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Daaaayyyyummmmm. Im old. :D I will be the first to admit that I am …. Crotchety, to put it succinctly. I’ve been working on this post for almost two weeks now and I am no closer to writing it than I was when I started. I have alternated back and forth between a long letter to my parents, talking about my favorite birthday ever, what I would like to get as presents… a bunch of different ideas really.

But really, I think I would like to do this:

40 years ago, men were preparing to go to the moon and walk on it. 40 years ago, the Age of Aquarius was about to sweep the nation and Woodstock was in the planning stages. Hair was a huge hit on Broadway, and they were beginning to think about taking it on the road. There was still and AFL and an NFL, Hank Aaron was fielding balls for the Braves by then, Pele scored his 1000th goal, and Broadway Joe was still the talk of the town. The Grateful Dead were playing the Fillmore that week, the Beatles were resting up after the Abbey Road tour, The Who released Tommy, and Aerosmith was on the horizon. Movies like The Wild Bunch and Easy Rider were the rage, and Peanuts was king of the comics. The War in Viet Nam is heating up with the secret bombings of Cambodia, code name Operation Breakfast, and Robert Forster is playing John Casseliss a character that will influence teens across the nation to become journalists. Monty Python hits the air waves for the first time and launches a new genre in not only television, but comedy as well and Sesame Street premiers on the NET network.

Historians hail 1969 as a the year everything changed. The end of innocence some call it. Basque Nationalism hit the world, Harvard was the scene of political uprising versus the sedate flow of money we think of it as today. The first artificial heart transplant was completed. The SDS collapsed and became controlled by the Weatherman faction, and Ted Kennedy swam through political mire. Nixon rules the White House and Watergate is still just a convention center. Socialists come to power in Sweden and the red scare is beginning to raise its head in America again. Charles Manson and the Family shock the world with the LaBianca-Tate murders while at the same time the Zodiac Killer is terrifying San Francisco and its surroundings. Members of the Black Panthers are shot while sleeping in their beds by members of the Chicago Police Department and the Stonewall Riots in New York would form the Gay Liberation Front. James Earl Ray pleads guilty, Sirhan Sirhan admits guilt, and so does the New York Times in regards to Dr. Goddard and space flight.

Average Cost of new house $15,550.00
Average Income per year $8,550.00
Average Monthly Rent $135.00
Average Cost New Car $3,270.00
Toyota Corona $1,950.00
Gas per Gallon 35 cents

If you’re interested, check this out: http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1969.html

And of course me. Six feet of snow was being cleared back off the roads and people were getting back to work and my Dad was breathing a sigh of relief that he wouldn’t have to take my mom to the hospital on a snow mobile he borrowed.

My question is this: what is it about this year that caused so much upheaval? Why so many things came to a head in this year? It’s not like the century was ending or anything, or more importantly a millennium. Why do you think 1969 was a year with so much change and turmoil?