Culture of the 70’s

U.S. History 11

70’s

• FACTS about this decade. Population: 204,879,000 Unemployed in 1970: 4,088,000 National Debt: $382 billion Average salary: $7,564 Food prices: milk, 33 cents a qt.; bread, 24 cents a loaf; round steak, $1.30 a pound Life Expectancy: Male, 67.1; Female, 74.8

• Major trends included a growing disillusionment of government, advances in civil rights, increased influence of the women's movement, a heightened concern for the environment, and increased space exploration

• Many of the "radical" ideas of the 60's gained wider acceptance in the new decade, and were mainstreamed into American life and culture

• Decade was amid war, social realignment and presidential impeachment proceedings

• Two trends not directly related to education nonetheless heavily impacted the nation's schools and campuses– Social movements, particularly the anti-war movement, were

highly visible on college and university campuses.– i.e.- The Kent State Massacre– Mandatory busing to achieve racial school integration often

led to violence and a disruption of the educational process– Congress guaranteed equal educational access to the

handicapped with the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975

• Fads– Mood rings, lava lamps, Rubik's cube, smiley

face stickers and pet rocks – The wildest fad surely was streaking nude through

very public places! – Families vacationed in station wagons and

everyone wanted an RV.

• Fashion– The fashion influence of Sixties hippies was

mainstreamed in the Seventies– Men sported shoulder length hair and non-traditional

clothing became the rage, including bellbottom pants, hip huggers, colorful patches, hot pants, platform shoes, earth shoes, clogs, T-shirts, and gypsy dresses

– Knits and denims were the fabrics of choice. – Leisure suits for men became commonplace, and

women were fashionable in everything from ankle-length grandmother dresses to hot pants and micro-miniskirts

– The movie Annie Hall (1977) even inspired a fashion trend with women sporting traditional men's clothing such as derby hats, tweed jackets, and neckties worn with baggy pants or skirts.

• Technology

– The floppy disc appeared in 1970, and the next year Intel introduced the microprocessor, the "computer on a chip."

– Apollo 17, the last manned craft to the moon, brought back 250 samples of rock and soil. Unmanned space probes explored the moon, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, and Venus. The U.S. Apollo 18 and the USSR's Soyuz 19 linked up in space to conduct joint experiments.

– Atari produced the first low-priced integrated circuit TV games– The videocassette recorder (VCR) changed home entertainment forever– Jumbo jets revolutionized commercial flight, doubling passenger capacity and

increasing flight range to 6,000 miles– The neutron bomb, which destroys living beings but leaves buildings intact, was

developed– In medicine, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology was developed to

help in diagnosis– The discovery of recombinant DNA technology in 1973 led to research in genetic

engineering. This was soon halted pending development of safer techniques. – The first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was born, developed from an artificially

inseminated egg implanted in the mother's womb. – Other inventions/innovations: email (1971), first retail barcode scanned (1974),

the laser printer (1971Additionally, the electronic book, was invented in 1971, eventually resulting in Project Gutenberg, the largest collection of online books.

• Significant events: – Presidential resignation– Paris Peace Accords (end of Vietnam war)– Immigration Act of 1965– Women’s Rights Movement– Latino Rights Movement, Native American Rights

Movement, Asian American Rights Movement, Gay Rights Movement, Environmental Movement

– Roe v Wade– Los Angeles, Detroit, and Atlanta elected their first

African-American mayors– 1975 Indian-Self Determination Act

• Music– By the 1970's, the term "rock & roll" had become

nearly meaningless– This decade saw the breakup of the Beatles and

the death of Elvis Presley, robbing rock of two major influences

– Pop music splintered into a multitude of styles: soft rock, hard rock, country rock, folk rock, punk rock, shock rock, and the dance craze of the decade, disco!

• Music– Among the top names in popular music

were Aerosmith, the Bee Gees, David Bowie, Jackson Browne, Alice Cooper, Eagles, Electric Light Orchestra, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, John Lennon, Pink Floyd, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Three Dog Night, and The Who

– Easy listening regained popularity with groups such as the Carpenters

– Bob Marley gained a huge core of fans in the U.S. performing Jamaican reggae music

– Even though Michael Jackson was only 12 years old in 1970, his career as a solo performer skyrocketed during this decade

• Film– The 70’s are often considered the best decade for movies– After years of box office erosion caused by the popularity

of television, a combination of blockbuster movies and new technologies such as Panavision and Dolby sound brought the masses back to the movies

– The sci-fi adventure and spectacular special effects of George Lucas's Star Wars made it one of the highest grossing films ever

– Other memorable movies were the disaster movies, Towering Inferno, Earthquake, Poseidon Adventure, and Airport

– Sylvester Stalone's Rocky reaffirmed the American dream and gave people a hero with a "little guy comes out on top" plot

– The Godfather and sequel both earned academy awards

• Film – Other memorable movies: Jaws, the Exorcist, and the

moving Kramer vs. Kramer– There was a definite public yearning for simpler, more

innocent times as evidenced by the popularity of the movies, American Graffiti and Grease, both of which presented a romanticized view of the 50’s

– Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta fueled the "disco fever" already sweeping the music and dance club scenes

– The nation's experience in the Vietnam War and its aftermath influenced the themes of several movies, including Coming Home, The Deer Hunter, and Apocalypse Now

• TV– Television came of age in the Seventies as topics

once considered taboo were broached on the airwaves for the first time

– Popular Shows: All in the Family, Saturday Night Live, Happy Days, the Brady Bunch

– PBS was fairly new, gained popularity with shows like Sesame Street

– Mini series Roots– Of course, the new broadcasting of the war in

Vietnam

• Popular Lit:– "Deliverance" James Dickey– "Love Story" Eric Segal– "Summer of '42" Herman Raucher– "The Exorcist" William Peter Blatty– "Roots:the Saga of an American Family" Alex

Haley– "Carrie" Stephen King– "Sophie's Choice" William Styron