1974 Fun Facts, History and Trivia

Cost of Living 1974 - How Much things cost

Yearly Inflation Rate USA 11.3%

Yearly Inflation Rate UK 17.2%

Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 616

Average Cost of new house $34,900.00

Average Income per year $13,900.00

Average Monthly Rent $185.00

Cost of a gallon of Gas 0.42

Buick Station Wagon$4,371

A Dozen Eggs 45 cents

A few More Examples

Ford Galaxie 500 $3,883

Tomatoes 19 cents per pound

Boneless Hams $2.29 per pound

Portable TV $264.88

Dozen Medium Eggs 28 cents

Cassette Recorder $49.95

Combo Toaster and Mini-Oven $24.99

Men's shirt From $12.99

Country ranch 10 acres 3 bedroom large barn fruit and oak trees --- Vallejo --- California $59,200

• The Odd Movie Premiere: The world premiere of Blazing Saddles took place at the Pickwick Drive-In theater in Burbank, CA where 200 guests watched the film on horseback.
• The Top Song was The Way We Were by Barbra Streisand
• Influential Songs include: Rebel Rebel by David Bowie, Cat’s In The Cradle – Harry Chapin, Seasons In The Sun by Terry Jacks, Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield and Piano Man by Billy Joel
• Political Pop Hit Recording: The Americans (A Canadian’s Opinion) by Gordon Sinclaire
• The Movies to Watch include The Godfather Part II, Benji, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and Earthquake
• The Most Famous Person in America was probably Billie Jean King
• Notable books include: The Bermuda Triangle by Charles Berlitz and Jaws by Peter Benchley and Carrie by Stephen King
• In 1974 Mr. Rosendo Cruz had his nearly-new Ferrari Dino 246 GTS stolen. After that, it was buried by the thieves in a Los Angeles backyard. In 1978 the supercar was found by kids digging in the garden, and then dug up by the LAPD. The car was restored afterwards.
• Pepsi Cola six pack of 12 oz cans: 88 cents
  Minimum Wage in 1974: $2.00 per hour
• New York Telephone Company’s Dial-a-Joke Guy: Henny Youngman
• The Funny Late Night Host: Johnny Carson
  The Funny Lady was: Carol Burnett
• Hello Kitty was introduced in Japan (1976 in the US).
• The Conversation: 1974’s The Unsuccessful self-treatment of a Case of Writer’s Block by Dennis Upper is the shortest academic article ever. It has no words.

Top Ten Baby Names of 1974:

Jennifer, Amy, Michelle, Heather, Angela, Michael, Jason, Chris, Topher, David, James

The Sex Symbols, Hotties and Fashion Icons:

Adrienne Barbeau, Barbi Benton, Dyan Cannon, Veronica Carlson, Angie Dickinson, Britt Ekland, Pam Grier, Beverly Johnson, Caroline Munro, Diana Ross, Ann Simonton, Jane Seymour, Mary Woronov

Hollywood Hunks, Leading Men and Sex Symbols:

Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds

“The Quotes:”

“You won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore”
– resigning President Richard Nixon

“And now for something completely different”
– Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969 in the U.K., imported to the US via Public Television in 1974)

” Tastes great, less filling”
– Miller Lite

“Dy-No-Mite”
J.J. Walker on Good Times

“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”
– Al Pacino, in ‘The Godfather Part II”

“Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown.”
– Joe Mantell, in ‘Chinatown’

Time Magazine’s Man of the Year:

King Faisal

Miss America:

Rebecca King (Denver, CO)

Miss USA:

Karen Morrison (Illinois)

Famous Births:

Christian Bale

Leonardo DiCaprio

Penelope Cruz

Amy Adams

Joaquin Phoenix

Alanis Morrissette

Eva Mendes

Seth Green

Victoria Beckham

Jimmy Fallon

Elizabeth Banks

Kate Moss

Derek Jeter

Ryan Seacrest

Hillary Swank

Ed Helms

Famous Deaths:

Jack Benney

Bud Abbott

Cass Elliot

Tex Ritter

Walter Brennan

Agnes Moorehead

Ed Sullivan

Samuel Goldwyn

Duke Ellington

Earl Warren

Edward Platt

Charles Lindbergh

Frank Sutton

Edward G. Robinson

The Scandals & Sad News:

Patty Hearst, heiress to the Hearst Newspaper group, was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, later joining the group in a bank heist.

While David Niven was at the Oscars podium, live on national television, a streaker (Robert Opal) ran by. David quipped “Isn’t it fascinating to think that the only laugh that man will ever get is for stripping and showing his shortcomings?”

Mikhail Baryshnikov defected the the USA, leaving the Soviet Union’s Bolshoi Ballet behind him.

US Politics:

August 9, 1974 (Friday) Inauguration of Gerald Ford

Pop Culture News:

The post-it note is invented by Arthur Fry. It became widely used and available in 1980.

21-year-old Michael Kittredge opened his Yankee Candle factory.

First intentional interstellar radio message sent, from the Arecibo telescope towards M41, a cluster of stars some 25,000 light years away.

Liposuction invented by Giorgio Fischer in Rome, Italy.

After several decades of deciding how to do it, in June, the first U.P.C. scanner was installed at a Marsh’s supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The first product to have a bar code included was a packet of Wrigley’s Gum.

The national speed limit was lowered to 55 miles per hour.

Cost of a Superbowl ad in 1974: $103,000

Doomsday Clock:

9 minutes to midnight, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
1974: “South Asia gets the Bomb, as India tests its first nuclear device. And any gains in previous arms control agreements seem like a mirage. The United States and Soviet Union appear to be modernizing their nuclear forces, not reducing them. Thanks to the deployment of multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV), both countries can now load their intercontinental ballistic missiles with more nuclear warheads than before.”

The Habits:

CB Radio, Kung Fu Fighting, watching All In The Family on CBS, reading Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying

1st appearances & 1974’s Most Popular Christmas gifts, toys and presents: Connect Four, G.I. Joe with KUNG FU GRIP, Magna Doodle

Osar Winners:

Best Movie: The Sting

Best Actor: Jack Lemmon - Save the Tiger

Best Supporting Actor: John Houseman - The Paper Chase

Best Actress: Glenda Glass - A Touch of Class

Best Supporting Actress: Tatum O'neal - Paper Moon

Best Director: George Roy Hill - The Sting

Cinematography: Sven Nykvist - Cries and Whispers

Costume Design: Edith Head - The Sting

Art Direction: Henry Bumstead - The Sting

Film Editing: William Reynolds - The Sting

Music, Original Score: Marvin Hamlisch - The Sting

Popular and Notable Books From 1974:

All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward

The Bermuda Triangle by Charles Berlitz

Burr by Gore Vidal

Carrie by Stephen King

Centennial by James A. Michener

The Dispossessed by Urslua K. Le Guin

The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth

The Fan Club by Irving Wallace

Jaws by Peter Benchley

I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven

The Pirate by Harold Robbins

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution by Nicholas Meyer

Something Happened by Joseph Heller

There’s a Wocket in My Pocket! by Dr. Seuss

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

Broadway Show 

The Magic Show (Musical) Opened on May 28, 1974 and Closed: December 31, 1978

Broadway Show 

Equus (Play) Opened on October 24, 1974 and Closed: October 2, 1977

1974 Most Popular TV shows:

1. All in the Family (CBS)

2. Sanford and Son (NBC)

3. Chico and the Man (NBC)

4. The Jeffersons (CBS)

5. M*A*S*H (CBS)

6. Rhoda (CBS)

7. Good Times (CBS)

8. The Waltons (CBS)

9. Maude (CBS)

10. Hawaii Five-O (CBS)

1974 Billboard Number One Songs:

Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle

Steve Miller Band - The Joker

Al Wilson - Show and Tell 

Ringo Star - Your'e Sixteen 

Barbra Streisand - The Way We Were

Love Unlimited Orchestra - Love's Theme

Terry Jacks - Seasons in the Sun

Cher - Dark Lady

John Denver - Sunshine On My Shoulders

Blue Swede - Hooked On A Feeling

Elton John - Bennie And The Jets

MFSB featuring The Three DegreesTSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)

Grand Funk Railroad - The Loco-Motion

Ray Stevens - The Streak

Paul McCartney & Wings - Band On The Run

Paper Lace - Billy, Don’t Be A Hero

Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown

The Hues Corporation - Rock the Boat

George McCrae - Rock Your Baby

John Denver - Annie’s Song

Reberta Flack - Feel Like Makin’ Love

Paper Lace - The Night Chicago Died

Paul Anka & Odia Coates - (You’re) Having My Baby

Eric Clapton - I Shot The Sherif

Barry White - Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe

Andy Kim - Rock Me Gently

Olivia Newton-John - I Honestly Love You

Billy Preston - Nothing From Nothing

Dionne Warwick & The Spinners - Then Came You

Bachman-Turner Overdrive - You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet

John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band - Whatever Gets You Thru The Night

Billy Swan - I Can Help

Carl Douglas - Kung Fu Fighting

Harry Chapin - Cat’s In The Cradle

Helen Reddy - Angie Baby

1974 Billboard Top Albums:

John Denver - Poems, Prayers & Promises

Bloodstone - Unreal

James Brown - The Payback

Mundell Lowe - Billy Jack

James Gang - Bang

Billy Joel - Piano Man

Burt Bacharach - Living Together

Tom Jones  - Greatest Hits

Rod Stewart - Faces

David Essez - Rock On

Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters

Alvin Lee & Mylon LeFevre - On the Road to Freedom

Kool and the Gang - Kool Jaz

REO Speedwagon - Ridin' the Storm Out

The Guess Who - The Best of The Guess Who, Volume II

MSFB - Love is the Message

Creative Source - Creative Source

Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Bachman Turner Overdrive II

Buddy Miles Express - Booger Bar

Freddie Hubbard - Keep Your Soul Together

Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Graham Nash - Wild Tales

Various Artists - Godspell

Van Morrison - T.B. Sheets

Tom T. Hall - For the People in the Last Hard Town

Mavrin Hamlisch - The Sting

Lamont Dozier - Out Here on My Own

Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans

Carly Simon - Hotcakes

Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown

Foghat - Energized

Elvis Presley - Elvis: A Legendary Performer, Vol 1

Leo Kottke - Ice Water

Linda Ronstadt - Different Drum

Donovan - Essence

Grammy Winners:

Record of the Year: Olivia Newton-John - I Honestly Love you

Album of the Year: Stevie Wonder - Fulfillingness First Finale

Song of the Year: Barbra Streisand - The Way We Were

Best New Artist: Marvin Hamlisch

Best Instrumental Arrangement: Pat Williams - Threshold

Best Pop Vocal, Female: Olivia Newton-John - I Honestly Love You

Best Pop Vocal, Male: Stevie Wonder - Fulfillingness First Female

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Group: Paul McCartney & Wings - Band on the Run

Best Pop Instrumental Performance: Marvin Hamlisch - The Entertainer

Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female: Aretha Franklin - Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing

Best R&B Performance, Male: Stevie Wonder - Boogie On Raggae Woman

Best Rythm & Blues Song: Stevie Wonder - Living For The City

Best Country Vocal Performance, Female: Anne Murray - Love Song

Best Country Vocal Performance, Male: Ronnie Milsap - Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends

Sports:

World Series Champions: Oakland Athletics

Superbowl VIII Champions: Miami Dolphins

NBA Champions: Boston Celtics

Stanley Cup Champs: Philadelphia Flyers

U.S. Open Golf Champion: Hale Irwin

PGA Champion: Lee Trevino

British Open Champion: Gary Player

The Masters Champion: Gary Player

U.S. Tennis: (Men/Ladies) Jimmy Connors/Billie Jean King

Wimbledon: (Men/Women): Jimmy Connors/Chris Evert

NCAA Football Champions: Oklahoma & USC

NCAA Basketball Champions: North Carolina State

Kentucky Derby: Cannonade

World Cup (Soccer): West Germany