You might be right... I grew up in the 60's & 70's.. From my memory, it was an ok time I suppose.... I'm 59 now, and not too sure things are any better or worse... Oh Well, the technology improved... I remember film cameras, and no one ever dreamed there would be cell phones & home computers... So ok, I guess life is better.
In one way or another, yes, I grew up in the 70's and nobody was in a damn rush all the time but the economy was up and down, people were losing their homes and the Vietnam war was happening, there were movements that were changing politics, racial division still happened (people moving to another town because lots of black people moving in) and some cities were struggling with crime (like New York City).
And poor wasn’t looked down on. You didn’t have to wear designer clothes. Everyone accepted people just the way they were. Didn’t have to own a nice car or anything.
I still think people who wear jeans with holes in them are poor. If not financially, mentally. I have some worn jeans with a hole in one knee I use for cleaning my house, painting, etc. I tried to wear them to the store but I couldn't go through with it.
I am 65yrs old now. I will be 66 yrs old in September. With EVERY decade, there have been some good and bad - - - This 2000+ era has gone ROGUE 🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘. America, like the Titanic is SINKING 🛥️
@@DouglasLippi Just gotta vote out the Putin Republican “evil”gelicals…and it assuredly will, but it will take a long time to undo the damage they’ve done. Republicans are the reason it’s gotten to this point.
The stores weren't understaffed- polite employees checked out your groceries for you, and a second person was available to bag your groceries. Most if not nearly all products were made here in America and didn't come from thousands of miles away unless they coudn't be grown locally. Orange juice actually contained more than 2% actual, real orange juice. Most food was already organic and didn't need to be advertised as such (and wasn't twice as expensive because of it). No food tax for indulgences. A half gallon sized carton of juice was actually 64 ounces, not 59 or 54 or 52 ounces. Milk didn't contain mysterious hormones. Nothing was genetically modified or engineered. Cereal boxes actually offered a real toy, and it was actually IN THE BOX. No foods contained ingredients you couldn't pronounce. People recycled soda bottles automatically every time they returned to the grocery store- the glass bottles were simply washed and refilled- some bottles had older logos on them, and looked like they had been used over and over, hundreds of times. No melting aluminum and remanufacturing cans. Nobody knew what a self check-out lane was, and nobody had a magnetic security scanner at the door. Sugary cereals had names like super sugar crisp and sugar frosted flakes. Grocery bags were available for free, without asking, and they were all bio-degradable and were made from a renewable resource. No peanut allergy warnings on anything because nobody knew anyone who had a peanut allergy. A bag of Oreos was really BIG. Ice cream containers were also BIG. Land O Lakes had a Native American woman in the logo and everybody was happy to buy more butter because of it. Uncle Ben's had his picture on it and so did Aunt Jemima, and we didn't care. Prices were small. People carried actual money, which they actually had already earned. Healthy food wasn't much more expensive than processed junk food. People held the door open for each other, nobody was in a rush, employees smiled when you asked a question, and nobody brought in a gun to get their groceries.
Yeah, so what's your point? times have definitely changed. Things never stay the same and that is life. Just appreciate what you have and try not to be upset by every little change that happens in the evolution of life. Life is very short, enjoy it!
AHhh! When this was still a civilized country. You could shop without annoying music blaring; People tried to look nice, instead of like bums; Children were kept under control and not allowed to scream and run around... It was the height of civilization, and I've been greatly blessed to have been alive at that time. It's all gone now :(
@@maryisabell8760 The idiots walking around with big holes in their pants is what gets me! People used to try and look nice. Now they try to look ugly and offensive. Between the way half of these stores are kept, and the way people act and dress, I fell like I'm in a third-world country every time I go to the store now. Ironically, I watched a video of this young couple who are exploring various places in the interior of Mexico. You should see the difference! People are dressed nicely....the towns and small cities are clean...like it USED to be here. Man! How far this country has fallen, when we look shabby compared to Mexico!
@@meangene98I remember that stuff too. Littering was really bad back then, and it was fairly common seeing an old lady pushing her carriage in a bathrobe with her hair in rollers! Lol. Different times for sure. 😂
@@JohnWhite-xc3md I was born in 1960, and there are a million things I loved about growing up in the 60’s & 70’s, but the pollution was really bad. Remember the smog? I remember sitting in my parent’s car in traffic and my eyes watering from all the car exhaust.
I do remember. I was agreeing with you! I enjoyed growing up back then too, and you're right. The polution was gross back then. People would thoughtlessly throw stuff out their car windows, or drink a soda or whatever and throw the empty can on the ground. I'm glad we have slowly gotten away from that.
I don't know about you guys, but I think of those great days of the late 60's and early 70's EVERY SINGLE DAY of my life! I thank God for them. Poor young'uns today will never know how great normal life used to be and what we've lost. We didn't have vacations and endless amusements, or organized activities or formal events- those things don't matter. It was just mundane every day life that was so GREAT! (Including just going shopping with your mother, or hanging out under the shade tree with the neighbor...) (And having a stay-at-home mother was the greatest blessing.
Yes. I miss being young and having hair to grow long and shaggy. And the drugs, Rohr 714s, big bong pipes, three finger lids and National Lampoon and High Times Magazine. And the great inventions like the Salad Shooter and Pocket Fisherman. Can you dig it?
Umm, well I was 12 at the time and what I remember is drills for bombings because of the Vietnam war!! Maybe you lived in a cave back then. And in some places girls weren't even allowed to wear pants to school. Do you have any clue what you're talking about? You're talking like a true privileged white guy that's completely clueless about history.
I was 4 years old in 71. Bday is 3/14/1967. These were the good times. Yes I was 4 but I remember going to Kmart and checking out the blue light specials, grocery shopping at Pruett’s Food Town or Red Food Store with my mom and sister. I miss those times so much.
Only now theres a tall pole attached to the cart, so it doesnt end up a mile down the road. And the cart has a locking wheel tgat activates if you leave the parking lot with ut.
I was 13 at the time of this video footage. It was a wonderful time for America. I would give up all the conveniences of today to go back to this simpler time when America was great, and respected the world over.
YEs, when kids actually studied at a library and used the Dweey Decimal system- now, no brat knows what that evven is anymore- they use stupidGrammerlyandcomputers to think for themselves. REALLY SICKENING.
@@texaswunderkind That was only while the idiot Carter was in office. As soon as Reagan took over America was respected again. Hmmm looks like it is happening today with Joe-tardo. So what's your point? My point is whenever a Democrat is in office this happens, but in reality all you are trying to do (epic fail btw) is taint t he nostalgia I feel for these days. Ain't going to happen doof.
@SparkyStevens8899: Don't forget the uptight and fashionable "Phyllis Lindstrom" in that equation. The very talented Miss Cloris Leachman presented plenty of deep dimensions in sketching out essentially a one sided Character brilliantly!😂😉🎤💃📺B.W.
@@aaronwilliams6989 graduated in 77 and the following week me n my bud walked all the pot lot used dealers in San Jose on the main thoroughfare and found 2 cars-1968 charger 383 auto tranny bright yellow and a Mustang ca edition- stang was too much at $2995 so got the charger for 1,899. Killed me to maintain as I was going to cal state Hayward too so sold it. Huge mistake- bought a fiat spider- bigger mistake on that pos💀
@@royreali8852 yep- my pop loved Buicks so he had a 71 estate wagon n in 92- bought a brand new roadmaster with wood trim🙌😂 In between those he had a Chrysler Lebaron woody wagon. See the trend👍?
The biggest difference to me is people today are less engaging, when I was a young man I knew all my neighbors, we helped each other . Everyone was more social in a more communal personal way. Good days remembered
I am also glad I was born back in 52 and happy to be as old as I am. I lived in a wonderful time and although I enjoy modern technology I would throw it all away for simpler times. Still living a good life but waiting also to GO HOME⬆️✝️
I was born in the late 50s so I am lucky to remember the last few years of the 50s and all of the 60s and can see from experience the massive sh!thole America has become. My mother even says times were better back then and she was born in the 30s.
I think we should all admit how easy it is to look at 50 years ago with rose-colored glasses. I had fun growing up in the 1960s and becoming a teenager and young adult in the 1970s. But today’s kids are having fun and will be nostalgic too. I don’t discount anyone’s life experience as less than mine.
I was 11 then.Long before the internet and everyone went crazy.And yes,I do see the irony of commenting on the past while using CZcams and the internet. But for the most part, life was better back then.
I was born in 2002, and yet, it's very interesting to see what daily life was like back in the old days when my parents were alive. I'd give anything to be able to live daily life like the good ol' days. 😊
Gemco, White Front, and K-Mart. Great stores to shop in. I remember K-Mart’s submarine sandwiches, what a treat to get one of those for lunch! ❤ fond childhood memories 😊
Couldn't love this more! 🥰 And... Notice how we dressed ourselves up a bit just in case we ran into old classmates, elected officials (just in case we made the newspaper), teachers, 'mother' or God forbid mother-in-law in some cases lol, because we didn't want to be caught out in public looking like we just tumbled out of bed or didn't know 'how' to dress ourselves😉! Boy oh boy have things changed! 😏
Props to the cashier! She's checking items faster than half the current ones @ Sprawlmart and she's removing everything from the cart, 'punching' the price in on the register (by memory!), and placing it on the belt. A lot of old registers were wider at the bagging end to provide sorting space for the bagger to properly bag you groceries. They had actual butchers in the back then as well.
I graduated from high school in ‘71. In some ways, life seemed simpler, but as an 18-year-old, the possibility of becoming a Vietnam casualty didn’t make life easier. Would I go back? I’m glad I’ll never have to make that decision.
@@billwalsh388Yep. Life as a child WAS happier and simpler (in most cases) because we were children and didn't know anything about the adult world, thankfully.
I was almost 5 years old in 1971, it makes me feel home sick for that era. Cashiers were actually more friendly than today, groceries were actually a lot cheaper than today.
I'm homesick for that era and my family who are gone now. To be back in my childhood home in 1971 with my parents and siblings. Oh, I took it all for granted. Dear God, can you give me that in heaven? Please?
This brought back memories of summer of '71. I was 7 years old and my Grandpa bought me a bicycle at K-mart for 28 bucks brand new out of the box. Goodness, the people in the video mostly look dressed for a Sunday and were so slender.
I got my first Stingray Bike at Montgomery Ward in 1968 in 1970 I got one from Coast to Coast we had to go to City Hall in Klamath Falls and get a Bike License
@texaswunderkind I would take the 70s any day over today's world. At least you didn't have to walk through metal detectors to get into schools or theme parks, and We didn't have shootings in schools back then either. Kids were kinder back then, too, and respected their parents, or they got their butts beat. If a parent does that now, they end up in jail.
Thanks so much for this! I was born in the sixties and consider myself a child of the seventies. I'm extremely nostalgic (probably too nostalgic) and miss that time so much!
And Woolworth's and Sprouse-Reitz! We had one of each within walking distance of our home; we took those stores for granted. We did not shop enough at those stores to keep them open.
I remember shopping in the early 50's with my mother. We would go to A&S department store on Long Island, NY. She would always wear a hat and white gloves and I had to wear my best clothes as well. So many of the great department stores are gone now. I really miss the simplicity of those days.
Back when it didn't cost a lot to buy a lot, and shopping was actually fun. We really did not know how good we had it back then. I would trade today for the 1970s in an instant.
Even accounting for the huge increase in the cost of food since 2019, it's still way cheaper now than it was in 1971 from a percentage of household income perspective.
@@Milkmans_Sonnot everything. In one video of grocery stores circa 1969 I looked up on the inflation calculator what a sign on a bin of bagged oranges cost would be worth today. It came to 8 dollars & change. I can get a 3lb bag of oranges at Aldis for under $5. Sometimes they're even 2.99 there.
@@Milkmans_Sonthe pack of cigarettes early in this video being rung up by the cashier , the inflation calculator says $7.71 today. Still less than the (I think) $10ish dollars of today but still, not cheap.
@@Milkmans_Son yes, the chasm between wage and consumer retail price was different then than now. The minimum wage in 1971 was $1.60. We can do the math on the things we saw in the video being rung up to compare to today. Some things were still outrageous though. Like those bags of oranges in another video from a few years before this video. I used 1969 to calculate. I don't remember the precise year but I went by 1969. Results come out equivalent if it was any year of that decade, inputting the min wage of the different yrs. The oranges were in 2lb bags. Minimum wage was $1.30 in 1969. The 2lb bags of oranges were .49 cents/lb. 49 cents is equivalent to $4.17 today. Double that because the oranges were in 2 lb bags. That's $8.34. Hella lot when minimum wage was $1.30/hr. One of the huge benefits of the old days was durable goods were actually literally durable. Good quality, manufacturing was in this country. Yearrrss before billionaires began moving operations over the borders &overseas that is the way now. Appliances back then lasted and there were repairmen to make house calls to keep things running. Now, material and quality is shoddy. Too often the cost of having a part sent & repairman come isn't much different than buying a new appliance. As I learned from my parent's modern things breaking down. And my washing machine with its several things wrong going on exceed the cost of a cheaper end to midrange priced new machine. People in the old days didn't have to replace or maintain as often as the modern stuff requires. Water heaters aren't even designed the same way as they were when those could last 30 years. A semi-retired old repairman told me this. My 9 year old water heater now needs replaced. My parents old style one outlasted what I have threefold before they replaced theirs.
I was in viet nam for all of 71. But In 72 I was back in the world and working in a Jewel grocery overnight stocking shelves. And on sat, with old women standing next to me smoking. Every item was priced as it came off the truck. Pre barcode. $ 4 an hour. I drove a $100 64 Corvair.
Shopping in the 50s,60s and 70 was an “event” even if you didn’t spend much or any money; you ate at counters or in booths with little “juke boxes” playing the top 40 of the week. You had sales people to help you and they were usually nice. The stores were locked and loaded with the newest merchandise and you did’t rush, but strolled from store to store. Then and today are as different as any two periods in history could be. I loved living then.❤️
The consumerism of the 1980's brainwashed everybody to need the latest fashion brand or product as a status symbol. Personal debt and bankruptcies skyrocketed. No one was any happier.
@@dcarkhuf it was fun back then; none of the places other than A&W am I familiar with. I guess different regions of the country had different hangout spots. I enjoy reminiscing about those times and they are some of my clearest memories, unlike trying to remember all that I did yesterday.😊
Trust me, at 100,000 miles nearly all of them were junk. Traffic fatalities were much higher then, also. But when they broke down you could work on them fairly easily.
Just amazing! No one staring at their palms.I was 7 in 71 and folks all you gotta do is look at the trees,the sky,the grass,the mountains.They are all the same now.Just a piece of advice if you feel so sad how much has changed.
Things haven't really changed that much. The only difference is that the carefree teens of 1970 are now 70 year old curmudgeons complaining about blue hair on CZcams.
Back when road rage was frustration over a pot hole. Back when people loved kid's more than guns. Back when people didn't fill a shopping cart with stolen items and walk right past a cashier out to their car.
Not a complaint at all many elderly felt safer and that is fact . Takes time but looking crime stats in city data shows that . Also the groups by demographic data .
watching the retro video - wow remember bubble gum machines outside stores by the front door??... They went away & I can't even remember noticing or when that all stopped. Thanks for sharing on nature's television
I got married in 1971! Only 20, and my groom only 23. It was great year, but it also had great music! I finished my 4th year of college as a married woman. After one marries, there's more time to write term papers--who knew? Wish we could go back to those innocent times.
Having been born in the 1950's, this really brings back memories. Its funny how things change in a subtle way so as it's not easily noticed. Of course if it was possible to go back in time, the first thing I'd do is put a note on every muscle car in that Gemco parking lot that said......I'll pay you twice what your car is worth!
Every Saturday was a visit to the K-Mart up the road here Knoxville. My mom and I ventured out to it every weekend. Many of my toys came out of that building. Ugh. I wanna gp back and stay there.
I was 5 years old in 1971 and I still can remember how neat the stores were, extremely nice and helpful employees and you NEVER heard young parents screaming and cussing their children or anyone else for that matter in the stores. And there definitely weren’t delinquent juveniles running around like crazy being loud disrespectful and stealing! It’s so sad what has happened to our once beautiful and respected America! 😡🤦♀️
In the summertime with no school us kids would ride bikes looking for soda bottles to cash in. We would go to 7/11 and buy tall glass bottles of soda and penny candy, chips and a slurpee for all under $1.00 ! Such a simple time with Saturday morning cartoons as well as weekday afternoon cartoons! We even had to play Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-Man in the vestibule of the stores! We even collected Charlie’s Angels and Garbage Pail kids trading cards!! It was truly a blast!!
Mind blower! I remember those stores Roger Wilco, K Mart. We had Mayfairs Market, Grants, Copper Penny, TG & Y. So cool to go down memory lane! This video is awesome!
Merging with Sears was like putting on cement shoes and jumping out of a boat. It's amazing that two great retailers couldn't understand changing consumer tastes.
I was 20 at this time and worked in a retail Clarkens Store (similar to a K mart) in BrookPark, Ohio, for Stark Records, in their vinyl record department selling 8 tracks, and believe cassettes were starting to come out as well. They promoted me to assistant manager wore a tie and dress shirt, they made me feel like a big shot;-)
I was born in 1961 so in 71 I was 10 and in the fifth grade i remember that year very good. I remember my neighbors kids were big kids maybe 16 or 17 years old and there father bought them a 10 speed bike and that was the first 10 speed bike i had ever seen, I would stand next to it and I coulden't believe how big it was.
There cannot be an honest person alive that can deny life was SO much better then!
Well said!
Everybody seemed more appreciative back then!
Thanks!
You might be right... I grew up in the 60's & 70's.. From my memory, it was an ok time I suppose.... I'm 59 now, and not too sure things are any better or worse... Oh Well, the technology improved... I remember film cameras, and no one ever dreamed there would be cell phones & home computers... So ok, I guess life is better.
In one way or another, yes, I grew up in the 70's and nobody was in a damn rush all the time but the economy was up and down, people were losing their homes and the Vietnam war was happening, there were movements that were changing politics, racial division still happened (people moving to another town because lots of black people moving in) and some cities were struggling with crime (like New York City).
People in the 70's were so honest but people of 'today' are allowed to check out their own grocery's, at least I didn't see it in the video.
Those women looked happy to work a cash register.
Don’t forget to collect your S&H Green Stamps.
and Blue Chip Stamps
Shopping in 1971, listening to music from 1931.
Exactly what I was thinking..😅
@Daman Make that 1831!..
😂😂
Thank you! Came here to kvetch about the music. Kept expecting Doc Holliday to come in, six-guns a-blazin’. 😂
Lol...
I remember back in the day.. because I'm 62 years old... if you wore jeans with holes in them, it meant you were poor..
And poor wasn’t looked down on. You didn’t have to wear designer clothes. Everyone accepted people just the way they were. Didn’t have to own a nice car or anything.
Now you pay more for jeans with holes... lol
I still think people who wear jeans with holes in them are poor. If not financially, mentally. I have some worn jeans with a hole in one knee I use for cleaning my house, painting, etc. I tried to wear them to the store but I couldn't go through with it.
I am 65yrs old now. I will be 66 yrs old in September. With EVERY decade, there have been some good and bad - - - This 2000+ era has gone ROGUE 🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘. America, like the Titanic is SINKING 🛥️
@@JESUSISLORDforever888 I hope your Medicare advantage is working out for you. I will be 65 in 7 months. I think are healthcare system went rogue.
Not only do I miss those days but I miss the people too. Never again will America be like it once was never
Oh, maybe it will. The United States survived a civil war and did good for a long time. If we can avoid another civil war we might be okay again.
Didn't go to Vietnam.....did you?
Just gotta vote out the libs and it assuredly will, but it will take a long long time to undo the damage they've done.
Agreed. Demographics is destiny.
@@DouglasLippi Just gotta vote out the Putin Republican “evil”gelicals…and it assuredly will, but it will take a long time to undo the damage they’ve done. Republicans are the reason it’s gotten to this point.
Amazing!! I didn't see one person wearing pajama bottoms and slippers!!
Or sweatpants or scrubs.
And no one taking selfies in every aisle “hey, look at me.”
Or women with tattoos! 😊
Where were all the "People of Wal-Mart" in this video? Oh these were their parents?
Our nation is so Walmart and Waffle House and neck tat and nose ring now
The stores weren't understaffed- polite employees checked out your groceries for you, and a second person was available to bag your groceries. Most if not nearly all products were made here in America and didn't come from thousands of miles away unless they coudn't be grown locally. Orange juice actually contained more than 2% actual, real orange juice. Most food was already organic and didn't need to be advertised as such (and wasn't twice as expensive because of it). No food tax for indulgences. A half gallon sized carton of juice was actually 64 ounces, not 59 or 54 or 52 ounces. Milk didn't contain mysterious hormones. Nothing was genetically modified or engineered. Cereal boxes actually offered a real toy, and it was actually IN THE BOX. No foods contained ingredients you couldn't pronounce. People recycled soda bottles automatically every time they returned to the grocery store- the glass bottles were simply washed and refilled- some bottles had older logos on them, and looked like they had been used over and over, hundreds of times. No melting aluminum and remanufacturing cans. Nobody knew what a self check-out lane was, and nobody had a magnetic security scanner at the door. Sugary cereals had names like super sugar crisp and sugar frosted flakes. Grocery bags were available for free, without asking, and they were all bio-degradable and were made from a renewable resource. No peanut allergy warnings on anything because nobody knew anyone who had a peanut allergy. A bag of Oreos was really BIG. Ice cream containers were also BIG. Land O Lakes had a Native American woman in the logo and everybody was happy to buy more butter because of it. Uncle Ben's had his picture on it and so did Aunt Jemima, and we didn't care. Prices were small. People carried actual money, which they actually had already earned. Healthy food wasn't much more expensive than processed junk food. People held the door open for each other, nobody was in a rush, employees smiled when you asked a question, and nobody brought in a gun to get their groceries.
this is what they've taken from us
And our neighborhoods were safer so you could leave your door open at night. You forgot to mention that 😄
I used to shop at the Gemco in San Gabriel for groceries, rock n roll records ect.
Yeah, so what's your point? times have definitely changed. Things never stay the same and that is life. Just appreciate what you have and try not to be upset by every little change that happens in the evolution of life. Life is very short, enjoy it!
@@garylivingston9052 things stayed largely the same for about 5,000 years. They didn't change drastically until the mid 20th century
AHhh! When this was still a civilized country. You could shop without annoying music blaring; People tried to look nice, instead of like bums; Children were kept under control and not allowed to scream and run around... It was the height of civilization, and I've been greatly blessed to have been alive at that time. It's all gone now :(
Shoplifting was almost non-existent.
U are correct - now people even shop in their PJ’s
@@maryisabell8760 The idiots walking around with big holes in their pants is what gets me! People used to try and look nice. Now they try to look ugly and offensive. Between the way half of these stores are kept, and the way people act and dress, I fell like I'm in a third-world country every time I go to the store now. Ironically, I watched a video of this young couple who are exploring various places in the interior of Mexico. You should see the difference! People are dressed nicely....the towns and small cities are clean...like it USED to be here. Man! How far this country has fallen, when we look shabby compared to Mexico!
@@maryisabell8760 And with their underwear exposed and pants hanging halfway down their bottoms. 😒
Did anyone notice that older lady exiting the grocery store puffing on a cigarette?Some things have changed for the better!
I was 1 year old, my parents are gone now I miss them both
Everything so clean and orderly no trash blowing down the street. People were clean and dressed decent, this almost hurts.
You don’t remember the people smoking in K-mart and putting their 🚬 out on the floor, or people dumping their car’s ashtrays out in the parking lot?
There was trash, don't you remember the commercial with the indian chief crying?
@@meangene98I remember that stuff too. Littering was really bad back then, and it was fairly common seeing an old lady pushing her carriage in a bathrobe with her hair in rollers! Lol. Different times for sure. 😂
@@JohnWhite-xc3md I was born in 1960, and there are a million things I loved about growing up in the 60’s & 70’s, but the pollution was really bad. Remember the smog? I remember sitting in my parent’s car in traffic and my eyes watering from all the car exhaust.
I do remember. I was agreeing with you! I enjoyed growing up back then too, and you're right. The polution was gross back then. People would thoughtlessly throw stuff out their car windows, or drink a soda or whatever and throw the empty can on the ground. I'm glad we have slowly gotten away from that.
I was 9 and the stores were each like a WONDERLAND!
I remember, I’m 57. Man I can’t get enough of all the great cars in the parking lot.
Popcorn at the entrance of K-Mart and blue light specials!
I remember that!
Really glad someone made video of how the country was 54 years ago
I don't know about you guys, but I think of those great days of the late 60's and early 70's EVERY SINGLE DAY of my life! I thank God for them. Poor young'uns today will never know how great normal life used to be and what we've lost. We didn't have vacations and endless amusements, or organized activities or formal events- those things don't matter. It was just mundane every day life that was so GREAT! (Including just going shopping with your mother, or hanging out under the shade tree with the neighbor...) (And having a stay-at-home mother was the greatest blessing.
Lol and remember people back then wishing for the good ol' days of the fifties and we had no idea what was to come later on
You said it all……..miss them soooooo much♥️
Yes. I miss being young and having hair to grow long and shaggy. And the drugs, Rohr 714s, big bong pipes, three finger lids and National Lampoon and High Times Magazine. And the great inventions like the Salad Shooter and Pocket Fisherman. Can you dig it?
@@100perdido youre an idio*
Umm, well I was 12 at the time and what I remember is drills for bombings because of the Vietnam war!! Maybe you lived in a cave back then. And in some places girls weren't even allowed to wear pants to school. Do you have any clue what you're talking about? You're talking like a true privileged white guy that's completely clueless about history.
I was 4 years old in 71. Bday is 3/14/1967. These were the good times. Yes I was 4 but I remember going to Kmart and checking out the blue light specials, grocery shopping at Pruett’s Food Town or Red Food Store with my mom and sister. I miss those times so much.
Who remembers the diner at Woolworth store, The best french toast ever.
Yes I remember they were delicious 😋 🙏❤️
And they had chocolate covered peanuts at our Woolworths...fresh and warm, what a treat!!
I actually remember K-Mart having a cafeteria too
Of all the changes that have happened in the last 50 years.. one thing remains unchanged. The shopping cart.
More people live out of them now though
Good eye …. Even the design hasn’t changed 👍🏼
Brilliant observation! I never thought of that, but it's so true.
Only now theres a tall pole attached to the cart, so it doesnt end up a mile down the road. And the cart has a locking wheel tgat activates if you leave the parking lot with ut.
I would argue that it’s changed a lot. Look how tiny those are in 1971.
I was 13 at the time of this video footage. It was a wonderful time for America. I would give up all the conveniences of today to go back to this simpler time when America was great, and respected the world over.
The first OPEC oil embargo was three years away from this video's date. America was so respected that the oil cartel nearly brought it to its knees.
YEs, when kids actually studied at a library and used the Dweey Decimal system- now, no brat knows what that evven is anymore- they use stupidGrammerlyandcomputers to think for themselves. REALLY SICKENING.
@@texaswunderkind That was only while the idiot Carter was in office. As soon as Reagan took over America was respected again. Hmmm looks like it is happening today with Joe-tardo. So what's your point? My point is whenever a Democrat is in office this happens, but in reality all you are trying to do (epic fail btw) is taint t he nostalgia I feel for these days. Ain't going to happen doof.
It wasn't any better you were just young. That's one of the reasons MAGA appeals to some people. Simple ,you were younger
Loved your comment. 😊
Everything was so neat, clean and pleasant. Everyone looked nice, AND acted nice and polite.
I love the 1971 clothes, i think they still have a late 60s vibe
I keep thinking Mary Tyler Moore and Rhoda are going to appear lol.
the 60s were only 2 years earlier so yeah lol
@SparkyStevens8899: Don't forget the uptight and fashionable "Phyllis Lindstrom" in that equation. The very talented Miss Cloris Leachman presented plenty of deep dimensions in sketching out essentially a one sided Character brilliantly!😂😉🎤💃📺B.W.
I remember those manual cash registers, they still have courtesy clerks here at Food Fair in Hamlin WV
The clothes were flammable.
I was born in 1965 and i still have so many great memories from late 60,s and early 70,s ,great times 9:33
And all those older cars. Nice.
Heck ya!! Ford pinto!🙌💩😊
oulis1590 LOL!
The size of the parking spaces reflected the size of the cars.
@@aaronwilliams6989 graduated in 77 and the following week me n my bud walked all the pot lot used dealers in San Jose on the main thoroughfare and found 2 cars-1968 charger 383 auto tranny bright yellow and a Mustang ca edition- stang was too much at $2995 so got the charger for 1,899.
Killed me to maintain as I was going to cal state Hayward too so sold it. Huge mistake- bought a fiat spider- bigger mistake on that pos💀
@@royreali8852 yep- my pop loved Buicks so he had a 71 estate wagon n in 92- bought a brand new roadmaster with wood trim🙌😂
In between those he had a Chrysler Lebaron woody wagon.
See the trend👍?
Was born that year. Remarkable footage. Growing up in the 70s-80s was simply great.
The biggest difference to me is people today are less engaging, when I was a young man I knew all my neighbors, we helped each other . Everyone was more social in a more communal personal way. Good days remembered
Exactly! We knew everyone on the block and were all friends. Today neighbors hardly speak...everyone just keeps to themselves. It's really sad.
I am also glad I was born back in 52 and happy to be as old as I am. I lived in a wonderful time and although I enjoy modern technology I would throw it all away for simpler times. Still living a good life but waiting also to GO HOME⬆️✝️
I was born in the late 50s so I am lucky to remember the last few years of the 50s and all of the 60s and can see from experience the massive sh!thole America has become. My mother even says times were better back then and she was born in the 30s.
Sweet, wishing you many blessings ! ❤
@@matrox If you think America is such a shithole, feel free to get out. I'm guessing you're part of the problem, not part of the solution.
AMEN!!!
My too!!! I wouldn't want to be born nowadays I was very blessed and am 62 and I'm happy for having lived this long
Everything was so much better.❤
There was a "war" going on.
So nice to be reminded of those days when people behaved respectfully in public and salespeople were plentiful and knowledgeable.
I was born in April of 1972 (just turned 52) , I would Love to go back to good days like this
I think we should all admit how easy it is to look at 50 years ago with rose-colored glasses. I had fun growing up in the 1960s and becoming a teenager and young adult in the 1970s. But today’s kids are having fun and will be nostalgic too. I don’t discount anyone’s life experience as less than mine.
kids today are NOT having fun, stop lying
Great times i was 8 years old. Boy did time fly by wish there was a time machine i go back in that era in a heartbeat.
You n me too.
me too as well !
I’m with ya
Count me in too!
Me too I was 6 better times peace out
Given the opportunity I'd go back in a heartbeat.
You didn't do Vietnam.
This is why a Back to the Future reboot would be anticlimactic. He would never want to return to the present.
I was only 6 and no Vietnam mishmash was up here in Canada.
My childhood, when my grandparents were still alive. 🥰🥰🥰
Mine too miss them and my mother sick of today's world yeah great technology but not the same
I was 11 then.Long before the internet and everyone went crazy.And yes,I do see the irony of commenting on the past while using CZcams and the internet. But for the most part, life was better back then.
I was 11 also. Better is right 😊
I miss life before the internet.
I was 11 then. Thanks for the trip back to the best of times.
I was only 4 years old in 1971.
Only in my 20's but I love watching stuff like this lol It just feels like watching magic
It was magic.
It was
If you were taken back to that time for just one month you would NEVER want to return to 2024.
@@John-wg6xwIn some ways, yes, but not in every way. There are still some things today that I appreciate .
It wasn't magic for the thousands of American boys in Vie🎉tnam unless they made it back home alive and uninjured.
I was 9 yrs old in 1971. These clips warm my heart.
I was only 4 years old in 1971.
I was born in 2002, and yet, it's very interesting to see what daily life was like back in the old days when my parents were alive. I'd give anything to be able to live daily life like the good ol' days. 😊
Back in the old days..ouch 😊
K-mart had a killer toy department! Sears had free spirit bicycles! What a great time to be a kid!!!
Gemco, White Front, and K-Mart. Great stores to shop in. I remember K-Mart’s submarine sandwiches, what a treat to get one of those for lunch! ❤ fond childhood memories 😊
Yes we had all the stores in California by San Francisco . White Front was in Oakland by the airport .
Zodys, Grants, and Sages, too in Riverside CA. Alpha Beta for groceries.
I remember the Kmart cafeteria having REALLY good food.
Yeah! I remember the K-Mart subs. How about the Thrifty ice cream, 5 cents a scoop?
Now for some reason all the pets need to come in with the customer
Couldn't love this more! 🥰 And... Notice how we dressed ourselves up a bit just in case we ran into old classmates, elected officials (just in case we made the newspaper), teachers, 'mother' or God forbid mother-in-law in some cases lol, because we didn't want to be caught out in public looking like we just tumbled out of bed or didn't know 'how' to dress ourselves😉!
Boy oh boy have things changed! 😏
Yes indeed, there seemed to be much more attention to propriety back then.
Everyone used to dress up to go to the mall or the doctor’s office…not anymore.
Props to the cashier! She's checking items faster than half the current ones @ Sprawlmart and she's removing everything from the cart, 'punching' the price in on the register (by memory!), and placing it on the belt. A lot of old registers were wider at the bagging end to provide sorting space for the bagger to properly bag you groceries. They had actual butchers in the back then as well.
I noticed that as well thinking how is she able to do that! Incredable
And she could give you change without using a calculator
Was just born in 1971. Great times. Happier times. Simpler times.
Part of that is because you were young.
@@billwalsh388 true.
I graduated from high school in ‘71. In some ways, life seemed simpler, but as an 18-year-old, the possibility of becoming a Vietnam casualty didn’t make life easier. Would I go back? I’m glad I’ll never have to make that decision.
@@billwalsh388Yep. Life as a child WAS happier and simpler (in most cases) because we were children and didn't know anything about the adult world, thankfully.
You got that right, what clown world it's become. This bunch today is heading for the big roundup in the upper atmosphere.
I liked 1971 for the music on the AM radio and Radio Shack Battery of the Month Card.
I was five years old in 1971! I love how everyone is dressed like The Brady Bunch! Lol! thanks for posting this cool retro video!
I had a nicer wardrobe when I was 9 (in '71) than I do today! (Most of it from Sears...and we were very poor, and I still looked great!)
So was I.
I was 4 years old in 1971.
I was almost 5 years old in 1971, it makes me feel home sick for that era. Cashiers were actually more friendly than today, groceries were actually a lot cheaper than today.
I'm homesick for that era and my family who are gone now. To be back in my childhood home in 1971 with my parents and siblings. Oh, I took it all for granted. Dear God, can you give me that in heaven? Please?
This brought back memories of summer of '71. I was 7 years old and my Grandpa bought me a bicycle at K-mart for 28 bucks brand new out of the box. Goodness, the people in the video mostly look dressed for a Sunday and were so slender.
I got my first Stingray Bike at Montgomery Ward in 1968 in 1970 I got one from Coast to Coast we had to go to City Hall in Klamath Falls and get a Bike License
I was 7 also. Remembering shopping with grandma and her sturdy purse..she did buy us some candy. Great memories
Times were so much better back then, and so was the music.
Yes, the 1970's were so great. Recession, oil embargos, unemployment, and the feeling that America could no longer compete. What great times.
@texaswunderkind I would take the 70s any day over today's world. At least you didn't have to walk through metal detectors to get into schools or theme parks, and We didn't have shootings in schools back then either. Kids were kinder back then, too, and respected their parents, or they got their butts beat. If a parent does that now, they end up in jail.
@@texaswunderkind Like it so much better now 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Thanks so much for this! I was born in the sixties and consider myself a child of the seventies. I'm extremely nostalgic (probably too nostalgic) and miss that time so much!
I was born in 1946. What a wonderful childhood I had. Great neighborhood, good friends, and a safe country. 🇺🇸
Awesome. I remember White Front, Kmart, Newberry, Gemco, Mervyns. Northern California stores. Good Memories.
And Woolworth's and Sprouse-Reitz! We had one of each within walking distance of our home; we took those stores for granted. We did not shop enough at those stores to keep them open.
I remember shopping in the early 50's with my mother. We would go to A&S department store on Long Island, NY. She would always wear a hat and white gloves and I had to wear my best clothes as well. So many of the great department stores are gone now. I really miss the simplicity of those days.
i want simpler times again ❤
Please 🙏🏻!
So do I! I’m really not pleased with how things have turned out 😢
Right! Same here, I was born in 1961 and I miss those days. No internet and playing outside on my bike all the time. Wow, just wow.
Dammit I’m with you guys 58 here id go back so fast it ain’t funny
You would have to become a kid again.
Back when it didn't cost a lot to buy a lot, and shopping was actually fun. We really did not know how good we had it back then. I would trade today for the 1970s in an instant.
Even accounting for the huge increase in the cost of food since 2019, it's still way cheaper now than it was in 1971 from a percentage of household income perspective.
@@Milkmans_Sonnot everything. In one video of grocery stores circa 1969 I looked up on the inflation calculator what a sign on a bin of bagged oranges cost would be worth today. It came to 8 dollars & change. I can get a 3lb bag of oranges at Aldis for under $5. Sometimes they're even 2.99 there.
@@Milkmans_Sonthe pack of cigarettes early in this video being rung up by the cashier , the inflation calculator says $7.71 today. Still less than the (I think) $10ish dollars of today but still, not cheap.
@@pippishortstocking7913 My point was food is cheaper now even though it's gone up lately, so I think we agree.
@@Milkmans_Son yes, the chasm between wage and consumer retail price was different then than now. The minimum wage in 1971 was $1.60. We can do the math on the things we saw in the video being rung up to compare to today. Some things were still outrageous though. Like those bags of oranges in another video from a few years before this video. I used 1969 to calculate. I don't remember the precise year but I went by 1969. Results come out equivalent if it was any year of that decade, inputting the min wage of the different yrs. The oranges were in 2lb bags. Minimum wage was $1.30 in 1969. The 2lb bags of oranges were .49 cents/lb.
49 cents is equivalent to $4.17 today. Double that because the oranges were in 2 lb bags. That's $8.34. Hella lot when minimum wage was $1.30/hr.
One of the huge benefits of the old days was durable goods were actually literally durable. Good quality, manufacturing was in this country. Yearrrss before billionaires began moving operations over the borders &overseas that is the way now. Appliances back then lasted and there were repairmen to make house calls to keep things running. Now, material and quality is shoddy. Too often the cost of having a part sent & repairman come isn't much different than buying a new appliance. As I learned from my parent's modern things breaking down. And my washing machine with its several things wrong going on exceed the cost of a cheaper end to midrange priced new machine. People in the old days didn't have to replace or maintain as often as the modern stuff requires. Water heaters aren't even designed the same way as they were when those could last 30 years. A semi-retired old repairman told me this. My 9 year old water heater now needs replaced. My parents old style one outlasted what I have threefold before they replaced theirs.
I was in viet nam for all of 71. But In 72 I was back in the world and working in a Jewel grocery overnight stocking shelves. And on sat, with old women standing next to me smoking. Every item was priced as it came off the truck. Pre barcode. $ 4 an hour. I drove a $100 64 Corvair.
Welcome home sir
Jewel chicago based loved tht store
Thank you for your service. I worked in the USO off and on.
$4 was very good pay. Minimum wage was $1.60 at the time.
Thank you for your service, I had a brother in the Army ( Vietnam ) and a brother with the Marines.
Shopping in the 50s,60s and 70 was an “event” even if you didn’t spend much or any money; you ate at counters or in booths with little “juke boxes” playing the top 40 of the week. You had sales people to help you and they were usually nice. The stores were locked and loaded with the newest merchandise and you did’t rush, but strolled from store to store. Then and today are as different as any two periods in history could be. I loved living then.❤️
The consumerism of the 1980's brainwashed everybody to need the latest fashion brand or product as a status symbol. Personal debt and bankruptcies skyrocketed. No one was any happier.
We had Jerrys Drive inn, Polar Cub, and 2 A&Ws and Arctic Circle.
@@dcarkhuf it was fun back then; none of the places other than A&W am I familiar with. I guess different regions of the country had different hangout spots. I enjoy reminiscing about those times and they are some of my clearest memories, unlike trying to remember all that I did yesterday.😊
"The worst part about getting old is remembering all the low prices." RIP Grandma. 🙏
Indeed. But don’t forget to adjust for inflation.
LOVE all those great vintage cars! 😍
Yes, remember all the cars. Learned to drive in a 63 Bonneville. Miss it.
I'll keep my Porsche
65 Bonneville, and a 66 Sedan Deville that is obviously going to outlast me .
I would love to own any one of those cars in the parking lots.
If there is a ford pinto in the lot you would not want to have owned one! I did and it was terrible!!
Trust me, at 100,000 miles nearly all of them were junk. Traffic fatalities were much higher then, also.
But when they broke down you could work on them fairly easily.
@@laurenj8888 Yeah. They were bad.
@@MrTruckerf You're right. When I was a kid everybody fixed their own cars.
Good times!! Glad I was alive then ❤
Not gettin hassled not gettin hussled
1971 was a more simple way of life to time trek back to that year would be so awesome.
Just amazing! No one staring at their palms.I was 7 in 71 and folks all you gotta do is look at the trees,the sky,the grass,the mountains.They are all the same now.Just a piece of advice if you feel so sad how much has changed.
Things haven't really changed that much. The only difference is that the carefree teens of 1970 are now 70 year old curmudgeons complaining about blue hair on CZcams.
Back when road rage was frustration over a pot hole.
Back when people loved kid's more than guns.
Back when people didn't fill a shopping cart with stolen items and walk right past a cashier out to their car.
This brings me back so many memories from the 70s ❤❤❤
Not complaining now but seems like it was better to be in your 20s in the 70s than 70 in the 20s.
Not a complaint at all many elderly felt safer and that is fact . Takes time but looking crime stats in city data shows that . Also the groups by demographic data .
elderly people were respected back then. Today they're called "boomers"
When was any 70 year old EVER happy? 😁....I hope I make it there....I'd like to give it a try!!😁
@@shaunsteele6926 I get a lot of respect as a elderly man....when I visit the other side of the world [Philippines].
It was
watching the retro video - wow remember bubble gum machines outside stores by the front door??... They went away & I can't even remember noticing or when that all stopped. Thanks for sharing on nature's television
I got married in 1971! Only 20, and my groom only 23. It was great year, but it also had great music! I finished my 4th year of college as a married woman. After one marries, there's more time to write term papers--who knew? Wish we could go back to those innocent times.
I'm feeling REALLY OLD right now. LOL....
Lol, I was 19 years old in '71,,,, now I know I'm old!
I remember shopping and if something was like $19.99, WOW!
Best to ya',,,,!
@@walterminer4990 Thank you! I needed the laugh today:) You da best
@@walterminer4990 $19.99 back then would be like more or less 2 or 3 hundred now.
Ikr!?
@@walterminer4990I was 6 now Iam old too remember some of that different world better you could actually survive
Having been born in the 1950's, this really brings back memories. Its funny how things change in a subtle way so as it's not easily noticed. Of course if it was possible to go back in time, the first thing I'd do is put a note on every muscle car in that Gemco parking lot that said......I'll pay you twice what your car is worth!
Yes in 1972 a chevy 454 SS $7000 . My friend bought a $25,000 house in California now value $1,250,000
Of COURSE...not . Of coarse
@@JNGJNG8888 Opps!
@@louc4130 Hahah!
The girls' kneesocks!
The newspaper and candy machines!
Cash register, 7Up in glass bottles and 110 film drop-off!
I love this! ❤️
I will never forget the Kmart Blue Light Specials. 💙💙💙
I'll be turning 60 years old at the end of June 2024. I was 6 and going on 7 years old back in 1971. 😲
in June 1971 I was 9 on my way to 10. I'm turning 63 in Aug of 2024, wow. As I watch this video, I see typewriters in this store, LOL, another wow.
Me too! 6 going on 7 in 1971. I'll be 60 in May 2024- it's so hard to believe.......
Yes, time also speeds up the older you get too!
I was 16 years old. Loved those simple old days!!😊
Every Saturday was a visit to the K-Mart up the road here Knoxville. My mom and I ventured out to it every weekend. Many of my toys came out of that building. Ugh. I wanna gp back and stay there.
I worked for the G.C. Murphy Co. from 1980-1986, and this 1971 video is basically what we had when I was with the company.
Would the G.C. Murphy Co. be GEMCO? I used to go there a lot when I was a teen during the 1980s.
Look at those effing huge cars!
They sure looked a lot better than these ones.
They called them 'land yachts' for a reason.😉
My family had a Buick Electra
We had a Nash Metropolitan back in the day.
I remember those times. The 1970s encompassed my high school and college years.
My elementary and junior high school years. Simpler times.
Mine too, high school ‘72-‘76 and college ‘76-‘80… those were some of the best years of my life, I just don’t know it then.
Just think, Amazon will look as outdated as this someday.
Seeing actual film getting taken to the Photo Counter sure brings back pangs of nostalgia, none of this digital folderol. 😄
I was 5 years old in 1971 and I still can remember how neat the stores were, extremely nice and helpful employees and you NEVER heard young parents screaming and cussing their children or anyone else for that matter in the stores. And there definitely weren’t delinquent juveniles running around like crazy being loud disrespectful and stealing! It’s so sad what has happened to our once beautiful and respected America! 😡🤦♀️
I was 4 years old and living in Benton Arkansas! Hello from Tyler Texas!
The year I was born. I still remember well much of growing up in the late 1970's - what a time!
Repeating what I read on this website some days ago, CZcams is the closest thing to a time machine that we have. It's good fun.
Thanks for the memories ♥️👍
Go Blue. 1971 eh....the year Woody blew a gasket in Ann Arbor.
Midwest stores I recall then - KMart, Montgomery Wards, Arlans, Federals, SS Kreskes, Woolworths, Great Scotts, Farmer Jacks, Cunninghams.
The typewriters on display. ❤️🧡💛💚
In the summertime with no school us kids would ride bikes looking for soda bottles to cash in. We would go to 7/11 and buy tall glass bottles of soda and penny candy, chips and a slurpee for all under $1.00 ! Such a simple time with Saturday morning cartoons as well as weekday afternoon cartoons! We even had to play Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-Man in the vestibule of the stores! We even collected Charlie’s Angels and Garbage Pail kids trading cards!! It was truly a blast!!
Nobody was getting fat except Mama Cass.
Wow that’s the day my parents got married March 9 1971!
I was born in Dec of 1972. So, this is what is looked like in 1971...nice!
I wished I would have lived in '72
Watching the cashier move those keys had me thinking how talented she is for I couldn't do what she did.
Mind blower! I remember those stores Roger Wilco, K Mart. We had Mayfairs Market, Grants, Copper Penny, TG & Y. So cool to go down memory lane! This video is awesome!
No environment harming plastic bags, No customer self checkout. No checking of bags when walking out.
& no mass shootings. & fair prices.
No mobs of black looters either ....those ..were.. the daaaays!
@@franklinfxBut definitely still racists
Recycling (glass) bottles was regular.
I remember K-Mart.. The Good Ol' 'Blue Light Special' Loved it! And getting those Sub Sandwiches and Icees at the food counter. Those were the days.
Merging with Sears was like putting on cement shoes and jumping out of a boat. It's amazing that two great retailers couldn't understand changing consumer tastes.
A&P every Saturday morning for groceries with my mother. Good times!
I was 20 at this time and worked in a retail Clarkens Store (similar to a K mart) in BrookPark, Ohio, for Stark Records, in their vinyl record department selling 8 tracks, and believe cassettes were starting to come out as well. They promoted me to assistant manager wore a tie and dress shirt, they made me feel like a big shot;-)
who else came for the cars and trucks?
At least then I could pretty much repair anything on my car!
Best to us',,,,!
In those days there was always a lot to repair! Tune ups every 12,000 miles, oil changes every 3,000 miles, stuck points ...oh, the fun!
I was born in 1961 so in 71 I was 10 and in the fifth grade i remember that year very good.
I remember my neighbors kids were big kids maybe 16 or 17 years old and there father
bought them a 10 speed bike and that was the first 10 speed bike i had ever seen, I would
stand next to it and I coulden't believe how big it was.
I was only 10 years old when this was filmed, I feel so old. 😢
Hey you made it to old. I knew many who didn't. Get ready to pay for your Medicare supplement.
@@ericbond5276 thanks for cheering me up. 🥹