Late+1970s,+Early+1980s

__Family Life and Housing__ – Leana Ricchiuto Many families were worried about money, the 1970s and 80s was not the years to buy homes. They all wanted the good life in which the thought money could buy. In the 19 70 the U.S. suffered from the interest rates and inflation were high and there was a shortage of imported oil. Racism was another problem; this was the year that Rosa Parks was arrested. Family life was center around working to support the family and help each other with money issues. Self-help books were another sign that Americans were becoming more concerned about their own lives. These books described ways to make people happier with themselves. Although books were still read television was a big role and still is today in the lives of many families. Not only is there news on the T.V. there is many forms of entertainment for the family to watch together. --- The recessive economy of the 1970s and 80s was marked by various crises and controversies. Widespread oil shortages, due mainly to the ‘Arab Oil Embargo’, contributed to the collapse of the economy. Gas prices in some areas jumped from $0.35/gal to $0.90/gal within no time, forcing the U.S. to look elsewhere for oil. Unemployment was another crisis of this period, which can be attributed to the rising number of women in the work force, and the jobless soldiers returning from Vietnam. It reached a peak at 10% during this time.  The Savings and Loan Crisis of the 1980s also created a large amount of turmoil for the economy. Savings and Loans banks were created after WWII to specialize in federally insured mortgages. As the industry became less profitable and reserves began to run out, many banks went bankrupt causing a $50 billion bailout of the industry. Another controversy of this time was the growing national debt and borrowing of money from foreign banks. In 1980 the debt was $74 billion before spiraling up to $221 billion in 1986.  Drew Belnick  --
 * Controversies/Crises**


 * __Art/Written Works__** (Mike Bahn)

The 1970s had a minimal period in art due to the poor state of the economy. Very few pieces were created, and few notable artists were attributed. As far as literature goes, it was a fairly decent period. Authors such as Judy Blume, Ernest Hemingway, and Stephen King got a jumpstart on their careers. Some of the notable works of the times were //Interview With a Vampire//, //Jaws// , and //Carrie//.

__Movies and Television:__ (Danielle Horan)



Television came of age in the Seventies as topics once considered forbidden were mentioned on the airwaves for the first time. Leading the way was the "humorous social satire" of All in the Family, This show had plots on many controversial issues such as abortion, race, and homosexuality.Saturday Night Live also discussed topics that people once thought of as off limits for discussion, such as sex and religion. Nothing was considered sacred anymore.

The Seventies was also the decade of the big comeback for the movies. After years of box office sales depletion, caused by the popularity of the new and improved television, the combination of blockbuster movies and new technologies such as Panavision (A motion picture equipment company specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills.) and Dolby Sound (A system to reduce the noise level of a tape or recording to achieve a more accurate sound production.) brought the people back to the movies. Due to the increase in popularity of the movies the prices also went up, the average price of a movie ticket in 1979 was $2.51. Movies were the main choice of the people because it was a way to lift their spirits in a time of great sadness. **Movie ticket inflations from 1948-2010** Music/Dances- Jack Cardello The 1980s started off with two great tragedies in the music industry. On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was shot 4 times and died. Also in 1981, Bob Marley died from skin melanoma. But, the industry quickly got back on its feet. MTV was created in the early 1980s, and it introduced various artists such as Michael Jackson, Prince, and Queen. Michael Jackson was referred to as the “King of Pop”, and came out with huge hits such as “Thriller”, “Beat It”, and “Billie Jean”. He also introduced music videos to the viewing audience. In the mid-1980s, Prince and his band “The Revolution” became very popular. The album “Purple Rain” sold more than 13 million copies, and grossed over 80 million dollars just in the United States. Hundreds of new dance styles came to life in the 1980s. Dances such as The Robot, The Worm, Breakdancing, Slam Dancing, The Moonwalk, and The Running Man became huge in the 80s. This was a new era in dance, and it would continue into the 1990s. The “poppy” sound to the new style of music was most likely because of the bad economy. People wanted a style to cheer them up, and Pop did just that. Music also helped the economy by records being sold, and tickets being bought.
 * 1948 || 0.36 ||
 * 1954 || 0.49 ||
 * 1958 || 0.68 ||
 * 1963 || 0.86 ||
 * 1967 || 1.22 ||
 * 1971 || 1.65 ||
 * 1974 || 1.89 ||
 * 1975 || 2.03 ||
 * 1976 || 2.13 ||
 * 1977 || 2.23 ||
 * 1978 || 2.34 ||
 * 1979 || 2.47 ||

**1970s Fashion/Fads** Fashion in the 1970s was heavily influenced by the fashion in movies at that time. //Saturday Night Fever// introduced the “disco look” and lasted until it was replaced by the punk rock fashion. In addition, people were opposed to the Vietnam War, nuclear weapons, and the authority of government and big business. In this time many people dressed in Hippy clothes and wore bell-bottoms and platform shoes. As a result of the Vietnam War, the U.S. was struggling economically. Prices on high-end clothing went up because companies needed to make a profit, but people didn’t have a lot of money to spend on flamboyant and expensive clothing. Hairstyles in the 70s were low maintenance and natural. Women used curling irons to create “wings” on the sides by curling away from the face. Men sported mullets, shags, and classic crops in the 1970s. The punk rock fashion was introduced to the U.S. by the United Kingdom and was drawn from music in that time. Punk rock is rebellious and goes against what is expected. Television Soap series “Dallas” and “Dynasty”, played a major role in starting the broad shoulder fashion. In the 1980s, men and women wore combat boots and cut up t-shirts. Shoulder pads, hats, bags, acid wash jeans, smiley face shirts and body suits were popular in the 80s. Women sported poodle perms and men had long shaggy hair. __**Sports/Leisure Activities (Paige Martin)**__ During the late 1970s and early 1980s, sports were dominated by businesses. Many businesses were trying to find ways to make profits from the sports market. Furthermore, many athletes during this time period were trying to negotiate their contracts for more money Instead of being “owned” by a certain team, they kind of went off on their own so that they could market themselves to whoever would pay them the most money. For example, Pete Rose in 1979 negotiated a $1 million per year contract. By the end of the 70s, many hundreds of athletes were making well over $100,000. Moreover, athletes also started appearing more regularly in advertisements and were more often seen endorsing products. The main sport that arose in the late 70s was ping-pong. There were many matches between the Americans and Chinese.

The beginning of the 80s caused some problems in Major League Baseball. In June of 1981, all major league baseball players went on strike. The games weren’t played again until August of 1981. From 1976-1985, the attendance at Fenway Park was about 18,841,283 people. This number is actually an increase from the prosperous time of the 1950s. Since the late 70s and early 80s were a time period of recession, this trend doesn’t really fit. If people had less money, I would expect that if the ticket prices increased, the attendance would decrease. However, there was an increase in ticket prices as well as an increase in attendance. **__Politics and Reform__** The early part of the 1970s was marked by the ups and downs of Richard Nixon’s presidency. He took over in1969 at a time when the U.S. was locked in the Vietnam War but still doing pretty well financially as a result a good post World War II economy. By the end of 1970 though, Nixon began facing questions about rising unemployment and the U.S. involvement in the war. Nixon’s decisions to invest so many resources into the battle overseas really drained the country’s economy and sent the States into a period of recession. Then in 1974, there was the corrupt Watergate scandal that rocked the political worldand represented the country’s sad economic state. Gerald Ford finished out Nixon’s term through 1976 and was as much as a caretaker for our country as anything. He was an honest man, just what the country needed at the time, and tried his hardest to curb rising inflation and unemployment. His strategies didn’t work as well as he would’ve hoped though as Jimmy Carter found out during his 1976-1980 term. The economy was unstable and even his federal spending cuts couldn’t lower inflation. This is what ultimately led to his defeat in the 1980 election to republican Ronald Reagan. This kicked the Democrats out of the Oval Office and led the way to a new, more conservative presidency under Reagan during the 80s.

--Dan Snare