# Are You Nostalgic For the 1970's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130 "2013-02-12T23:26:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/41 "2013-02-13T15:38:35Z")
I was born in December '66, so I never had to actually make a living or pay serious bills in the '70s, but I agree that it was a great time to be a kid. Things I get nostalgic for, in no particular order: [ul] [li]The Bicentennial (hard to impart just how big a deal the Bicentennial was to those who weren’t there- every TV show had a Bicentennial episode, every dimestore sold tricorn hats and toy muskets, every two bit town was decorated for it [e.g. fire hydrants painted to look like Minute Men or George Washington], and the nightly _Bicentennial Minute_- and I also remembered it all ended instantly on July 5, like Ash Wednesday at Mardi Gras today.[/li][li]The Golden Age of Saturday morning TV (S&M Krofft shows, Filmation, etc.)[/li][li]The advent of the digital watch[/li][li]Pong (which absolutely seemed Star Trek-kish at the time)[/li][li]The original Star Wars fever (hard to believe they were so unsure as to the success of the movie that there wasn’t a single action figure on the market when it premiered) [/li][li]Jimmy Carter jokes[/li][li]Disco (which was fun and the first [and about the last] music I danced to)[/li][/ul] I didn’t get into '70s music until long after the '70s were over (early '90s probably), but even at the time I loved the TV shows (_All in the Family_, _Sanford and Son_, the first cast of SNL (I didn’t get all the jokes but still loved watching them), and some others still rank among my all time favorites). There are pics of me in leisure suits and with the “butt cut” and lots of shag carpeting in the houses but I didn’t really have an opinion one way or the other on fashion: it was what we wore and how we decorated. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/42 "2013-02-13T15:45:29Z")
Nope. For me it was a horrible decade. Both my parents died, three grandparents died, an uncle died, and I was diagnosed with cancer. In a lighter vein, ugly colors, ugly clothes, and bad music also dominated the seventies. I try to avoid even thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/43 "2013-02-13T15:47:00Z")
I was in high school and college in this decade and thought it was great. The HS girls dressed like Marcia Brady There was good music, not just disco We didn’t waste our time on the internet We actually got up other guys and played pickup baseball games. No uniforms, no umpires, just the love of the game. There weren’t alternative versions of reality for conservatives and we all pretty much agreed on what facts were. School kids went to the library and did research, not today’s attitude that if Google can’t find it, it’s unimportant. There were fewer sports teams and you knew all the players. When your college team was on TV it was a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/44 "2013-02-13T15:50:24Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Disco, Watergate, leisure suits, 13% inflation, Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell, Ma Bell, three TV networks, mainframe computers, gas shortages, smoke-filled offices, my miserable childhood . . . God, I’ve got to stop before I depress myself. Watch _Taxi Driver_ to see New York at the time. No, no no, I don’t miss the 70’s. I was born in 1964, so that was my childhood. Except for the Apollo moon program, everything sucked. Nixon disgraced the office of the President so badly that we elected Carter, a man who oozed humility. The economy was permanently messed up with out of control inflation. Vietnam was ending and everybody’s uncle, brother or dad was coming home with undiagnosed PTSD, which they treated with beer, pot and coke. Look at TV shows from the 70s. Those terrible hairstyles and clothes. I think the reason that everything was brown, green or orange was to hide the dirt. casual racism was funny. And don’t get me started on the music. It never really went away until 2010 or so. I hate the fucking eagles, man. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/45 "2013-02-13T16:02:41Z")
Born in '73, too young to remember the zeitgeist. However, being in a small town, we still had some of the aesthetics and culture of the 70s that lasted well into the 80s (there were _new_ discos opening in the town next to us in 1981!) So, I am nostalgic for the turn of the decade, which to us was basically the late 70s except with more early video games. We didn’t hear New Wave music until almost 1983. When I heard I Will Survive in 1981 I thought it was new. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/46 "2013-02-13T16:05:59Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > We actually got up other guys and played pickup baseball games. No uniforms, no umpires, just the love of the game. > > . We did this too. Football and baseball. Most days after school when the weather was good. This doesn’t happen anymore? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/47 "2013-02-13T16:11:56Z")
> [@Klostertal](#): > > I was born in 1985. There was some fucking amazing music being produced during the 70s; it was an era that will stand out in music history. Yep. Some of my favorite music was being made in the 70s. Led Zeppelin, the first _Pretenders_ album, Gang of Four’s _Entertainment!_, the first three Wire albums, Television’s _Marquee Moon_, Neu!, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno’s solo albums, etc. It was a _fantastic_ decade for music. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/48 "2013-02-13T16:13:31Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > We did this too. Football and baseball. Most days after school when the weather was good. This doesn’t happen anymore? I never see it in our neighborhood. Sports are all organized by the school and I never see pickup games of baseball. I do see our local Indian/Pakistani kids and young adults playing pickup games of cricket. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/49 "2013-02-13T16:23:24Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I never see it in our neighborhood. Sports are all organized by the school and I never see pickup games of baseball. I do see our local Indian/Pakistani kids and young adults playing pickup games of cricket. I have to say, pick-up baseball is not that common around here, either, so far as I can tell. I was born in '75, and we played pick-up ball through the early 90s. We had our own variations on the game, depending where we were playing. There was a tennis ball version, a rubber ball version, and a league ball version. Oh, and of couse, 16-inch Chicago style softball. Our main fields were the field behind the cardboard paper factory, the asphalt school parking lot, and an actual high school baseball field. Christ, I feel old just talking about it. But, no, I don’t really see pick-up games like that much, either, these days. Occasionally, maybe a softball game. THAT SAID, I do see kids playing soccer in fenced courts that used to be tennis courts or basketball courts when I was a kid, so there is still plenty of unorganized sports going on, although it _seems_ to be less frequent to me. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/50 "2013-02-13T16:28:50Z")
Basketball you do see. I haven’t seen pickup baseball in years. We used to have rule modifications based on how many players we could get. If you had so few batters that your turn to bat came while you’re on base, a “ghost runner” could take your place who would advance as many bases as the batter (that really came into play with 2 on 2 ball). Of if you had too few outfielders, the batter could designate which field, left or right, would be foul territory, with the exception that over the fence was a valid homer in any field. Or if no first baseman, “pitcher’s hands” was the rule so if the ball got back to the pitcher before the runner touched first, he was out. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/51 "2013-02-13T16:30:36Z")
OMG, I forgot about ghost runners. We had all those rules. And in football, we we didn’t have enough people to block, there could be no pass rush. Now I’m nostalgic. Not for the 70s, but for my lost youth. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/52 "2013-02-13T16:31:50Z")
One thing I miss about the 70s in these parts (north Georgia) is the physical landscape. A lot of beautiful countryside has been eaten up by ugly development since then. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/53 "2013-02-13T16:33:54Z")
I was born in '66 - I miss it like hell, wonderful time to be a kid. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/54 "2013-02-13T16:36:10Z")
Oh yes, and no shopping malls. You went to a department store or you knew who sold the type of stuff you wanted to buy and made a trip to that store. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/55 "2013-02-13T16:55:11Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Oh yes, and no shopping malls. You went to a department store or you knew who sold the type of stuff you wanted to buy and made a trip to that store. No malls? We had malls in the 70’s when I was a kid. There were at least 2 in San Jose where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/56 "2013-02-13T16:56:41Z")
I was a kid on a farm in the 70s, and one thing I remember is the back-to-the-country movement of the early to mid 70s. A lot of kids who had lived in cities and done the hippie thing started moving out into the country to grow weed and organic vegetables. We had a lot of these folks as new neighbors. The whole thing was tied up with the music of the era, too: John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High,” “Hey It’s Good to Be Back Home Again,” and “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” captured the vibe, along with all the country rock and Southern rock that was hitting the airwaves. It’s funny how that era in some ways sort of parallels today’s [local foods movement](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_food). But then, [back-to-the-land movements](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-to-the-land_movement) seem to occur with some regularity. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/57 "2013-02-13T17:11:16Z")
Why do people think that the 70’s were just bell-bottoms and Disco? A bunch of the most influential music and movies came out of the 70’s: Music: Not just Disco Bruce Springsteen Billy Joel Elton John Led Zeppelin Pink Flloyd Yes Rush Judas Priest many more. . . Movies: Not just Herbie the Love Bug The Godfather Star Wars One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest Taxi Driver Chinatown Rocky Jaws Monty Python and the Holy Grail The French Connection etc. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/58 "2013-02-13T17:14:00Z")
I retract my earlier statement about the music. There was a great deal of good music in the 70s. But, disco was really\* really\* bad. (and they’re still playing that crap). ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/59 "2013-02-13T17:23:24Z")
I was born in 1960. I had a great time all the way through the 1970s! I’m fairly satisfied having my teenaged years from 1973-1979 – I thought it was great! I didn’t mind the disco music or the fashions. Plus, there was all sorts of good music that wasn’t disco. I do regret that a lot of specific moments from this period are fading from my memory, but that’s just age, I guess… ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130/60 "2013-02-13T17:34:42Z")
And what about the Straight Dope? . . . since 1973. . . And no offense intended, but I think a better thread might be: “Why were the 70’s so great and varied?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-nostalgic-for-the-1970s/650130.md?page=4)