Jane Ann McLachlan had this great idea for a blog challenge for the month of October to do one day for each of the first 25 years of your life. This is the 3rd installment.
1966
In 1966 the Dow hit a high of 995 but closes at 785
Inflation was at 3.01%
Average cost of a new house: $14,200
Average income: $6900
Gasoline: $0.32 a gallon
Movie ticket: $1.25
I’m two and I have a little brother now that is one. This year is marked by increasing troop numbers in Vietnam and increasing protests across the country.
Rock’em Sock’em Robots are introduced. I didn’t get one just yet, but I would eventually. Great toy!
Soviets crash a rocket into Venus and have the first soft landing on the moon, unmanned.
Color television sets are becoming more popular. There is a lot of great television shows that start this year. Star Trek, Batman, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Monkeys, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, and Dark Shadows. Also, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas airs for the first time. BBC's Dr. Who has it's first new Doctor, marking the first of many generation changes.
I have memories of moving into our new house where I spent the next 15 years of my life and that my mother still lives in. It was right up the hill from my mother’s parents. My grandfather built it. They only move maybe 300 yards from the street below to the street above where my mother grew up.
The first time I was there the stairs to the walkout basement had no horizontal pieces, so I had to be carried down. There was a mud room, literally, no floor. It stands out for these two reasons. I have memories of watching our black and white television as a family when my parents were still married to each other. We always watched Laugh-in together, of all things.
I think my mother is SOOOO ready to move off of that hill. It is a pain in the winter, but the road dead ends on the top of the hill maybe two more miles as it winds, but it was a great place to grow up. On the back side of that hill it was wild forest and it opened into a pretty good sized city park where we spent a lot of time exploring, but that was still years away. My world is still very small in 1966.
Clear Ether!
All that stuff was happening, I just wasn't aware of it at three. You are right, our worlds were soooo small back then. As I got older, I loved watching Laugh-In with my Dad and I got into the Star Trek re-runs decades later on late night TV. Sounds like you have some wonderful memories!
ReplyDeleteI had very similar experiences Kim, I didn't get into Star Trek until much later. Thanks for coming by and commenting!
DeleteAh, nostalgia! In 1966 I was participating in silent noon-time protests against the Vietnam War at U C Santa Barbara. I was drowning in too many courses and wondering if it was all worth it. Like many young men at the time, I would soon be faced with that terrible decision: either be drafted (this was before the lottery), flee to Canada (I knew no one there at the time), or go to jail (my claustrophobia is brought on by being in small spaces with too many people, but I knew I wouldn't be happy in jail). I was also trying to figure out whether my lab partner in biology was just overly friendly and extroverted or whether she was looking for a relationship (at the time, relationships were often casual, but I was afraid of something more intense--graduate school loomed, Pentagon permitting).
ReplyDeleteSometimes I look back and wonder why more people didn't start doing drugs. Prozac didn't exist, but the stress was still there. Bottom line: it wasn't a simpler time. The Voting Rights legislation was still meeting resistance. Vietnam would divide the country. Kent State was four years in the future. Todd, Jane, and Kim, your worlds were small back then. Mine was loaded with stress and big issues I couldn't get my head around. Life is like that.
All the best,
Steve
It was a crazy time for sure, and I do think a lot of people started doing all kinds of drugs. Thanks for sharing your story Steve!
DeleteI watched all of those TV shows during their first runs. Nice walk down memory lane. The country was watching only one of three channels each night, the common zeitgeist. PBS wasn't even in most markets back then. Common bonds that bound.
ReplyDeleteI think we could get PBS on the UHF channel on good days. The world is a lot wider now for sure with internet and a bajillion channels on cable. Thanks for stopping by Lara!
DeleteHouse cost how much? God, I bought an average, normal Vancouver house on a normal sized city plot last July for just over a million. Wish we had a time machine. :)
ReplyDeleteHoly crap, Veronica, you must be doing pretty well, time machine or not. =)
DeleteWe watched Laugh-In at an age that I now realize was inappropriate -- I think my parents counted on all the jokes going over my head!
ReplyDeleteSame with us, Joy, truth is they were going over my head. =)
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