1964

I was reminded this morning that we recognize December 8, 1980 as the day John Lennon was murdered in New York. When I think of John, I think back to the British Invasion of 1964. The Indiana State Fair would host the Fab Four in August 1964.

America Graffiti was the Soup of the Day in 1964. Drive In Movies and Drive In Restaurants were common. A&W Root Beer was a favorite. The Beer was the best and the food was brought right to your car. The car was a important part of the culture. Eating in the car was messy even though the food was very good.

If you weren't around in 64 you missed the greatest party ever.On Sunday night we had Walt Disney and Bonanza TV broadcast in color. Television was mostly Black and White. Nobody in my neighborhood had a color TV. We had four channels of free TV. No Cable!!
Color TV tubes were all manufactured in Indiana. The fathers of the kids who lived in my neighborhood all worked in factories of Central Indiana. Western Electric made every telephone in America at the East side Indy plant. Phones were mostly black and most people only had one line. Party Lines were common and cheaper if on a budget. You could not own a phone. You rented phones and lines. Then paid for long distance calls. Long distance could be across the street.

Chrysler had several plants in Indiana making Engine Blocks, Power Steering and Ignition Parts.When the plants changed shifts at Western Electric, Chrysler, International Harvester, Naval Avionics and the Ford Plant you could guarantee grid lock for thirty to forty minutes.

The intrastate highway system had not come to Indiana in 64 but, we had seen plans for how it would work. I'm not sure what they built at the Ford Plant but, it was a huge new plant that also worked three shifts. Naval Avionics was a big secret. They employed lots of people building the Polaris Missile Systems for the Navy.

We had an International Harvester Truck because they had a factory in Indianapolis near the Beech Grove Am Track Rail Yards. Indianapolis was a huge a Rail center also. RCA was another big employer in Indianapolis and we always bought RCA products because it was good for our local economy, same as our truck.

Over on the West side Indy's landscape was swamped in The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Allison Transmission and Detroit Diesel. They made truck engines and parts for the drives that carried the Atlas Rocket from VAB to the Launch Pad at Kennedy Space Center. In 69 it would put men on the moon.

On the South Side of Indy was Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals. They worked three shift as well. Chevrolet Plant downtown stamped out truck bodies 24 hours a day. Downtown Indy was home to countless Insurance Companies most located on Meridian Street.

On the North side was Dow Chemical and Marathons Rock Island Refinery that refined petroleum from the Texas to New York buried pipeline. Indy was a big union town and people were paid well. The wealth was spread evenly. Our system was dependant upon everyone buying each others products. It worked well. We had rich people but we also had a strong middle class. All this on top of the agriculture from farms in Indiana's rich soil. Ironically much of Indiana's growth came from Natural Gas discoveries that were now exhausted. Cheap energy equals great prosperity as far as I can see. We enjoyed a forty hour work week where one income supported the entire family. We had Family Values in America

I did some checking and found some other facts from 1964

1. New Mustang first year MSRP $2,368.00

2. New Buick Rivera $4,385.00

3. New Cadillac starting $6,471.00

4. New Corvette Sting Ray $4,037.00

5. Federal Debt 316 Billion Dollars. ( a dollar was worth much more in 64)

6. New Home $20,000.00

7 Gasoline 0.30 cents a gallon.

8. Milk 0.95 cents a gallon

9. Inflation Rate 1.2%

10. Unemployment Rate 5.7% nationally

Other facts from 1964

1 Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway

2. Congress passed The Civil Rights Act and the 24th amendment to the US Constitution and recognizes Bourbon as a distinctive US Product.

4. Jimmy Hoffa convicted of Jury Tampering

5. Ranger 7 sent back new pictures of the moon.

6. First year for the Mustang, GTO, Stingray, Rivera, Studebaker Avanti and 426 Hemi. Volkswagon startled the industry with an even larger rear window in the Bug.

7. The USS Maddox was attacked in the Gulf of Tomkin and the Carriers USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation launched attacks against North Vietnam.

8. Plans were released for the proposed World Trade Centers in New York, New York.

I would turn 14 years old in 1964 and foolishly believed that this was the American Standard. Things began to change in 1973. America evidently was outta gas. The Arabs formed OPEC which means they charge as much as the markets will bear for gasoline. Careful not to kill the market but, forcing out other fuels in the economic sweet spot. We were addicts to gasoline. Some Americans became wealthy dealing in foreign Crude Markets. Wealthy at the expense of everyone else. Much the same as Banksters operate today. Bank in 1964 could only operate in one county due to regulations. There wasn't any intrastate banking in America. 2big2fail was not permitted. The Depression Generation was still alive and Banks were regulated in memory of the painful dirty thirties. The boomer generation was warned over and over how lucky we are.

Consumers purchased small economy cars in the 70's. Cars made in Japan were in strong demand and the American Automobile was in jeopardy. Factories began closing, first layoffs then shuttered. In the Eighties Reagan deregulated the Banks and AT&T and Western Electric closed. Western Electric and Chrysler Plant are now cut into small pieces rented as warehouse space. Steel Mills were imploded to eliminate property taxes. The Rust Belt was born.

Many people migrated South to Florida. Florida was booming in Condo Construction and Projects like Disney World. Orlando became a boom town.

President John Kennedy was killed in November of 1963. He is remembered for many challenges. He challenged us to put a man on the moon in ten years. He said all of man's problems were man made and therefore could be fixed by man.

Everything that was here in America in 1964 is still here. Many of the factories are a mere turn key from operations again. Americans haven't been beaten, we gave up. We chose to take advantage of cheap foreign labor markets that thrive in governments without workers rights or environmental standards.

Capitalism markets lumber with the costs of cutting the trees and sawing into boards. It does not consider the cost of replacing the trees. As trees are felled the remaining trees escalate in value. Vast wastelands appear from the missing trees. Soil erosion is not their problems.

When America created the Rust Belt we witnessed the immediate effect of lost jobs. We did not see the long term effects coming.

What we lost in the exchange is decay of society. Little Leagues are replaced with strip clubs. Jobs are gone but so is the research and development plowing the fields for the next generation. Schools are not funded and Colleges become dependant upon the Government instead of the Middle Class that sent their children to Colleges. The sword has two edges and cuts both ways as foreign manufacturing begins to establish their middle classes in fierce global competition.

Families are unable to nurture their children in the estuary of the middle class. Fathers cannot support their own children and the government cannot instill family values because they refuse to Value Families.

Children in schools fail to learn not because they aren't smart enough. America is failing families who once taught their children. Schools are not sanctuary from the systems that deprive children of the nurturing that every living life needs. It's not the building or the teachers failing America, it's greed that destroying test scores in math and science. America is losing it's leadership role in the world because of the absent nurturing the middle class provided in American Graffiti