Was there a worse-looking decade than the '70s?  ;D  The only candidate I can think of is the zeroes.

Was there a worse-looking decade than the '70s?  ;D  The only candidate I can think of is the zeroes.


The zeroes....but the '70s looked pretty sheeshty.

You guys were not alive in the 70's.  How do you know? ;D

[quote author=whis

Looking back back at pictures, I must admit that the 70's fashions weren't some the prettiest.  However I'd much rather see a big wide collar, plaid shirts and polyester instead of pants that hang down to your knees showing your boxers, visors/ballcaps on sideways or backwards, crack/thong revealing pants and skirts that cover...well almost nothing.  LOL!!

The 70s saw the summer of my life.

Was there a worse-looking decade than the '70s?  ;D  The only candidate I can think of is the zeroes.
This could be said for any decade if you want to but it's a depressing view of things. I think you need a road trip, a life changing experience. Get yourself a backpack and a friend and go spend a week up in Yosemite Natl. Park and see some beauty in things. Go do that and see if you don't come back changed, with a different outlook on life and people and the world. The 70's were ok, they weren't ugly. We all partied & enjoyed 50's, 60's, and 70's cars, and girls in levi cutoffs, and the beer and wine flowed like a river. The war was over, troops came home, everything was cheap, you didn't need much money to survive. Cruising main street almost every night, heck, that was fun. People were out everywhere lookin to have a good time, which was what we did a lot of in the 70's. There was a lot of harmony from all types of people. The highways and streets weren't as crowded as they are today. I grew up in the San Joaquin valley and we fished and hunted and everywhere you looked was rivers, lakes, agriculture, vineyards, orchards, fields, now they're houses, malls, & industrial parks. All different kinds of people got along with each other. It was a good time to be a teenager  8) there wasn't as much serious crime back then either. I love the 70's and consider it to be the most memorable and fun decade.

I think you need a road trip, a life changing experience.


Actually, when I turn 18 I plan to explore all of North America, if money will allow.  :)

Actually, when I turn 18 I plan to explore all of North America, if money will allow.  :)
Right on Donnie, that sounds like an adventure. Whe I was 17, 18, 19 me and friends went backpacking and camping every summer in Yosemite. Totally blew me away. If you can go sometime, I seriously recommend it. I always came back renewed, refreshed, feeling like I'd been on an amazing journey. I don't mean to dog you on the thread, I just get a little defensive because I had some good experiences in that decade
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c235/badfingermike/YosemiteValley.jpg

Right on Donnie, that sounds like an adventure. Whe I was 17, 18, 19 me and friends went backpacking and camping every summer in Yosemite. Totally blew me away. If you can go sometime, I seriously recommend it. I always came back renewed, refreshed, feeling like I'd been on an amazing journey. I don't mean to dog you on the thread, I just get a little defensive because I had some good experiences in that decade
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c235/badfingermike/YosemiteValley.jpg


It's all good. :)

wasn't as much serious crime back then either.


That is debatable. I know places like New York (captured in Taxi Driver) were definitely no rainbow cities. Teenage street gangs were also rife in the UK and even Australia, and kids carried knives, guns, brick-bats, chained and frequently met in the streets. Serious injury and even death weren't uncommon. Racism and intolerance were also more widespread, the economy was de-pressed. For some, as now, life was good, but the picture wasn't that rosy on the other side.

70s an ugly decade??? are you kiddin' me??

http://ogonbat.brinkster.net/arkiv_farrah-poster.jpg

That is debatable. I know places like New York (captured in Taxi Driver) were definitely no rainbow cities. Teenage street gangs were also rife in the UK and even Australia, and kids carried knives, guns, brick-bats, chained and frequently met in the streets. Serious injury and even death weren't uncommon. Racism and intolerance were also more widespread, the economy was de-pressed. For some, as now, life was good, but the picture wasn't that rosy on the other side.


I agree. In fact, I've heard the '70s were worse for crime than the '80s and '90s, although all of the late 20th century is pretty bad except the late '90s.

That is debatable. I know places like New York (captured in Taxi Driver) were definitely no rainbow cities. Teenage street gangs were also rife in the UK and even Australia, and kids carried knives, guns, brick-bats, chained and frequently met in the streets. Serious injury and even death weren't uncommon. Racism and intolerance were also more widespread, the economy was de-pressed. For some, as now, life was good, but the picture wasn't that rosy on the other side.
It's debatable yes, and I can only make a accurate account for my own small location where I grew up. I know that fights were usually fisticuffs, maybe a knife, but guns were'nt so easily  drawn, although one of my friends was a nut and liked the power a weapon gave him, but mostly crime in Nor-cal was nothing compared to now. rascism was huge even in the little cities like where I grew up. I can't speak from experience how the rest of the world was, but in my part it was not that bad. Taxi Driver captured some real street problems from the big city, and I wasn't from a heavily populated area, mine was quite rural, so there is a big difference in peoples experience. From my own personal experience the 70's were a blast.

70s an ugly decade??? are you kiddin' me??

http://ogonbat.brinkster.net/arkiv_farrah-poster.jpg
She has even signed her leg?

I agree. In fact, I've heard the '70s were worse for crime than the '80s and '90s, although all of the late 20th century is pretty bad except the late '90s.


Yeah, the 70's had nutjobs like "Son of Sam" aka David Berkowitz, also Jim "drink that nasty Kool-Aid and die and you'll all go to Heaven" Jones, Squeaky Fromme, Ted Bundy, that guy in Atlanta that murdered all those young boys, don't know his mame though. And stuff like the Watergate mess, Hurricane Agnes, and New York City almost going bankrupt!

But on the other hand, we were no longer in Vietnam, we had at least some cool music from bands like Van Halen, Deep Purple, David Bowie, Yes, Patti Smith, Blondie, The Police, Elvis Costello, Blue Oyster Cult and I could name others...

[quote author=wһіѕ

[quote author=wһіѕ

My mom constantly bitches about how ugly her teenage, college, and grad school years were in the '70s. Home decor, some of the clothing, etc.

I went through elementary school in the 70's and looking at some of the old pictures I do have to wonder about our sense of style or lack thereof.  I do remember that with bell bottoms the bigger the bell the cooler you were.

My mom constantly bitches about how ugly her teenage, college, and grad school years were in the '70s. Home decor, some of the clothing, etc.


She should consult an eye doctor ( ;)) - the 70s were one of the prettiest decades around; well compared to the 80s.

She should consult an eye doctor ( ;)) - the 70s were one of the prettiest decades around; well compared to the 80s.


It depends. Watch The Dating Game. The '70s could go pretty far into bad taste. On the other hand, they could be very aesthetically pleasing.

It depends. Watch The Dating Game. The '70s could go pretty far into bad taste. On the other hand, they could be very aesthetically pleasing.


Well, like you said about the 80s, we love it because it's so kitschy. Give us linoleum kitchens and lava lamps, with those vomit coloured rugs anyway over the bland, 'easy on the eye' furnishings of today.

Well, like you said about the 80s, we love it because it's so kitschy. Give us linoleum kitchens and lava lamps, with those vomit coloured rugs anyway over the bland, 'easy on the eye' furnishings of today.


I agree. The '70s were sort of about briefly breaking out into ridiculousness because you could for the first time, and then in the '80s it receded again.

I agree. The '70s were sort of about briefly breaking out into ridiculousness because you could for the first time, and then in the '80s it receded again.


Funny thing is, people back then thought nothing of it. It wasn't 'ridiculous' or 'ostentatious' to them, it was just 'normal.' They knew nothing else. Not a bizarre fashion statement, but merely convention. But then, I guess, people in the 70s were a bit crazy.

Funny thing is, people back then thought nothing of it. It wasn't 'ridiculous' or 'ostentatious' to them, it was just 'normal.' They knew nothing else. Not a bizarre fashion statement, but merely convention. But then, I guess, people in the 70s were a bit crazy.


The '70s were kind of like the '00s, I think in some ways.

The '70s were kind of like the '00s, I think in some ways.


I think the '00s are more like the '80s in terms of "ethos", though the ugliness is '70s.

I think the '00s are more like the '80s in terms of "ethos", though the ugliness is '70s.


I think the '00s have the look of the '70s, the attitude of the '80s and the culture of the '90s.

I think the '00s have the look of the '70s, the attitude of the '80s and the culture of the '90s.


The look of the 70s? Are you blind? Anyway, that whole concept is pretty stupid. Of course the 00s look closest to the 90s, and even with the huge 80s revival the culture is still by far the closest to the 90s. The only real 80s influences are the music and subtle (I emphasize 'subtle') fashion influences. Overall, the 00s are still in a way a sort of neo-90s: perhaps no more post-modern, but alot more technilogically advanced. I suspect the 2010s will be the first true 'sci-fi' decade, which resembles the 80s vision of the future. A bit like Blade Runner but less dark and gloomy and more optimistic.

The '70s were kind of like the '00s, I think in some ways.



I think the '00s are more like the '80s in terms of "ethos", though the ugliness is '70s.



I think the '00s have the look of the '70s, the attitude of the '80s and the culture of the '90s.


Why does this sheesh get into every discussion about any year or decade?  There are enough comparison threads that have been started without invading everwhere else.  It is not a discussion I am interested in so I avoid those threads.  However it seems to be creeping in all over the place.


It is only from your perspective that the 70s appear now to be an ugly decade.  At the time peope were trying still to shake off the austerity of the war (WW2) and those restrictions and so were branching out in clothing and home decor because these things were getting cheaper (in relative terms)

Why does this sheesh get into every discussion about any year or decade?  There are enough comparison threads that have been started without invading everwhere else.  It is not a discussion I am interested in so I avoid those threads.  However it seems to be creeping in all over the place.


I agree....the 70s were the 70s; the 80s were the 80s(and the 80s weren't any better than the 70s; and the 90s and 00s are the 90s and 00s. :D

The '70s ugly? I dont think they were ugly. You want to see ugly? Well, what was once termed 'plumbers crack' because fat ugly old plumbers bending over in their work pants would often show the tops of their butt cracks has now become fashionable. To me, thats ugly. Hell, the belts my Mother wore in the 1970's could cover up more than some of the peices of material called skirts of today.

As for crime...I was only 7 in 1979, but I remember that there wasnt that much crime around back then. The only thing that ever happened to my family was one night, after being away all day, my Mum and I came home to find our loungeroom window open with the curtains hanging out. My Mum was a divorced Mum, so we both crept around the house looking for the culprits. When we realised that there was noone else in the house, we looked for anything that was damaged or missing. The only thing that was damaged was my money box. It had been smashed open and the cash was taken out. They wouldve only got about $2. That was it. I do remember the Star Hotel riots, which were in my home town of Newcastle Australia, but that was a one off thing. There were obviously murders occuring around the place, but back then, iif someone was murdered it was HUGE news. Now, unless more than one person was killed, we vary rarely hear about it.

Someone else mentioned that the 1970's were the Summer of their life...Well, for me, the 1970's were the Spring of my life...And what better way to start a life than with disco, rock, bell bottoms, WKRP In Cincinatti, Good Times, Wide lapelles, The Six Million Dollar Man, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, Superman and a good dose of corpral punishment to quickly whip us into line or keep us in line.





AN