7 Funny Things That Happened in the 1970s
The 1970s were a time of contradictions in the United States. The fallout from the ongoing Vietnam War and Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal led to widespread cynicism, but that tension was cloaked in polyester and mirror balls. Sandwiched between 1960s idealism and 1980s excess, the ’70s were a time when serious concerns about the economy, environment, politics, and shifting social values coexisted with an unabashed pursuit of fun and self-expression. That mix is what makes the era so endlessly fascinating — and, at times, uniquely amusing. Here are seven of the funniest things that happened in the 1970s.
The Streaking Sensation
For a few surreal years in the 1970s, America was in the throes of what TIME magazine called an “epidermis epidemic.” Though public nudity wasn’t new — the ancient Greeks famously competed nude in the Olympics, for goodness’ sake — streaking, or running naked through a public place, became a bona fide trend early in the decade.
The streaking mania started on American college campuses in the late 1960s. By 1973, the phenomenon was sweeping the nation; it’s believed the fad got its name that same year when a TV reporter covering a nude run at the University of Maryland said, “They are streaking past me right now. It’s an incredible sight!”
Streaking hit its peak in 1974. Universities competed for world records, professional sporting events became irresistible targets, and singer Ray Stevens immortalized it all in “The Streak,” a catchy novelty song that topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.
The fad’s most infamous incident took place on April 2, 1974. During the 46th Academy Awards, LGBTQ+ activist and art gallery owner Robert Opel bolted across the stage in his birthday suit, flashing a peace sign to the audience and leaving the host, actor David Niven, surprisingly unfazed. But thanks largely to crackdowns on public nudity laws, the streaking craze faded by the end of that year, almost as suddenly as it arrived.
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Gerald Ford Falling Down
It’s not uncommon for politicians — including, and maybe especially, presidents — to be the subject of endless jokes. That certainly proved true for Gerald Ford, who became president of the United States in 1974 following Richard Nixon’s resignation. As a former University of Michigan football star, Ford was actually quite athletic, but a series of stumbles during his presidency led to a lasting clumsy image.
Most famously, in June 1975, cameras caught him tripping down the rain-slicked steel stairs of Air Force One on a trip to Austria. A few months later, Ford got tangled in his dog’s leashes, and around the same time, he tumbled on the ski slopes in Colorado. News of him bumping his head on a helicopter and a train also made the rounds.
Ford’s missteps — literal and otherwise — might have faded into obscurity if not for Saturday Night Live. In the fall of 1975, comedian Chevy Chase debuted a slapstick impression of the president that turned Ford’s every stumble into a running joke. Ford himself took the ribbing in stride, and while those close to him reportedly didn’t consider him exceptionally clumsy, his accidental falls nonetheless became one of his most enduring legacies.
Trucker Talk Takes Off
Long before social media, people across the U.S. chatted with each other on CB radios. Citizens band radios had been around since the 1940s and were used by niche hobbyists throughout the 1960s. But during the 1970s, they became a full-blown cultural phenomenon, in part due to the 1973 oil crisis. Gas prices soared, and with nationwide fuel shortages, the U.S. government imposed a speed limit of 55 miles per hour in 1974. Truck drivers formed CB communities, sharing gas station prices and availability, organizing protests, and warning each other about police speed traps.
The CB radio craze hit a new level in 1975. That year, the Federal Trade Commission expanded CB usage permissions, and "Convoy," a hit country song by CW McCall, told the story of a rebellious trucker movement, making trucker culture a mainstream obsession. Millions of Americans bought CB radios, adopted nicknames, and mastered truck driver lingo such as “breaker” and “10-4.” The CB fad peaked in 1976, when 11 million U.S. customers became new CB radio owners. By 1978, the trend had largely faded.
Elvis and Nixon Team Up
It was one of the most unexpected meetings the White House has seen: On December 21, 1970, Elvis Presley walked into the Oval Office to meet with President Richard Nixon. The King of Rock ’n’ Roll had arrived at the White House unannounced earlier that morning to deliver a handwritten six-page letter; in it, he outlined his concerns about the country’s drug culture and offered to “be of any service that I can to help the country out.” By midday, Presley — in a purple velvet suit, an oversize-collared shirt, and a massive embellished belt buckle — was sitting across from the president. Together, they chatted about America’s drug problems, communism, and the Beatles.
Before leaving, Presley, a police badge collector, requested a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs — and Nixon granted it to him. The pair also posed for photographs, but both decided the meeting would be kept a secret. The meeting was revealed in the press the following year, but it didn’t make a splash until the 1980s, when the images were released for public research and demand for the photo of the bizarre encounter exploded. While the hype has since dissipated, a photo of the meeting remains one of the most requested items from the U.S. National Archives.
Farrah Fawcett Hair Mania
Few hairstyles have reached the cultural saturation of Farrah Fawcett’s signature feathered locks. When Charlie’s Angels debuted in the fall of 1976, Fawcett was not yet a household name; though she’d appeared in other TV shows and films, she was still mostly known from shampoo commercials. It seems fitting, then, that shortly after Charlie’s Angels hit the air, Fawcett quickly became famous for her tresses: soft, feathered waves layered and teased voluminously away from her sun-kissed face. The hairstyle was unlike anything else that was popular at the time — think of 1976 Olympic gold-medalist figure skater Dorothy Hamill’s short, brunette bob — and it was instantly iconic.
By 1977, Fawcett was no longer on Charlie’s Angels, but her hair was already a defining style of the decade. Millions of women around the world flocked to their hairdressers to replicate the look. The actress may have made the style look laid-back and natural, but it was anything but. “I’d curl, pin, curl, pin. And when it was done, I took the pins out, turned the hair upside down and brushed it out so you wouldn’t have a ‘set’ look,” said hairstylist Allen Edwards, one of the people credited with creating the defining look. Hugh York, another stylist who worked with Fawcett, said it took “hot curlers, rollers, lots of pampering and care” to keep up the look. It may have required a small arsenal of styling tools, but mastering the ultimate badge of ’70s glamour was worth it.
The Pet Rock Phenomenon
Few ’70s fads were as simple — and as successful — as the Pet Rock. Dreamed up by California advertising copywriter Gary Dahl, the Pet Rock was exactly what it sounded like: a small, smooth stone nestled in a cardboard “pet carrier” box that came complete with breathing holes and an instruction manual with tongue-in-cheek rock-training tips. It may have started as a joke between Dahl and his friends about hassle-free pets, but it turned into a bona fide phenomenon.
Pet Rocks debuted at a San Francisco trade show in August 1975. By Christmas that year, Dahl was selling up to 100,000 rocks a day for $3.95 each. At the time, the U.S. was in the thick of the Watergate scandal and dealing with the 1973 oil crisis recession. Melanie DiLeo, a department store buyer at the time, said it was unsurprising that the novelty toy took off. “The Pet Rock made you laugh. You could spend $5 for it and still laugh. We needed that.” Dahl became a millionaire practically overnight, but by the following year, the novelty had worn off, and the Pet Rock was already a relic of its time.
Disco Everywhere
By the late 1970s, disco had fully infiltrated American culture. What started in underground clubs exploded into the mainstream in unexpected places. The 1977 sensation Saturday Night Fever brought platform shoes, bell-bottom pants, and polyester jumpsuits to the big screen, while fast-food titan McDonald’s ran a Big Mac ad set to disco sights and sounds.
Beloved Sesame Street characters grooved to disco tracks on not one, but two albums — 1978’s Sesame Street Fever and 1979’s Sesame Disco (“Disco Frog,” anyone?) — while a disco-fied version of John Williams’ iconic Star Wars theme song spent two weeks at the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1977. Even Broadway legend Ethel Merman released an album of disco covers, the Ethel Merman Disco Album, now a camp cult favorite. The backlash, of course, wasn’t far behind. With public sentiment turning and punk rock nipping at its heels, the genre was dealt a tough blow at the infamous Disco Demolition Night at Chicago’s Comiskey Park in 1979.
