Thesis: Many Americans perceive “the ‘70s” as short politically?

When asked about the '70s, people might say:

Watergate, OPEC oil embargo, energy crisis, gas lines, fall of Saigon, Ford pardoning Nixon, disco music, Jimmy Carter, Roots, Star Wars, Iran, second energy crisis, stagflation, misery index,

and these all are mid to late.
 

Wallet

Banned
Here’s how I see it...

Roaring 20s*: 1921-1928
Start: Warren Harding’s election
End: Stock market crash

Great Depression: 1928-1940ish
Start: stock market crash
End: FDR winning a 3rd term/lend lease starts

WWII: 1941-1945

Noir Era: 1945-1953

Prosperous 50s**: 1953-1963
Start: Eisenhower winning/Korean War ends
Ends: Kennedy assassination

Turbulent 60s***: 1963-1974
Start: Kennedy assassination
End: Watergate

Stagnating 70s:
Start: Nixon resigns
End: Reagan assassination attempt

Decade of Greed 80s:
Start: Reagan recovers
End: Gulf War

Naughty 90s:
Start: Gulf War
Ends: 9/11

America... Fuck Yeah 2000s:
Start: 9/11
Ends: Great Recession

Current Era: 2009-
Start: Great Recession/Obama gets elected
End: ?????

*: If you were rich
**: If you were middle class white
***: The decade was actually alright for most people
 

Wallet

Banned
Somewhat related topic.

Every decade has certain things that comes to mind when people think about that decades. But most people at the time didn’t actually experience.

Very few Americans were cowboys (1880s). Very few Americans partied gatsby style or were gangsters/flappers (1920s).
Very few Americans were hippies (1960s).
 
Somewhat related topic.

Every decade has certain things that comes to mind when people think about that decades. But most people at the time didn’t actually experience.

Very few Americans were cowboys (1880s). Very few Americans partied gatsby style or were gangsters/flappers (1920s).
Very few Americans were hippies (1960s).

Those kinds of cultural stereotypes tend to be descriptions of youth culture, near as I can tell. Of course, the stereotypes tended to be minorities even within their generation. Most Boomers despised the hippies, or at least it seems that way.
 
Historical eras are all rather make believe and artificial, and vary depending on which things you are looking at to set an era for. The era of politics would be different from an era of music, and based on different opinions. On the whole, I agree that the 70s are not allowed enough to be its own era. Its generally treated as a Long 60s, a Long Hangover from the 1960s, and then proto-Reaganism for the 1980s. Honestly, the 1970s can be easily interpreted as independent from the 1960s let alone the 1980s. I would go with the election of Richard Nixon: the whole thing spiraling out of control, with this hardliner saying he'll spank everything back into proper behavior, with the hangover of the 1960s, the disillusion of the assassinations of R. Kennedy and King killing many dreams and hopes of things being set right, back to a proper course, where the system could be repaired, dying with them, the increasing economic problems of the long-Vietnam and post-Vietnam economy, and the eventual cementing of disillusion when Nixon turns out to be corrupt and exposes the whole apparatus with him, the washout of Ford, the failure of the hope invested in Carter and clean, honest government being the way forward. All ended with the election of Reagan, and that early 1980s being the morning after the drinking; the headache to get over the pell-mell, which is not pleasant but feels necessary. And you could even mark the 1970s as beginning in 1968 rather than '69, with the assassinations and the election of Nixon.
 
The seventies were very much a distinct period in cultural history, because it was an “in-between” era. They tend to lose identity, in part, because Presidents Ford and Carter appeared to be ineffective against spiraling inflation and energy issues.

The sixties brought rapid change. George McGovern ran a campaign as if the sixties were supposed to continue, but the voters said no. As soon as the draft ended on July 1, 1973, demonstrations on campus became a thing of the past. There were no more activist causes. Watergate filled political news, a fuel shortage would soon emerge and when disco became the new rage in music, nobody voiced the objections that came over Beatle haircuts a decade earlier.

While only a few were considered true “hippies” in the sixties, their impact on dress codes echoed society-wide. People no longer were expected to “dress up” to go to the food store and even more so to shop at J.C. Penney’s. The Summer of Love came to San Francisco in 1967. Their casual dress was enough of a spectacle that tour busses went through Haight-Ashbury. A Christian Left, known as “Jesus Freaks” would preach against war in the late sixties. Like the hippies, they faded into the past after 1973. Changes in music and dress became and remain the norm, not the stand-out exception.

Each period brings a lasting contribution of sorts. The forties brought patriotism. The fifties brought television and advances in entertainment (audio recording) along with a change in the perception of the American Dream. That dream changed from undefined wealth to a stepwise attainment of appliances and housing that could extend into the middle class. The sixties brought social change. The seventies, though less dramatic, brought energy awareness. The eighties brought de-regulation and cable TV. The nineties put computers in every office. The naughties put cell phones in every pocket. The twenty-teens bring social media that makes everybody a potential publisher.
 
Noir Era: 1945-1953
I'm not sure why you're describing the immediate post-war years this way and would be interested in your thinking about this. To me, a lot of Americans expected the economy to slide back into depression, and it was a miracle and exhilarating and liberating when it didn't. :)
 
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The 1960s!

To me, President Kennedy in his tuxedo in the White House is archetypical '60s!

In fact, there's a case to be made for a very short "60s," starting with the hopefulness of Kennedy's inauguration on Jan. 20, 1961 and ending exactly two years, 10 months, and 2 days later with his death from an assassin's bullet on Nov. 22, 1963.
 
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I'm interested in why you're describing the immediate post-war years this way. I think a lot of Americans expected the economy to slide back into depression, and it was a miracle and exhilarating and liberating when it didn't. :)
In those years, the economy was on steroids with factories working around the clock. The issue was that North America was the world's primary source for state-of-the-art goods and there was a long pipeline to fill. Shortages of goods, cars and housing were still apparent. Workers made money, and they saved it. Television made a sudden market penetration from 1953-1955 and by the IGY (1957-1958) prosperity would exceed expectations. That saved money and ample wages would fuel the consumer economy from the late fifties into the seventies. When people speak of the glorious fifties, they are referring to the late fifties, even the first few years of the sixties. The period 1945-1952 still had an element of crowding.
 
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http://news.gallup.com/poll/165893/majority-believe-jfk-killed-conspiracy.aspx

The assassination of President Kennedy really was the beginning of disillusionment for many Americans.

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Warning: People have been kicked out of alternate history for discussing the content of conspiracy theories. We are allowed to discuss popular perceptions of such. Please keep that distinction in mind.
 
1960s:
part 1: Summer of 1960, from both the Democratic and Republican conventions that Summer when Americans first knew they were going to get a relatively young president (Kennedy was 43 that Summer and Nixon was 47), to the assassination of President Kennedy in Nov. 1963.​

part 2: from Nov. 1963 to Oct. '73. In October 1973, the Yom Kippur War, U.S. rushed arms to Israel, OPEC oil embargo after Saudi attempt to broker peace deal, and in the coming months a quadrupling of the price of oil (yes, 4-fold increase). Also in Oct. '73 was Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre" in which Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Richardson refused and resigned instead. Then, Deputy Attorney General Bill Ruckelshaus also refused, and was either fired or resigned. And then, third in command Robert Bork (who was being asked to stay by either or both of Richardson or Ruckelshaus so that at least someone with some experience would still be in charge of the Justice Dept.) went ahead and fired Archibald Cox. For a number of Americans, this was the beginning of the end for Nixon.​

At least this is one way I might divide a long political-dimension "sixties" into two parts.
 
In those years [post-WWII years], the economy was on steroids with factories working around the clock. The issue was that North America was the world's primary source for state-of-the-art goods and there was a long pipeline to fill. Shortages of goods, cars and housing were still apparent. . .
It sounds like a great, fantastic economy to me! I mean, fantango!! :) I'm making good money. Only problem is that I'm having trouble finding stuff to spend it on, so I'm easily saving money just in the natural course of things.

Almost sounds time-warpy and other-worldly :openedeyewink:
 

Wallet

Banned
I'm not sure why you're describing the immediate post-war years this way and would be interested in your thinking about this. To me, a lot of Americans expected the economy to slide back into depression, and it was a miracle and exhilarating and liberating when it didn't. :)
TBH a lot of crime movies I've watched took place in the late 40s

True, a lot of Americans feared Depression, but that period is hardly remembered. Its in the middle of the war years and prosperous 50s.
 
I'd define the decades (Culturally and Politically) going back to the 1920s as this:

1920's: Early 1921 - Late 1929:
Start: Harding's Inauguration
End: The Stock Market Crash of 1929/start of the Depression

1930's: Late 1929 - Late 1941
Start: The Stock Market Crash of 1929/start of the Depression
End: Pearl Harbor

1940's: Late 1941 - Mid 1953
Start: Pearl Harbor
End: The End (if you want to call it that) of the Korean War

1950's: Mid 1953 - Late 1963
Start: The End (if you want to call it that) of the Korean War
End: The Kennedy Assasination

1960's: Late 1963 - Early 1973
Start: The Kennedy Assasination
End: Paris Peace Accord Signed

1970's: Early 1973 - Late 1982
Start: Paris Peace Accord Signed
End: End of the Early '80's Recession

1980's: Early 1983 - Early 1991
Start: Beginning of the 80's economic boom
End: The Gulf War

1990's: Early 1991 - Early 1999
Start: The Gulf War
End: Bill Clinton Acquitted by the Senate

The Millennium/Y2K/Rally around the Flag Era*: Early 1999 - Early 2003
Start: Bill Clinton Acquitted by the Senate
End: Invasion of Iraq

The 2000's: Early 2003 - Late 2008
Start: Invasion of Iraq
End: The start of the Financial Crisis (or the election of Barack Obama at the latest)

The 2010's: Late 2008 - Present???
Start: The start of the Financial Crisis (or the election of Barack Obama at the latest)
End: God only knows, but down the road we might conclude that they already ended and a new cultural era/decade has begun

*= I don't know why, but this span of time just seems like it's own mini decade in my opinion, and I've seen others on other sites and discussions say the same thing. What defined the 90's went away in this period, but nothing that would define the 2000's really emerged in this period either, at least from a pop culture stand point anyway. It seemed like gridlocked/hostile Politics of the 90's went away from Clinton was acquitted until it came back briefly with the Florida recount and Bush V. Gore. It then went away again after Bush was sworn in and didn't really come back again until the 2004 election (and even then the most bitter politics of the 2000's weren't as bad as the 90's or the 2010's). This four year span revolved around the millennium, the Y2K bug, and the rally around the flag effect that came after 9/11. If I HAVE to split these years into the 90's and 2000's, I would say Late 2001 (9/11 to be exact) would be the end of the cultural '90's and start of the cultural 2000's, but it wouldn't feel right.
 
Hell, this even fits musically. The transition to disco began in 1974 with Philly Soul hits like TSOP and Love's Theme. And obviously the genre's success came to a screeching halt by the end of 1980.

I placed the end of 'Disco' a bit earlier, but that may have been wishful thinking. Maybe the vibe projected by the Blues Brothers movie & band/act represents a dive for this.
 
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True, a lot of Americans feared Depression, but that period is hardly remembered. Its in the middle of the war years and prosperous 50s.

The Depression was clearly remembered in the 50s & 60s. Cant recall how many million times old farts like Uncle Edwin lectured everyone in ear shot about the Depression. My fathers generation certainly lived it in their youth, tho they were less inclined to yammer on about it.
 
I placed the end of 'Disco' a bit earlier, but that may have been wishful thinking. Maybe the vibe projected by the Blues Brothers movie & band/act represents a dive for this.

Popular imagination places its demise in 1979, with Disco Demolition Night, but it seems apparent to me that although that was a seminal moment for the disco backlash, its popularity persisted for a while afterwards. The two biggest songs of 1980 were Call Me by Blondie and Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd, rock songs with heavy disco influence. Also, the 8th biggest song that year was Funkytown by Lips Inc, another disco track. It was also a very good year for other disco acts like KC and the Sunshine Band (although their hit in 1980 was a soft ballad) and Kool and the Gang. 1981 had Kool and the Gang hit number one again with Celebration, but I think that was the last gasp.

Of course, then you get into how big an influence disco was on New Wave and later dance music, and start to question whether it ever really went away at all. Still, it seems to me that if we insist on categorizing years and decades at all, then 1980 was the last year of the 70's in this regard.
 
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Of course, then you get into how big an influence disco was on New Wave and later dance music, and start to question whether it ever really went away at all. Still, it seems to me that if we insist on categorizing years and decades at all, then 1980 was the last year of the 70's in this regard.

A lot of that influence was actually earlier dance forms passing through disco & then on into other dance genre. Some dance beats and melodies continue on through every genre. Note the current meldings in Electro Swing dance music.
 
Of course, then you get into how big an influence disco was on New Wave and later dance music, and start to question whether it ever really went away at all. Still, it seems to me that if we insist on categorizing years and decades at all, then 1980 was the last year of the 70's in this regard.
All things considered, I consider 1980-1892 part of the cultural seventies because double-digit inflation was still out of control and fuel prices were still a leading factor. Disco, in night clubs dropped off suddenly in late 1979 and 1980.
 
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