How Did Anyone Survive?
The 1970s was a decade of extremes. Everything was big and tacky (and that was just the hair) and the clothes were tight and made from artificial fabric, with loud colors and even louder patterns. From the rise of serial killers to smoking, leaded gas, and non-existent safety standards, these are some of the things that made the 1970s fascinating.
The Pet Rock
Yes, there was a time when rocks were packaged as pets and people bought them. They came in a special box with ventilation holes, nestled in straw and although they were sourced from a specific location (Rosarito Beach in Mexico), they were just rocks. But for six months starting during Christmas 1975, they were the thing to have.
Shag Carpets
There are few things more iconic about the 1970s than shag carpets. Try explaining them to someone who didn’t live through it and you’ll have a tough time convincing them that people willingly put carpets with thick, long strands that were impossible to fully clean, trapping dust and far bigger objects immune to even the most aggressive vacuuming. And of course, they came in all the classic 70s colors and patterns, perfect for your 1970s furniture.
Papasan Chairs
They were big and bowl-shaped on a cylindrical base, made from rattan, wicker, or wood and usually with a huge cushion. Originating in Japan and the Philippines, they first appeared in North America after WWII, but it was after the Vietnam conflict that placed them into mass consciousness and it seemed like every rec room had one. They were actually very comfortable and if they were big enough for two, they were called mamasan chairs.
Smoking Everywhere
They knew it was bad for you but in the 1970s, smoking was not only socially acceptable, it was ubiquitous. You could smoke in any public building, in hospitals, at your desk, in airplanes, in restaurants, and inside most homes. If you’re a 70s kid, you probably experienced sitting in the back seat of a car fueled with leaded gas, while your parents are up front, smoking, and if it was winter, the windows were up.
Deutsche Fotothek, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
CB Radios
One of the stranger trends of the 1970s is the sudden pop culture embrace of the CB radio. Once the domain of truckers—before cell phones, this was the best and cheapest way to communicate while on the road—CB radios seemed to let people in on a secret world of late-night uncensored conversations and a complex coding system. Hit songs like CW McCall’s “Convoy” and the Burt Reynolds’ hit film Smokey and the Bandit capitalized on the trend.
Benjamin Heinecke, CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
Getting Up To Change Stations
Anyone born after 1990 has no idea how difficult it was to have one television set, with 12 channels, and if you wanted to watch something different, you had to get up and walk over to the TV. There were some crude remote controls available but you still had to scroll one station at a time. For most people, television was manually operated, and you had to make sure you didn’t turn the dial too quickly.
The Who Concert Tragedy In 1979
One of the fondest memories for those coming of age in the 1970s is how casual everything was, and concerts often had general seating, where you showed up early and found a spot on the field of stadium concerts. That changed after Cincinnati, Ohio in 1979, when the Who performed—surging crowds pressed against the single-entry gate and when somebody opened them to relieve the pressure, a stampede ensued, with 11 teenagers losing their lives. Concert ticketing became more complex after this, with assigned seats.
Jack Klumpe, Wikimedia Commons
Evel Knievel
Although daredevils had been around for a long time, it seemed the 1970s were just the right time for something a little more over-the-top. Famous for his garish star-spangled jumpsuit and cape, Knievel made more than 75 motorcycle jumps, and famously broke almost every bone in his body over the course of his career. He also tried to jump the Snake River Canyon in a rocket-powered motorcycle.
Bill Wolf / Sean, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Baseball Strike
In the old days, athletes weren’t paid all too well and in 1972 professional baseball players walked off the job in protest over low pension and healthcare plan contributions. The team owners quickly capitulated in the wake of the lost revenue from 86 canceled games, and a new era of elite ball players was born.
Jim Accordino, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Rise Of Disco
If you think of the 1970s, you think about disco. It’s inevitable because that form of dance music dominated radio in the second half of the decade, quickly spreading to other media with films such as Saturday Night Fever and its soundtrack featuring the Bee Gees in 1977. Soon, non-disco artists, from the Rolling Stones and Kiss to Ethel Merman, were recording disco songs.
Paramount, Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Punk
While disco was ruling the charts and radio and pretty much all media for a few years, a new form of music was appearing in New York and London. Usually considered a reaction to overproduced corporate-driven music, punk was back-to-basics and in the case of British punk, political. American groups such as the Ramones and the British groups such as the Sex Pistols and the Clash represented a new, anti-conformist form of rock that paved the way for other genres and whose impact is still felt today.
Plismo, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Yacht Rock
While disco and punk seem to define the extremes of 1970s music, other genres emerged during that decade—progressive (or prog) rock featuring complex time signatures, virtuoso playing and fantasy themes, plus the emergence of heavy metal, electronic music, and the growing international awareness of reggae and world music. If you turned on the radio, however, you were most likely to hear a kind of pop music that was laid back and featured lyrics about living the good life. Years later, acts like Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, Christopher Cross, and Toto would be lumped together under the tongue-in-cheek name “yacht rock”.
Hans Peters, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
Space Invaders
Atari’s Pong was introduced in 1972 and although not the first video game, it was the first one most people encountered. Arcades, once the domain of pinball now featured computer-based games and it was Space Invaders in 1978 which defined the moment, launching the video game revolution of the 1980s.
Coentor, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
HBO Makes Its Debut
It seems ubiquitous now, with classic shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, and Sex and the City, but at one time, HBO was the only cable channel around. Surprisingly, HBO debuted in 1971, with its first broadcast being the 1971 film Sometimes a Great Notion, starring Paul Newman and Henry Fonda, and was followed by an NHL hockey game. It would take a few years for HBO to become something people would be willing to pay money for.
HBO, Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)
Exploding Ford Pintos
Cars in the 1970s were big, almost unbelievably big, but the 1970s fuel crisis meant that people were looking for cars that were a bit more fuel-efficient. Compact cars, familiar in German and Japanese imports, began being produced by American manufacturers and one such model was the Ford Pinto. A design flaw in the fuel tanks made the Pinto vulnerable to explosions if hit from the back in a collision, and Ford had to recall all Pintos manufactured between 1971 and 1976.
The Betamax
Home video recording had actually been around since the 1960s but it was expensive and hardly a mass-market item. Before streaming, before DVDs, even before VHS, there was Betamax, the first truly accessible home video recording system, launched in 1975. Although Betamax was considered to be the superior format, the much cheaper VHS was released two years later, and it quickly dominated the home video market until the advent of the DVD in the late 1990s.
Apple Releases The Apple II
Cell phones have almost made it possible to forget that there was a time when few people had any kind of computer available. Home computing was a hobbyist’s pursuit in the 1970s and one of the earliest home computers was the Apple II, launched in 1977. It was the first to come assembled in a ready-to-use model.
Rama & Musée Bolo, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Birth Of Microsoft
While Apple was developing its first computer, Apple I (launched in 1976), in 1975, two young men, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, founded a company called Micro-Soft which focused not on the hardware, like Apple, but on software. By 1980, they had launched their first operating system, essentially a program to allow users to operate the computer without an understanding of the underlying code.
The First Email
The Internet as a system was developed in the late 1960s, connecting computers at a few universities. Without the graphics capabilities of the World Wide Web (launched in 1989), the Internet relied on text. The notion of sending messages between computers was conceived early on, but the first practical application, dubbed “email”, was launched in 1971 with the first email being sent and the first use of @ to separate the username from the computer name in the email address.
Unknown photographer, Wikimedia Commons
The Watergate Scandal
An unprecedented political scandal took place in the United States in the early 1970s, involving the president at the time, Richard Nixon. A break-in at the offices of the rival Democratic Party headquarters began a series of events, resulting in the first, and so far, only US president to resign from office.
Marion S. Trikosko/Thomas J. O'Halloran, Wikimedia Commons
The Launch Of Star Wars
There was a time when there was no Star Wars. Science fiction in film was generally considered to be the domain of B-movies, nothing to take seriously. George Lucas’ Star Wars (1977) changed all that, launching one of the biggest film franchises in history. The impact on popular culture, merchandising, and on how films are produced and marketed cannot be overstated.
The First Test Tube Baby
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is now routine for people struggling with infertility or seeking alternatives to traditional parenting, but the procedure is relatively new. It was in 1978 that Louise Brown became the first “test-tube baby”, as it was popularly called at the time, although the actual conception took place in a petri dish. Brown is now 46 with two naturally conceived children of her own.
The Rise Of Environmental Awareness
The current climate crisis belies the fact that the environmental movement has been around for a long time. Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970, and is seen as the birth of the modern environmental movement. There was an increase in awareness of environmental issues and legislation in the US such as the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act soon followed.
White House Photo Office, Wikimedia Commons
The Sony Walkman
Portable music has been around for a long time, with transistor radios first appearing in 1954. The idea of portable music allowing individuals to choose the music they want to hear, was introduced by Sony in 1979. The Walkman allowed people to listen to cassette tapes with lightweight devices and headphones.
Binarysequence, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Fall Of Saigon
The conflict in Vietnam was a dark time for the United States, lasting over 10 years and ending with a US defeat. From music and films to politics and the generation gap, the conflict changed US culture. The symbolic end for many Americans was the Fall of Saigon in 1975, when the US withdrew the last of its forces from the South Vietnam capital, with the US embassy evacuated from the roof of the building in helicopters. Soon after, Saigon fell to North Vietnam forces, leading to a unification of Vietnam under communist rule.
Polyester
There is no fabric more emblematic of the 1970s than polyester, a synthetic polymer that when used in clothing required no ironing. Coinciding with the extremes of 1970s fashion, polyester is synonymous with shiny, tight-fitting clothing and big collars. It’s also pretty uncomfortable as a fabric that doesn’t breathe and is prone to melting when heated.
Jonestown
One of the saddest and most grim images from the late 1970s is the scene from Guyana on November 18, 1978, when American cult leader Jim Jones led over 900 of his followers to their demise by coercing them into drinking a cyanide-laced fruit drink. The haunting images of those 900 victims are engrained in anyone who picked up that day’s paper, reminding people of the destructive power of cults.
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Wikimedia Commons
The Blackout Of 1977
For about 25 hours in the summer of 1977, New York City was without power during a heatwave, resulting in looting and other crimes. This also occurred during a time of unprecedented crime and violence in New York, which was facing a severe financial crisis, while residents were in fear of the still at-loose Son of Sam serial killer. This moment in time is immortalized in the 1999 Spike Lee film Summer of Sam.
The Olympic Terror
Although the Olympic Games have endured controversies in the past, the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany was marred by an attack on Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorist group Black September. Militants infiltrated the residences, eventually leading to the loss of 11 Israeli athletes. These were the games that West Germany hoped would show the nation in a new light 27 years after WWII and although German authorities were not responsible, the symbolism of an attack on Jewish athletes on German soil was not lost.
ProhibitOnions, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
DB Cooper
An ongoing mystery, the case of DB Cooper fascinates people to this day. An unknown man hijacked a plane and after receiving a $200,000 ransom, exited the plane with a parachute, never to be seen again. Pieces of the parachute, some of the money, and a jacket with “DB Cooper” stitched on the label were located in a dense forest, but no concrete trace of the man was ever found.
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Wikimedia Commons
Bionics
Today, the idea of cybernetics is fairly well understood as a possible future for humanity but in the 1970s, they were talking about bionics: damaged body parts being replaced by robotics. Two television series that dealt with bionics, The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, were huge hits, where the protagonists had superpowers thanks to their new body parts. And although a bit campy today, 70s kids still remember the slow-motion running and the robotic spring sound when the Bionic Man or Bionic Woman jumped.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
Saturday Morning Cartoons
Before video tapes, DVDs, or streaming, people had to settle for a handful of networks and a few independent channels. Saturday morning meant programming exclusively for kids and of course, you had to decide which network’s line-up was best because you could only watch one at a time and there was no chance of seeing them again until summer repeats. Saturday mornings eating unhealthy cereal in front of the TV is a treasured memory for Gen X kids.
Schoolhouse Rock!
One of the mainstays of Saturday morning cartoons was actually an educational program. Broadcast alongside commercials, Schoolhouse Rock! was a series of short cartoons covering topics like American history, math, grammar, and science. Usually featuring music, these cartoons were lighthearted and funny while teaching kids what a conjunction was, with such classic songs as “Conjunction Junction” and “I’m Just a Bill” (about the legislative process in the US Congress).
ABC, Schoolhouse Rock! (1973-2009)
Smallpox Vaccine Scars
Smallpox was a deadly disease that was eradicated in the 1970s and that was because people routinely received smallpox vaccinations. Those vaccinations left tell-tale scarring at the point of injection, from a two-pronged needle. The pinched marking was ubiquitous until smallpox was no longer a threat.
The Ditto Machine
Having printers at home, in schools, and at the office helps us forget that duplicating documents was not always easy. If a teacher needed 30 copies for a whole class, carbon paper wasn’t practical and although there were a number of devices used over the years, for children from the 1970s, nothing is more nostalgic than the Ditto machine. Using a hand crank, the Ditto machine spun out purple copies from the typewritten original— aniline purple (mauve) was a cheap and moderately durable pigment, and the spirit used to transfer the original to the copies had a distinct odor that was not unpleasant.
University of Dundee Museum Services, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Bowl Cut
When you think bowl cut, you most likely think of Moe from the Three Stooges, or Jim Carrey’s Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber, but for a while in the 1970s, a similar hairstyle was everywhere. Featuring bangs that continued around the head, it was a unisex look, made famous by Dorothy Hamill, Pete Rose, and Adam Rich, the youngest child on the television series Eight Is Enough. So common was it that for boys of a certain age in the mid to late-70s, that was the standard haircut.
ABC Television., Wikimedia Commons
Sea Monkeys
Any kid that read comic books wondered what they’d get if they ordered one of the weird and always fascinating items advertised in the back of the comic books. Most of us had parents who told us it was a scam but one of the biggest sellers of the 1970s was the Sea Monkeys. In the ads, they were bipedal anthropomorphic creatures who lived under the sea in a castle but in reality, what you got was freeze-dried brine shrimp which on the rarest of occasions could be brought back to life with water.
Soda Can Pull Tabs
The technology of the aluminum can has changed over the years, from requiring a tool to pierce the can to the current pull tops. A stage in that development was an early form of pull tab, which required a great deal of strength to peel away, while the loop you pulled was pretty thin and somewhat sharp, and drawing blood was not uncommon. Like riding bikes without helmets or sitting in the bed of a fast-moving pickup truck, these were the chances we took that were important moments in the 1970s childhood.
G. Allen Morris III, Wikimedia Commons
The Patty Hearst Kidnapping
Politics in the 1970s were strange and the media reflected that, with films often conveying themes of paranoia about powerful forces beyond our control. In 1974, Patty Hearst, a member of the powerful Hearst family, was kidnapped by the nonsensically named terrorist group the Symbionese Liberation Army. People were glued to their televisions as things played out, with Hearst joining her kidnappers and participating in a bank robbery.
John Malmin, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
