German angst as they feared Ronald Reagan would start a war with the Soviets and blow up Europe.

[Nateman]

My dad got an important job in the Treasury Office. As a result I got a tour of the Oval office itself. Nixon had just come back from China so there were beautiful Porcelain Orchids on the Desk. Henry Kissinger walked across the hall , stopped... and gave us a dirty look like ‘What are these kids doing here?’.

[posterchild]

Such shenanigans didn’t last long.

[BenLurkin]

Yikes.

Ear Bleach from 1971

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NvZEXZTqLg&index=19&list=PLAFzKmY2FZ6TniCt6VgFZCGV8uo-YtCLR

[mplsconservative]

I realize this post is mostly about “guy” stuff, but for the women here these are the things I remember from that era.

Liddle Kiddles, Flatsy Dolls and of course Barbies were all the thing. I remember my mom sewing culottes and skimmer tops for me for summer wear and they always included rick rack trim for some reason. She also made my Raggedy Ann doll matching outfits. What a mom!

She was also a culinary trailblazer making tacos and fondue and pseudo Chinese food. My friends thought we were so exotic. Miss you mom!

[posterchild]

Wasn’t that a 74 ford torino? I’d rather have a 69 chevelle.

[G Larry]

In 1971, at 17 I graduated HS and enlisted in the USAF 10 days later.

Can't believe my brothers and I had no clue about that Mad Scientist mag.

Loved the music chart!

[MrEdd]

I have long thought that removal of lead from gasoline was the first manufactured crisis sold to the public using manufactured data and fake science.

Global Warming socialist nutburgers persist now even though they have been so discredited in the eyes of the public because the general technique was so uniformly successful for so long.