I’m elated by all the support and readership Boogie Shoes has gotten over the last few months! It’s a dream to write this newsletter about a decade I love so much. The feedback I’ve gotten is incredible, and it makes be truly happy that people of all ages and backgrounds appreciate these marvelously chaotic and fascinating years between 1970 and 1979.
I’m going on vacation next week, and recently started a new job, so some of my extra time I use to write these letters, has been spent. Fear not, I’ll be back with a boatload of 1970s stories next month. Here’s a sneak peak of what’s to come:
Cults, A Rock Musical, and Why People Were So Obsessed With Jesus
The Soap Opera of Making Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours Album
The United States Tries (and fails) to Adopt the Metric System
When Environmentalism Became Hip
Erotic Thrillers: Feminism and Sexual Freedom Collides
While I will continue to write about celebrity, movies, and lifestyle, I want to bring more of a spotlight to the everyday lives of Americans living during the decade.
If there’s a particular topic, subject matter, or curiosity you’re just itching to know more about, and you’d like me to research it, please let me know!
You can comment at the bottom of this article, or send me a DM on the Boogie Shoes Instagram page: @boogie__shoes.
Now, for today’s programming. May I present to you, a series of 1970s springtime scenes from across the United States.
Young people work in a garden at the Pikes Falls Commune in Jamaica, Vermont in the early 1970s. Even in 2022, Vermont is a notable hippie enclave. What people don’t know is that there was actually a full-on migration of young, idealistic people who moved there from out of state (in particular from New York) beginning in 1970. Famous Vermont people in this diaspora include Ben & Jerry (Merrick, NY) and Bernie Sanders (Brooklyn, NY) | Image by Associated Press
The very first Earth Day in New York City April 22, 1970. This event, along with 1962’s Silent Spring, the 1970 Clean Air Act, and the Love Canal Toxic Waste Disaster of 1978 were some of the biggest catalysts in the modern environmental movement | Source Unknown
President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon giving a tour of the White House rose garden in April, 1973. I hate to say it, but I love Pat’s outfit | Image by White House Photo Office Collection
Hank Aaron hits his 714th home run tying Babe Ruth for the most home runs in MLB history in April 1974, Opening Day | Image by Getty Images
During the Ford Administration, The White House actually hosted prom for 17-year-old First Daughter Susan Ford’s high school class in May 1975. The photos from the event are adorable. | Image from Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Catskills Singles Weekend at Concord Hotel in Sullivan County, New York, 1976. There’s so many great ones from this weekend. You can explore more here. This region in New York was often referred to as the Borscht Belt or the “Jewish Alps” for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains. | Image by Rani Stevens Goodman
Ken Hamai and friends at Gay Freedom Day, 1979 in San Francisco. San Francisco and New York City were home to some of the first LGBTQ Pride Parades in the country. While Pride has evolved over the years, it remains an annual tradition in cities around the world during the month of June. | Image by Ken Hamai
Have a great rest of the month of March, and looking forward to exploring this decade in upcoming newsletters!
I so wish I had taken more photos back then when I was a teenager. What a cool time that was.
My decade!!!!!! LOVED MY FOUR INCH RED PATENT LEATHER PUMPS!