All constant readers know the importance of the sixties to Stephen King's work. This heavy emphasis in his novels is a reflection of the impact the decade made on King personally.
I was born in 1973. So I have fond memories of. . . the late 70's and 80's ! I have never thought well of the 60's. That was my parents generation, and in general I think it was a pretty messed up era. My perception is that some pretty bad stuff come out of the 60's. The 60's gave us: Vietnam, Hippies and intense racial strife.
But the 60's were much more than that. It was an era when our nation was coming of age. Several King novels deal with the 60's. By setting alone, King is able to give history lessons that would make my high school teachers drool.
The sixties also gave us the Twilight Zone, John Kennedy, The Jetsons, Cool Elvis and a host of other things.
1963, the year King's next novel focuses on, was the year
- Hitchcock gave us The Birds.
- Lassie was popular on television, as was Andy Griffith and the Dick Van Dyke Show. Hold on, that's not all -- mom and pop were also busy watching My Favorite Martian.
- Gas cost 29 cents per gallon. A loaf of bread was 22 cents.
- The average cost of a new car was $3,233.
- Audio cassettes hit the market.
- A brand spankin new house would cost you $12,650.
- Average income per year was $5,807 per year. (So don't get too excited bout those house prices, eh!) Minimum wage was $1.25. A stamp cost 0.05.
- AT&T introduced touch tone phones. Of course, it would take a while for them to catch on! I still have a rotary cell phone. . .
- Zip codes were implemented. HOLD ON! We didn't have zip codes until 1963? Seriously?!
- James Meredith was the first black to graduated from the university of Mississippi in 1963.
- 1963 also gave us -- are you ready for this -- THE LAVA LAMP!
- Pull tabs for soda were introduced.
- The Beatles gave us "I want to hold your hand."
- To Kill a Mocking Bird was released in theaters, as was Cleopatra and Lawrence of Arabia.
- Martin Luther King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech in 1963.
- Pope John the 23 died.
- Alcatraz closed.
- The Ku Klux Klan dynamited a Baptist Church in Birmingham in Alabama, resulting in the deaths of 4 young girls.
Awesome post, David! I had no idea zip codes hadn't been around since, like, always; I guess somebody had to invent them, but I wouldn't have suspected they were that recent.
ReplyDeleteLately, I can't help but think of the '60s as the setting for "Mad Men," my favorite current television show. There was a terrific episode a couple of seasons ago dealing with the characters' reactions to the JFK assassination; looks like in the world of "Mad Men," Jake wasn't able to get the job done...