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Modern US History
Reading about the 1970's

 

First Home In The 70's United States


1973 – My husband and I were purchasing our first home for $27,500 in Orange Country, California. The amazing part was to qualify the lender doing our FHA loan called to ask me what I was doing for birth control (so they could count my income.) I purchase my first electronic calculator that year for under $500.000 that would cost about $10.00 today.
 

My father and the 70's Recession United States

In the mid 70's My father was layed off from his job as a book keeper and it destroyed him as by the time employment picked up companies were looking for younger men who could work with computers, we were lucky as my mother was a teacher so we still had income coming in.

I am only remembering this now as I was reading an article talking about a recession coming and I remember those bad times when my parents argued so much they argued very little before my father was layed off.

We were some of the lucky ones who did not lose their home , but my father never recovered and found the type of job he had before.

I only hope that those saying another recession is coming are wrong as we have used our home like a bank to put our children through college and like many others have to many credit cards and store cards and I am at a similar age to my father and just now have realised how hard it must have been for him and how hard it will be for me if it happens.

 

 

Hi, I was on the front lines at a gas station during this "gas crisis". We had 3 lines of cars, about 40 or more cars long each, going out of our station.

At one point we started running low on gas, and the boss told me "I have these magnetic signs here, I want you to take these and put them on the last car in each line". The sign said "Last car in line for gas". I remember being really surprised and shocked! I said where in heck did you get these? He said the Mobil Oil Co. Head Office had sent them to him two weeks before, and he was mystified when he got them. So they all knew it was coming!


 

 

Money and Inflation 1970's

To provide an estimate of inflation we have given a guide to the value of $100 US Dollars for the first year in the decade to the equivalent in todays money
If you have $100 Converted from 1970 to 2005 it would be equivalent to $517.65 today

In 1970 a new house cost
$23,400.00 and by 1979 was $58,500.00 Examples of homes and Property for sale in the 1970's

In 1970 the average income per year was
$9,350.00 and by 1979 was $17,550.00

In 1970 a gallon of gas was
36 cents and by 1979 was 86 cents

In 1970 the average cost of new car was
$3,900.00 and by 1979 was $5,770.00 Examples of Models andCar Prices in the 70's



A few more prices from the 70's and how much things cost
Datsun 210
$3,869

Dodge Colt
$4,785

Warm Leather Lined Boots
$39.99 From Prices for clothes and fashions in the 70's

Car 8 Track Stereo Tape Player
$38.99

CB Radio
$147

Medium Eggs
25 cents per dozen From Food Prices In The 70s

Miracle Whip
$1.09

King Size Bean Bag Chair
$19.99

Porcelain Kitchen Sink
$9.88

Quartz Alarm Clock
$12.97

Also Check Out Our 70's Computers      Electrical Prices and Furniture Prices Sections
Example of a home from our

Country Ranch with 10 acres 3 bedroom large barn fruit and oak trees Vallejo California
$59,200 1974

·        The oil crisis in 1973 was caused when Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), during the Yom Kippur War, announced that they would no longer ship petroleum to nations that had supported Israel in its conflict with Syria and Egypt , to the United States and its allies in Western Europe. It was also announced that the price for Oil would increase drastically. The west was by now dependent on oil and together with prices quadrupling and measures for rationing the western world went into recession and suffered massive inflationary pressure. At that time the United States did have their own oil reserves and although they were affected the biggest impact was on European Economies .

·        After nearly 10 years of war in Vietnam 1973 was also the year that allied forces pulled out of Vietnam

·        Another significant factor in the 70's was the growth in women’s rights and women’s’ role in society including the ability to decide when where and if they wished to have children ( partly through the availably of the contraceptive pill )

·        President Richard Nixon was forced to resign as president of the United States due to imminent impeachment related to the Watergate scandal.

·        With the continuing Cold War between the East and West the arms race continued with each side trying to find the ultimate weapon


More About Munich Olympics

Popular Culture 1970's

The Waterbed The 70's produced many icons , one of those being the modern waterbed created by Charles Hall in 1968, This was fuelled by the sexual revolution of the 70's encompassing the Waterbed .

Technology 1970's

·        The 70's were the start in many ways of the Electronics and digital revolution, with the invention of transistors and Integrated Circuits in the late 60's, companies now found ways to use the technology which caused the phenomenal growth in smaller more powerful and cheaper products ranging from Calculators to Televisions.

·        The 70's also saw the beginning of the Home Computer due to Intel creating the first cheap microprocessor - the Intel 4004, and other integrated circuits. In the beginning the computers were mainly for the hobbyists and included the Apple II, the TRS-80, the Commodore PET, and Atari 400/800 and with the growth of these home computers Bulletin Boards became a popular way for people to find others with similar interests

·        The first use of card access Electronic Locks appear

·        As people realised the power of these new home computers a new use was found and that was the beginning of the video game . When we look at those games now we see how basic they were but the technology available and the understanding of what could be done limited those early games.

·        With the invention earlier of the microwave oven and now the capability to manufacturer and sell cheaply many homes adopted the technology in their kitchens

·        Due in part to the increased use of the 747 a Jumbo Jet able to carry large numbers of passengers across continents air travel booms and causes new problems with pollution, delays and air traffic control



Inventions The Year Invented Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )

Barcode ----- 1973 USA
E-Mail ----- 1971 USA
Floppy Disk ----- 1971 USA by Alan Shugart
Genetic Engineering ----- 1973 USA by S Cohen and H Boyer
Ink Jet Printer ----- 1976 USA
In Vitro Fertilisation ----- 1978 England "test tube baby"
Laser Printer ----- 1975 USA
LCDs ----- 1970 England by George Gray - Liquid Crystal Display
Microprocessor ----- 1971 USA
MRI Scanner ----- 1977 USA by Raymond Damadian
Personal Computer ----- 1975 USA Microsoft
Space Station ----- 1973 USA Skylab

 


 

Inflation is an increase in the price of a basket of goods and services that is representative of the economy as a whole.

A similar definition of inflation can be found in Economics by Parkin and Bade:

Inflation is an upward movement in the average level of prices. Its opposite is deflation, a downward movement in the average level of prices. The boundary between inflation and deflation is price stability.

Because inflation is a rise in the general level of prices, it is intrinsically linked to money, as captured by the often heard refrain "Inflation is too many dollars chasing too few goods".

To understand how this works, imagine a world that only has two commodities: Oranges picked from orange trees, and paper money printed by the government. In a year where there is a drought and oranges are scarce, we'd expect to see the price of oranges rise, as there will be quite a few dollars chasing very few oranges. Conversely, if there's a record crop or oranges, we'd expect to see the price of oranges fall, as orange sellers will need to reduce their prices in order to clear their inventory. These scenarios are inflation and deflation, respectively, though in the real world inflation and deflation are changes in the average price of all goods and services, not just one.

We can also have inflation and deflation by changing the amount of money in the system. If the government decides to print a lot of money, then dollars will become plentiful relative to oranges, just as in our drought situation. Thus inflation is caused by the amount of dollars rising relative to the amount of oranges (goods and services), and deflation is caused by the amount of dollars falling relative to the amount of oranges. Thus, as shown by the article "Why Does Money Have Value?", inflation is caused by a combination of four factors:

1.                              The supply of money goes up.

2.                              The supply of other goods goes down.

3.                              Demand for money goes down.

4.                              Demand for other goods goes up.

Now that you know what inflation is, you may want to visit some of the other inflation resources offered at About.com: