My first wife, like a lot of people, saved the bicentennial quarters. Had a bowlful of them stashed on a closet shelf for a number of years. Then one day in the early 80s, we noticed that most of them were gone. Turned out that my eldest boy had fed them all to the gaming machines. So much for our nest egg. 
My memories are more of the lead-up to the actual Bicentennial date than the day itself: the Bicentennial Minute series on CBS, getting to see the American Freedom Train, and commemorative tchotchkes and packaging everywhere.
I don’t have any specific memories of what we did on the 4th; we probably had a cookout with my family and my aunt and uncle and their family (as we usually did things with them in those years), and probably went to see fireworks that evening. My one memory of that day is being out in the front yard of our house, and thinking to myself that, if I lived long enough to see the Tricentennial, I’d be 111 years old.
Maybe it’s just my faulty memory, but ISTR that the weather was a lot better that July 4, so the big celebrations went off without the delays and cancellations we’ve had today.
The other thing was that the Bicentennial felt pretty non-partisan. There was an election race going on in 1976, but it felt like Carter and Ford weren’t part of the discussion at all.
One thing I remember clearly was all my radio station’s sponsors trying to figure out how they could cash in on Bicentennial fever. We had one sponsor advertising a “Bicentennial wheelchair.” Foirtunately, working in radio meant I didn’t have to actually look at the thing.
I was only a pre-teen, but that’s my recollection, as well.
Coming off of a lot of negative things in the few years prior to 1976 (the final throes of the Vietnam War, Watergate, inflation, the first energy crisis, etc.), I suspect that most Americans were eager for something positive about the country that they could get behind, and that wound up being celebrating the Bicentennial.
I had Connecticut public radio on in the car yesterday and they made a point that hadn’t even occurred to me; that we may have been more invested in the Bicentennial than we are now because we really only had those three networks to watch. I was about ten years old at the time and remember the Bicentennial train, the fireworks, the red , white and blue everywhere and the tall ships on TV in New York.
I was 11; I don’t remember it being that different than celebrations in 1975 and 1977. I do remember the bicentennial quarters.
I grew up just over the DC border in Silver Spring, MD. The bicentennial was everywhere. Relentless. Resistance was futile. I had a classmate that wore a shirt into school one day that had
fuck the bicentennial
in very small letters. I’m not sure if anyone in charge saw it, but I’m pretty sure they would have made him turn it inside out if they did, times being somewhat more genteel back then.
I was 22, and working at the bakery. Since it was Sunday, I had the day off (the only days the store didn’t open were Xmas and I think Easter), so I went to church in the morning and did whatever for the rest of the day.
That was the year that 7-Up had the United We Stand cans – 50 designs, one for each state, and if you had a complete set (I finally did end up with one) they could be stacked up to show a picture of Uncle Sam.
I do remember being glued to the TV watching the coverage of the tall ships in New York. Yesterday I had the NBC coverage on and it just didn’t hold my attention. I wanted to see what was happening. The TV wanted to keep interviewing people who had nothing interesting to say.
I was working last night so it wasn’t even an option to look at whatever the hell was going on in DC last night.
It’s pretty rare now because a) it’s been so long, and b) I don’t deal in cash as much, but to this day I will not spend a bicentennial quarter. Worth absolutely nothing more than face value, like most Lincoln wheat backs, although technically they are worth more than face value.
Wait, are you telling me that I can’t retire on my two rolls of Bicentennial quarters?
Well, at least I still have those two dollar bills.
Don’t tell me you’re still tipping strippers with one dollar bills.
I turned 12 years old in 1976. I recall saying to my parents at the time “aren’t you sick of all this bicentennial stuff every day?” Even then, I gained an appreciation of the idea of cultural (over)saturation. I used to enjoy watching those little minute long expositions on tv that were called “200 years ago today”. They covered often little-known historical events from the year 1776.
The highlight for me was the time we visited the Freedom Train. I also have fond memories of how the city painted all the fire hydrants to look like Revolutionary War soldiers. That was kinda creative.
I was in Boston attending college just prior to that, but graduated in 1975 and moved away before I could attend the Boston Pops performance on July 4 of 1976. I had attended each of the previous three July 4 performances while I was in college.
But…I did attend the concert/protest at Concord, MA, on April 19, 1975, to mark the bicentennial of “the shot heard round the world.” It was wet and miserable…and lasted all night. We had neglected to check the weather reports and came with absolutely no tarps, rain jackets, umbrellas, or anything to keep us out of the mud and drizzle. The pictures of us at 3:00 AM are priceless.
We took the Auto train that year from Fla to visit relatives in Philadelphia, saw the Liberty Bell, and Betsy Ross house etc etc.
Might have a few bicentennial coins still.
Watched fireworks over Independence Hall while sitting on the grass in Independence Mall. This year they apparently had a drone show over Independence Hall, someone probably figured out that incendiary devices exploding over an irreplaceable 250 year old building is not a good idea.