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Remember the 1970's

U.S. The Seventies U.S.A.



My daughters are 27 & 25, and they are always telling me mom you are so lucky to have grown up in the 70's, and they are so right being a kid in the 70's was the best you could ride your bike to the local corner store and for a $1.00 fill up one of those little beer bags full of penny candy, you could paly games in the middle of the street and not have to worry about getting taken or run over, you were free to be a kid and it was such much fun being a kid you could stay out after dark in front of your house and play with your friends with out your parents having to worry about you, we didn't have to lock our doors at night or during the day for that matter, I have so many good memories I could go on for ever our parents let us be kids and all the bad stuff that was going on in the world back then they kept us safe and sheltered from it we were allowed to be kids but when we misbehaved wither it was at school or around the neighborhood by the time you got home your parents already knew so if you got paddled at school you got it again at home and if one of your parents friends were to see you do some thing wrong you got it from them and then again when yoy got home, I know I learned how to dance from having to go out and get my own switch off the tree and god for bid if I got a small one. But seriousley that's whats wrong with the kids today you can't make them mind if you punish or spank them I beleave that's why the good lord gave us behinds I have never heard of a kid dying because their parents spanked that little butt if we were allowed to make kids mind the way are parents did in the 70's kids would not be the way they are now.







Memory Posted By: Becca







U.S. 70's Music Jim Croce U.S.A.



I wasn't much into music in 1973 -- I was only nine years old -- but I was made aware of music to a degree when the news came of singer/songwriter Jim Croce's death. About five or six years later I spent my evenings after studying (or neglecting to study) lying on the floor of the bedroom I shared with my brother, listening with headphones to his record collection. He had two Jim Croce albums. By that age I had heard all of his hits, but it was when I came to these two albums and I listened to the treasure trove of great music and intelligent lyrics that I learned the true depth of the loss to the fans of music everywhere. Jim Croce had been on his way up when his plane went down. I lay on the floor and listened, my tears seeping into the headphones.







Memory Posted By: farrago







Childhood Toys In Australia in the 70's Australia



In times before the computer, playstation or MTV if any time was found to be spare it was either spent outdoors or inside watching tv or playing games we received for xmas and birthdays..games like Kerplunk, mousetrap, hands down, twister, tip- it, haunted house(with glow in the dark gameboard) and with toy car stuff like hot wheels, sizzlers, ssp racers and smash up derby..those were the days when as a kid life was easy and never a thought was given to tomorrow.







Memory Posted By: Phil







U.S. My father and the 70's Recession United States



In the mid 70's My father was layed off from his job as a book keeper and it destroyed him as by the time employment picked up companies were looking for younger men who could work with computers, we were lucky as my mother was a teacher so we still had income coming in.



I am only remembering this now as I was reading an article talking about a recession coming and I remember those bad times when my parents argued so much they argued very little before my father was layed off.



We were some of the lucky ones who did not lose their home , but my father never recovered and found the type of job he had before.



I only hope that those saying another recession is coming are wrong as we have used our home like a bank to put our children through college and like many others have to many credit cards and store cards and I am at a similar age to my father and just now have realised how hard it must have been for him and how hard it will be for me if it happens.







Memory Posted By: John

Comments

Anonymous said...



Oh it will happen, and it will be worse.



Watch this video



http://youtube.com/watch?v=4n3g5lUgkWk









U.S. First Home In The 70's United States



1973 – My husband and I were purchasing our first home for $27,500 in Orange Country, California. The amazing part was to qualify the lender doing our FHA loan called to ask me what I was doing for birth control (so they could count my income.) I purchase my first electronic calculator that year for under $500.000 that would cost about $10.00 today.







Memory Posted By: Linda







U.S. Memory from Wisconsin from the 70's United States



so many Memories ...we moved to a small wis. town in 1975. i was 8 yrs. old. life seemed to be so much simpler then... we could ride our bicycles anywhere without worrying our parents. we would play "devil in the graveyard" or "ding dong ditchit" at night with friends . music was always a big part of my life. we always had a radio going or cassette player or even a few 8-tracks. disco still stinks but when I hear a song it can take me back to my childhood instantly. not many f.m. radio stations in 1975 around southern wi. but the king was WLS AM 89 in chicago.



i also remember riding with my grandpa in his 1969 impala down the back roads in the summertime. the weeds would be high alongside the road and would "woosh" as we drove by, stopping once in awhile to drop a cane pole in a little fishing hole...(i am smiling now)...why does life go by so fast?







Memory Posted By: Anon

Comments

Anonymous said...



I grew up in Cedarburg, Wisconsin(1970-1976). I was 9 years old in 75 and your story brought back so many of the same memories. Thanks for taking me back to such a happy and carefree time!





Memories from the 70s Canada



My Husband recalls the 70’s vividly with mixed feelings. He says, “What I remember the most is the best and the worst that might have come out of the 60’s. I think that the 60’s was the decade that I had missed – I was too young to really appreciate what was going on.



The 60’s had a lot to do with people’s sensibilities changing for the worse and for the better. In the 60’s there were some changing paradigms concerning war, Vietnam, etc. . There was a lot of good art that continued on into the 70’s.



There was also a downside to the 60’s -- people became degenerate because of the freedom they were fighting for and that launched a lot of bad behaviour in the 70’s. I was becoming an adult in the 70’s myself and I got my first job with my uncle. The way people behaved seemed to be far worse than today. It was unbelievable the way people were openly committing adultery, getting drunk, and abusing drugs. There seemed to be a lot of bad stuff going on. At the same time there were a lot of good things. People became genuinely concerned with the state of the world I think.



The 60’s and the 70’s together were people looking for truth and meaning of some kind. I really think that the best music was made in the 60’s. Some of the people that started off such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon carried on through the 70’s making great music. These were not people who were just musicians they were musicologists.



They were very serious about their music. They had some real staying power. He remembers another good thing about the 70’s. He says, “At least there was a job for everyone. It was a very prosperous time. You knew you’d have a job if you got a little bit of secondary education. The job markets were fantastic. The 70’s seemed to be the last decade of hope for young people.”







Memory Posted By: Kathy

Comments

lala said...



i remember when we all went to the market and bought the latest fashions and were the best dressed





U.S. Cincinnati Reds United States



Growing up in Cincinnati, Oh and in the midst of the "Big Red Machine" era of the Cincinnati Reds, was a glorious time. 11 Years old and not a care in the world. Great time!







Memory Posted By: JC







U.S. I loved being a kid United States



I was born in 1971. I remember going riding on my bicycle with my two brothers. Riding throuhg the woods and exploring habitually. We had a club in an old train car and our parents could let us be gone ALL day and not worry. We would take our bikes and pick out a Christmas tree, cut it down and pull it back home. I loved being a kid.







Memory Posted By: Anna







Memories of childhood from the 70's UK



Changes in today's childhood compared with my childhood in the 70's From very early in my life I was taught social skills including the use of please and thank you , opening the door for a lady or giving up my seat for an elder, and to have respect for my elders including my parents and teachers. But I see many of these basic building blocks for understanding right from wrong and lack of respect for elders in many of today's children and with each new generation the percentage of children who are lacking in these social skills increases.



Many things seem to have changed since I was a child that have caused this including parents and teachers left with less and less forms of punishment they can administer. When I was a child growing up when my parents or teachers told me to jump my answer was how high not s?? o?? . I was also taught at school to learn not just to pass tests and any homework I received my parents would check or help with my homework and it was completed each night. My parents were not poor but they would not indulge each of my whims for the latest toy or gadget . When they did buy me toys it was ether part of my birthday or Christmas Gifts or as a reward. I can say both of my parents did work but somehow I am not sure how but they still had the time or made the time for parenting and as I remember back they worked as a team at guiding me through childhood.



I do not remember many times when any form of corporal punishment was used but I think the threat must have been enough to have kept me in line. Some of the punishments I do remember were things like " No Television " or grounding and not being able to go out with friends to play soccer etc.



When I do see children now with parents it is not as part of a family unit as the child will ether have an Ipod in their ear, small games console or talking to friends on a mobile phone and no conversation seems to happen between parents and children.



I can only hope I am wrong with my views as it would appear with each generation the skills required for parenting are being diluted due to the pace of life and taking the easiest route which is to allow children to bring themselves up with fast food, TV and gadgets for entertainment







Memory Posted By: Colin







U.S. Buying a Calculator in 1973 U.S.A.

I went to college at the transition point between sliderules and calculators. What I remember most was the cost of the Texas Instrument 10 (maybe a TI-11?) I took with me to college. It cost $150 and couldn't do anything more than a basic $3 kids calculator can do today. The scientific calculators that the engineers at my university used cost $495. I just bought my 9th grade daughter a non-graphing scientific calculator for high school (That says something, too!) It cost $15.95 at Staples







Memory Posted By: Laura







Seventies Friends Canada

I loved them and rocked it out in the 70's with Monica S. and Diana!!!!!!p.s. and all my other peeps!







Memory Posted By: Giancarlo







Grandparents from 70s Mexico

I was about six and my parents took me and my sister on the underground to visit my grandparents in South Kensington, London.



My grandad decided to take me out for a walk in the area around Buckingham Palace and down Birdcage Walk. He explained to me that the origin of the name was due to the tall plane trees that reached up and then hung over to form a sort of a cage.



We walked slowly, he in his dark suit, boots and bowler hat (always boots, never shoes) and his walking stick as he had bad legs.



I walked hand in hand with him talking.



Those memories make me cry even now.







Memory Posted By: Robin







U.S. Walking To Kindergarden United States

I remember walking to the park before kindergarden in the mid 1970's. We would avoid stepping on the sidewalk spaces that had the imprint of the concrete company.



Memory Posted By: Auntie Virgie (Virginia Otradavac),







U.S. My Dad flying 1970s United States

I heard a small airplane going overhead this morning, I'm sure headed to the EAA's annual fly-in where hundreds of planes, old and new and experimental gather every year in Oshkosh, It reminded of when I was between the ages of 8 to 12years old and my Father, who's hobby for that moment was flying. He had obtained his private pilot's license and was logging hours.



He often took me with, flying out of the local Westosha airport, attached to a farm. Anyway, I remember a little two seater banana yellow Piper Cub in which he would take me up and do hammerhead stalls and barrel rolls. I remember being thrilled and looking forward to my weekends with him and swore I would never get in a "big" plane unless my Daddy was flying it. Funny enough my first big plane flight was to Florida to celebrate the first Christmas with my family after my Dad died.



The first time I ever flew alone was transatlantic to London to meet my now wonderful husband, Steve, the webmaster of this site. I'll never forget that either. I was very excited, couldn't wait to get there, didn't sleep, and talked the ears off the girl sitting next to me, telling her all about this wonderful man I had met over the internet and couldn't wait to see again! P.S. I still like going through turbulance on the big planes, it reminds me of the stunts my Dad used to do



Memory Posted By: Callie mae







My Best Year 1973 UK

I remember 1973 like yesterday !! I was 18 In July 1973 and on th 28th July I married my sweetheart, Alan. We moved into a high-rise apartment which was the high of modern architeture and life was sooooo sweet !!! A week's shopping cost 5 and my bedding was white with pink flowers. My walls were white and purple and my butter dish was stainless steel. I cooked spaghetti bolognese and had a white kitten. I bought cookery magazines and typed my candlelight due to the 3 day week. I was madly in love and fell over my platform sandles and loved my permed hair. I wore Aqua Manda and Ma Griffe perfume and dreamed wore smocks.



Memory Posted By: Michelle







Favourite TV Adds 1970s UK

Strangely both of the adverts that I remember the best were from the same company . The first was the Coca Cola add with the music "I'd Like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony" and unsure of the exact year but think it was in the 1970's The second is the Coca Cola advert with the truck lit up like a Christmas tree going through the countryside , I am unsure how many years it has been running but each year I see it appear on Television I realise Christmas is just around the corner and it brings a smile to my face



Memory Posted By: Hannah

Comments

Anonymous said...



THAT COCA COLA SONG WAS GREAT!!! HERE IT IS 30 YEARS LATER AND I HAVE IT DOWNLOADED TO MY IPOD!





Valetta in Malta in the 70s UK

I remember going to Tal Handaq Malta in the early 70's, dad was in the army and we went there from St Andrews Primary school. One day myself and a few friends took a day off from school and walked around Valetta feeding donkeys with carrots which we took from the carts that they were pulling.



Memory Posted By: Phil Smalldon

Comments

Anonymous said...



remember those donkeys , I wonder if anyone can remember the bright coloured busses ( public transport ones I mean ) that used to go all over the Island , I went back to Malta in the late 90's and the busses were still great to see with colour and shiny not quite as many as back in those days but still a joy to see, I have never been anywhere where they take such pride in local busses Malta truly was a great place to be a kid





EEC Referendum UK

The referendum for staying in the EEC was the first time I was able to vote and I voted yes to stay in the European Economic Community. It stands out well in my memory because even though I was only 18, I felt that staying a member of the EEC was right after listening to my parents who had lived through the second world war. I think on the whole, It was the right decision but still unsure about giving up our currency or allowing other countries to decide our taxes etc



Memory Posted By: Ken







Heart Attack and Hospital 30yrs ago today UK

In 1977 after feeling some pain in my chest during the night and chest felt like elephant had walked on me and was bruised, so in the morning I contacted my local GP and drove round for a check up. Unlike normally when visiting the doctor I was looked at instantly and had ECG etc tests done and 30 minutes later was in an ambulance on my way to the Local Hospital. I had always been quite healthy so was rather suprised when diagnosed as having had a heart attack at the ripe old age of 32. Being in hospital was truly an eye opener the nurses were kind but in my case quite strict as to what I could and couldn't do and eat, after a couple of weeks of many tests and given a strict regime on how I should change my lifestyle I was released and sent home. I found the staff including nurses, doctors and the many other medical professionals to be kind and caring and I would like to thank them some 30 years later. I am now 62 and apart from the odd Angina Attack have not had any problems since and all it took was adjusting my lifestyle



Memory Posted By: Colin







Fuel Crisis 1973 UK

I was in my teens in 1973 so I don't remember all of the goings on, but I do remember my mum and dad discussing a possible world war caused by the war in the middle east, power cuts and Watergate and saying it was going to be pretty bad for the next few years, I can also remember them complaining about large increases in the cost of petrol and I now realise they were right when I read about the 3 day week and the worldwide recession that followed.



Memory Posted By: John







The 1970's was a great time USA

The 1970's was a great time, I can remember it well, and have lots of pictures. My mom would wear the short dresses, and long boots, long wigs with that eye shadow, to match the outfit, long hanging earrings. I thought it was cool, my dad loves to dress, so he had all these neat nylon shits, with the pants that were wide leg, they would be tight fit. He had the afro, remember the afro pic. oh I even have pictures of him in plat form shoes, he had all colors, he likes to coordinate. That was a very exciting time.



Memory Posted By: PAT







Lucky To Grow Up In The 70s United States

I was born in 65' so the late 60's are really just faint memories. I remember watching the men land on the moon, but it's like a dream now. The 70's are a different matter, I have wonderful memories of going to the beach in sunny California. My mom driving us there in her blue VW bug, the radio playing, the wind blowing in from the sunroof. Spending the entire day swimming, collecting shells, building sand castles. It was so cool. Life was free and groovy. There was darker times too, the unrest of the day was on the news every night, and I remember watching the SLA stand off in Los Angeles on our big console tv. The terrorists shooting at the cops. The fire breaking out, and my family saying things like "What is the world coming too? How can they do this?!" My Mom being scared for the people inside. It was a time of change for bad and good. The War was always in the background. Looming over everything. The good stuff was so good in the late 60's and the 70's. We had great bands and music, funky clothes, and even funkier hair. Cool TV, like Archie Bunker, MASH, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Sonny and Cher, Laugh In, Carol Burnett. Sunday night meant Mutual of Omahas Wild Kingdom, followed by The Wonderful World of Disney. The acid trip of HR Puffinstuff.....Weird toys like the Creature Maker, Spirograph, Incredible Edibles. I also enjoyed freedom kids today can't have. We walked to school, played outside, and didn't have the clingy/ paranoid parents kids today seem to have. Getting dirty was normal, and we didn't have all the pressures to be perfect either. Sure we had problems like every generation does, but we also had some great times as well, and I feel lucky to have been born when I was.



Memory Posted By: TomBoy







Best Memories Of The Seventies United Kingdom

My best memories of the Seventies are times spent with my parents who both died in the Eighties. We used to go on day trips to places, to the local beach, walks on the nearby hill . Watching T.V together. Crossroads,Upstairs,Downstairs, Star Trek and the football results followed by Doctor Who. Giving my mum Charlie perfume and my dad his favourite coffee flavoured Matchmakers. In 'Life On Mars', I quite envied Sam when he found a way of returning to the Seventies by jumping off a building. Good job I realised that it had no chance of working in real life . Besides, there are good reasons to stay in the present, fortunately and who knows what tomorrow might bring.



Memory Posted By: Sandra







Building a 70's House Canada

Mrs. S. whose two-storey house was built in November 1971 comments about the land it sits on. “It probably hadn’t had anything sitting on it for 150 years … it has 2500 square feet of living space and that’s divided into living room , dining room, family room, and of course the kitchen. The second floor has four bedrooms and there are two and one-half bathrooms.” She continues, “The style in the 1970’s of the two- storey house is very similar to the 2000 houses. The only difference that might occur would be an open concept in which you had a living room that was right up to the rafters and a landing that was on the second floor that would look down into the living room. Personally, I would never build that kind of house, but that is the only difference I can think of. Most of the (70’s) houses still have the two and one-half bathrooms. Our bedrooms are 14 feet by 15 feet or larger.”



What is the house like inside? When the house was built it had wall to wall carpeting with the exception of the kitchen and bathroom -- trends now are moving towards hardwood floors and ceramic floors. There was a big carpet movement in the 1970’s, but we’re moving towards hardwood floors and ceramic floors. In the 1970’s there was the use of wall paper and a strong emphasis on oranges, yellows, and greens. The fixtures in the bathroom are coloured fixtures – so we have a bathroom with blue fixtures and one with green, and one with beige. Also, the colour of the appliances used to be all green, (but) they have been replaced. We didn’t replace the fixtures in the bathroom, because they were top of the line.” The furniture in the living room originally was in the Colonial style with a white background and brown figures. Mrs. S. remembers, “In the living room we had green furniture in a brocade fabric. The living room and dining room furniture was Spanish provincial.” Today, Mrs. S. says that some of their furniture has been replaced and is more neutral.



In her medium-sized, 70’s kitchen there are a lot of greens. The cupboards are made of knotty pine and the counters are arborite which has touches of green. Even the floor covering used to be green. Her kitchen is not an “eat-in” kitchen, but has an open concept with countertops designed so that the children in the family room could interact with the person cooking in the kitchen. Also, her 70’s style dishes are Melmac which is a type of early unbreakable plastic.



Regarding her garage, Mrs. S. observes that it is built into the house under the master bedroom. She says that her house is “… rectangular … and the exterior trim is white aluminum siding . The front of the house on the lower storey has brick siding and … a set-in front porch. There are shutters on the top front windows … the family room is indoor/outdoor carpet, and two of the bedrooms are blue and green shag.”



The location of Mrs. S.’s house was very important when she and her husband decided to build in the 1970’s. The first thing they did was to drill for water and they were lucky enough to find an artesian well where the natural water pressure makes a pump unnecessary. She says, “The position of the house (faces) the sun rising in the east.” This maximizes the use of the heat coming from the sun. Their house overlooks the romantic Tantramar marsh and the Bay of Fundy which gives them an outstanding view.



Kathy acts as a roving reporter and talks to people about memories and is kind enough to document them for The People History



Memory Posted By: Kathy







The One That Got Away UK

Many years ago when i was young and thought I was indistructable as any teenager, my brother and I decided to take the boat out one night for Bass we had a favourite spot in Portsmouth Harbour like any fisherman where there was what was left of an old wreck and we proceeded to tackle up, my brother was a bad night fisherman and before long was sound asleep.



The fishing was crap and I was just about to give up when the rod went mad after grabbing the rod and spending the next 60 minutes screaming at my brother to wake up and grab the landing net I finaly got the fish near enough to the boat to see it and it was a bloody great big conger eel, now our boat was pretty small and the conger eel was to big for the net so for the next hour we struggled toget this beast on the boat when eventualy we got it on ( it was still alive and thrashing its tail and biting at anything thing it could get it's teeth into ) and rod line and hook was all still attached there was no bloody way I was going to get that bloody hook out of it's mouth.



We realised there was no way we could get to the engine to get the boat back to shore with the eel in the boat. After yet another hour we got brave enough to start the engine and get on our way now feeling pretty good that this was by far the biggest fish any of our mates had ever caught Now comes the kicker about half way back to the boat club the conger went bloody balistic and was thrashing about so my brother and I were forced to leave the engine running and the boat going round in circles and get on the bow where this beast couldn't get to us the conger eel in the meantime has lifted part of it's self onto the side of the boat so together with everything else we are now getting water come in over the side then the kicker the eel seemed to work out that freedom was close and sets out to go back still with rod and line attached and he couldn't lose cos iether the boat would have filled up or he would have gone over the side before it was full , all we can do is watch !! yes he did go back to the sea and took the rod and reel with him and I have never been so happy to see a fish get away as that day. Of course nobody believed us when we got back but we knew it was true and that memory still lives with me as vivid today as the day it happenned 30 years ago



Memory Posted By: A Fisherman





