{"id":31,"date":"2025-09-29T23:39:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T23:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/good-worldwide.go-vip.net\/upworthy\/2025\/09\/29\/1970s-misconceptions\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T23:39:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T23:39:00","slug":"1970s-misconceptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/29\/1970s-misconceptions\/","title":{"rendered":"Adults who lived through the &#8217;70s share 10 surprising details about what life was really like"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Movies and other bits of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.upworthy.com\/pop-culture\/\" target=\"_self\"><u>pop culture<\/u><\/a> can feel like little <a href=\"https:\/\/www.upworthy.com\/kids-say-where-they-would-time-travel\" target=\"_self\"><u>time machines<\/u><\/a> that whiz us right back to periods we never actually lived in. Of course, these worlds, however well-constructed, offer only a glimpse into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.upworthy.com\/90s-misconceptions\" target=\"_blank\">what life was like<\/a> for the people who really lived through them. Even films or songs made in the actual decade only offer a limited snapshot of the time. Certain details are bound to get missed. <\/p><p>It\u2019s probably one of the reasons why past decades are so easily categorized into instantly identifiable aesthetics. Take the 1970s, for instance. We instantly think of disco, bellbottoms, hippies, the \u201cfree love\u201d movement in full force, etc. But if you ask people who were actually around in the \u201870s, you\u2019d probably find a lot more than just that. <\/p><p>But never fear, we did that research for you! Thanks to a few educational videos, as well as good old-fashioned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/AskOldPeople\/comments\/1c7m57v\/were_the_1970s_as_cool_as_they_seem_in_hindsight\/\" target=\"_blank\">Reddit mining<\/a>, here are some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/AskOldPeople\/comments\/14niaik\/what_was_life_actually_like_in_the_70s\/\" target=\"_blank\">interesting quotes<\/a> from Redditors and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/AskOldPeople\/comments\/96r7rs\/were_the_1970s_as_grimy_as_they_were_portrayed_in\/\" target=\"_blank\">historical tidbits<\/a> from the \u201cMe Decade\u201d (named for the uptick in individualism and self-help books\u2026see, we\u2019re learning already!)<\/p><p><strong>Things were dirtier<\/strong><\/p><p>\u201cMore litter, more air and water pollution. There were commercials and such to discourage littering, and the EPA got involved with corporate polluters.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThe cars were stinkier, the ports were in shambles.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cAshtrays, ashtrays everywhere.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThere was a big environmental push to clean up the country. \u2018Acid Rain\u2019 was not a drug but a serious environmental problem.\u201d<\/p><p><strong>As much as the &#8217;70s are known for disco, there are other music genres that had a huge impact on culture<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">        \t\t<div class=\"embed-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-has-aspect-ratio \"> \n\t\t\t\t<div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/Jajd57laQgM\/hqdefault.jpg)\" class=\"rkv-video-placeholder \" data-provider=\"youtube\" data-video-id=\"Jajd57laQgM\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<button aria-label=\"Play video\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"17\" height=\"20\" viewBox=\"0 0 17 20\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<path d=\"M16.5 9.75047C16.5006 10.0051 16.4353 10.2556 16.3105 10.4775C16.1856 10.6995 16.0055 10.8853 15.7875 11.017L2.28 19.2802C2.05227 19.4196 1.79144 19.4957 1.52445 19.5007C1.25746 19.5056 0.993989 19.4392 0.76125 19.3083C0.530728 19.1794 0.338696 18.9914 0.204904 18.7637C0.0711107 18.536 0.000385179 18.2768 0 18.0127V1.48828C0.000385179 1.22417 0.0711107 0.964934 0.204904 0.737222C0.338696 0.509511 0.530728 0.321545 0.76125 0.192655C0.993989 0.0617322 1.25746 -0.00468706 1.52445 0.0002572C1.79144 0.00520146 2.05227 0.0813301 2.28 0.220781L15.7875 8.4839C16.0055 8.6156 16.1856 8.80145 16.3105 9.0234C16.4353 9.24534 16.5006 9.49582 16.5 9.75047Z\" fill=\"white\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t                        <\/p><p>\u201cGlam rock, blues rock, funk, disco, new wave and punk rock were all new and competing for our attention.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThere was Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, and so on. All the classic rock you hear now came from the late 60&#8217;s and the 70&#8217;s.\u201d<\/p><p>This perhaps especially goes for punk rock. Which, contrary to popular opinion, did not start in the U.K. <\/p><p><strong>It&#8217;s easy to forget it was a time of great political turbulence<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">        \t\t<div class=\"embed-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-has-aspect-ratio \"> \n\t\t\t\t<div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/1LvX-BBGsuc\/hqdefault.jpg)\" class=\"rkv-video-placeholder \" data-provider=\"youtube\" data-video-id=\"1LvX-BBGsuc\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<button aria-label=\"Play video\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"17\" height=\"20\" viewBox=\"0 0 17 20\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<path d=\"M16.5 9.75047C16.5006 10.0051 16.4353 10.2556 16.3105 10.4775C16.1856 10.6995 16.0055 10.8853 15.7875 11.017L2.28 19.2802C2.05227 19.4196 1.79144 19.4957 1.52445 19.5007C1.25746 19.5056 0.993989 19.4392 0.76125 19.3083C0.530728 19.1794 0.338696 18.9914 0.204904 18.7637C0.0711107 18.536 0.000385179 18.2768 0 18.0127V1.48828C0.000385179 1.22417 0.0711107 0.964934 0.204904 0.737222C0.338696 0.509511 0.530728 0.321545 0.76125 0.192655C0.993989 0.0617322 1.25746 -0.00468706 1.52445 0.0002572C1.79144 0.00520146 2.05227 0.0813301 2.28 0.220781L15.7875 8.4839C16.0055 8.6156 16.1856 8.80145 16.3105 9.0234C16.4353 9.24534 16.5006 9.49582 16.5 9.75047Z\" fill=\"white\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t                        <\/p><p>\u201cI was 18 in 1974 and living in England. I remember it as a time of strikes, demonstrations, and shortages. The rise of Thatcherism saw the steel industry in my hometown decimated and violent demonstrations with miners clashing with police happened just down the road from me. The music was great and punk really caught the feeling of the times.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cIt kind of sucked to be a teenager then. It was post-Vietnam and Watergate, and we were very cynical as a result. The energy crisis loomed large, stagflation gripped a sliding economy, and crime and cities were turning to sh**. The Cold War was a pervasive threat and popular music was at its nadir; post-60&#8217;s and pre-1977 and punk.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cCollege had anti-war demonstrations. People were getting drafted and sent to Vietnam to die for no reason. I watched them pull my draft lottery number and fortunately, got one in the 300&#8217;s.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI recall the feeling of \u2018everything sucks, especially us.\u2019 The USA was starting to come to grips with its history not as a patriotic parade, but the horror show it was. In the 1977 inaugural of Carter, Paul Simon sang a beautiful song containing the lyric \u2018Still, when I think of the road we&#8217;re traveling on, I wonder what&#8217;s gone wrong &#8211; I can&#8217;t help it, I wonder . . . what&#8217;s gone wrong.\u2019 AT AN INAUGURATION.\u201d<\/p><p> \u201cHostages in the Iranian embassy.\u201d<\/p><p><strong>Living frugally was a necessity<\/strong><\/p><p>\u201cEveryone in my middle-class neighborhood lived frugally. My parents had one car and my mom worked nights so they could both commute. I had five pairs of shoes &#8211; dress, running, casual, work in the yard and boots. Most kids wore hand me downs &#8211; not because it was cool but because there was no money in the budget. We never went out to eat even for special days. Summer was playing in the various back yards and once in a while you got a popsicle from the neighbor. Vacations were camping or trips to relatives. When people scream about inflation today I think you haven&#8217;t seen anything. But we were happier&#8230;life was simpler and everyone seemed to pull together.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cGot my driver&#8217;s license about the time gas shortages started. Imagine pulling into the station and asking for a dollar&#8217;s worth of regular today.\u201d<\/p><p><strong>Things weren\u2019t all low-tech<\/strong><\/p><p><strong><br \/><\/strong><\/p><p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">        \t\t<div class=\"embed-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-has-aspect-ratio \"> \n\t\t\t\t<div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/GfxxRKBgos8\/hqdefault.jpg)\" class=\"rkv-video-placeholder \" data-provider=\"youtube\" data-video-id=\"GfxxRKBgos8\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<button aria-label=\"Play video\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"17\" height=\"20\" viewBox=\"0 0 17 20\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<path d=\"M16.5 9.75047C16.5006 10.0051 16.4353 10.2556 16.3105 10.4775C16.1856 10.6995 16.0055 10.8853 15.7875 11.017L2.28 19.2802C2.05227 19.4196 1.79144 19.4957 1.52445 19.5007C1.25746 19.5056 0.993989 19.4392 0.76125 19.3083C0.530728 19.1794 0.338696 18.9914 0.204904 18.7637C0.0711107 18.536 0.000385179 18.2768 0 18.0127V1.48828C0.000385179 1.22417 0.0711107 0.964934 0.204904 0.737222C0.338696 0.509511 0.530728 0.321545 0.76125 0.192655C0.993989 0.0617322 1.25746 -0.00468706 1.52445 0.0002572C1.79144 0.00520146 2.05227 0.0813301 2.28 0.220781L15.7875 8.4839C16.0055 8.6156 16.1856 8.80145 16.3105 9.0234C16.4353 9.24534 16.5006 9.49582 16.5 9.75047Z\" fill=\"white\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t                        <\/p><p>Sure, there were no iPad kids or Waymos, but the \u201870s saw a ton of technological advancements, including the personal computer. It&#8217;s wild to think that Apple technically came out of this time period.<\/p><p>You also had the rise of video game consoles, arcades, VCRs, and VHS tapes. <\/p><p><strong>We know cigarettes were mainstream, but it&#8217;s crazy to think about how it affected younger people<\/strong><\/p><p>\u201cYour mom gave you 2 bucks and a note and sent you to the store for cigarettes.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cSmoking was allowed on high school campus in smoking areas. Smoking areas were the teachers lounge in the school for teachers only. Also, just outside of two exits for the students. Hold your breath!\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cMost adults and many teens smoked. I was allowed to smoke at home at 15. I was sooooo lucky! A small pack cost 50 cents.\u201d<\/p><p><strong>And just imagine witnessing the cultural juggernaut of <em>Star Wars<\/em> for the first time<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image\">        <figure class=\"rkv-rebelmouse\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/good-worldwide.go-vip.net\/qa-upworthy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/origin-53.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>                        <\/p><p>\u201cYounger people have no idea what an impact it had. We had grown up on Star Trek reruns and lots of old, bad science fiction. But Star Wars inspired us like nothing else. It had special effects that had never been seen, and a story that was hopeful and uplifting in a time when everything seemed to be getting worse.\u201d<\/p><p><strong>The bicentennial\u2014you either loved it or hated it. There was no in-between.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">        \t\t<div class=\"embed-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-has-aspect-ratio \"> \n\t\t\t\t<div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/4rZlooVmv5w\/hqdefault.jpg)\" class=\"rkv-video-placeholder \" data-provider=\"youtube\" data-video-id=\"4rZlooVmv5w\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<button aria-label=\"Play video\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"17\" height=\"20\" viewBox=\"0 0 17 20\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<path d=\"M16.5 9.75047C16.5006 10.0051 16.4353 10.2556 16.3105 10.4775C16.1856 10.6995 16.0055 10.8853 15.7875 11.017L2.28 19.2802C2.05227 19.4196 1.79144 19.4957 1.52445 19.5007C1.25746 19.5056 0.993989 19.4392 0.76125 19.3083C0.530728 19.1794 0.338696 18.9914 0.204904 18.7637C0.0711107 18.536 0.000385179 18.2768 0 18.0127V1.48828C0.000385179 1.22417 0.0711107 0.964934 0.204904 0.737222C0.338696 0.509511 0.530728 0.321545 0.76125 0.192655C0.993989 0.0617322 1.25746 -0.00468706 1.52445 0.0002572C1.79144 0.00520146 2.05227 0.0813301 2.28 0.220781L15.7875 8.4839C16.0055 8.6156 16.1856 8.80145 16.3105 9.0234C16.4353 9.24534 16.5006 9.49582 16.5 9.75047Z\" fill=\"white\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t                        <\/p><p>For context, the United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the U.S. as an independent republic. Some events included reenactments of the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere\u2019s ride, as well the red, white, and blue American Freedom Train, which carried historical artifacts and stopped at 48 contiguous states.<\/p><p>\u201cThe bicentennial was the bomb.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cMy siblings and I didn\u2019t love the bicentennial! We were so sick of the &#8216;bicentennial mattress sale&#8217; etc ads blaring on the tv. My sister and I wrote a song called &#8216;We Hate the Bicentennial&#8217; that we still sing occasionally.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThe bicentennial years seemed party-less as far as GOP or DEM &#8211; we all were just Americans. Everything was red, white, and blue. There were continuous celebrations, picnics, parties over a two year period. I think it would have made our fore father&#8217;s proud, when you think back to that two year period two hundred years prior.\u201d<\/p><p><strong>T<\/strong><strong>he sexual revolution was fun\u2026for men and women alike<\/strong><\/p><p>Imagine it: Birth control and premarital sex are finally normal. Roe v. Wade offered protection for a woman\u2019s right to choose whether or not to become a mother. Even the queer community, while obviously still facing discrimination, began to develop safe havens in places like San Francisco. <\/p><p>\u201cIt was still during the sexual revolution where women were not ashamed of openly exploring their sexuality.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThis was pre-AIDS. The idea of &#8216;catching herpes&#8217;, and this being a serious problem came in around 1980. So there was a short period, more or less from 1950 &#8211; 1980, when people thought you could just get rid of STDs with a shot.\u201d<\/p><p><strong>But not everyone was on board<\/strong><\/p><p>There were plenty of cautionary tales (particularly for women) about the dark side of the sexual revolution. <span style=\"margin: 0px;padding: 0px\">Take, for instance, <em>Looking for Mr. Goodbar,<\/em> a book and subsequent movie based on the real-life murder of a woman named <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1973\/01\/06\/archives\/a-man-seen-with-teacher-on-slaying-night-is-sought-composite-sketch.html?searchResultPosition=4\" target=\"_blank\"><u>Roseann Quinn<\/u><\/a><u>, <\/u>who was murdered by a man she had a one-night stand with.<\/span> The killer&#8217;s violence was partially stirred by his feelings about his own sexual identity.<\/p><p>Similarly, <em><em>Cruising<\/em><\/em> is a \u201870s novel that follows an undercover cop looking for a homosexual serial killer in New York City. <\/p><p>You also had conservative activists like Phyllis Schlafly, who vehemently rallied against feminism, abortion, queer rights, and most notably, the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).<\/p><p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">        \t\t<div class=\"embed-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-has-aspect-ratio \"> \n\t\t\t\t<div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/G4MYc-vytWw\/hqdefault.jpg)\" class=\"rkv-video-placeholder \" data-provider=\"youtube\" data-video-id=\"G4MYc-vytWw\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<button aria-label=\"Play video\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"17\" height=\"20\" viewBox=\"0 0 17 20\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<path d=\"M16.5 9.75047C16.5006 10.0051 16.4353 10.2556 16.3105 10.4775C16.1856 10.6995 16.0055 10.8853 15.7875 11.017L2.28 19.2802C2.05227 19.4196 1.79144 19.4957 1.52445 19.5007C1.25746 19.5056 0.993989 19.4392 0.76125 19.3083C0.530728 19.1794 0.338696 18.9914 0.204904 18.7637C0.0711107 18.536 0.000385179 18.2768 0 18.0127V1.48828C0.000385179 1.22417 0.0711107 0.964934 0.204904 0.737222C0.338696 0.509511 0.530728 0.321545 0.76125 0.192655C0.993989 0.0617322 1.25746 -0.00468706 1.52445 0.0002572C1.79144 0.00520146 2.05227 0.0813301 2.28 0.220781L15.7875 8.4839C16.0055 8.6156 16.1856 8.80145 16.3105 9.0234C16.4353 9.24534 16.5006 9.49582 16.5 9.75047Z\" fill=\"white\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t                        <\/p><p>History is a fascinating thing. The more we learn about it, the more we realize that every era is full of contradictions. Because while life continues to march forward, there will always be a tug-of-war between the past and future. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It wasn&#8217;t all disco and shag carpets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":187460,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"alternative_headline":"","alternative_description":"","alternative_featured_image":0,"rkv_announcement":{"visible":true},"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"partner_boost":false,"hide_partner_badge":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[280,145,146],"tags":[135,2347,2348,1793,2349,2350,468,2351,434,2352,688,2353],"sponsor":[],"rkv-people-shadow":[134],"class_list":["post-31","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet","category-pop-culture","category-popular","tag-popular_source-pageview","tag-1970s","tag-70-music","tag-70s","tag-70s-history","tag-economics","tag-fashion","tag-forgotten-history","tag-history","tag-life-in-the-70s","tag-pop-culture","tag-vietnam-war"],"edit_link":null,"apple_news_notices":[],"rkv_author":{"id":134,"name":"Gemma Davison","display_name":"Gemma Davison","first_name":"","last_name":"","nickname":"","url":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/author\/gemma-davison\/","link":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/author\/gemma-davison\/","description":"Gemma Davidson is a former Research Scientist with a degree in Applied Biology. Her training grounds her work in science. Gemma writes about skincare, supplements, and new health products. She uses her science background to make sure her articles are accurate and helpful. Gemma's writing is a go-to guide for those looking for reliable reviews and informative insight.\n\nOver the years, Gemma focused on how products affect health and wellness. She has worked in labs and research facilities for over 10 years. This experience gives her a deep understanding of scientific research methods. She knows how to analyze product ingredients and their effects on the body. Her expertise helps readers make informed choices.\n\nHer work reflects her commitment to guiding others in making healthier choices. Through her articles, Gemma aims to inspire and inform readers. She believes good health starts with knowing what you consume and use daily. 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