|
  |
|
|
Remembering Life in the 1970's
By Christina Mulberry
Once you've passed about your fortieth birthday, thinking back upon your childhood, becomes an attractive pastime. I'm not sure if it's because life was simpler as a child, or if at that point you begin to realize that some things are gone, and will never return. It's different for everyone of course, as far as how much of this goes on and how much sentimentality is attached to it, but in generally, it's pretty universal. No matter what time period defines your youth, the memories are unique. It's filled with the various people and places that made up your life, the activities that you were involved in, and the events of the period. I grew up in the sixties and seventies, graduating from high school in 1977. Yes, Farrah Fawcett was still going strong, Star Wars was one of the most popular movies in recent years, and we were beginning the transition into Disco and Punk music. To reminisce about favorite toys, a first car, or the strange fashions is typical, but what can be really interesting is to think about what it was we didn't have, and how life functioned differently. Obviously we didn't have computers in our homes. For a kid in school, researching a topic for a paper was a bit more arduous. You had to make trips to the library, search through the card catalog, and take notes by hand from the reference book you were scouring. You had to do this within the hours the library was open. There was no putting off that research until 8:00 p.m. You also did more of your work by hand, pen and paper. Then, using a typewriter you would type up that report, using an eraser or "white out" to make corrections. Untold reams of paper were wasted once you'd botched things up one time too many. Your spell checker was a dictionary which took a bit of time as well. Of course, there was no goofing off in front of the computer either. No going to Hulu, YouTube, or some download site to watch video, listen to music, or whatever. There was often only one TV in the house too, so if you were watching, every one knew about it. The average teenage room probably had a stereo/record player, clock radio, and maybe a telephone. No, you didn't usually have your own line, so if someone else was using it, you were out of luck. In general, we just weren't as connected. Certainly, mobile phones weren't around. If we left home, to go shopping, we didn't have a convenient way to call back home to get permission for something else. There were more pay phones but they often weren't where you needed them. In general, when you left, no one expected to hear from you until you arrived home, or you called from a friends house. We didn't even have cordless phones. When you were on the phone, you were tethered. Then there was our form of portable music. That's right there were no MP3 players, not even a Sony Walkman for pete sake. The best we could do was a large "boom box". Small stereo sets today are about the same size, but people were known to hoist these things up on their shoulder and walk around. Another thing we didn't have were digital cameras. A lot of kids my age had the Polaroid One Step cameras. They came with a cartridge that contained both the film and the paper to print the photo. You attached the strip of light bulbs, snapped your picture, and it came gliding out the front of the camera. You would grab it, wave it in the air for about 30 seconds or so, and your shot would emerge in front of your eyes. Even nicer cameras were film based. They were capable of creating some great looking shots but you didn't take as many pictures as you do today. You'd snap your picture but you wouldn't see it until you took it to the store to have it developed. That could be months. You didn't want to develop the film until it was "full". Of course, if you waited too long the pictures would sometimes discolor due to aging of the film. Actually there were a number of things we didn't have that are small but certainly make life easier now. Today's cars start much more quickly and reliably. I have to assume it has to do with fuel injection. Televisions used to take time to come on and the number of stations available were quite limited. Often only ABS, CBS, NBC, and perhaps PBS or one other independent station were the options. We certainly didn't have video games until the late 70's. PONG hardly compares to Rock Band for entertainment value. When you think of all the things we didn't have, it's amazing that we reminisce so fondly. But perhaps, the truth of the matter is, that happiness isn't about all of the conveniences and cool gadgets; but rather about the laughter, the love, the experience, the journey. In reality, that's not gone, it's just been repackaged. |
A Look Back at 70s Toys
| The 70's Music Experience
| The Wacky and Far Out World of 1970's TV
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
Growing Up 70s
A look back at life in the 1970s.
www.squidoo.com/1970s
|
|
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
|
 |
|
Thanks for the memories! While I am a few years ahead of you.. still in the same generation.. Things were somehow simpler then
Yes, the good ole 70s, I graduated from high school a whole year early and immediately joined the Army. The economy was very much like it is currently. Employment in the private sector was hard to find.
As we're obviously of a similar age our memories of this time are fairly similar. As you say Christina we were without all the gadgetry we have today, but I do not feel that we lost out as a result. Life was simply different and we adapted to what our environment then offered. The gadgetry today allows us amazing opportunities to better communicate at a global level and through that communication better understand each other. Perhaps history would have been different had the world been so equipped in say 1939 when the Germans invaded Poland. Who knows? Certainly this new communications era offers us all a voice to participate in how the world is managed by our governments. Not something that has ever been possible. The future looks more interesting as a result.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
While it can be fun to reminisce, I have no desire to go back. The future continues to look more interesting as you say.
The copyright for this content entitled "Remembering Life in the 1970's" has been specified by the contributor as:
All Rights Reserved
This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
|
|
|
This intel was contributed by mulberry
mulberry
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
