FedoraFan112390
Practically Family
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I think it's generally thought here that The Golden Era lasted sometime between the 1930s to 1940s, very vaguely defined in terms of the actual specific years. Many would probably extend the duration of the Golden Era to sometime in the 1950s, possibly before 1956 and the rise of Rock N' Roll; Others to sometime in the early 1960s, before the British Invasion, possibly ending the Golden Era with JFK's assassination; Others somtime in the late '60s when the Hays Code died it's final death. I would say any of those end dates are valid, all for different reasons. I would say that, for myself, the Golden Era ended around 1967. Around the time when it became certain that the Rock N' Roll, Long Haired subculture wasn't just some passing, marginal fad like the Beatnik and Greasers of the '50s were, the stuff of the minority that wouldn't effect the nation much as a whole; That it wasn't simply a "subculture" but in fact a powerful COUNTER-culture, which was reshaping and would continue to reshape the way society as a whole looked and thought, which would redefine or toss aside long held mores, traditions, gender roles and standards of conduct.
But I would say that, under the glittery glam that most associate with the 1970s (which really comes mostly from the bright lights of the Disco era in the late 70s and the Glam Rock bands of the same late 70s period), the 1970s is the period when the Golden Era REALLY died it's final death, probably sometime around 1974 or 1975. Why do I say this?
Many things which could be associated with the Golden Era were still mainstream, or accepted by the mainstream. In the 1970s, a young man of my age (21) could still wear a dress shirt and slacks and not be considered weird or out of style or dressing "like an old man." In my family, my mother's first husband was 21 in 1972, and he wore his hair short and wore nothing but long sleeved dress shirts and slacks. He was not considered a "dork" or anything; My mother didn't date dorks. Her brother in law at the time wore the same--dress shirts and slacks, and had short hair slicked back in a very 1930s-esque style except for his longish sideburns. My family was not really conservative either. The 1970s was the last decade where what would be considered formal wear today was informal, casual wear. The last era where young people might've worn T-Shirts only as underclothes and not been considered odd by the majority for it. When T-Shirts, Jeans and long hair were still mainly the domain of a counter culture and not mainstream. The last time a woman could wear a dress or gloves on a consistent basis and not be looked at oddly.
In the 1970s, a young man could still wear a hat and get away with it. There was a nostalgia for the 1940s and 1950s in the 1970s and many items of those decades' fashions reappeared in the 1970s, particularly in women's fashion. Rotary phones were still the mainstay of most homes; Touch tone phones would not be common until more than a decade later. VCRs, and other home media, didn't come into play, in Americat least, until the end of the 1970s. Cell phones, computers (outside of government or business use), the internet, video games and the like were still over a decade away from either existing or being mainstream products. Cable television was still about a decade away from being mainstream; 24 News TV was still almost two decades away.Credit Cards were a relatively new product and wouldn't be in mass usage for another decade or so from 1970.
Despite the counter culture and the war in Vietnam, traditional culture was still the mainstream; The counter culture was still at this point just a very loud and annoying minority--As demonstrated in the overwhelming, crushing victory of Richard Nixon in the election of 1972, in which traditional America or "The Great Silent Majority" was pitted against the counterculture of "Acid, Abortion and Amnesty" as personified by George McGovern's campaign. Faith in America's institutions, leadership and America itself remained sound and secure until the Watergate Summer of 1973. The booming economy which had begun shortly after World War II ended continued without stop until 1973-1974. The Working Class Man was still a major player in society in the 1970s; He had not yet been marginalized. We were still in the era of cars with round head lights and tail fins, until the end of the 1970s.
Even at the movies, you had tons of films in the early 1970s fondly nostalgizing the '30s, '40s and '50s. There was still a great sense of decency even in the most scandalous TV shows of the early 1970s. With a relaxation in the Cold War and the end of the Vietnam War, too, you had, before Watergate, a resurgence of the more optimistic attitude that pervaded America in the Golden Era.
I could go on and on but my main point is, if you look beneath the cliched stuff of the Disco era of the late 70s and whatnot, I think at it's core, America was still holding on to the core principals and aesthetics of the Golden Era, except in a small but loud minority. Woodstock and what it symbolized had been repudiated and rendered null and void with the Moon Landing (the last gasp and ultimate product of the '50s Sci Fi obsessed futurism) and Altamont, and the values of the Hippies were defeated at the ballot box in November 1968 (which stressed returning the land to law and order), and November 1972, where the values of the "Hippie Generation" were put to a vote against Traditional America. One of 1972's biggest songs was American Pie--a song which longed for and endorsed the values more associated with the Golden Era than the modern day. Even the Disco movement was a repudiation of the Hippie movement and a return to older values in some ways: The first counter culture in which participants dressed UP (suits, ties, dresses, dress shirts), rather than DOWN. In some ways, with it's danceable beats, non-political lyrics, horns and saxophones, it was a child of Jazz and Swing, more than Rock ever was.
I would say that the Golden Era lived on--even if it only on life support--until the four horrors beginning with the Oil Crisis of 1973, the Recession ending three decades of prosperity, which started in 1974, Watergate throughout 1973 and 1974, and the Fall of Vietnam in 1975. Those four horrors over a two year span mark for me the final death blows to the Golden Era. Even if we can't call it the Golden Era, perhaps it could be called The Silver Era--the last era where any shred of decency or the old fashioned way of things or the Golden Era, was mainstream and held sway.
But I would say that, under the glittery glam that most associate with the 1970s (which really comes mostly from the bright lights of the Disco era in the late 70s and the Glam Rock bands of the same late 70s period), the 1970s is the period when the Golden Era REALLY died it's final death, probably sometime around 1974 or 1975. Why do I say this?
Many things which could be associated with the Golden Era were still mainstream, or accepted by the mainstream. In the 1970s, a young man of my age (21) could still wear a dress shirt and slacks and not be considered weird or out of style or dressing "like an old man." In my family, my mother's first husband was 21 in 1972, and he wore his hair short and wore nothing but long sleeved dress shirts and slacks. He was not considered a "dork" or anything; My mother didn't date dorks. Her brother in law at the time wore the same--dress shirts and slacks, and had short hair slicked back in a very 1930s-esque style except for his longish sideburns. My family was not really conservative either. The 1970s was the last decade where what would be considered formal wear today was informal, casual wear. The last era where young people might've worn T-Shirts only as underclothes and not been considered odd by the majority for it. When T-Shirts, Jeans and long hair were still mainly the domain of a counter culture and not mainstream. The last time a woman could wear a dress or gloves on a consistent basis and not be looked at oddly.
In the 1970s, a young man could still wear a hat and get away with it. There was a nostalgia for the 1940s and 1950s in the 1970s and many items of those decades' fashions reappeared in the 1970s, particularly in women's fashion. Rotary phones were still the mainstay of most homes; Touch tone phones would not be common until more than a decade later. VCRs, and other home media, didn't come into play, in Americat least, until the end of the 1970s. Cell phones, computers (outside of government or business use), the internet, video games and the like were still over a decade away from either existing or being mainstream products. Cable television was still about a decade away from being mainstream; 24 News TV was still almost two decades away.Credit Cards were a relatively new product and wouldn't be in mass usage for another decade or so from 1970.
Despite the counter culture and the war in Vietnam, traditional culture was still the mainstream; The counter culture was still at this point just a very loud and annoying minority--As demonstrated in the overwhelming, crushing victory of Richard Nixon in the election of 1972, in which traditional America or "The Great Silent Majority" was pitted against the counterculture of "Acid, Abortion and Amnesty" as personified by George McGovern's campaign. Faith in America's institutions, leadership and America itself remained sound and secure until the Watergate Summer of 1973. The booming economy which had begun shortly after World War II ended continued without stop until 1973-1974. The Working Class Man was still a major player in society in the 1970s; He had not yet been marginalized. We were still in the era of cars with round head lights and tail fins, until the end of the 1970s.
Even at the movies, you had tons of films in the early 1970s fondly nostalgizing the '30s, '40s and '50s. There was still a great sense of decency even in the most scandalous TV shows of the early 1970s. With a relaxation in the Cold War and the end of the Vietnam War, too, you had, before Watergate, a resurgence of the more optimistic attitude that pervaded America in the Golden Era.
I could go on and on but my main point is, if you look beneath the cliched stuff of the Disco era of the late 70s and whatnot, I think at it's core, America was still holding on to the core principals and aesthetics of the Golden Era, except in a small but loud minority. Woodstock and what it symbolized had been repudiated and rendered null and void with the Moon Landing (the last gasp and ultimate product of the '50s Sci Fi obsessed futurism) and Altamont, and the values of the Hippies were defeated at the ballot box in November 1968 (which stressed returning the land to law and order), and November 1972, where the values of the "Hippie Generation" were put to a vote against Traditional America. One of 1972's biggest songs was American Pie--a song which longed for and endorsed the values more associated with the Golden Era than the modern day. Even the Disco movement was a repudiation of the Hippie movement and a return to older values in some ways: The first counter culture in which participants dressed UP (suits, ties, dresses, dress shirts), rather than DOWN. In some ways, with it's danceable beats, non-political lyrics, horns and saxophones, it was a child of Jazz and Swing, more than Rock ever was.
I would say that the Golden Era lived on--even if it only on life support--until the four horrors beginning with the Oil Crisis of 1973, the Recession ending three decades of prosperity, which started in 1974, Watergate throughout 1973 and 1974, and the Fall of Vietnam in 1975. Those four horrors over a two year span mark for me the final death blows to the Golden Era. Even if we can't call it the Golden Era, perhaps it could be called The Silver Era--the last era where any shred of decency or the old fashioned way of things or the Golden Era, was mainstream and held sway.
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And I can totally see what he's saying because I've always said the same thing. I'll even extend it in the mid 80s in my experiences. The 90s killed off everything that came before it, in my opinion/experience.
