What do you recall of your high school days? Were you an athlete who has lots of sports memories? Were you in band or choir, and do you remember marching in parades or performing concerts or competing in ISSMA? Did you participate in plays and musicals on stage or behind the scenes? Were you a part of International Club, Pep Club, Speech/Debate Team, Girls Athletic Association, Future Farmers of America, Chess Club? Did you hang out in the library, wait in the parking lot until the very last minute before school started, roam the halls when you were supposed to be in class?
On May 19, 1974, a class of 201 Norwell High School seniors celebrated graduation. Their motto, “Live for today with an eye toward the future.” On September 21, 2024 (fifty years into the future), 61 of those classmates, their guests, and two of their class sponsors (Mr. Williams and Mrs. Buzzard, who had celebrated her 93rd birthday the day before) gathered at Timber Ridge Club 250 Event Center for the 50th Year Reunion Luncheon. Lots of opportunities to get together and reminisce led up to the luncheon: a late Friday afternoon gathering at The Pickle in Markle, the Norwell vs. New Haven football game that evening, a Saturday morning tour of the school, and golf outings Friday and Saturday. Of course, the Bluffton Street Fair was going on and sparked some memories.
The table favor at each place setting was a chocolate bar wrapped in a commemorative sleeve that listed interesting 1974 facts. It is that wrapper that inspired my search for more details about 1974. I promise … there’s something here for everyone.
For readers…Did you know that Stephen King released Carrie, his first novel that year? King claims that Carrie was a composite of two girls he knew in high school. That’s spooky. Carrie’s telekinetic powers made for a frightening story. Other pieces of 1974 fiction include James Michener’s Centennial, Peter Benchley’s Jaws, and Margaret Craven’s I Heard the Owl Call My Name. Nonfiction pieces published that year include All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the account of the Watergate break-in; and The Bermuda Triangle by Charles Berlitz, a recounting of stories and theories regarding disappearances within the famed Triangle.
For sports aficionados… We can’t talk about 1974 without talking sports. In April Hank Aaron tied Babe Ruth’s home run record of 714. The Oakland Athletics won the World Series, and the Boston Celtics were NBA champions. Johnny Rutherford took the checkered flag at the Indianapolis 500. The Miami Dolphins, led by former Purdue quarterback Bob Griese, won Super Bowl VIII. The Stanley Cup champs were the Philadelphia Flyers. North Carolina State took the NCAA Basketball Championship. Football Bowl Games were won by Penn State (Orange), Ohio State (Rose), and Notre Dame (Sugar). Hale Irwin won the US Open Golf; US Open Tennis was won by Jimmy Connors (men) and Billie Jean King (women). Connors also won Wimbledon, as did Chris Evert (women). What a year!
For TV and movie fans…The five most popular TV shows were All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Chico and the Man, The Jeffersons, and M*A*S*H. Happy Days made its debut in 1974 and ran for eleven years. Were any of those part of your evening television viewing? The highest-grossing film that year was Blazing Saddles. You remember it, don’t you? And who could forget Young Frankenstein? It was a banner year for disaster movies: Towering Inferno, Earthquake, and Airport 1975. It was the year of The Godfather, Part II as well. Horror movies were big draws that year: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was one.
For popular music lovers…You couldn’t turn on the radio that year without hearing what would become classics by Aretha Franklin, Chicago, Diana Ross, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, John Denver, Grand Funk Railroad, the Jackson 5, Olivia Newton-John, Bachman-Turner Overdrive. The Number 1 song of 1974 was Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were.” Do you recall from the Top 40 that year “Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks, “The Streak” by Ray Stevens, “Spiders and Snakes” by Jim Stafford, “Band on the Run” by Paul McCartney and Wings, “Time in a Bottle” by Jim Croce, and “Top of the World” by The Carpenters? The magazine People first appeared on newsstands in 1974, telling us everything about our favorite singers and other celebrities.
From entertainment to food, 1974 reflected our tastes. Popular food and beverages included Freshen-up Gum, Swanson TV dinners, quiche, Chex Mix, cheese balls and logs, fajitas, Hamburger Helper, Jell-O salads, Tab, the Tequila Sunrise, Pink Lady, and Piña Colada. A McDonald’s hamburger cost 28 cents; a Big Mac, 65 cents. A trip to the grocery store in 1974 would find a loaf of bread at $.24, a two-pound can of Maxwell House coffee rang up at $1.89, and 10 Florida oranges were $.59. Beef chuck roast was $1.09 a pound. Fifty-eight cents would buy a dozen eggs and $1.39 a gallon of whole milk. A six-pack of Pepsi-Cola cost 88 cents. Are you hungry yet? Thirsty? By the way, the first item with a barcode was scanned at a supermarket that year, a pack of Wrigley’s gum.
Members of the class of ’74 who entered college that fall paid an average tuition of $512 at a public institution and $2,130 at a private college. Figures from educationdata.org reveal that today average tuition and fees are $9,750 for public schools and $38,768 for private.
Currently we focus a lot on unemployment and inflation. In 1974 unemployment peaked at 7.2% and inflation was steady at 11.04%. A new car cost Americans an average of $4,441, and the median household income was $11,100. The average cost of a new house came in at $35,900. On average, you would have to spend 11.04% more on an item in 1974 compared to 1973. And you think we’ve got it bad now?
In 1974 archeologists discovered Lucy, the skeletal remains of the hominid species Australopithecus afarensis. Will archeologists of the future find the AMC Gremlins that cost $2,408 new or our Rubik’s cube invented in 1974?
Here’s the Thing: Why do we leaf through old year books, linger over pages in photo albums, attend class reunions, drive by the old home place? Are we recapturing our youth, days gone by? Do we wonder where people are now, what they’re doing? Are we curious about how people and places and things have changed? It’s clearly nostalgia at play, that sentimental yearning for a former time or place.
Let’s talk.
annaspalding1956@gmail.com
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Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of articles and opinions written by a group of retired and current teachers — Ken Ballinger, Billy Kreigh, Kathy Schwartz, and Anna Spalding. Their intent is to spur discussions at the dinner table and elsewhere. You may also voice your thoughts and reactions via The News-Banner’s letters to editor.
