The 1970s in pictures

[louielouie2000]

So I am stealing this from my DeLorean message board because I thought everyone here would enjoy it. I had no idea how hellish the 1970s were:

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2...-1970s/100190/

[CADreaming]

Talkin' 'bout my generation!

[Blueletter18]

Wow, these are really interesting! Thanks for posting.

[vivfox]

Thanks for the photos. My version of the 1970's had nothing to do with any of these gruesome scenes but they were eye opening regardless.

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by CADreaming

Talkin' 'bout my generation!

The '70s are endlessly fascinating to me. I have always thought of them being relatively placid and idealistic as a direct reaction to the incredibly turbulent '60s. But seeing this pictures is just shocking. No wonder things like Earth Day & the EPA emerged during the '70s. The world was in a frightening state of environmental decline.

[markolas]

You could actually smoke in hospitals back then.

[markolas]

I think my lungs collapsed a little just from looking at some of those pics.

[Nico]

Fascinating pictures.

[Macfanforever]

Wow what a mess.Thanks for sharing.Probably a good thing that came out of the 1970's .was the great music of that decade.

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by vivfox

Thanks for the photos. My version of the 1970's had nothing to do with any of these gruesome scenes but they were eye opening regardless.

Same here. Shows me how sheltered I was. Or maybe just too young to know what what going on around me. Very interesting.

[fringed n fab]

I was born in '74 so I remember vividly the mid to late '70s and just how ugly things like furniture and home decor was and how most cars were big. You could fit 10 kids in the backseat and still have room lol. And our floor model tv had four legs and knobs to turn the channels and volume. And oh those awful ugly clothes both kids and adults wore. But in a sense I remember life growing up to be fresher and purer back then than it seems today. Definitely not as abused and overly populated and built up as things seem today. I've had discussions about this while out with mom sometimes, like Mom, "I don't ever remember roads being this crowded and this many people out" and she'll be like "Because there weren't". And speaking of earlier times, unknown use of harmful pesticides and DDT aside, I've heard many say that the 1970's and 80's were some of the best times to live and visit the state of Florida and I can imagine.

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

The '70s are endlessly fascinating to me. I have always thought of them being relatively placid and idealistic as a direct reaction to the incredibly turbulent '60s. But seeing this pictures is just shocking. No wonder things like Earth Day & the EPA emerged during the '70s. The world was in a frightening state of environmental decline.

I don't think things have been truly idealistic since 1963 and eventhough I have fond memories of my childhood, those photos jogged my memory quite a bit. For example, I remember during the gas shortage, my Dad purchased a VW Rabbit diesel and had an extra tank installed. He also purchased a large diesel tank which he kept on his sister's rural property in case things continued to decline. Thankfully, we never had to use it. But, it's amazing how many of those photos are considered "normal" today and still remain serious issues.

[fringed n fab]

I think those pictures paint an unfair dirty image in the minds of others who weren't alive during those times because the world and every other place in the U.S. certainly didn't look like that or that unhealthy and dirty all over. I grew up in sunny small town Southern Ohio and my corner of the world wasn't overpopulated and smog filled nasty. Of course you're going to have these things in larger cities or where there are industrial plants and abuse by people. You have to realize for every nasty photo those people took, there have always been beautiful untouched meadows and wide open spaces somewhere else. One visit to places like the Everglades and you'd see what I mean.

[KarmaContestant]

Ah, the 70s! My favorite decade.

I was born in 1973, and the first 7 years of my life were pretty idyllic (not really, but looking back I can choose to disregard the stuff that's not so pleasant).

I remember going to k-Mart with my grandma and there were ashtrays at the end of every aisle. It's so weird to think about smoking in places like that these days.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

The '70s are endlessly fascinating to me. I have always thought of them being relatively placid and idealistic as a direct reaction to the incredibly turbulent '60s. But seeing this pictures is just shocking. No wonder things like Earth Day & the EPA emerged during the '70s. The world was in a frightening state of environmental decline.

Yes. And watch the current political discourse and see how many candidates from a certain political party talk constantly of abolishing the EPA or dong away with environmental regulations in the name of job creation and economic stimulus.

Apparently it's not ok to leave debt to a future generation, but it's certainly fine to leave them with a poluted diseased world, devoid of resources.