I don’t remember watching any celebrations on TV. I can’t imagine any young person spending the Fourth indoors watching TV unless they were out in the sticks like you were.
My Daddy had a '76 Chevy Nova with Bicentennial package.
My brother drove it to death when he was highschool.
In July, 1976 I was on a military detachment to St. Thomas, USVI, building a radar site on the top of Crown Mountain. My third child had just been born in March of that year (we called him our “bicentennial baby”). In April of that year we were called upon to help with the crash site of AA Flight 625, which crashed upon landing at the St. Thomas airport, for which we were awarded a Humanitarian Service Medal. A month or so later, I was in Guatemala helping train locals how to build Butler Huts after a major earthquake killed over 20,000 people in February of that year and destroyed most of the adobe buildings. We received a second HSM for that action.
So it was a busy year for me, and I don’t recall doing any celebrating of the bicentennial.
My friend’s band played a free 4th of July concert at a local park and I was recruited as a roadie/photographer. The concert was well received by the concert attendees, but the neighbors complained about the noise and marijuana use which resulted in a live music ban in the park for several years.
When I said ‘celebrations’ I should have said ‘fireworks’. As I recall, there was a tremendous fireworks show over New York Harbor with the Statue of Liberty in the background. And another over the Mall in DC.
During the day there was a big display of ships in New York Harbor.
Two more random thoughts: my father bought several proof sets of bicentennial coins. I still have them. When we sold my mother’s house a couple of years ago there was still a set of bicentennial curtains on the window in the laundry room.
My mother had some in the guest room - godawful tacky things, those were.
The town we lived in had a sister city of the same name in England, and the town organized a trip that year that my mom went on. It was a cute quintessentially English city situated between London and Birmingham and she enjoyed her visit quite a lot.
I remember the Bicentennial Minutes but not really much else.
I was 21. Some friends and I drove way out in the sticks to a bar-b-que in Moscow Tennessee. Celebrate the 4th in Moscow! I don’t remember how we knew about it. A whole pig was cooked in the ground which I had never heard of doing before. There were big metal tubs of some sort of alcoholic brew. People sat around and played music. There was LSD involved. That’s about all I remember.
Much the same as yours! I was 11, we took a family vacation to NYC, saw the tall ships, and I’ll always remember the enormity of the fireworks smoke completely engulfing the Statue of Liberty. Quite something.
My parents put a Bicentennial plate on the front of their cars.
I don’t remember much of the Bicentennial merchandise. I’d assume the fast food drink cups were decorated with red,white,and blue. I don’t remember actually getting any.
My biggest memory is the Tall Ships ceremony on the 4th of July.
I was 3 going on 4 when the Bicentennial happened, and the painted fire hydrants (just west of Houston at the time) is about the only thing I remember, mostly because I recall thinking it was cool that I could see them since they were low to the ground like me.
I graduated 8th grade in 1976. Out in the country we didn’t have a lot of celebration stuff. I’m not even sure I went to a local fireworks display.
But we did watch the tall ships - on our 19" B&W TV!
I know I watched a lot of bicentennial minutes. I wonder if somewhere in my head I remember anything from them. i wonder if you can watched them anywhere.
Neither do I. The closest thing to that was Captain America on my Slurpee cup. But that could have just as easily been Spider-Man, Hulk, or (as was often my misfortune) Kull the Conqueror.
Something that I haven’t seen anyone else mention: July 4 1976 was a Sunday. In our small Midwestern town it was a big deal that you would attend a church service that morning to give thanks for the establishment of the country. (I didn’t go)
I really appreciate everyone sharing their memories here! It’s interesting that a lot of people don’t have much recollection of that particular day. I wonder if people who lived on the east coast (think 13 colonies) took more of an interest in it. At 10 years old, I really didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. It was hammered into us every day in school that year.
Years ago, I remember seeing a couple of videos of the news footage that day that were hours long. The closest thing I could find now is this footage from ABC that is about an hour of highlights.
I hope that someday we can regain some of the unity in this country that was displayed that day. Despite our vast differences, we found a way to come together and celebrate. I think we’ve lost that ability now and I think we are poorer as a country as a result. We see a lot of fake patriotism these days, but it felt genuine then. Maybe it was because we were really only 30 years removed from WWII and we remembered what sacrifice and freedom really meant.
Regardless, I love reading everyone’s recollections, even if you don’t remember much at all.
Ah yes, I remember it well. The Bicentennial Minutes on TV most of all. I still have a few items from that time: A book on Flags from American History given out by a local bank still on my shelf. A red white and blue 16oz glass from the now long defunct Red Barn restaurant chain. An LP record of patriotic songs. Most of all watching the tall ships parade on TV with everyone raving about the “all girl” crew of the Winston Churchill.