I wanted to visit the 1970s once again with these images from the National Archives. On this occasion, by using a good variety of street landscapes, from the cities to the small towns.
We start with the image above; the MBTA tracks across Neptune Road, in East Boston, 1973.
(All images have been slightly color-corrected.)
Road in Leakey, Texas, 1972.
Holland Tunnel Traffic lined up on Canal Street, NYC, 1973.
Stanton Street in El Paso, Texas, 1972.
Clothier, West Virginia, 1974.
Commercial Street, Boston, 1973.
Street in Dock Center, Rockport, Mass. 1973.
Moenkopi, Arizona, 1972.
Manhattan Bridge Tower in Brooklyn, NYC, 1974.
Lake Travis, Texas, 1972.
Minnesota St., New Ulm, Minnesota, 1975.
Yacht Club Cove, Staten Island, NY, 1973.
Yacht Club Cove, Staten Island, NY, 1973 (bottom photo):
Looks like the HOA was lax back in the 70’s.
Today, The HOA would write you up for leaving your car parked in front of your home.
Is that a dog in the middle of street in Dock Center, Rockport, Mass resting?
What the heck is that in the middle of Dock Street in Rockport, Mass? A big dog, a bear? Or just a pile of trash?
Looks like a dog. They used to run free commonly back then.
that’s soo sad.
Another era. I was in college at that point in Boston.
Some dogs in small towns around Boston roamed about the neighborhoods regularly. Including the town I grew up in south of Boston. Closer nit communities back then, Everyone knew all the family members including the dogs.
If that was taken yesterday, your concern is valid.
Growing up in the 70s, loose dogs were pretty common and something you needed to learn to deal with. No leash laws, and I don’t think poop bags had been invented yet.
In the Rockport pic, that cabover Chevy or GMC in the background sure looks like an Eastern Propane truck.
It’s a tough call, but if it was a black trash bag the outline would be consistently fuzzy due to camera depth of field. There are a few sections with standing spikes of what could be fur. It could be a Bernese Mountain dog if that is the righthand paw/leg. Or it’s a bag of trash with a bottle sticking out.
Paul’s comment makes sence. Probably a dog.
It’s a dog, of course. You (or more precisely, a dog) couldn’t quite get away with that in Rockport today…but it wasn’t all that long ago that Rockport was a sleepy kind of place on Cape Ann, and it would have been perfectly reasonable for a dog to take his regular rest in the street. Everyone would have known to look out for him.
I like how that’s followed by locals riding a horse down a street in Arizona.
I’m kind of surprised how the next picture of Brooklyn in 1974 doesn’t also have someone sleeping (or doing something) in the street, as that was a pretty rough area in the mid-1970s. Of course, it’s now known as “Dumbo” and is considerably more lively.
The captions at the National Archives mention it was a labrador sleeping on the road.
CC Effect. Spotted a white Squarebody Chevy pickup driving on Somerset Street West in Ottawa at 6am this morning. And a 1980s Dodge Ram on Bronson Avenue yesterday afternoon. The Dodge in excellent condition. Usually, better odds of seeing Sasquatch in Times Square.
Wide grass and treed boulevard islands used to be a more common urban feature back then. I can only think of a handful that remain here in Ottawa. This one on York Street, has a genuine retro ’60s-’70s feel.
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4299064,-75.6890215,3a,75y,99.34h,92.96t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sVZEo1hUcMLm-0FbbyXzZog!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?authuser=0&entry=ttu
I would appreciate help in identifying the two teal cars in El Paso. I think the one on the right is a Datsun, but is it a 510 or a pickup? As for the one on the left, I have absolutely no idea, but I bet someone here might know.
It’s a 510. And the other is a Rambler, circa 1960-1961.
The picture of NYC with a view of a tower of The Brooklyn Bridge is akin to what author Ludvig Bemelmans termed for Buffalo, NY – BEAUTIFUL DRECK.
I’m reminded of this 1975 hit.
Love the Brooklyn photo! That’s the famous “Instagram Spot” of Manhattan Bridge.
It’s so popular among the “influencers” that vendors set up on the street there.
Such a contrast in urban America in the last 50 years.
I wasn’t there, but it looked just so gritty and rather dystopian.
The vacant buildings in Boston are probably million dollar condos now.
https://www.thecut.com/2019/04/the-most-instagrammable-street-corner-in-dumbo-brooklyn.html
Travis what Texas? There’s a Travis County and a Lake Travis, but I know of no municipality of that name. There is a VW type 1 to be seen and it’s hilly, so I’d vote for Lake Travis.
Yes, it’s Lake Travis.
“Nova” or “Ventura” in “WV”?
Looks to be a NOVA to me based on wheel covers.
https://oldcarbrochures.org/United%20States/Chevrolet/1974-Chevrolet/1974-Chevrolet-Nova-Brochure/slides/1974_Chevrolet_Nova-06-07.html
2nd picture.
Ah, back in the days when a “fill up or 10 gallons” got you a trinket or some such thing. Most of my friends were cheap and only bought a buck or two yet still left with a trinket. No, many trinkets.
In the photo of Stanton El Paso, Texas, could it be a GM 50th anniversary edition Impala?
Nice pictures ! .
I knew in an instant that was the MBTA .
‘Charlie On the MTA’ .
-Nate
Is that a Torino or a Satellite in the Boston photo? Tail lights look the same.
That’s a ’72 or ’73 Torino.
In the Manhattan Bridge Tower photo is that a Ford or a Chrysler on the left? And what is peaking out of the side street… a ’64 T-Bird perhaps?
’65 T-Bird?