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1970s Memories From Our Visitors

When we look back in time small things or words can jog our own memories

The Seventies U.S.A.

Memory Posted By: Becca

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.



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

Posted By farrago

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.

Childhood Toys In Australia in the 70's

Memory Posted By: Phil

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.

My father and the 70's Recession United States

Memory Posted By: John

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.

First Home In The 70's United States

Memory Posted By: Linda

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 from Wisconsin from the 70's United States

Memory Posted By: Anon

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?

Comment From: Anonymous 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!


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Memories from the 70s Canada

Memory Posted By: Kathy

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.”

I loved being a kid United States

Memory Posted By: Anna

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.

Memories of childhood from the 70's UK

Memory Posted By: Colin

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

Buying a Calculator in 1973 U.S.A.

Memory Posted By: Laura

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

My Dad flying 1970s United States

Memory Posted By: Callie mae

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

Favourite TV Adds 1970s UK

Memory Posted By: Hannah

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


Valetta in Malta in the 70s UK

Memory Posted By: Phil Smalldon

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.

Comment From Anonymous 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<

Childrens Toys From The 1970's

Part of our Collection of Toys from The 1970's

Simon Says Simon Says
Price: $14.95
Description Simon Says Challenge your memory and repeat Simon Says Toy from the 70s where you match the colors and sounds

Vintage 1970s Pocket Transistor Radios Vintage 1970s Pocket Transistor Radios
Price: From $3.75
Description Pocket Transistor Radios became available as the new solid state technology allowed anything electrical to become smaller, they allowed kids to listen to their favorite pop music on the radio.
From Our 1973 Toys Page
Eight Track Portable Music Player Eight Track Portable Music Player
Price: $24.99
Description Dual Powered Portable 8 track tape player.



Fuel Crisis 1973 UK

Memory Posted By: John

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.

Lucky To Grow Up In The 70s United States

Memory Posted By: TomBoy

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.



The 70s my wonder years compared to today United States

Memory Posted By: Scocasso

In the 70s I was a young kid. People will be people, and people never change. Some parents are strict, some are not, some are highly religious, some are not, etc.

But as a kid, who cares about that, it's all about exploring and having fun, and I had no problem roaming around by myself. Sure, my grandmother was secretly watching me through the window, but for me, I thought I was totally alone outside in the front or backyard looking at bugs and so forth. Lots of kids in my neighbourhood and it was great to always be surrounded by other kids, even though most all were much older than me.

The back alley was a great play area with people kicking balls and so forth. Today everyone is very paranoid that their kids will be kidnapped or whatever... People never change and there were just as many psychopaths then as now, juts today the media and government has everyone so paranoid that their kids can't go anywhere without their parents tagging along. How horrible. It was all about freedom and going to the park when I was a kid. The neighbourhood I grew up in was not very old (perhaps 10 years) and things were new, from the houses to the roads, to the schools... I literally stood and watched as the name of our school was painted on the side of the building -- that's how new it was. We knew every single family on the block and most on the next block too. Lots of kids around. Good times. By the time I was in my 20s many families had moved away, few kids anymore (hundreds used to come by our home on Halloween, but these days very few... one year it was down to around 20 kids). We hardly knew our neighbours anymore (kids are the real connection to our neighbours I suppose) and today... nobody knows who lives next door, around here -- but I heard the exact same complaint on an old 1930s radio show -- so things never change, really.

Just things get worse, less trees, less streams, less nature, more houses, more roads, lower quality, prices go up and up, wages barely go up at all... in the 1970s as a person on your 20s you could put lots of money into your bank account, but today the same person is making $35/hour and never has any money in the bank with the rising costs of everything. Inflation is a crime and all this stock and money trading needs to be stopped, it's ruining us -- we can barely afford food anymore, real food -- not junk food. You know, fresh vegetables, fruits, flour, WATER, etc. For me in the 70s is was little different from that TV show the Wonder Years. They were the wonder years. Mostly I was bored, with nothing to do though. What kids need is to be constantly stimulated, but sitting around bored watching TV... sure, I learnt a lot from TV, but I needed some hands on fun and education, not academic boring book crap -- real life skills, but not, I had to teach myself these things in my mid 20s, and I'm still having to learn all about things like money matters such as: insurance, banking, accounting, taxes, bills, workers rights, RRSPs, RESPs,... basically how to survive in these times is very difficult and the rules of the game are vast.

I never noticed the 1980 recession, but the 1989 recession is still going on where I live, we are barely recovering. When I graduated high school there were literally no jobs to be found. Hundreds of people were applying for simple jobs... 10 years later in little had changed, and now in 2007 the only jobs that are opening are those that the baby-boomers are leaving behind, and there are no qualified people to fill those jobs . The government claims that the economy is great (lies lies lies) and there are lots of jobs (all lies). Sure, it's great for them as all the money goes to their pockets, not into the regular citizen's pockets. I can't go shopping at a locally owned store anymore, every business around here is an internationally owned mega-mart or chain or franchise. The money we spend flies away to some other country to faceless shareholders and no money stays in our local economy. My parents owned a home in their early 20s.

My friends and I are 35 now, and none of us has a home, we are all renting apartments and basement suits, but since rent for a crappy suit is $800+ we are being forced further and further away from the city... rent is slightly cheaper, but jobs are further and further away... 45km to the city now and that's at least 2hours driving in traffic one way to work. Things are just bad all around now. Prepare for the economy to collapse again with yet another recession... it's going to be really bad if your money is all in stocks etc. Keep your assets in 'real' things that will not lose value. I think that if things keep going this way, my family will never own our own land and home... pretty sad -- we are basically homeless and all that money we put into rent is just wasted money... just gets swallowed up. With our own home and land at least we'd own something in the end, or would we... when we die the government has things set up to take as much of assets and money as possible and our children get stuck with our debt. What was it all for... all that work etc.? Nothing. The gov't converts you and your assets into an Estate and they say the Estate has just purchased all of your assets and thus your benefactors (your spouse or children) owe them taxes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. That's how it works folks.


When Chewing Gum Was a Big Deal in School Canada

Memory Posted By: Julie

Teens and children in school may be shocked to hear this fact. However, it is true. This is not news, but deserved to be repeated.

When I was a kid in the mid-70s to the early 1990s the biggest problem in school was chewing gum. This is especially true during my elementary school years.

It’s not to say that I do not remember my share of smoking on school grounds or fights in the lunchroom hallway (junior high and high school). However, I have not heard as many incidences involving knives and guns when I was in school as there are today.

What is the reason? That is what most people wonder. It could be a variety of different factors, and one that would require a considerable amount of research-more than the research that would be conducted for preparation of this blog entry.

Some people believe it is because corporal punishment is no longer allowed in school-although that practice was stopped for a good reason. Some teachers used to resort to unnecessary violence in order to discipline kids. Therefore, spanking kids is no longer allowed in schools, except for possibly in some religious schools.

Other people believe that violence between children and/or violence inflicted on teachers is a result of taking prayer out of the schools, or diminishing all attempts to include God in the schools. Some people think this is all of the above.

Other people may think that the cause of violence in the schools is learned as a result of the violence that occurs in the home of children. Likewise, others may think it is a result of the beatings and killings that children witness on television.

Violence in schools could be a result of one or more of the reasons listed above. No matter what the cause, I know that I would give anything to hear that chewing gum is once again the biggest problem that teachers have with children in school.

Newspaper Delivery 1970's United States

Memory Posted By: Anon

As a teenager, I would get up around 4 in the morning to deliver the Des Moines Register in rural Fort Madison Iowa. I had Westwood Drive and my own drive, Timberlane. It was always so dark and beautiful, the stars shone so bright. Around halloween it used to get scary, especially when I had to deliver papers across from the cemetary on Denmark Hill. Life was easy then, I had no worries whatsoever of being abducted. Many people left their doors unlocked so I could just slip the paper inside their homes!! When collecting, I would tear off the little 'receipt' tag in exchange for a few bucks plus some change or treats for me. Adults back then were so awesome. They were so inspiring.

Fuel Crisis 1973 United States

Memory Posted By: Bob

In 1973, my wife, son and I left the Boston, MA area to move to Los Angeles, CA. It was during the gas shortage, and I equipped our 1960 Ford E300 Econoline 1-ton van with an 'accessory' electric fuel pump, where I could feed a long fuel line out through a small rusted-out hole in the rear panel and feed it into a parked car's gas tank. The feed line would reach our gas tank. I know it sounds nasty, and I do know it would have been stealing if I had actually used it, but I would have left some cash to pay for the gas. Fortunately, once we got away from the East Coast, the fuel lines were no-longer 2, 3 or even 4 hours long with limits of 10-gallons or less. It was for 'survival' purposes only. I think I still have that electric fuel pump around here somewhere, still never been used! I think gas was about $1.50/gallon at that time.

Comments Al said Hi, I was on the front lines at a gas station during this "gas crisis". We had 3 lines of cars, about 40 or more cars long each, going out of our station.

At one point we started running low on gas, and the boss told me "I have these magnetic signs here, I want you to take these and put them on the last car in each line". The sign said "Last car in line for gas". I remember being really surprised and shocked! I said where in heck did you get these? He said the Mobil Oil Co. Head Office had sent them to him two weeks before, and he was mystified when he got them. So they all knew it was coming!

Remember Late 70s Gas Prices United States

Memory Posted By: Jack

As I watch the prices of gas go up it reminds me of the late 70s , I think it was 1979 or 1980 when gas broke through the $1.00 a gallon barrier
It was not just that gas was over a dollar but inflation was crazy every time you went to buy something it had gone up and to make things worse interest rates were even crazier with mortgage payments increasing every month .
I can remember queuing for gas and changing my car to a small Japanese car just to be able to afford to go to work.v
And if you did not buy a locking cap for your gas tank some bar??? would syphon it off.
Strange times and just 30 years ago
I did some checking
Oil went from $8.00 to $13.00 a barrelv
Gas went from 40 cents to $1.20
Infation went as high as 14%
Interest rates went as high as 20%
But to help pay rises doubled my wages in 3 years
hang on to your hats people we are in for a roller coaster few years
anybody else remember those crazy days
Jack


Memorable Year 1971 "Thatcher The Milk Snatcher" UK

Memory Posted By: Joyce

I was browsing your blog and came across 1971 , what a memorable year .
I remember the protests over maggie "Thatcher The Milk Snatcher" people were up in arms about it , I wonder if looking back it was a bad decision knowing how much junk food kids eat today , might have been good idea for them to drink some fresh milk each day. What I can not remember is if the milk was low fat I am sure it was not when I was in school .
I also remember changing to decimal currency my uncle had a business and he gave me a sealed pack of each value coin 1p, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p which I still have sealed to this day.
This was in return for helping him make sure all the prices were in decimal as well as the old pounds, shillings and pence. I also remember as we were pricing the stuff each time if something did not quite work out in new currency we upped it slightly .
it does not seem like 37 years ago time just rushes by so fast.