The end of May brought the end of another school year in our area. Graduating seniors turned loose on the world ready to begin the next chapter of their lives. Years from now, when they reflect on the state of the world as it was the year they graduated, I wonder what they will remember.
This got me to thinking about what the world was like the year I graduated. What was happening in 1969? What was important? So, join me on a trip bac to 1969 when this graduating senior didn’t really have a clue as to what to do with his life.
If music reflects heartbeat of an era, I can’t help but wonder what the best song of 1969 tells us. Sugar, Sugar by the Archies.
As any teenage boy, cars were a top priority. Although I never had one, the top car in 1969 was the Pontiac GTO Judge.
I was always a reader, so it is no surprise that I read the best boo of 1969. The Godfather by Mario Puzo.
I find it interesting that two of the best inventions of 1969 had to do with technology. The laser printer by Gary Starkweather and the mousepad by Jack Kelley. O, I admit that classifying the second one as a technological advancement is really stretching it.
In music, 1969 saw the last public performance of the Beatles on the roof of Apple Records. The Pontiac Firebird Trans AM was introduced. It was the year of Woodstock and the establishment of PBS. We saw the first man land on the moon and set foot on it as well. Not all was good, though. Members of a cult led by Charles Manson murdered five people. There was also Senator Edward Kennedy and the Chappaquiddick Affair.
Movies were a great escape. These are the 1969 biggies that I saw: Midnight Cowboy, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, True Grit, Easy Rider, Hello Dolly, Cactus Flower, and Sweet Charity. There are many more, but I won’t bore you with them.
As with any era, fashion is always big. So, what were we wearing in 1969? For men, we saw the corduroy jacket and the mock turtleneck. For women it was the shirt bib front dress and the self-belt dress.
To end this loo back, let’s look at popular toys of that year. Electric ride-in cars were popular. Boys and girls were reading Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. The moon landing inspired the Valkyrie 2 Rocket (goes up to 1000 ft high) and the Moon Scope Telescope.
So, these were some of the things happening the year I graduated. What was going on during your graduating year?
arjeha 
I love your idea about a look back at the year you graduated. I will use that as a writing prompt for myself later this week. Here are a few things that happened in the world in 1989… fall of the Berlin Wall, first commercial internet providers began, “Look Away” by Chicago was the top song and The Satanic Verses.
It is always interesting to look back and see what was happening at a earlier time in your life.
1971 was a jumble of contrasts… movies included Billy Jack and Fiddler on the Roof, on TV we were watching Flip Wilson (the devil made me do it) and Marcus Welby, MD, and the Hair Bears cartoon (favorite of my brothers), we were singing along with the Carpenters, Three Dog Night (Joy to the World- Jeremiah was a bullfrog)and so many others; Viet Nam protests, the trial of Lt. Calley and guys waiting for their number in the draft; Nixon in the White House and changing policies… it was a very mixed-up time.
A lot of mixed messages were being sent.
1971 for me, too. Disney World opened. The voting age was lowered to 18. The Viet Nam War was going on – in the fall of 71 two of my college classmates were drafted (low numbers) but neither went to Viet Nam. Being musicians, they were both placed in Army music groups.
I didn’t remember er about the lowering of the voting age.
Same as yours! I, too, graduated high school in 1969. I was sure that The Graduate dominated the movie scene that year, but it was earlier, ’67 to be exact. Butch Cassidy and They Shoot Horses…remain in my consciousness. You also made me remember stealing into the bathroom to read The Godfather for almost the entire night. (My sister booted me out of our room, the light, the light. She never could understand my obsession with reading!)Thanks for this trip down memory lane. Fun for me, much better than my 50th reunion…seriously.
Every now and then I like to look back at what was happening at different stages of my life. The memory isn’t working so I need to rely on Google to remind me of what was happening.
Funnily I can’t remember anything else but having my first child the year I graduated. I am sure something was going on in the world (always is) but my child was my world and lullabies were the songs to sing.
Having a child supersedes everything else.
Wow, I loved this idea for a post! I graduated high school 40 years later, in 2009. Very different vibes.. haha. “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Some of the top movies that year were Avatar, The Hangover, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Up… It would be fun to do a deep dive!
Oh, do I feel old! This is a fun thing to do, and it is even a neat activity to have students do. It is something to see which of the many events that happened during their birth year they view as most significant.
What a fun post and look back. 1969 was certainly quite a year! I’m inspired to try my hand at this as well.
It is fun to look back every now and then.
Oh, my goodness, Bob. When I hear 1969, it sounds like a long time ago, but when I read all those familiar things and remember them like yesterday, I realize it wasn’t so long ago. I was a 1976 graduate. Here’s one thing that was happening–the #1 song was “Silly Love Songs” by Wings.
Denise, I felt old as I was writing this.
That was very nice. Thank you.
You’re welcome.
I really enjoyed this look back, and I’m inspired to do my own research to remember more. 1989 for me. My work bestie was BORN in 1989, which is wild. She considers it the greatest year ever, and I enjoy sharing some memories with her occasionally.
Looking back and then looking at things now sometimes makes me wonder if things have really changed that much.