From a dynamic era of America’s history, during the rise of disco music, many of the “bests” have stood the test of time including BCPL, which is celebrating 50 years! I am one of the few people at Boone County Public Library that (barely) remembers 1974. It was a pretty good year!
Paul McCartney and Wings topped the charts with the biggest-selling album of 1974 Band on the Run, while Elton John also had a great year, with two albums in the top five, Elton John’s Greatest Hits and Caribou.
The Watergate scandal came to its shocking end in 1974 with the resignation of Richard Nixon, who was succeeded by Gerald Ford. But at least Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein came out on top with the number one non-fiction book of the year, All the President’s Men, about the break-in and its coverup.
After the Watergate scandal, Americans most likely needed a good laugh. Comedies ruled the entertainment landscape in 1974 with the groundbreaking All in the Family as the top television program and the satirical Western Blazing Saddles topping the movie charts at the box office.
Board games were a popular form of entertainment in 1974 for both kids and adults. Connect Four was the top game and is still popular today. Say it with me, “Pretty sneaky sis!” The year can also claim Dungeons and Dragons, the fantasy tabletop role-playing game that became a cultural phenomenon, showing up in movies and television shows, such as Stranger Things. The game allowed groups of teens and adults to use their imaginations to create their own characters and scenarios for decades to come.
The most popular baby names from 1974 were Jennifer and Michael (which were also the most popular of 1973 and 1975). Jennifer and Michael’s parents were paying 10 cents for a postage stamp, 72 cents for a gallon of milk, and 28 cents for a loaf of bread. The median price of a home in 1974 was $36,000 and the average price of a new car was $3,500. And the price of gas to run a car was $.53 per gallon, which is $3.19 in today’s dollars.
I remember some of these fun facts from fifty years ago, such as Nixon’s resignation. I also have plenty of friends named Jennifer. And although I don’t actually remember it, BCPL opened their doors to a place I would someday be a librarian.
Did I miss any fun facts? What do YOU remember from 1974?
