America in the 70s

[CountDeMoney]

It strikes me as insane that we used to dispose of old car batteries by setting them on fire.

Just imagine how our economy could perform if we still did.  Silly EPA.

[Ed Anger]

Set a river on fire.

[Caliga]

Set a river on fire.

Cleveland already tried that.  It worked, believe it or not!

[Ed Anger]

Set a river on fire.

Cleveland already tried that.  It worked, believe it or not!

We do things awesome in the Buckeye state.

[Caliga]

You're good at making sandwiches, I can tell you that much.

[Syt]

Pacific Northwest

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/07/america-in-the-1970s-the-pacific-northwest/100561/

[KRonn]

KRonn or gumbler, did these cars really look cool back then, or did they always give off this "piece of sloppy shit" vibe?

Some of them were cool, like the muscle cars. GTO (I had one), Firebird, Mustang, Camaro, Charger, Chevy Trans Am and more. Real classics and look great today IMO. Many of today's cars look poor in comparison to those. But some of the others from back then look so lame, sloppy, like you say. I think even then they were but we didn't have anything to compare them to.

Big cars in the big city have a habit of getting big dents.

I saw an old Pontiac Bonneville today, from the 60s or 70s. Looked so big. I was also behind an older Plymouth Colt, probably something from the 80s or maybe even earlier. That reminded me of the lousy cars that US auto companies made when it came to the first econo-box type cars. Japanese cars weren't much better at first but after a while they sure seemed to surge past the US brands in being much better cars.

[sbr]

Was the gas shortage confined to, or worse, in the northwest than elsewhere?  I vaguely remember it, like the different colored flags hanging outside the gas stations showing whether they had fuel or not, but I was still young enough that I didn't really know what was going on.

[CountDeMoney]

I was also behind an older Plymouth Colt, probably something from the 80s or maybe even earlier.

  I remember those from my Jiffy Lube days;  what a piece of shit they were.

[KRonn]

Was the gas shortage confined to, or worse, in the northwest than elsewhere?  I vaguely remember it, like the different colored flags hanging outside the gas stations showing whether they had fuel or not, but I was still young enough that I didn't really know what was going on.

The gas shortage in the North East seemed the same. I think I remember having to get gas on odd/even days depending on the first or last number on your license plate. Gas lines, people driving around just to top off their gas tanks but doing that was much discouraged. Rumors of gas tankers waiting off shore to unload, adding to conspiracy theories about the government or oil companies manipulating the shortage.

[Admiral Yi]

Rumors of gas tankers waiting off shore to unload, adding to conspiracy theories about the government or oil companies manipulating the shortage.

Not really a conspiracy theory.  Withholding gas from the market was a natural reaction to Carter's windfall profits tax, which tried to protect consumers by holding down the price of gas that was already being drilled before the Arab embargo but allowing it to rise for newly drilled oil.  Producers figured, correctly, that the windfall profits tax wouldn't last forever and they would come out ahead if they waited it out.

[citizen k]

Pacific Northwest

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/07/america-in-the-1970s-the-pacific-northwest/100561/

That's a photo of Spokane preparing for the World Expo in 78 or so.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Looks pretty dismal.

[Ed Anger]

Needs more wood paneling and shag carpets.

[DGuller]

Pacific Northwest

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/07/america-in-the-1970s-the-pacific-northwest/100561/

That's a photo of Spokane preparing for the World Expo in 78 or so.

Preparing?  Looks good to go.