Back in the 60's

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I was born in 71 and was glad I was too young to know the "Disco era"! I really believe I was born 15 years too late. I had to live with the mullet in the 80's! But my parents got to enjoy the 60's!
 
In 1967 i was 16 years old, man i loved the 60s and early 70s. I lived through the muscle car era the drive in movies and bush partys and such. There was only 1 channel on the black and white t.v there was no internet or casinos or computers cell phones or bank machines. Gas was cheap everyone was cruising on the streets with there cars gettting into drag races and hanging out at the local A&W. In those days people were closer together and we enjoyed each others company, we all tryed to get into the bar under age and a 6 pack of beer was $1.75 (LOL) .
 
you guys are so freakin lucky, I havent had any of the experinces mentioned.....and every attempt to do so instantly lands myself in court or at the impound lot to fetch my car:banghead:
 
Born in 1969, teenager in the 80's turned twenty in 89. First Mopar bought in 88, was a 69 coronet 500. Then a 70 Duster, then bought a 340 swinger in 93. Still have it and restoring it. I cant say from an adult standpoint that the seventies were good or bad, and I was still very much a kid in the eighties, but nowadays really suck, and the old cars and old music and memories keep me sane. Keep rockin restoring and rebelling.
 
Born in '60. A huge difference I see is back then, at 9 or 10 years old we could go off and do our thing for hours without being supervised. People looked after each other more and you didn't have to worry about some sicko abducting children. Another thing is nowadays, due to 'Child Protective Services' it is often the children who control the household. In the '60's and '70's, we did what our parents said, if we disobeyed or misbehaved we were punished. Those paddles hurt too! We were taught to respect our elders; very rarely did you call adults by their first names, it was Mr. or Mrs. and all the neighbors knew each other. You didn't hear so much foul language everywhere either. I could go on and on, I really miss those days.

Just to add something, threads like this remind me that I am truly blessed to have the circumstances I was raised in, I feel for those of you for whom this was not the case.
 
I don't remember the 60's the same. I was 13 when the 60's ended. Gas was actually more expensive in the late 50's and early 60's than today, which led to Mopar A-bodies, tiny Metropolitans, and imported Datsuns and VW's. A brief period of cheap gas at the end of the 60's gave us C-body station wagons, the SUV's of the day, and muscle cars. In high school, the Arab oil embargo caused gas prices to double in a month, so stations started showing prices as "per liter" claiming the government wanted us to convert to metric. That was the death of the muscle car.

This reminds me of an MBA class discussion about the downsides of inflation. I said the main problem is that rising prices confuse people and you must listen to geezers rant about what a dollar bought when they were young. The prof agreed. I can't imagine listening to Brazilian geezers after years of 1000% inflation. The U.S. could use some inflation now to get more people employed.

My 60's in the South also recalls many suburbanites muttering about the crazy blacks downtown rioting after the MLK assasination, and secretly wishing for earlier days when they would be put in their place. I feel a bit guilty for not speaking up, but I was just a kid. By the 70's most of my teachers were semi-hippies and all the boys wore long hair. The 70's were the real "psychedelic 60's" of lore over most of the country. Even San Francisco didn't go hippie until 1968. But nobody recalls the 70's fondly. Remember Pres. Ford's WIP buttons?
 
goldfish65 said:
back then, at 9 or 10 years old we could go off and do our thing for hours without being supervised. People looked after each other more and you didn't have to worry about some sicko abducting children.
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I remember kids running around freely too, but there was a downside. My sisters said a man tried to get me in his car with candy when I was 6 and they pulled me back as I was climbing in the car. I don't recall. My 3 yr old friend was run over and killed in front of my house on a Saturday morning, right next to me, when I was 5. His mom came out later in her nightgown. I guess it was OK to sleep in then while your 3 yr old ran around. As far as helping out the neighbors, a lady across the street was a registered nurse and wouldn't come out to help, didn't want to get involved. They were good, country folk from Alabama, maybe too country. This was a new suburb with the best school in the city. The lady who ran him over was driving slowly, watching the group of kids on the right when he ran in from the left. It destroyed her mentally. Barely made the newspaper. Squashed kids were as common as squirrels then.

You see the same today in 3rd world countries. They also have the same high traffic deaths we had back then, with crazy drivers and no seat belts. There were many child abductions then (read statistics). Maybe they didn't make the news because they were too common. Also, people didn't care as much about kids then, maybe because without birth control they weren't all wanted.

If you study history, you'll find most nostalgic views are based on fictions promoted by Disney-type movies. Neighborly barn-raisings are a myth. The workers were paid or working off debts. It was a big event because with post & frame construction you had to fit the frame up in a few days, the total work took years. Our forefathers more closely resembled the tribes of western Pakistan, living in walled fortresses, with every man armed and ready to duel. The old West wasn't the only place with gunfights in the street. Every man in New York and Paris was armed.
 
I hope I'm not hijacking this thread. I'd like to think I'm just adding a little twist to it.

Do you think there will be a time when the 2000's will be considered "the good old days" by our kids and be reminised the way the 60's are? I think about this everytime I have one of those "when I was a boy" conversations with my kids (born 91 & 93). When we've all gone to that big car show in the sky, what do you think they will be speaking fondly of?
 
Dusteriffic said:
I hope I'm not hijacking this thread. I'd like to think I'm just adding a little twist to it.

Do you think there will be a time when the 2000's will be considered "the good old days" by our kids and be reminised the way the 60's are? I think about this everytime I have one of those "when I was a boy" conversations with my kids (born 91 & 93). When we've all gone to that big car show in the sky, what do you think they will be speaking fondly of?
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That's a good question! My students laughed at me the other day, when I pulled out a cassette tape my band in the early 90's had created and copyrighted. The tape has become the new 45 record. Man I am starting to feel old! They will have cooler technology to remember, but the decades we lived through were GOLD in my opinion.
 
v was driving a 63 Plymouth that was once a Taxi cab We got it for a dollar. The reason you would pay a dollar was to make the transaction legal. But I worked for 50 cents an hour at a package store. WhenI got My dollar an hour I too felt I was strutting in high cotton.
 
i remember my dad telling me 5 bucks would fill up the tank and take my mom to dinner and a drive in movie plus buy beer to hang out with his buddies after he dropped mom home, it was usually easier to get a twenty from mom without the old [when i was your age speech ] from dad
 
One of my most vivid childhood memories was around 1968 (I was eight). I remember my dad calling me and my brother into the kitchen. There on our formica-topped dining table laid a crisp $100 bill, which we were told represented a full week of my dad's pay...with lots of overtime. My mom and dad acted like we hit the lotto. They were even talking of getting that new washer and dryer they wanted. My little brother and I stared at Ben for a second then asked if we could go back to watching The Three Stooges.

Two weeks ago, I spent $180 on a skateboard for my son, which today looks like he's used it to test missles. My how times have changed.
 
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