Welcome to 1970s America

WELCOME TO 1970s AMERICA

BY NATALIE CLARE

Through her narration, Linda O’Shea takes us back to the 1970s when the events of Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help take place. Take a closer look at the real-world events that shaped the time period.

WORLD EVENTS AND POLITICS

• The U.S. withdraws troops from Vietnam in 1973, ending 12 years of combat in

Southeast Asia. The withdrawal follows years of protests, national division and violence, and growing anti-war sentiment from across the country. • Social movements seek to expand fundamental rights for women, the

LGBTQ community and Black Americans.

Figures like Gloria Steinem, Angela

Davis, Marsha P. Johnson, Harvey Milk,

Shirley Chisholm and John Lewis become politically influential. • President Nixon is indicted by the House

Judiciary Committee for his involvement in the Watergate scandal. He resigns from office in 1974.

TECHNOLOGY

• IBM introduces the floppy disk in 1971 as an early solution for storing electronic data. • Motorola invents the first mobile phone in 1973. It weighs over two pounds and measures over a foot in length. • Dr. Raymond Damadian invents the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), which is considered one of the most significant medical inventions in the century. Its first use on a human takes place in 1977. ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

• Music is available for purchase on vinyl, cassette and eight-track. Portable boomboxes, transistor radios and cassette players emerge as popular musical devices. • The Godfather is released in 1972 and ushers in a new era of big box-office films.

Other blockbusters that follow suit include

Jaws and Star Wars. • Punk rock, disco and funk become popular new musical genres towards the end of the decade. The Clash, The Ramones and

The Sex Pistols influence the punk scene, while Donna Summer, The Bee Gees and

KC and the Sunshine Band become disco and funk favorites.

FASHION AND CULTURE

• The time period is known as “the polyester decade” because of the massive availability of ready-to-wear clothing. • Trendy women’s styles range from hippie-influenced prairie dresses and floral accents to disco-type glamour.

Women trade in the day dresses and petticoats of the previous decades for menswear-inspired trousers, jumpsuits and wrap dresses. • Men’s apparel branches out to embrace more color and more prints in what’s called “the peacock revolution.” They also embrace gender-neutral style accents like slimmer silhouettes, tight-fitting pants with flared bottoms and new materials like velvet and suede.

Take a closer look at the events that shaped the 1970s by visiting our blog at cincyplay.com/blog.