OK, I'm a guy and it really is a 1967 Ford Fairlane to get this thing started. Every year I receive a publication from the folks that take care of my 401K around the time of my birthday with sort of before and now facts to ponder. This year it goes back to 1967.
Lets start off with some news. In Atlanta, Martin Luther King, Jr. calls the Viet Nam War the largest obstacle to the civil rights movement. Interjection, what in the sam hill did one have to do with the other? President Johnson appoints Ellsworth Bunker to replace Henry Cabot Lodge as U.S. Ambassador to South Viet Nam. President Johnson also announces plans to establish a draft lottery.
OK Shady will switch over to music. According to this page the popular songs were: "Daydream Believer" by the Monkees; "Happy Together" by the Turtles; "Light My Fire" by the Doors; "Never My Love" by The Association; "Penny Lane" by The Beatles; "Respect" by Aretha Franklin; The Happening" by the Supremes and "The Letter" by the Box Tops.
Also in entertainment news Aretha Franklin hits the top of the charts with "Respect" and "I Never Loved A Man". The musical "Hair" arrives off broadway. The Beatles continue to top the charts with "All You Need Is Love" and "Penny Lane". The Monkees are on the charts with "Daydream Believer" and "I'm A Believer".
Economics is always important. A gallon of milk was $1.15 vs $3.79 today. A loaf of bread was $.22 vs $1.45 today. A new automobile was $2,425 vs $25,555 today. A gallon of gasoline was $.28 vs $3.90 today. A new home was $40,000 vs $169,500 today (don't know about this cause I bought a brand new home in 1971 for $17,500). The average income was $7,305 vs $34,104 today.
For you sports enthusiast baseball great Micky Mantle hits his 500th home run. St. Louis wins baseball's World Series in the seventh game against Boston. The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 in Super Bowl I held in the Los Angeles Coliseum. In basketball Philadelphia defeats San Francisco for the NBA title. Billie Jean King and John Newcombe each win the U.S. National tennis title. Frenchman Robert Pingeon wins the Tour de France. A horse named Proud Clarion wins the Kentucky Derby.
And that was the way it was back in 1967. I finished at Carolina College of Commerce that year with a diploma in Senior Accounting and entered the Army on October 17th.
You did something like this last year too, I think...very interesting stuff!!
ReplyDeleteWhen is your birthday Odie?
Some really interesting facts there for us my friend. I'm sure The Boxtops were mentioned in one of Shady's posts during this past week. I have to say that I'm surprised there wasn't a higher difference in the prices you have quoted there, because today's wages are far, far higher than they were back in 1967.
ReplyDeleteI was 5 in 1967, but I have a freakishly long memory and can recall some fun things happening then, albeit from a 5 year old's perspective. This was very interesting- and, your birthday is coming up soon- never to early to celebrate!
ReplyDeleteAccording to this, Odie, the two items whose prices rose most after the cost of living adjustment were the automobile, up more than 10X and the gallon of gas to run the automobile, up more than 13X. The survey fails to point out that the cost of keeping a bikini model happy rose 100X during the same time period. (LOL)
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Loved reading about 1967. I well remember the war, Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mickey Mantle. I was 17 at that time and just left California for the frozen north to live with relatives and get a job. The job was at a stock exchange company and I watched the ticker tape and changed the prices on a huge board with chalk. Yep, that's how it was done before computers! I think I was paid $1.50 per hour.
ReplyDeleteI know all those songs and I loved that era. It was different and slower and people didn't have all the crazy stuff they have now that makes them go 100 miles an hour.
ReplyDeleteI think I was born in the wrong generation.