Life was simpler, 1 TV in the house, 1 corded phone. So technology didn’t dominate our lives like it does now. As kids we were more active than kids today are.
While some would say life was better then, that is not necessarily the case. People still struggled to pay their bills, they were scared of the Cold War, AIDS and the hole in the ozone layer. They were more likely to die of cancer, heart attacks and other illnesses that modern medicine is better at dealing with.
If life seems worse now, in many respects it’s because of the media, in all its forms, which mainly focuses on the negative, and it’s much harder to avoid than it was in the 1900’s
Life was simpler for you because your parents took care of you. For men graduating high school in 1970, the draft and the Vietnam war loomed large.
In the 70s gas prices were insane, heavy industry manufacturing started to collapse and between 1973 and 1975, there was an average of five terrorist bombings, every day in the US.
The median house of 1960 would cost just $104,619 in 2020 dollars, far below the actual cost of $240,500, meaning housing costs have increased by 129%.
Homes have become less affordable: In 1960, approximately 68 out of 100 Americans could afford a home, but now only around 43 out of 100 can afford one.
Among 18 to 34 year olds, nearly twice as many people live at home with their parents in 2020 than in 1960.
Even in the 90s when the rates were in the teens more people owned homes.
The average age for first time home owners has gone up a lot as well.
Low rates do not equal more affordable housing, they end up pricing people out of the market at a much greater rate.
Our TV picked up ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and one or two independent TV channels from New York. Our antenna was on a rotator so that you could point it in the optimal location for each.
After my dad divorced wife #2 and traded up to wife #3, he moved into her place for a few years in the mid-80’s… They were on a high ridge halfway between Concord, N.H, and the seacoast. House had a 40 foot aerial with a rotor and one of those huge channelmaster antennas. It was absolute gold for TV reception.
Get this:
WGBH - 2 out of Boston
WCAX - 3 out of Burlington, Vt. or point the antenna southwest and get WFSB - 3 out of Hartford, Ct.
WBZ - 4 and WCVB - 5 out of Boston,
WCSH - 6 out of Portland, Maine,
WHDH - 7 out of Boston,
WMTW - 8 out of Portland,
WMUR - 9 out of Manchester, N.H,
WCBB - 10 out of Portland Maine, or WJAR - 10 out of Providence, R.I. (that was early mornings mostly)
WENH - 11 out of Durham NH,
WPRI - 12 out of Providence, R.I. (also only early mornings)
WGME - 13 out of Portland Maine
WNHT - 21 out of Concrd, NH (it didn’t last long…)
WXNE - 25 out of Boston (Now it’s a Fox channel, WFXT)
WMEA - 26 out of Portland, Maine
WHLL - 27 out of Worchester, Mass, that went adult after hours… If you had an analogue pulse cross generator you could watch the naughty films… otherwise it was scrambled - I remember my younger brother madly trying to watch the fuck films while the picture danced and shook! LOL!
WSBK - 38 out of Boston… Red Sox games anyone?
WGBX - 44 off of Cape Cod (mornings mostly)
WNDS - 50 out of Manchester, NH. (had Al Kaprelian, a local meterologist, who was actually the ONLY weatherman to call out that “perfect storm” in 1992 (the one that a movie was made about) and warn people about it… Short dude who was kinda goofy but absolutely knew his shit…)
WLVI - 56 - had the Creature Double Feature monster movies on Saturady afternoons in the 70’s…
WVJV - 66 - aka “v66” which tried to be an MTV clone but lasted 4 or 5 years and is now a spanish network channel…
WQTV - 68 out of Boston…
More TV channels on that spot than anywhere I’d lived, including the Bay Area in California.
Our TV got 1-5 channels depending on the weather. Our antenna rotator was one person outside turning the tube that held the antenna and one person inside saying “A little more! A little more! No, go back! Go back!”
I remember visiting a rich person’s home and his son showing me his cable TV. He was bragging that he could watch Dukes of Hazard on the regular channel at 4pm and a cable channel also had the Dukes at 7pm.
Two Dukes of Hazards in a day?! That’s how rich folks live!!
Born 1972.
Life was simpler, 1 TV in the house, 1 corded phone. So technology didn’t dominate our lives like it does now. As kids we were more active than kids today are.
While some would say life was better then, that is not necessarily the case. People still struggled to pay their bills, they were scared of the Cold War, AIDS and the hole in the ozone layer. They were more likely to die of cancer, heart attacks and other illnesses that modern medicine is better at dealing with.
If life seems worse now, in many respects it’s because of the media, in all its forms, which mainly focuses on the negative, and it’s much harder to avoid than it was in the 1900’s
Life was simpler for you because your parents took care of you. For men graduating high school in 1970, the draft and the Vietnam war loomed large.
In the 70s gas prices were insane, heavy industry manufacturing started to collapse and between 1973 and 1975, there was an average of five terrorist bombings, every day in the US.
Mortgage interest rates were in the high teens
And it kept the price of houses affordable. The interest rates today are stupid low and are what caused the shit market we have now.
Sure pal… houses were not any more affordable. The cost of the property where low but the monthly payments were completely out of reach…
No they were not, that was the last time most younger people were able to afford homes.
https://www.thezebra.com/resources/home/housing-trends-visualized/
Even in the 90s when the rates were in the teens more people owned homes.
The average age for first time home owners has gone up a lot as well.
Low rates do not equal more affordable housing, they end up pricing people out of the market at a much greater rate.
Our TV picked up ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and one or two independent TV channels from New York. Our antenna was on a rotator so that you could point it in the optimal location for each.
Oh man… antenna rotors were the best!
After my dad divorced wife #2 and traded up to wife #3, he moved into her place for a few years in the mid-80’s… They were on a high ridge halfway between Concord, N.H, and the seacoast. House had a 40 foot aerial with a rotor and one of those huge channelmaster antennas. It was absolute gold for TV reception.
Get this:
WGBH - 2 out of Boston WCAX - 3 out of Burlington, Vt. or point the antenna southwest and get WFSB - 3 out of Hartford, Ct. WBZ - 4 and WCVB - 5 out of Boston, WCSH - 6 out of Portland, Maine, WHDH - 7 out of Boston, WMTW - 8 out of Portland, WMUR - 9 out of Manchester, N.H, WCBB - 10 out of Portland Maine, or WJAR - 10 out of Providence, R.I. (that was early mornings mostly) WENH - 11 out of Durham NH, WPRI - 12 out of Providence, R.I. (also only early mornings) WGME - 13 out of Portland Maine WNHT - 21 out of Concrd, NH (it didn’t last long…) WXNE - 25 out of Boston (Now it’s a Fox channel, WFXT) WMEA - 26 out of Portland, Maine WHLL - 27 out of Worchester, Mass, that went adult after hours… If you had an analogue pulse cross generator you could watch the naughty films… otherwise it was scrambled - I remember my younger brother madly trying to watch the fuck films while the picture danced and shook! LOL! WSBK - 38 out of Boston… Red Sox games anyone? WGBX - 44 off of Cape Cod (mornings mostly) WNDS - 50 out of Manchester, NH. (had Al Kaprelian, a local meterologist, who was actually the ONLY weatherman to call out that “perfect storm” in 1992 (the one that a movie was made about) and warn people about it… Short dude who was kinda goofy but absolutely knew his shit…) WLVI - 56 - had the Creature Double Feature monster movies on Saturady afternoons in the 70’s… WVJV - 66 - aka “v66” which tried to be an MTV clone but lasted 4 or 5 years and is now a spanish network channel… WQTV - 68 out of Boston…
More TV channels on that spot than anywhere I’d lived, including the Bay Area in California.
Our TV got 1-5 channels depending on the weather. Our antenna rotator was one person outside turning the tube that held the antenna and one person inside saying “A little more! A little more! No, go back! Go back!”
I remember visiting a rich person’s home and his son showing me his cable TV. He was bragging that he could watch Dukes of Hazard on the regular channel at 4pm and a cable channel also had the Dukes at 7pm.
Two Dukes of Hazards in a day?! That’s how rich folks live!!
Dukes of Hazard…
Fck’n Cletus!
LOL!