Thursday, February 5, 2009

1968: Love Beads and the Beatles

My sister-in-law, Brown-Eyed Beauty, found this picture from 1968 (Thanks, Brown-Eyed Beauty, you're awesome!). I am the little girl between the young woman (my sister-in-law, Brown-Eyed Beauty) and the young man (my brother, Big Bro).

Some interesting 1968 statistics from The People History are shown below.



Cost of Living 1968

Cost of new house $14,950.00
Average Income per year $7,850.00
Average Monthly Rent $130.00
Gas per Gallon 34 cents
Average Cost of a new car $2,822.00
Movie Ticket$1.50
The Federal Hourly Minimum Wage is $1.60 an hour


Technology

Boeing 747 made its maiden flight.
NASA launches Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission
Apollo 8 orbits the Moon, becoming the first manned space mission to achieve the feat.
Dr. Christian Barnard performs the first successful heart transplant.
US Explodes experimental hydrogen Bomb.
The Emergency 911 Telephone service is started in the USA which provides a single number for reporting emergencies and is manned 24 hrs per day 365 days per year
ATM First Philadelphia Bank installs the first automated teller machine in the U.S.

Popular Culture 1968
The first Big Mac goes on sale in McDonalds costing 49 cents
The Beatles create Apple Records and record "Hey Jude" as the first single on the label The CBS television newsmagazine program
"60 Minutes" shown for the first time

Popular Films

The Graduate
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Bonnie and Clyde
Valley of the Dolls
The Odd Couple
Planet of the Apes
Rosemary's Baby


Popular Musicians

The Rolling Stones
The Supremes
The Beatles with " Hey Jude "
Fleetwood Mac
Aretha Franklin
Gary Puckett and The Union Gap
The Grateful Dead
The Monkees
Simon and Garfunkel " Mrs Robinson "
The Beach Boys
The Bee Gees
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Cream
The Doors " Hello I Love You "
Pink Floyd
Moody Blues
Bobby Goldsboro " Honey "
Marvin Gaye " I heard it through the Grapevine "
David Bowie


I was four years old in 1968, and in the picture above was watching a local centennial parade. How old were you, and what were you doing in 1968?

7 comments:

Crown of Beauty said...

Isn't that a lovely picture of you at 4 years old!

And Brown Eyed Beauty IS indeed a beauty! I bet she still is today.

I was fifteen years old in 1968, and almost all the musicians you mentioned in your post were the musicians that I and my friends enjoyed playing at our teen parties!

Memories...

Beautiful Grace said...

Yes, Maria, my sister-in-law, is indeed, still a brown-eyed beauty!

Anonymous said...

I was -24 years old in 1968... My mother would have been 12 though.

Prices really have inflated since then. I still remember thinking how silly the prices in my elementary math books were-- 75 cent gas when we were paying twice that. I'm hoping Saxon has changed that in the revision...

Have a blessed day.

-Maria

Beautiful Grace said...

I figured most of my readers would be a negative age. It's amazing how the times have changed.

Maria Matter said...

What a fun pix!
I was 2 years old.
It was great seeing how things have changed, thanks for sharing!
Blessings, Maria

Kelli said...

That is such an awesome picture!

Unknown said...


I was 16 in 1968. It was a great time to be a teenager. Best music, best cars, best fashion. Loved the Beatles and even as the
older "me", have a poster of them in my home office! Plan on making myself some love bead bracelets cuz I like them. Can you
say "senial"? Haha