This coming Tuesday, June 7th, marks 100 years since the Norwegian parliament declared the union between Norway and Sweden dissolved, making Norway a fully independent nation for the first time since the Middle Ages. The Centennial celebrations are already underway and will continue for much of the summer.
My older son is interested in how this compares with the US Bicentennial in 1976. The problem is that I was but a wee flod then - I turned 7 that summer - and I’m sure I’ve forgotten many things. I can remember the fire hydrant on our block being painted red, white, and blue. I can remember the tall ships sailing into Philadelphia harbor. And of course that the Fourth of July celebrations that year were especially big.
What do you remember of the celebrations that year? I’m sure he’d like to hear the quirky stuff (like the fire hydrant) at least as much as the big official stuff (like the tall ships).
Even though I was a reasonably responsible adult at the time (I turned 21 that year) the only thing I truly remember is a friend of mine who referred to it as the Buy Centennial because of all the stars-and-stripes crap that was being hawked everywhere!
Oh yeah, and bicentiennel quarters, which we were told were going to be worth a lot of money some day, so we saved them all! Then last year, when I was liquidating a coin collection, I was told they were worth 25 cents. So much for that money-making attempt.
I was in Newport RI for the 4th that year, and I know there was a big fireworks show along with the tall ships. Sorry I’m not much help - I guess I was pretty cynical at 21.
Oh My Dear Lord… There were ‘stars and stripes’ and ‘red, white and blue’ EVERYTHING!
I was in high school ROTC at the time. It did give us a renewed sense of patriotism and pride when in uniform. Our Commander (instructor, not student) said that none of his previous classes of cadets looked and acted as sharp as we.
Historical accounts and programs abounded. Everyone was re-educated in our history with all of the newspaper articles and TV specials that happened.
But, as I recall, as big as the hype was, it died down right after July 4th. And by 1977, it was all but forgotten.
They had bicentenial quarters, half dollars and dollar coins. The front was the same but the backs were different.
Insane amounts of mass marketing. Lucky, the bicentenial beer. Charmen, the bicentenial toilet tissue. And so on. I guess that was appropriate given US culture.
The Freedom Train, or whatever they called it. It was a train full of memorablia from the Smithsonian that travelled around the country as an exhibit. You waited hours in line to walk through it when it came to your city.
I was in 6th Grade. We had a major to do at the school where each class did a little playlet about a different era in US history.
Time Magazine did this cool special issue where it was made up like it was reporting the news from 7/4/76. It’s yet another collectable that is nearly worthless. My Mom still has it.
The fire hydrant painting thing was done countrywide.
You really couldn’t escape it. It was kind of like Super Bowl hype but it lasted for a year or so. By the time it was over, people were pretty tired of the whole thing.
I was 11 that year, and was selected to represent my school by recording a “Bicentennial Moment” public service announcement involving some historical factoid at the local television station, in imitation of the national PSAs recorded by celebrities.
I was 27 at the time. Outside of the kitsch (fire hydrants, etc) and incessant marketing, my recollection was that the whole 4th of July was prety subdued 'round these parts. Which was not surprising, given that we’d recently been through Vietnam and Watergate, and were in something of a period of reflection as to what the USofA really meant; still, I was kind of surprised at the lack of giant parades and other patriotic hoopla.
Boston, of course, made a Very Big Deal about the Bicentennial.
First there were the tall ships parade around Boston Harbor. I want to say there were maybe a hundred of them, but it could’ve been less. If so, it seemed to be a lot because every time you turned on the local news, there they were.
The Bicentennial coincided with the Pops Esplanade Orchestra’s July 4th performance, which has been one of the area’s biggest attractions since time immemorial. I was working at a restaurant in Brookline (just over the Boston line) at the time; at night we went up to the roof and had an unobstructed view of everything
Local TV specials abounded with snippets of American history. I’m pretty sure more than one station televised the reading of the Declaration of Independence at Fanuiel Hall.
I remember seeing photos of the red/white/blue spangled fire hydrants, but I don’t recall any being painted as such around here.
The first thing I thought of were those “Bicentenniel Minutes.” Two years of 'em! I graduated from college in 1976. I remember there was a form letter from President Ford <snerk> congratulating me (and everybody else) on being a “Bicentenniel Class.” I think I still have it. Maybe I should hunt for it and read it. I think I read it then, then stashed it with stuff like my yearbook and the case my diploma came in.
And, oh the marketing! Geez! If they could slap the word “Bicentenniel” on it or paint it red, white and blue, they did. An auto dealership in my hometown gave away a 1976 Chevy Nova, I believe it was, that had little “1776” stickers all over it. The idea was to count or guess the number of stickers on the car. I wonder how long the “lucky” winners spent peeling off little stickers.
Oh, and FairyChatMom, sweetie, ftr, you turned 22 in 1976. Don’t be lyin’ about your age. It ain’t nice.
What I remember most were the ubiquitous flags and flag-like clothing. It seemed that everything was red, white and blue that year, with lots of stars and stripes. There were even people who had their dogs painted.
I’m sure the whole patriotic thing would have been even more insane if we hadn’t just survived Vietnam and Watergate.
Everything was a ridiculously gaudy red-white-blue, including the senior class’s graduation garments (departing from traditional school colors). Rampant commercialism to the point of nausea (I began referring to it as the Buy-centennial pretty early on).
Speeches, commemorations. Lots of time capsules for the Tricentennial in 2076. Tiny handful of intereating historical articles. Politicians trying to make a politically lucrative deal about “heritage” and whatnot.
I was 12 and I remember the quarters, The Statue of Liberty all scaffolded up ('cause she was falling apart-- the '70’s wasn’t kind to NY). I remember the tall ships and everybody being in Manhattan and the sailors.
It felt like a big party to me. A gigantic barbque.
I happened to be traveling through the small Colorado mountain town of Gunnison (not far from South Park) on July 4, 1976. The celebrations were a hoot, and I’m sure a lot more fun than those in the big cities.
During the day there was a big parade, involving all of the larger vehicles in town, with a Spanish-American War veteran riding in an antique fire truck.
In the evening we went to a big fireworks show at the edge of town. Besides the standard fireworks, they had built frameworks holding sparklers that formed various patriotic tableaux and images: Spirit of '76, Liberty Bell, etc.
The climax was the moon landing: a rocket ship lit up, a rocket trail ignited going up to a suspended moon, then an astronaut saluting a flag lit up.
I was a little kid in 1976. I remember that in my neighborhood, it was very in vogue to paint one’s garage door with a Bicentennial picture. Two popular images were the “76” with a thirteen stars, and the three militia guys … I think they have an official name, but I’m blanking on it right now. As time went by, the images grew more faded, and were eventually painted over. I almost wrecked the car last summer when I passed a house where you could see an extremely faded image of the militia guys, I think showing through a top coat of paint that was peeling.
At our school, we buried a time capsule. I was the presenter for my class, my mom made me a Betsy Ross costume. I made the local news! For the life of me, I can’t remember what we put in the capsule, but I’m fairly sure it was a bunch of Bicentennail merchandising stuff, like the pop cans (empty and washed, I hope).
My godmother went a little overboard with the Bicentennial home decor. Wallpaper with “colonial” images, like the golden eagle, some sort of lamp that was supposed to look like the militia drum, a fake spinning wheel that was really a planter … what was she thinking? And this wasn’t uncommon, I remember seeing it in other people’s homes as well.
There’s a really bad movie called The Spirit of 76. They did a good job of showing the Bicentennial crap that was everywhere, it was fun to see a lot of the stuff I had forgotten about.
Overall, I remember it very fondly, as I was a little too young to have a real grasp of Viet Nam or Watergate.
My great-grandmother died about two months after the Bicentennial at the age of 100. She’s the only person I knew personally who’d lived during both the centennials (although since her birthday was in September she technically wasn’t around for the first one but hey, you live to 100 and see if you want to quibble about a couple of months).
Other than everything that has already been mentioned, I remember it as the year my uncle made his first million. Yes $$.
He managed to snag several prime spots selling t-shirts by Boston Harbor when the Tall Ships were around. He, and a dozen assorted family members hired by him, sold t-shirts as fast as people could fork over the cash and move away to let the next tourist press through the crowd with $ in hand.
I recall that he said each location was pulling in over a thousand dollars a day, sometimes many times that. At the end of the summer, he said he’d gotten a million dollars in that venture.
… I should say that I don’t know if it was gross or net, and somehow I suspect it was the former… but hey, I was only 9 at the time and didn’t know the difference.
Otto You’ll hear no quibbling from me. Mine died about the same time but she was only 97.
**swampbear ** and I are the same age — well, at least we graduated high school in the same year — and I also remember the letter from President Ford. I wonder if my mother still has it? My diploma also had a special sticker on it honoring the bicentennial.
But what I mostly remember is my grandmother, who turned 88 that year, saying that the good thing about being that old for the bicentennial meant she wouldn’t be around to see the tricentennial. I can only hope I won’t be able to use that line in 71 years.
