1970s: Flashy is good, Seventies fashion
1970s saw a huge change in people’s fashion. Starting with this decade, ”huge, flashy, and flamboyant” were common adjectives to describe what people wore. Many men and women started to grow their hair a little long. Their shirts and pants were colorfully painted yellow or pink. Polyester was the material of choice, and pants seemed to be close-fitting. Fashion during this decade greatly mimicked the hippie movement, as well as the disco craze, two great cultural fads that were at their peak during this time. The 70s took fashion fads from past decades and greatly enlarged and exaggerated them.
70s fashion greatly influenced 80s and early 90s fashion, adding some new components. Even though flamboyant yellows and pinks waned at the end of the decade, to be replaced by earth tones of grey, black, and brown, bell bottoms, medallions, wristbands, sandals, and tennis headbands created a fashion revolution that would remain untouched a few decades later and form an important part in the history of fashion.
1970s: Magic Cubes, Portable Radios, and e-mails, Inventions from the Seventies.
The 1970’s live up to the legacy of its predecing decade as a decade of incredible inventions. Much of the modern technologies we use today originate from this decade. For example, the seventies saw the creation of the first mobile phone, and the first mobile phone call on 1973. This year also one of Internet’s most important breakthroughs: Electronic messages (or e-mails), were first sent during the latter half of this decade. Erno Rubik patented his iconic puzzle cube, which became famous during the 80s. Pong was released in 1972 as the first commercial videogame. Sony released the first walkman in 1979.
The 70s were an important decade in innovations. Without the 70s, we wouldn’t have modern technologies such as smartphones or VCRs. And had it not been for that first mobile phone call in 1973, we wouldn’t be as connected as we are now.
1970s: Environmentalism, For a Green, Healthy Planet.
The hippie movement started to wane in the 70s after the end of American involvement in the Vietnam War. However, liberalism from the 60’s was still strong in many parts of the United States. Liberalists and protesters switched their attention to toxic industrialism, pollution and nuclear meltdowns. Americans celebrated the first Earth day in 1970. That same year, Congress passed the National Environment Policy Act. The Clean Air Act and the Water Act followed 2 years later. Oil crisis drew attention to conservationism. Environmentalism had become a new mainstream philosophy in America.
Global warming, pollution, and deforestation are still serious issues in modern-day America. However, the birth of environmentalism had created hope for a cleaner, greener planet. During the 1970s, environmentalism was so popular that an environmentalist cartoon owl interrupted Saturdays’ kids cartoons’ blocks to deliver this funny, yet wise, message: ”Give a Hoot; Don’t Pollute”.
1970s: Space Fighters, Crime Lords, and Killer Sharks. Emergence of the Blockbuster
During the 1970s, movies covered a wide variety of subjects. Some leading figures during this decade were Stanley Kubrikc (Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon), Francis Ford Coppola (Godfather series), Martin Scorcese (Taxi Driver), Roman Polanski (Chinatown), Woody Allen (Annie Hall), and Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Close Encounters with the Third Kind). Films took a wide variety of genres during this decade: Emerging actor John Travolta charmed audiences with his charisma and dance moves in Saturday Night Fever and Grease. Spielberg showed his versatility as a director with Jaws, a disaster film about a human-eating great white shark. Talking about the 70’s in movies is talking about George Lucas. In 1977, he released Star Wars. His epic tale about space battles, Jedis and droids became one of the first movies recognized as a”blockbuster”. The trend for commercial movies was born.
During the 1970s, a lot of directors showed their versatility and talent throughout a lot of iconic productions. One of them, George Lucas, proved that success of a film doesn’t only involve the film itself, but merchandise and toys as well. Had it not been for Lucas, perhaps today we wouldn’t have our iconic movie sets n our bedrooms. Star Wars remains one of the most iconic movie film sagas in the modern day, and supposed a true revolution for cinema and post-war culture.
1960s: The decade of inventions and symbols
The 1960’s introduced many technologies, gadgets, and objects we still use today. The laser, lava lamps, hand-held calculators, 10-button rotary telephones, cassette tapes, LED, computer mouses, ATMs, and the Arpanet (the precussor of the Internet) were all invented in the 1960’s. This decade was dominated by cultural changes. The 1960’s also had other cultural symbols, such as the smiley face, which could be found everywhere. The 1960’s also saw the introduction of the first videogames in history, even they wouldn’t become recognized as such until the 1970’s. It was also the decades that aluminum cans began to be widely used.
The 1960’s introduced some of the most fundamental inventions in history. Each and every single of these investions has made things easier for the human beings. Calculators allow us to realize calculations more easily. LED technology has helped the police and the military in criminal detection. And, most importantly, the Internet (known as Arpanet at the time), has created a more connected world. The 1960’s are such an infravalorated decade. Much of what we are now originated from them.