The way we were
Life was much different 50 years ago
To our shock, my wife, Frances, and I realized our 50th wedding anniversary was coming up this September. 50 years! (You can send Frances a sympathy card; she’s earned it.)
Things sure have changed since 1974. (For one thing, I had hair.)
We were both huge Disney fans, having grown up with Uncle Walt every Sunday night on TV in the 1950s and 60s. So part of our honeymoon was spent at Walt Disney World, then only three years old. We drove down in Frances’ green two-door Mercury Comet (with no air conditioning or radio). We camped at Disney’s Fort Wilderness, where the coral pad where we had to pitch our small pup tent was packed so hard it bent our steel pegs.
We took a quaint shuttle boat from Fort Wilderness to the Magic Kingdom, which was the only one opened. We saw the giant geodesic dome of Spaceship Earth being built and the long monorail that would connect EPCOT to the Magic Kingdom. Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and the water parks were just pipe dreams back then.
Post-Disney, we went scuba diving in the Florida Keys, where Frances, in about 40 feet of water, bounced on a decrepit lobster crate and was rather surprised when a long green moray eel slithered out from beneath, annoyed at being disturbed.
The No. 1 song in 1974 was, “The Way We Were” by Barbra Streisand. “Seasons in the Sun” by Winnipeg’s Terry Jacks was No. 2 (No. 1 in Canada), followed by “Love’s Theme” by the Love Unlimited Orchestra.
Notwithstanding all that, our wedding song was “Beautiful Barbados” by the Merrymen, an homage to our first off-continent trip together the previous year, along with her mother, “to keep us honest.”
Bell bottom pants, flowing maxi dresses, leisure suits (of polyester!), frayed jeans (not shredded or holed), and earth tones dominated fashion. Platform heels were all the rage for disco queens. (Yes, pop culture was transitioning from flower power to disco.)
The maddening Rubik’s Cube toy (a.k.a. Infernal Device) debuted in 1974.
Global Television launched, as Canada’s third English language network. We didn’t care; we eschewed having a TV for the first five years we were married.
The RCMP accepted women police officers for the first time.
Hockey player Tim Horton died in a horrific car crash of his own making, leaving behind a legacy of doughnut shops.
Pierre Trudeau was elected Prime Minister for a third term, creating a dynasty that his son Justin continues today.
The irrepressible Mel Brooks directed (and cameo-ed in) two of the year’s most popular films: “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein.” (We took my new motherin-law to “Blazing Saddles” — she was mortified. Proof it was a great movie.)
“All in the Family” was the No. 1 sitcom in 1974. Its lead character, Archie Bunker, would be deemed too offensive nowadays (and that was the entire point).
In the world of comic books, Marvel’s “Incredible Hulk” No. 181 came out, the first full appearance of a now-world-famous Canuck superhero called Wolverine. Today, it’s a valuable sought-after comic.
Corrupt U.S. President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974, because of the Watergate Scandal. A powerful win for investigative journalism. In September, new president Gerald Ford, Nixon’s former VP, granted him a full pardon. (I wonder if history will repeat itself ?)
Of course, back then in the Dark Ages, we barely survived without the internet, social media, cellphones, personal computers, electric toothbrushes, and sanitized cartoons.