| I remember looking up at the moon in July of 1969 and thinking that the whole world
was looking at the same moon, and there were men up there walking on the moon...it was a
really wonderful feeling where the whole world was focusing on the same thing and it was
such an incredible goal to have reached! My father was in the aerospace industry, so we
had watched every launch on television, and when I was little we used to lay on the chaise
lounges in the back yard and wait to see a satellite go overhead. I was always really
interested in all the launches because of him. Unfortunately he died in November of 1967
so he never lived to see the day we finally did walk on the moon. It was a very turbulent time with the Vietnam War going on. Most girls were expected to either be wives who stayed home and took care of the family, or if a woman worked, most of us only thought about being secretaries or maybe teachers. It was a confusing time, because in the early 70's women's rights changed everything, and suddenly it wasn't cool at all to just be a mom at home, you had to work to really "be" someone. But the problem was, (and still is) that it is very, very difficult to work full time and feel like you're doing a good job as a mother. Then women realized that it really is pretty nice if you can stay home with your kids, so the pendulum started to swing the other way in the later 80's. But when I was graduating, things were very crazy as far as women's roles are concerned. The Beatles were a very, very big deal, but they came on the scene when my class was in junior high. I think I was 13, so it must have been 1964. We were all very much into the Beatles, and also the Rolling Stones, Cream, Simon & Garfunkel, Peter, Paul & Mary and then a little later, The Carpenters. Karen Carpenter was one of my very favorite singers, but she died of anorexia around 1979 or so. Her music was very big in 1970 - "Close to You" was one of my favorites. Our music is still "classic rock" and that's very interesting since my daughter listens to some of it too! Our music was the best!!! You can kind of see the influence of the Beatles in the "British look" of the girls with their bangs very long, knee socks, plaid skirts, sweater vest, etc. Also, in the prom picture, the boy on the right has a Beatle haircut. The boys started wearing their sideburns longer and the whole world seemed to grow their hair out beginning in 1969. Eventually, very short hair was was out, and most men wore their hair long over their ears and spilling over their collars. The Beatles made a huge impact on our styles! *Beatles fans: check out this group that performs Beatles songs: http://www.thefabfour.net/ Empire dresses (waistline right below the bra line) were very popular, and we often wore long, above the elbow white gloves to the prom. Even though I had long straight hair almost to my waist (like everyone else), we would put it up on our heads for the prom, and I had a braided hairpiece and also one called a "fall" that was a mass of curls cascading down that I wore to special dances.
The one thing that I think is kind of amazing is that our generation were the first ones to really grow up on rock and roll, and most of us still love it today. We are all pretty much like grown up kids who refuse to believe we are getting older!!! Submitted by Robyn (Wright) Kuester robynkuester@hotmail.com |
