There was no Cable, no HD, no Internet access, personal computers, no cassette tapes, no CDs, no iPod, no VHS, no DVDs, no BluRay, no cell phones, no cordless phones, no answering machines, no hybrids, no seat belt law and no indoor plumbing. Just kidding about that last one, kids. But, man, how did people do anything?
Some interesting facts on Wikipedia for 1971:
- In 1971 a ban on radio and television cigarette advertisements went into effect.
- "All in the Family" premiered.
- The NASDAQ debuted.
- The first Shamu died.
- Attica Prison riot occurred.
- Walt Disney World opens.
- Jim Morrison of The Doors is found dead in a bathtub in France.
- The South Tower of the World Trade Center is completed.
- We were at war with Vietnam.
My dad was a computer operator. He and a few other gentleman would run payroll on a punch card and reel-to-reel tape computer that took up an entire room. It was revolutionary that payroll only took a few days when a computer did it. (A few DAYS?!)
I actually don't remember much before I was five (1976). Five is when my first real vivid memories start creeping in. I don't remember watching much television. My parents played a lot of records. I do remember watching Star Trek reruns in syndication and getting a replica blue (or gold?) shirt to wear while shooting my friend from down the street with a homemade phaser. I lived on Easter Avenue in Littleton, Colorado until I was 7. It's the first house I remember living in.
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I remember playing outside a lot. I remember a pony and a cowboy-themed birthday party. I remember my dad chasing me to give me a spanking, me dodging him twice using the "drop-to-the-ground-and-let-your-pursuer's-momentum-carry-them-past-you" technique ... and then getting caught.
I remember a neighbor kid and I wearing our BVDs on our heads to mimic scuba gear. I remember improvising on the piano for my mom and glowing when she enjoyed my pieces entitled "Thunder" (pounding loudly on the low keys) and "A New Day" (tinkling lightly on the high keys).
I remember two recurring nightmares I had. One involved an old lady-thing that was a cross between the witch from "Snow White" and the kidnapper from "Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang" coming into our neighborhood, I'd hide somewhere good and she'd always always find me. The other was about green men in suits coming downstairs and circling the unfinished basement, looking right at me as they passed.
I remember getting stitches in my eye and my little brother chewing on razor blades. I recall my Kindergarten teacher dressing up as a stranger and offering us candy to teach us to be terrified of adults for the rest of our lives.
I remember I loved the song "Rhinestone Cowboy."
Memories are odd. And imperfect. I used to give so much authority to them but now I realize they are flavored with so much of me, of who I was at the time and my overall perception of the world I knew. Back then, Easter Avenue was a wild, new, exciting and sometimes scary place. Today it's just a street in a suburb of Denver; place I remember. Fondly.
What's the most vivid memory you have of being five years old?
