Flashback Friday 1971
Hello and welcome to my second installment of Flashback Friday where I present a few things from history that caught my eye and tweaked my memory on my search.
News Headlines and History
1/31/71
Apollo 14, launched on Jan 31st. This was the mission that Alan Shepard hit two golf balls on the moon, and the crew brought back almost 100 pounds of moon rocks (During the two lunar EVAs, 94.35 pounds of Moon rocks were collected)3 This was one of those moments if not the specific day that a lot of people remember, All that way to hit two golf balls. I remember that being the "big" news of the mission.
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End of the gold
The following excerpt is from The Era of Fiat Currency Capitalism Published June 20th2013 story from Paul Rosenberg Editor, A Free Man's Take in the Casey Daily Dispatch
This new era began in 1971, when the previous international monetary arrangements, the Bretton Woods system, fell apart. On May 5th 1971, US dollars flooded the European currency markets and threatened the Deutsche Mark. The central banks of Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland stopped all dollar trades. Who was behind this flood of trades is unknown to me but it was apparently someone with inside knowledge. At about the same time, the French were, via complex arrangements, redeeming their dollars for gold from the US Treasury, as Bretton Woods allowed. (It was gold that kept the system honest. If you thought games were being played, you could turn in your paper for actual gold.)
If the US had allowed redemptions to continue, they would have lost all their gold reserves. So, on August 15th 1971, the US pulled out of their monetary agreements and refused to redeem any more dollars for gold. (This was called closing the gold window.) Bretton Woods fell apart and, very shortly, no major currencies were redeemable; everything became fiat currency, based on government edicts alone.
So it would seem that 1971 was the Fiat year.
Music
"Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night, was listed as the number one song of the year for 1971 by Billboard magazine. Per wiki billboard list This was one of those songs that caught the ear of the up and coming new music lovers, those just entering the teen years. A happy song compared to last years.(1970) "Joy to the World was released on the fifth album by Three Dog night - Naturally.
There was needless to say, a lot of very good music released in 1971. Perhaps the one song that remains a mainstay in many people's music is Stairway to Heaven. One song that it seems every guitar player needs to learn to play.
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. Here is the Wiki Link
The untitled fourth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV, was released on 8 November 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was produced by guitarist Jimmy Page and recorded between December 1970 and February 1971, mostly in the country house Headley Grange. The album contains one of the band's best known songs, "Stairway to Heaven". here
It is and still remains as a favorite song for me, and I still find occasion to listen to it.
The Cars of 71
1971 MOTOR TREND CAR OF THE YEAR: CHEVROLET VEGA Motor Trend
There were a lot of nice cars in '71, and while I remember the Vega, I do not really see it as much of a trend setter, if it was one it was short lived six years of production 71-77.
1971 was the year of the dying muscle cars. Courtesy of our fine government, and fuel regulations. That being said it was also pretty much the year that the aftermarket automobile industry took off.
Below a very nice job profiling four of the best of the time. Article appeared in https://www.hotrod.com in 2016.
Four of the Hottest Muscle Cars of 1971: Preview the Amazing Displays You’ll Find at the 2016 Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals in Chicago
Written by Arvid Svendsen on August 30, 2016
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Pinto
The Ford Pinto, now that is a car I remember.
| Front | Back |
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I just thought it was a nicely styled little car, and it came in three styles 2 door with a trunk, 3 door hatchback, and a 2 door station wagon. They were fun little cars to drive. Pictures from cargurus.com
Conclusion
1971, a year of excitement, and contrast. Even as a kid I remember hearing about the removal of the gold, and all the expected problems, I did not understand as a kid what was really going on, other than a lot of people were upset. The Fiat article was a pretty nice read. I know a lot of people still believe we did not go to the moon, so sorry I am not one of the unbelievers, I believe we did go. Cars, what an awesome year for cars. I still like the styling of both the Vega and the Pinto in 71, and the muscle cars, they were fast, that article on the Four a very nice read also.
The little arrow bars were made by me all other imagery sources linked.
That was an interesting read. I remember my aunt driving a brown Pinto like the one in the pictures, but that would have been ten or more years later.
Thanks for including the economics history, too. The end of the gold era and the beginning of pure fiat is an important event that is underappreciated, to be sure.
No mention of Vietnam? Dad would have been right at the end of his service then. The Vietnam war is something of a mystery to those of us born in the 1970s. It was too fresh to be taught as history when we were in school. Now is actually the perfect time to study it. The people who experienced the war have had time to reflect on their experience.
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Another great post. Come 1972 I start coming upon my earliest memories. Maggie May by Rod Stewart probably one of my favorite songs of 71. I just looked up information online for the Pinto a few weeks ago. Just one of those random memories I had to research.
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I love the 70's. My first car was one of those little hatch back Pintos. Would love to still have one. Those things can carry a lot more than you would think.
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And they were fun to drive, maybe not quite up to scare the brown stuff down your pants driving the gremlin offered but still fun to drive.
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