Life in the Seventies

This is a list of items describing life in the 1970s, mainly in the Los Angeles, California, USA, area.

1. Economically, in the 1970s the United States economy experienced sluggish economic growth, high inflation, and two large rises in petroleum prices.  This situation became known as "stagflation".  But the Japanese economy surged, and there was a fear that Japan would surpass the United States as the world’s largest economy (which never happened).

2. Telephones mostly had dials at the beginning of the decade, but Touch-Tone phones were becoming more common through the decade. The phone company owned all the telephones; you had to pay extra to have an "extension" phone, and extra for a color telephone, although color phones were now quite common.
   • There was only one telephone area code, 213, for the whole Los Angeles area.  (There were eight area codes for the state of California; viz. 213, 415, 916, 714, 805, 209, and 408. This situation existed from 1959 to 1982. In 1982, 619 was split off 714, and in 1984, 818 was split off 213.)
   • The Los Angeles (213) area phone calls were based on "message units" according to distance and length of call.  A call of less than about 8 miles was local.  Thus a 15 minute call from Westchester to Downtown Los Angeles was three message units and cost about 61¢.
3. The postage for a first class letter was 6¢ per ounce since 1968, 8¢ from 1971 to 1975, 10¢ from September, 1971, to the end of that year, 13¢ from 1976 to 1978,  and 15¢ from 1978 to 1981.  Air mail cost more until 1977, and, starting in 1975, additional ounces cost less than the first ounce.
4. Amtrak was formed in 1971, to take over (largely money-losing) passenger trains.  Many trains were discontinued.  The following trains to Los Angeles were run by Amtrak when they started (with two trains added later):
• The Coast Starlight to Seattle [daily]
• The Sunset to New Orleans [three times a week]
• The Super Chief-El Capitan to Chicago via Albuquerque [because Amtrak’s service was not up to Santa Fe standards, Amtrak changed the name to the Southwest Limited.  It is now called the Southwest Chief.]
• The San Diegans to San Diego [now part of the Pacific Surfliners]
• The San Joaquins began operating in 1974 from Bakersfield to Oakland and Sacramento, with connecting bus service from Los Angeles to Bakersfield.
• The Desert Wind to Chicago via Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Omaha ran from 1979 to 1997.
5. Air travel had become the main form of business travel, and was preferred for long-distance leisure travel.
   • There were many airlines that no longer exist, including Eastern, Western, Braniff, Hughes Air West, TWA, National, and Pan American. Because the FAA regulated air traffic, and set interstate air fares, several in-state airlines charged lower fares, and drew sizable market share, including PSA (founded 1949) and Air California (founded 1967). These two airlines were began charging lower fares than the interstate airlines could legally charge, and virtually drove them out of the internal California market. Incidentally, Air California hired married stewardesses, when the rule at the time was for stewardesses to be unmarried.
   • New jets were introduced during the 1970s.  The Boeing 747, the first "jumbo jet", was introduced in 1970.  The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 entered service in 1971. The Lockheed L-1011 Tristar was first delivered in 1972, but because Lockheed was unable to sell enough to recover their costs, they left the commercial airliner business.
6. The modern office used an IBM Selectric® typewriter and a mimeograph machine (probably made by Gestetner or A.B. Dick).  Heavy-duty reprographic machines (probably made by Xerox) were becoming common, and so were computers.  Large companies owned or leased large mainframe computers (like the IBM 360 or 370); smaller companies used time-share services.  The beginnings of the internet happened in 1969, and bulletin board services began in the 1970s.  The Apple II computer, first sold in 1977, was the first successful personal computer. It was widely predicted that these "personal computers" would soon be found in every home.  But microcomputers remained largely the domain of hobbyists until the 1980s.
7. Hand-held electronic calculators began to appear in 1971, but were very expensive. Before they were available, offices used mechanical adding machines, and scientists and engineers used slide rules, or tables of logarithms for more precise work. The first scientific calculator (which could replace a slide rule) appeared in 1972; it was the Hewlett-Packard HP-35, used RPL (reverse Polish logic), and it cost $395. Texas Instruments began introducing scientific calculators with "algebraic" logic (and lower prices) in 1973.  By 1975, calculators had largely supplanted slide rules in scientific and engineering use.
8. Other advances in technology included Video Tape Recorders for home use.  Sony launched the Betamax in 1975.  In 1976, RCA introduced the VHS (Video Home System) format.  Although many believed the Beta format superior, VHS offered longer recording times (first two hours, then four).  In addition, the VHS format was licensed, and with more manufacturers, the price began to decline.
9. Most home music systems consisted of an amplifier & radio and a phonograph.  Small portable transistor radios were common, with a single earphone. Music was sold on LPs and 45s. Most record players had four speeds: 78, 45, 33 1/3, and 16 2/3. There were snap-in inserts for playing 45s on players lacking a large spindle. 8-track cartridges were the most popular medium for portable music at the start of the decade, reaching their peak of popularity in 1978, and then declined while compact cassettes gained popularity. The LP format also reached its peak of popularity in 1978.
10. Smoking was permitted indoors, and even in airplanes; there were not even separate smoking sections. Trains, though, had some cars designated NO SMOKING, and buses usually only allowed smoking in the last few rows.  Cigarettes were advertised on television and radio until January 2, 1972.
11. Governors of California during the Seventies were
    • Ronald Reagan (1967-75)--Elected on a campaign to "send the welfare bums back to work" and to "clean up the mess at Berkeley, he began to cut state spending and increase taxes to achieve a balanced budget. Early in his term, he signed a liberal bill to allow abortion in most cases, a decision he later regretted. There were student protests in his first term, including the "People's Park" protest, causing him to call the highway patrol. Eventually he called the National Guard to Berkeley to restore order.
    • Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr (1975-83)--His father "Pat" Brown had been a fairly popular governor (1959-67), although the young Brown was much more liberal than his father.  He continued some of Reagan's budget-cutting, although in some mainly symbolic ways, such as declining to live in the governors' mansion and not riding in a limousine. His chief supporters were young liberals. Brown increased spending on environmental projects and welfare.  He appointed to the state supreme court the first black member (Wiley Manuel), the first Latino (Cruz Reynoso), and the first woman (Rose Bird, as chief justice).  Rose Bird was known as opposing the death penalty in every case that came before the court.  Both she and Reynoso were removed from office by recall in 1986. 
12. U. S. Presidents during the decade were
    • Richard Nixon (1969-74)--fairly popular in his first term, Nixon was reelected by a landslide in 1972, carrying 49 states. He despised northeastern elites (the feeling was mutual), and followed what he called an "American strategy" (but others called a "southern strategy") to build a moderate-conservative coalition to appeal to the South and West. But the election campaign was marred the Watergate scandal, and the (perceived) cover-up gradually eroded confidence in his presidency.  After Vice President Agnew was forced to resign, pressure for impeachment began to mount.  Congressman Ford was appointed Vice President, and approved by Congress. Nixon was pressured to resign, which he did on August 9, 1974.
    • Gerald Ford (1974-77)--the only un-elected president, he brought healing after the "nightmare" of Watergate, and almost won re-election in 1976, after beating a strong primary challenge from Ronald Reagan, and a weak challenge in the general election from the Democrat Jimmy Carter, who ran as the un-Nixon.  Partly because in his first month Watergate matters were consuming about 25% of the time and energy of the White House staff, President Ford pardoned Nixon for his involvement in Watergate.
    • Jimmy Carter (1977-81)--elected by a hopeful country, his presidency was plagued by "stagflation" (a stagnant economy with high inflation, combined with high interest rates) and the Iran hostage crisis. By 1979 America and the West in general were perceived to be suffering from a "malaise" (Carter's own word). Some pundits regard Carter as the worst president of the 20th century.
13. International leaders of the decade included:
    • Popes were:
      • Paul VI (1963-78) implemented the decisions of the 2nd Vatican Council, including the new missal in two editions, in 1970 and 1975
      • John Paul I (1978) for 33 days
      • John Paul II (1978-2005), the first non-Italian pope since the XVI century, his impact was felt more in the Eighties and Nineties.
    • Prime Ministers of Great Britain: Edward Heath (Conservative, 1970-74); Harold Wilson (Labour, 1974-76); James Callahan (Labour, 1976-79); Margaret Thatcher (Conservative, 1979-90).  Elizabeth II was queen throughout the decade.
    • Prime Ministers of Canada: Pierre Trudeau (Liberal, 1968-79); Joe Clark (Progressive Conservative, 1979-80)
    • Presidents of France: Georges Pompidou (UDR, 1969-74); Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (UDF, 1974-81)
    • Dictator of the Soviet Union: Leonid Brezhnev (General Secretary, CPSU, 1964-82)
    • Dictators of Communist China: Mao Zedong (1949-76); Hua Guofeng (1976-81)
14. Several "right wing" dictatorships ended in the 1970s.  The notion developed afterward that right wing regimes could move toward democracy, but left wing regimes could not.
    • In 1974, a military coup deposed the dictator of Portugal, which now moved toward democracy.  This movement is known as the "Carnation Revolution". 
    • In 1975, Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain, died.  His designated successor was Don Juan Carlos, who took the title Juan Carlos I.  He is grandson of the last reigning king, Alfonso XIII.  (Alfonso’s son and Juan Carlos’s father Don Juan had been passed over by Franco, because Don Juan was a liberal, and Franco believed that Don Juan Carlos would be more in his own image.)  But King Juan Carlos proceeded to liberalize Spain, holding free democratic elections in 1977. 
15. The Cold War continued throughout the decade.  Because of "stagflation" and a general feeling of malaise in the Western countries, plus President Carter’s statement about an "inordinate fear of communism", it was felt that communism may be permanent, and may even be advancing.
    • In 1972, President Nixon made a trip to Beijing.  This led to what became known as ping pong diplomacy and (eventually) the United States formally recognizing the (communist) Peoples’ Republic of China (and breaking formal ties with the Republic of China, on Taiwan).
    • Later in 1972, President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger announced the beginning of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks with the Soviet Union; this was the beginning of the period of détente.
    • In 1975 the Helsinki accords were signed, recognizing the postwar boundaries in Europe, but also committing governments to basic human rights.  Although this latter provision did not have immediate major consequences, it laid the groundwork for the collapse of communism in eastern Europe, particularly in Poland.
    • The Vietnam war was prominent in the first half of the decade.  President Nixon completed the program of "Vietnamization", turning over the defense of South Vietnam to the Vietnamese army.  The Paris peace talks brought a (as it turned out temporary) end to the war.  But in 1974 and 1975, North Vietnam launched an all-out invasion of the south.  Congress refused to allow any aid to South Vietnam (as promised in the Paris peace accords), and Saigon fell to the communists in 1975.  Subsequently Cambodia and Laos also became communist.  Later in the decade, and continuing into the ’eighties, about 1,000,000 "boat people" fled Vietnam.  Many were settled in the United States, after being processed in the Philippines, although many others died in the attempt to flee.  The Cambodian Khmer Rouge killed about 1,000,000 persons in attempting to implement their notion of an "ideal" society.
    • In 1979, the Camp David accords, brokered by President Carter, brought a formal peace between Israel and Egypt. Israel agreed to return the Sinai peninsula to Egypt, which included dismantling many Israeli settlements.
    • In 1979, following the Islamic revolution in Iran, the USSR intervened in Afghanistan, to support the Marxists against other factions. The country was effectively under Soviet occupation. The United States and Pakistan (among others) began sending aid to the rebels. This situation brought an effective end to the period of détente. Another consequence was that President Carter called for a boycott of the Moscow summer Olympic games in 1980.
16. In 1973, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Roe vs. Wade, invalidating all prohibitions on abortion in all states.  The ruling did not settle the issue, and vehement debate has continued.
17. In 1978 California voters passed Proposition 13, which limited property tax rates to 1% of assessed value.  This had many consequences, some perhaps unintentional.  Because local governments had relied on property tax for most of their revenues, they found they were now short of money, and thus became dependent on the state government.  Because property taxes dropped, property values immediately went up, because this made more properties available to buyers.  Because property is only reassessed upon sale, it meant that adjacent properties could be taxed at wildly different rates, resulting essentially in a transfer of wealth from young homebuyers to the elderly who had stayed in their homes for many years.  Also because single-family residences change owners more than commercial properties, the property tax burden was transferred more and more to single families.  Sales taxes now generated more revenue per acre than property taxes, so local governments began to favor commercial development over residential. It was predicted that Proposition 13 would be the beginning of a nationwide "tax revolution".  There were a few tax-limitation laws passed in other states, but the "revolution" didn't materialize.
18. Many social movements that had their beginnings in the ’sixties became mainstream in the ’seventies. Except for the environmental movement, the time of mass social movements was over, but action continued in legislatures. The social activism of the 1960s began turning to social activities simply for one’s own pleasure, so that Tom Wolfe named the 1970s the "Me Decade".
    • The civil rights movement largely peaked in the 1960s, but major civil rights legislation was passed by Congress during the Seventies.
    • The feminist movement, formerly called "women’s liberation" was in full swing.  Congress passed the "Equal Rights Amendment" (ERA) in 1972, but not enough states ratified it for it to become part of the constitution.
    • The environmental movement, formerly called the "ecology" movement, made several advances. The first "earth day" was observed in 1970. In 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency was established; DDT was banned in 1972; in 1974 the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed.
    • The American Indian Movement staged several protests in the ’70s, including the 1972 week-long takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, DC; and a protest at Wounded Knee, SD, in 1973. Congress passed the Indian Self-Determination Act in 1974.
    • In 1970, the United Farm Workers settled the grape boycott, when the growers agreed to recognize the union as representing the farm workers. In 1973, the U. S. Supreme Court declared the use of the short hoe illegal. In 1973, after many growers signed "sweetheart" contracts to have the Teamsters union represent farm workers, Cesar Chavez called for a boycott of grapes, lettuce, and Gallo wines.  In 1975, with "Jerry" Brown now governor of California, the state passes the Agricultural Labor Relations Act. During this decade, Chavez and other UFW leaders demanded the U. S. Immigration service crack down on illegal aliens, whom the growers had hired during union-organized strikes.
    • In 1968, Paul Ehrlich published The Population Bomb, with the notion that the world’s population was reaching the earth’s carrying capacity, and that we needed to limit human population, lest there be widespread famine and starvation.  This led to such groups as Zero Population Growth, which Ehrlich co-founded.  Most of Ehrlich’s predictions did not materialize, partly due to the green revolution, which led to a tremendous increase in food production, as well as falling fertility rates, first in developed countries, and later in less developed countries.
    • Because of the easy availability contraception, the Roe vs. Wade decision invalidating restrictions on abortion, and other factors, sex was seen as a "recreational activity", not necessarily connected to procreation, and premarital sex began to be practiced openly. (This was before the appearance of A.I.D.S. and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs; formerly called [less accurately] "VD": venereal disease.)
    • The gay rights movement made significant advances in the decade, including the election of Harvey Milk as the first openly gay supervisor of San Francisco in 1977.  He and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated the following year, and the murderer, using the "Twinkie" defense, got off with a sentence of involuntary manslaughter, leading to much outrage.  There was a reaction to what was perceived as overt militancy in the movement; as Canadian writer Robert Davies put it, "The love that dare not speak its name has become the love that won’t shut up."
    • The "hippie" movement largely disappeared in the Seventies, partly because of the Manson murders, but many of its ideals had become mainstream, including "sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll".
    • Because of the sharp jump in petroleum prices in 1973, partly caused by the Yom Kippur War, there was an energy crisis in the decade. This led to gas rationing, with those with certain license plates allowed to buy gas only on certain days, and green, yellow, and red flags. There was another larger jump in oil prices in 1979.  The notion arose that the world’s supply was finite, and that we would soon run out.
19. Cults and gurus began to appear on the American scene, including the following.
    • Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation
    • Swami A. C. Bhaktivedanta (whose followers were known as the "Hare Krishnas", from their chant)
    • Sun Young Moon (whose followers became known as "moonies") founded the so-called Unification Church. 
    • The most dramatic (and tragic) of these cults was the People’s Temple, led by Jim Jones, who called his followers to move to Guyana in 1976.  In 1978 Rep. Leo Ryan went to investigate, and he and his party were murdered by the cult, who then committed mass suicide by drinking a poisoned drink. (This is the origin of the phrase "to drink the Kool-Aid" [even though it wasn’t Kool-Aid that they drank, but FlavrAid] meaning "to follow some cult-leader to the death".)
20. There were important developments in religion in the 1970s.  Many "mainline" protestant churches continued to lose membership throughout the decade, including the Episcopal Church, The United Presbyterian Church, the United Methodist Church, the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America, The American Baptist Churches, and the United Church of Christ.
    • In the Roman Catholic Church, the Mass of Paul VI was first issued in 1970, and revised in 1975. Not only was the mass celebrated in the vernacular language, but it was expected that the priest would face the people instead of the wall.  (This was the first major revision of the mass since the XVI century, although there had been minor revisions since then, including using the vernacular soon after the Second Vatican Council.)
    • The United Presbyterian Church (the "northern church"), having adopted the Confession of 1967, continued to drift into a vague liberalism, formally abandoning its solid doctrinal position that it had had in the XIX century, which it had informally abandoned in the 1930s.  Many conservatives broke away from the Presbyterian Church in the United States (the "southern church") in 1973 also adrift, the stated issue being the ordination of women, and (eventually) formed the Presbyterian Church in America.
    • The Episcopal Church amended canon law in 1976 to accept women as priests. Several women had been ordained (irregularly) in 1974, and their ordinations were "regularized" in 1976. (Women had already been accepted as deacons.)
    • The Lutheran Church in America began ordaining women in 1970.
21. Americans were routinely given the smallpox vaccine until 1972, and the disease was eradicated worldwide by 1979.
22. In 1977, the Bank of America gave up control of its BankAmericard, which was then renamed VISA. In 1979, Master Charge was renamed MasterCard.
23. Fashions of the decade.
    • Polyester textiles, introduced in 1964 by DuPont as Dacron®, became prominent in the Seventies, especially after the introduction of double-knit textiles.  Brightly colored polyester leisure suits, with a shirt-like jacket and worn with an open-collar shirt, became fashionable, peaking around 1978.
    • Bell bottoms were popular early in the decade.
    • Very short pants for women (called "hot pants") were popular, even becoming part of the uniform of stewardesses on Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA).
    • There was a fashion for outrageous colors, especially in ties, which peaked around 1973.
    • Men’s hair was longer in this decade than before or after.  Many black men and women wore their hair in a style that came to be called "afro". Because of longer hair, hand-held pistol-shaped blow dryers became popular, even for men.
    • Blue jeans, which in 1970 were considered the pants of the working class and of protesters, had become high fashion by 1979, with many designer labels available, including Jordache, Sergio Valente, Sassoon, Gloria Vanderbilt, Chic, Calvin Klein, Bonjour, and Guess.
24. Popular music began to fragment in the 1970s, more than ever before.
    • Disco music and dancing was popular beginning around 1973, and reached its peak in 1978, its popularity ending around 1980.  Some of the more prominent disco artists were Donna Summer, the Village People, the Bee Gees, and Gloria Gaynor.
    • Rap had its beginnings
    • One genre of music neglected by the mainstream music industry burst onto the scene in the Seventies is what is now called Contemporary Christian Music with such artists as Evie Tornquist-Karlsson ("Pass It On"), Sandi Patty, Keith Green, Amy Grant, and Debby Boone ("You Light Up My Life").
25. Sports news of the decade
    • Tennis featured Billie Jean King, who pressed for more suitable prize money for winners in women’s pro tennis, and accepted a challenge from Bobby Riggs in "the battle of the sexes", easily winning the $100,000 prize; and Arthur Ashe, who became the first black American to win Wimbledon; having been denied a visa to play in the South Africa Open, he campaigned for South Africa to be expelled from the professional tennis circuit.
    • "Evel" Knievel made news with his motorcycle stunts.
    • The 1972 Munich Olympiad was marred by Palestinian terrorists murdering two Israeli athletes and taking nine more hostage.  In the attempt to free them, all nine hostages were killed, along with some of the terrorists.
26. Numerous fads came and went during the decade.
    • In 1975 the mood ring was introduced. People thought the ring would reveal their mood and so get in touch with their feelings, but the ring only indicated temperature.
    • Also in 1975 the pet rock was sold, along with a "care and training booklet".
    • Smiley faces seemed to be everywhere.
    • Platform shoes were popular--this fad continued into the 1980s.
    • Earth shoes (and imitations), with their high toes and low heels, were popular, especially among people that like granola: hippie and semi-hippie types.
    • Quasi-religious mass seminars, such as, Erhard Seminars Training (est), became popular in the 1970s.  Started in 1971, it consisted of a two weekend intense "training" meetings.  (The word est is Latin for "it is"; those who completed the seminars were expected to "get it". The seminar is parodied in the 1977 film Semi-Tough.)  Similar kinds of psychological fads were primal therapy and rebirthing.
    • Citizens’ Band radios enjoyed popularity during the decade, especially after the 1973 and 1979 jumps in gasoline prices and the (so-called) energy crisis led to the national setting of the highway speed limit at 55 miles/hour: drivers (especially truckers) would broadcast any sightings of "Smokeys" (highway patrol officers).
    • Role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons (introduced in 1974) were popular.  Some people objected to them, because of their alleged ties to witchcraft and the occult, but others objected because they were huge time-consumers.
    • Screaming Yellow Zonkers, a snack food introduced in the 1960s and still produced, became popular, partly because of being sold in black boxes with humorous notions and suggestions on the box.  Unlike Cracker Jack®, Screaming Yellow Zonkers do not have nuts.
27. There was more heavy industry in the Los Angeles area than there is today.
    • Some aerospace companies that existed at the time were: McDonnell Douglas, Hughes, TRW, Convair (part of General Dynamics), AeroJet, Northrop, Lockheed, Martin-Marietta, Garrett AiResearch (part of Signal Companies), Honeywell, Boeing, The Aerospace Corporation, and North American Rockwell (became Rockwell International in 1973).
    • Automobile assembly was an important industry in the Los Angeles area, with these plants: Chrysler (City of Commerce: closed, 1971), Ford (Pico Rivera), GM (South Gate: Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac), and GM (Van Nuys: Chevrolet).  In fact, Los Angeles produced more automobiles than any city except Detroit.
    • There were also tire manufacturing plants in the Los Angeles area:  Firestone in South Gate, Goodyear in south central Los Angeles, and Uniroyal in the City of Commerce.  (These plants soon closed; however, I don’t know the dates.)
28. There were more department stores, including Robinson’s, I. Magnin, Joseph Magnin, Bullock’s, Ohrbach’s, The May Company, and The Broadway.  Both J. C. Penney and Sears had retail stores that have since closed.
29. Three cities competed to have the world's tallest building in the Seventies: Boston with the John Hancock Tower, Chicago with the Sears Tower, and New York with the twin World Trade Center towers.
30. Notable books published in the Seventies included
    • 1970: The French Lieutenant's Woman (John Fowles); Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask (David Reuben, MD); Love Story (Erich Segal); The New English Bible
    • 1971: The Exorcist (William P. Blatty)
    • 1972: I'm O.K., You're O.K. (Thomas Harris--originally published in 1969; became a bestseller in 1972); Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Richard Bach); Watership Down (Richard Adams); Dr Atkins' Diet Revolution (Dr Robert Atkins)
    • 1973: Breakfast of Champions (Kurt Vonnegut)
    • 1974: The Total Woman (Maribel Morgan); All the President's Men (Carl Bernstein & BobWoodward); Centennial (James A. Michener); Carrie (Stephen King)
    • 1975: Chesapeake (James A. Michener)
    • 1976: Ragtime (E. L. Doctorow); Roots: The Saga of an American Family (Alex Haley)
    • 1977: The Amityville Horror (Jay Anson); The Shining (Stephen King)
    • 1978: The Complete Book of Running (James Fixx)
    • 1979: The Dead Zone (Stephen King); The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet (Dr Herman Tarnower & Samm Sinclair Baker); The Right Stuff (Tom Wolfe)
31. Notable songs in popular music for the 1970s (More songs are given on a separate list).
    • 1970: Close to You (Carpenters); 25 or 6 to 4 (Chicago); The Letter (Joe Cocker); Venus (Shocking Blue); Let It Be (Beatles); We’ve Only Just Begun (Carpenters); Coal Miner’s Daughter (Loretta Lynne); Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkel); Our House (Crosby Stills Nash and Young); Cecilia (Simon and Garfunkel);  Rubber Ducky (Ernie [Jim Henson, Sesame Street]); My Sweet Lord (George Harrison); Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head (B. J. Thomas); Cracklin’ Rosie (Neil Diamond); Amos Moses (Jerry Reed); El Condor Pasa (Simon & Garfunkel); Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand) (Diana Ross)
    • 1971: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night); Imagine (John Lennon); Proud Mary (Ike and Tina Turner); I Don’t Know How to Love Him (Yvonne Elliman); Take Me Home, Country Roads (John Denver); The Wedding Song (There Is Love) (Paul Stookey); Theme from Shaft (Isaac Hayes); Rainy Days and Mondays (Carpenters)
    • 1972: American Pie (Don McLean); Saturday in the Park (Chicago); Morning Has Broken (Cat Stevens); I Am Woman (Helen Reddy); I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash); Everything Is Beautiful (Ray Stevens); I’d Like To Teach the World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) (The New Seekers), Listen to the Music (Doobie Brothers)
    • 1973: Crocodile Rock (Elton John); Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (Jim Croce); Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan); Tie a Yellow Ribbon ’Round the Old Oak Tree (Dawn featuring Tony Orlando); Midnight Train to Georgia (Gladys Knight & the Pips); Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Elton John); Cover of Rolling Stone (Dr Hook & The Medicine Show); Behind Closed Doors (Charlie Rich); You’re So Vain (Carly Simon); Killing Me Softly With His Song (Roberta Flack); The Most Beautiful Girl (Charlie Rich); Rocky Mountain High (John Denver)
    • 1974: Takin’ Care of Business (Bachman Turner Overdrive [BTO]); The Way We Were (Barbara Streisand); I Shot the Sheriff (Eric Clapton)
    • 1975: Thank God I’m A Country Boy (John Denver); Send In the Clowns (Judy Collins); You Are So Beautiful (Joe Cocker); The Entertainer (Billy Joel); Volare (Al Martino); Love Will Keep Us Together (The Captain & Tennille); Una Paloma Blanca (George Baker Selection)
    • 1976: Shake Your Booty (KC and The Sunshine Band); I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Creedence Clearwater Revival); I Write The Songs (Barry Manilow); Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (Neil Sedaka)
    • 1977: Da Doo Ron Ron (Shaun Cassidy); Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band (Meco); You Light Up My Life (Debby Boone); Luckenbach,Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) (Waylon Jennings)
    • 1978: Last Dance (Donna Summer); Summer Nights (Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta); Copacabana (Barry Manilow); Greased Lightnin’ (John Travolta); Macho Man (Village People); Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys (Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson); Stayin’ Alive (Bee Gees); MacArthur Park (Donna Summer)
    • 1979: Y.M.C.A. (Village People); I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor); We Are Family (Sister Sledge); The Devil Went Down to Georgia (Charlie Daniels Band)
32. Because of some bad decisions (like not knowing when the Sixties were over), major Hollywood studios were losing money early in the decade. MGM sold off many properties, including Dorothy’s ruby slippers and its own back lots. The movie ratings changed during the 1970s.  In 1970 the M rating became GP, and then PG in 1972. Very popular during the decade were James Bond films: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1970, George Lazenby); Diamonds Are Forever (1971, Sean Connery); Live and Let Die (1973: Roger Moore); The Man with the Golden Gun (1974: Roger Moore); The Spy Who Loved Me (1977: Roger Moore); and Moonraker (1979: Roger Moore).  Other notable movies of the 1970s included:
    • 1970: Patton; Airport; Five Easy Pieces; Catch-22; Cactus Flower; Love Story; Shaft; M*A*S*H; The Aristocats; Airport; Ryan’s Daughter; Scrooge
    • 1971: The French Connection; A Clockwork Orange; Fiddler on the Roof; The Last Picture Show; Nicholas and Alexandra; Dirty Harry; Billy Jack; Carnal Knowledge; Bedknobs and Broomsticks; Willard; Klute; The Andromeda Strain
    • 1972: The Godfather; Cabaret; Deliverance; Sounder; The Emigrants; Summer of ’42; The Poseidon Adventure; What’s Up Doc?; Lady Sings the Blues; Sounder; 1776
    • 1973: The Sting; American Graffiti; The Exorcist; A Touch of Class; Cries and Whispers; The Way We Were; Magnum Force; Paper Moon; Serpico; Jesus Christ Superstar; Enter the Dragon; Save the Tiger
    • 1974: The Godfather, Part II; Chinatown; The Conversation; Lenny; The Towering Inferno, Earthquake, Jaws; Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore; Blazing Saddles; Young Frankenstein; Benji; Harry and Tonto; Murder on the Orient Express
    • 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Barry Lyndon; Dog Day Afternoon; Jaws; Nashville; The Rocky Horror Picture Show; The Return of the Pink Panther; The Sunshine Boys
    • 1976: Rocky; All the President’s Men; Network; Taxi Driver; Marathon Man; The Omen
    • 1977: Annie Hall; The Goodbye Girl; Julia; Star Wars; The Turning Point, Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Saturday Night Fever; Smokey and the Bandit; Oh, God!; Semi-Tough; Pete’s Dragon
    • 1978: The Deer Hunter; Coming Home; Heaven Can Wait; Midnight Express; An Unmarried Woman, Grease, Superman: The Movie; International Velvet; National Lampoon’s Animal House; Foul Play; Jaws 2; Halloween; Revenge of the Pink Panther
    • 1979: Kramer vs. Kramer; Apocalypse Now; All That Jazz; Being There; Breaking Away; The Onion Field; Norma Rae; Alien; 10; The China Syndrome; The Muppet Movie; Rocky; Monty Python’s Life of Bryan
33. Notable Broadway musicals of the 1970s included:
    • 1969-70: Applause; Coco; Purlie
    • 1970-71: Company; The Me Nobody Knows; The Rothschilds
    • 1971-72: Two Gentlemen of Verona; Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death; Follies; Grease
    • 1972-73: A Little Night Music; Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope; Pippin; Sugar
    • 1973-74: Raisin; Over Here; Seesaw
    • 1974-75: The Wiz; Mack and Mabel; The Lieutenant; Shenandoah
    • 1975-76: A Chorus Line; Bubbling Brown Sugar; Chicago; Pacific Overtures
    • 1976-77: Annie; Happy End; I Love My Wife; Side by Side by Sondheim
    • 1977-78: Ain’t Misbehavin’; Dancin’; On the Twentieth Century; Runaways
    • 1978-79: Sweeney Todd; Ballroom; The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; They’re Playing Our Song
    • 1979-80: Evita; Barnum; Sugar Babies
34. During the fifth season of the TV sitcom Happy Days in 1977, Fonzie, while water skiing and wearing a leather jacket, jumped over a shark.  Many people felt that this was an indication that the series had passed its peak, and was running out of good story ideas.  This led to the term "jumping the shark" to refer to the same thing in other shows.  Notable television shows of the 1970s included:
    • Dramas: Gunsmoke (CBS, 1955-75); Bonanza (NBC, 1959-73); Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC, 1969-76); Ironside (NBC, 1967-75); Hawaii Five-O (CBS, 1968-80); Medical Center (CBS, 1969-76); The F.B.I. (ABC, 1965-74); The Mod Squad (ABC, 1968-73); Mannix (CBS, 1967-75); Adam 12 (NBC, 1968-75); The Waltons (CBS, 1972-81);  Kojak (CBS, 1973-78); Cannon (CBS, 1971-76); The Rockford Files (NBC, 1974-80); The Six Million Dollar Man (ABC, 1973-78); The Bionic Woman (ABC, 1976-77 and NBC, 1977-78); Family (ABC, 1976-80); Charlie’s Angels (ABC, 1976-81); Little House on the Prairie (NBC, 1974-83); Dallas (CBS, 1978-91); The Love Boat (ABC, 1977-86); Fantasy Island (ABC, 1978-84);
    • Situation Comedies: The Flip Wilson Show (NBC, 1970-74); Here’s Lucy (CBS, 1968-74); Bewitched (ABC, 1964-72); The Brady Bunch (ABC, 1969-74); All in the Family (CBS, 1971-79); Sanford and Son (NBC, 1972-77); Funny Face (CBS, 1971); The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS, 1970-77); The Bob Newhart Show (CBS, 1972-78); Maude (CBS, 1972-78); Bridget Loves Bernie (CBS, 1972-73); M*A*S*H (CBS, 1972-83); The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (CBS, 1971-74); Chico and the Man (NBC, 1974-78); The Jeffersons (CBS, 1975-85); Rhoda (CBS, 1974-78); Good Times (CBS, 1974-79); Laverne and Shirley (ABC, 1976-83); Phyllis (CBS, 1975-77); Happy Days (ABC, 1974-84); Three’s Company (ABC, 1977-84); Alice (CBS, 1976-85); Mork & Mindy (ABC, 1978-82); Angie (ABC, 1979-80); The Ropers (ABC, 1979-80); Taxi (ABC/NBC, 1978-83); The Dukes of Hazzard (CBS, 1979-85).
    • (Otherwise) unclassified: The Wonderful World of Disney (NBC, 1969-79); The Big Event (NBC); Baretta (ABC, 1975-78); One Day at a Time (CBS, 1975-84); 60 Minutes (CBS, 1968- ); Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (NBC, 1968-73); Rich Man, Poor Man (ABC, 1976, a mini-series); Saturday Night Live (NBC, 1975–); and The Carol Burnett Show (CBS, 1967-78)
35. The blockbuster television mini-series began with Centennial (1976) and Roots (1977: ABC).  Other such miniseries were I, Claudius (1976: BBC, but broadcast in the US later) and Shogun (1980: NBC).  Earlier miniseries (a term not used in Great Britain), often broadcast on PBS’s "Masterpiece Theater", were The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1972: BBC) and Elizabeth R (1972: BBC).

References:

• Wikipedia
• Feinstein, Stephen. The 1970s From Watergate to Disco (part of the Decades of the 20th Century series). Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2000.  A nice summary, written about an 8th grade level.

See also:

• Wikipedia article on the 1970s
• Kingwood Cultural Library--American Cultural History: 1970-9
• Headline history of Los Angeles, 1963-79
• Song lists from the 1970s
• Wikipedia list of 1970s TV shows in the US
• Life in the 1940s
• Life in the 1950s
• Life in the 1960s
• Life in the 1980s

• Last updated: February 22, 2008.