Yesterday Today

50 Amazing Vintage Photos From the 1970s Volume 9

The 1970s (pronounced “nineteen-seventies”; commonly shortened to the “Seventies” or the “’70s”) was a decade that began on January 1, 1970, and ended on December 31, 1979.

In the 21st century, historians have increasingly portrayed the 1970s as a “pivot of change” in world history, focusing especially on the economic upheavals that followed the end of the postwar economic boom. On a global scale, it was characterized by frequent coups, domestic conflicts and civil wars, and various political upheaval and armed conflicts which arose from or were related to decolonization, and the global struggle between the West, the Warsaw Pact, and the Non-Aligned Movement. Many regions had periods of high-intensity conflict, notably Southeast Asia, the Mideast, and Africa.

In the Western world, social progressive values that began in the 1960s, such as increasing political awareness and economic liberty of women, continued to grow. In the United Kingdom, the 1979 election resulted in the victory of its Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher, the first female British Prime Minister. Industrialized countries experienced an economic recession due to an oil crisis caused by oil embargoes by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries. The crisis saw the first instance of stagflation which began a political and economic trend of the replacement of Keynesian economic theory with neoliberal economic theory, with the first neoliberal governments being created in Chile, where a military coup led by Augusto Pinochet took place in 1973.

The 1970s was also an era of great technological and scientific advances; since the appearance of the first commercial microprocessor, the Intel 4004 in 1971, the decade was characterised by a profound transformation of computing units – by then rudimentary, spacious machines – into the realm of portability and home accessibility.

On the other hand, there were also great advances in fields such as physics, which saw the consolidation of Quantum Field Theory at the end of the decade, mainly thanks to the confirmation of the existence of quarks and the detection of the first gauge bosons in addition to the photon, the Z boson and the gluon, part of what was christened in 1975 as the Standard Model.

Novelist Tom Wolfe coined the term ” ‘Me’ decade” in his essay “The ‘Me’ Decade and the Third Great Awakening”, published by New York Magazine in August 1976 referring to the 1970s. The term describes a general new attitude of Americans towards atomized individualism and away from communitarianism, in clear contrast with the 1960s.

In Asia, affairs regarding the People’s Republic of China changed significantly following the recognition of the PRC by the United Nations, the death of Mao Zedong and the beginning of market liberalization by Mao’s successors. Despite facing an oil crisis due to the OPEC embargo, the economy of Japan witnessed a large boom in this period, overtaking the economy of West Germany to become the second-largest in the world. The United States withdrew its military forces from their previous involvement in the Vietnam War, which had grown enormously unpopular. In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, which led to an ongoing war for ten years.

The 1970s saw an initial increase in violence in the Middle East as Egypt and Syria declared war on Israel, but in the late 1970s, the situation in the Middle East was fundamentally altered when Egypt signed the Egyptian–Israeli Peace Treaty. Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, was instrumental in the event and consequently became extremely unpopular in the Arab world and the wider Muslim world. Political tensions in Iran exploded with the Iranian Revolution in 1979, which overthrew the Pahlavi dynasty and established an authoritarian Islamic republic under the leadership of the Ayatollah Khomeini.

Africa saw further decolonization in the decade, with Angola and Mozambique gaining their independence in 1975 from the Portuguese Empire after the restoration of democracy in Portugal. The continent was, however, plagued by endemic military coups, with the long-reigning Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie being removed, civil wars and famine.

The economies of much of the developing world continued to make steady progress in the early 1970s because of the Green Revolution. However, their economic growth was slowed by the oil crisis, although it boomed afterwards. (Wikipedia)

**Paul and Linda McCartney with their kids and pets in the garden of their London home, 1976.**

**On set of “A Clockwork Orange” (1971)**

**People’s Artist of the USSR Mikhail Nikolayevich Rumyantsev (Clown Karandash) going for a walk, 1977.**

**Grace Kelly and Alfred Hitchcock at the Film Society of Lincoln Center Gala Tribute held in his honour which took place on April 29th 1974 in New York City.**

**Here’s Karl Wallenda (founder of the Great Wallendas) walking across a 1,000 foot cable at Tallulah Gorge in Georgia, 1970.**

**Tom Waits walking on Portobello Road, 1976**

**Patti Smith and Sam Shepard at Sutter’s Bakery, New York, circa 1971.**

**Here’s Johnny…Carson’s clothing line in 1970.**

**Kids with attitudes on their bikes, in the 1970s.**

**Snowstorm hits Times Square in 1978.**

**Cher getting into her cool Ferrari Dino 246. (1975)**

**Steven Spielberg lounging in the mouth of ‘Bruce the Shark’ on the set of “Jaws” (1975)**

**A colorful Linda Ronstadt photographed in Topanga, CA (1971)**

**Jimi Hendrix looks melancholy at tea time the day before he died in 1970.**

**Jane Birkin in the recording studio, 1970s.**

**Alice Cooper and Salvador Dalí sharing a moment, 1973**

**Gene Simmons making friends with head cheerleader Melissa Codden at Cadillac High School when KISS was invited to the Homecoming game, 1975.**

**A group of boys play on the hood of a car in the Bronx in the early 1970s.**

**The original Sony Walkman, the first personal stereo tape deck, made its debut in 1979.**

**Ellen O’Neal, one of the first professional female skaters, 1976.**

**Paul McCartney and David Gilmour in the backstage at the Knebworth Music Festival, 1976.**

**A prankster changed a couple of letters of the Hollywood sign back in 1976, the same day California’s relaxed marijuana law took effect.**

**Moving an old house in Los Angeles during the 1970s.**

**West German Chancellor Willy Brandt and the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, Bonn, 19 May 1973.**

**Muhammad Ali with a young fan in a Florida diner in 1970.**

**Arnold Schwarzenegger holds Raquel Welch at the Golden Globe Awards, 1977**

**Natalie Wood roller skating in the 1970s**

**Elton John with his mother Shelia and stepfather Fred Farebrother in their apartment, 1971.**

**The Harlem Globetrotters watching Goldie Hawn show off her skills with a basketball on The Goldie Hawn Special in 1978.**

**Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine take a break on the set of “Two Mules for Sister Sara” 1970.**

**People lining up to see “Star Wars” in 1977.**

**Bill Murray and Carrie Fisher doing a 60s beach skit on SNL in 1978.**

**Led Zeppelin in front of their plane in New York, 1973.**

**A CIA helicopter carrying away evacuees during the Fall Of Saigon to the communist forces (1975).**

**Bill Murray at Elvis Presley’s funeral – 1977**

**1977: Debbie Harry of Blondie at The Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles, California.**

“I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make other people happy, because they know what it’s like to feel absolutely worthless, and they don’t want anyone else to feel like that.” – Robin Williams (1951-2014) . Photo by Daniel Sorine in 1974

In the 1912 Olympics, Jim Thorpe, a Native American, Won Two Gold Medals With Shoes Someone Had Thrown in the Trash

This is Jim Thorpe (May 22 or 28, 1887 – March 28, 1953). He was the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States in the Olympics. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won two Olympic gold medals in the 1912 Summer Olympics.

**Jim Thorpe won two medals wearing different shoes and socks in the 1912 Olympics.**

Look closely at the photo, you can see that he’s wearing different socks and shoes. This wasn’t a fashion statement. It was the 1912 Olympics, and Jim, an American Indian from Oklahoma represented the U.S. in track and field. On the morning of his competitions, his shoes were stolen. Luckily, Jim ended up finding two shoes in a garbage can. That’s the pair that he’s wearing in the photo above. But one of the shoes was too big, so he had to wear an extra sock. Wearing these shoes, Jim won two gold medals that day.

He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he had been paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the contemporary amateurism rules. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals with replicas, after ruling that the decision to strip him of his medals fell outside of the required 30 days. Thorpe is to date listed as co-champion in both the decathlon and pentathlon events according to official IOC records.

**Thorpe with the Canton Bulldogs, ca. 1915–1920.**

Thorpe grew up in the Sac and Fox Nation in Indian Territory (what is now Oklahoma). As a youth, he attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he was a two-time All-American for the school’s football team under coach Pop Warner. After his Olympic success in 1912, which included a record score in the decathlon, he added a victory in the All-Around Championship of the Amateur Athletic Union.

In 1913, Thorpe signed with the New York Giants, and he played six seasons in Major League Baseball between 1913 and 1919. Thorpe joined the Canton Bulldogs American football team in 1915, helping them win three professional championships. He later played for six teams in the National Football League (NFL). He played as part of several all-American Indian teams throughout his career, and barnstormed as a professional basketball player with a team composed entirely of American Indians.

From 1920 to 1921, Thorpe was nominally the first president of the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which became the NFL in 1922. He played professional sports until age 41, the end of his sports career coinciding with the start of the Great Depression. He struggled to earn a living after that, working several odd jobs. He suffered from alcoholism, and lived his last years in failing health and poverty. He was married three times and had eight children, before suffering from heart failure and dying in 1953.

Candid Snaps of Jim Morrison Hanging Out With Friends in Paris, Just a Few Short Weeks Before He Died

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James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredictable and erratic performances, and the dramatic circumstances surrounding his life and early death, Morrison is regarded by music critics and fans as one of the most influential frontmen in rock history. Since his death, his fame has endured as one of popular culture’s top rebellious and oft-displayed icons, representing the generation gap and youth counterculture.

Together with pianist Ray Manzarek, Morrison founded the Doors in 1965 in Venice, California. The group spent two years in obscurity until shooting to prominence with their number-one single in the United States, “Light My Fire”, taken from their self-titled debut album. Morrison recorded a total of six studio albums with the Doors, all of which sold well and received critical acclaim. Morrison was well known for improvising spoken word poetry passages while the band played live. Manzarek said Morrison “embodied hippie counterculture rebellion”.

Morrison developed an alcohol dependency throughout the band’s career, which at times affected his performances on stage. In 1971, Morrison died unexpectedly in Paris at the age of 27, amid conflicting witness reports. His premature death is often linked with the 27 club. Since no autopsy was performed, the cause of Morrison’s death remains disputed.

Although the Doors recorded two more albums after Morrison died, his death severely affected the band’s fortunes, and they split up two years later. In 2011, a Rolling Stone readers’ pick placed Jim Morrison in fifth position on the magazine’s “Best Lead Singers of All Time”, and in another Rolling Stone list of “The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time”, he was ranked 47th. He was also ranked the 22nd greatest singer in rock by Classic Rock Magazine. In 1993, Morrison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the other Doors members. (Wikipedia)

These photos were taken by Hervé Muller at the Bar “Alexander” in Paris in May 1971. In these candid snaps you can see how Jim is in a good mood, eating and drinking with friends in Paris, jokes and tells of his personal projects, he also makes faces at the camera. None of them could ever think that a little later, Jim would be died in his apartment in Paris on July 3, 1971.

Jim Morrison was reportedly found by his girl-friend Pamela Courson in the bathtub of the apartment. The official cause of death was listed as heart failure, although no autopsy was performed, as it was not required by French law. It has also been reported, by several individuals who say they were eyewitnesses, that his death was due to an accidental heroin overdose.

His death came two years to the day after the death of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones and approximately nine months after the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin — all of whom died at the age of 27. Three years after his death, Courson also died at the age of 27.

Irene Dunne: One of the Best Actresses Never to Win an Oscar

Irene Dunne DHS (born Irene Marie Dunn; December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she performed in films of other genres.

After her father died when she was 14, Dunne’s family relocated from Kentucky to Indiana. She became determined to become an opera singer, but when she was rejected by The Met, she performed in musicals on Broadway until she was scouted by RKO and made her Hollywood film debut in the musical Leathernecking (1930). She later starred in the successful musical Show Boat (1936). Overall, she starred in 42 movies and was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress—for her performances in the western drama Cimarron (1931), the screwball comedies Theodora Goes Wild (1936) and The Awful Truth (1937), the romance Love Affair (1939), and the drama I Remember Mama (1948). Dunne is considered one of the finest actresses never to have won an Academy Award. Some critics feel that her performances have been underappreciated and largely forgotten, overshadowed by movie remakes and her better-known co-stars.

After the success of The Awful Truth, she was paired with Cary Grant, her co-star in that movie, two further times; in another screwball comedy, My Favorite Wife (1940), and in the melodrama Penny Serenade (1941). She has been praised by many during her career, and after her death, as one of the best comedic actresses in the screwball genre. The popularity of Love Affair also led to two additional movies with her co-star of that film, Charles Boyer; those were When Tomorrow Comes (1939) and Together Again (1944). Her last film role was in 1952 but she starred in and hosted numerous television anthology episodes until 1962 after having done numerous radio performances from the late 1930s until the early 1950s. She starred in 42 movies and in popular anthology television, and made guest appearances on radio until 1962; she was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress—for her performances in Cimarron (1931), Theodora Goes Wild (1936), The Awful Truth (1937), Love Affair (1939), and I Remember Mama (1948)—and was one of the top 25 highest-paid actors of her time.

Some critics feel that her performances have been underappreciated and largely forgotten, overshadowed by movie remakes and her better-known co-stars. Dunne once fled across the Atlantic Ocean to avoid starring in a comedy, but she has been praised by many during her career, and after her death, as one of the best comedic actresses in the screwball genre. She was nicknamed “The First Lady of Hollywood” for her regal manner despite being proud of her Irish-American, country-girl roots.

Dunne devoted her retirement to philanthropy and was chosen by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a delegate for the United States to the United Nations, in which she advocated for world peace and highlighted refugee-relief programs. She also used the time to be with her family—her husband, dentist Dr. Francis Griffin, and their daughter Mary Frances, whom they adopted in 1938. She received numerous awards for her philanthropy, including honorary doctorates, a Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame, and a papal knighthood—Dame of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1985, she was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor for her services to the arts. (Wikipedia)

Dunne died at the age of 91 in her Holmby Hills home in 1990. Take a look at these beautiful photos to see portraits of a young Irene Dunne.

33 Vintage Snapshots Capture Everyday Life in Ireland in the 1960s

The sixties was known as a period when social, cultural and political changes were increasingly challenged around the world. Ireland, with a long history of emigration, a great rural base and a protected economy, however, rarely had any chance to experience the economic miracles occurred in many other post-war societies.

Things shifted in the early sixties nonetheless, when the governments began to pay particular attention to economic growth and planning, thus paving the way for a national project including opening up the economy, courting foreign capital and applying for membership of the European Economic Community.

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George’s Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.

Geopolitically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. In 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.6 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. As of 2016, 4.8 million lived in the Republic of Ireland, and 1.8 million in Northern Ireland.

The geography of Ireland comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. Its lush vegetation is a product of its mild but changeable climate which is free of extremes in temperature. Much of Ireland was woodland until the end of the Middle Ages. Today, woodland makes up about 10% of the island, compared with a European average of over 33%, and most of it is non-native conifer plantations. There are twenty-six extant land mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and thus very moderate,[13] and winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, although summers are cooler than those in continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant.

Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century AD. The island was Christianised from the 5th century onwards. Following the 12th century Anglo-Norman invasion, England claimed sovereignty. However, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, and was extended during the 18th century. With the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. A war of independence in the early 20th century was followed by the partition of the island, thus creating the Irish Free State, which became increasingly sovereign over the following decades, and Northern Ireland, which remained a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s. This subsided following the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. In 1973, the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland, as part of it, did the same. In 2020, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland included, left what was by then the European Union (EU).

Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the field of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, a strong indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music, Irish language, and Irish dance. The island’s culture shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing, golf, and boxing. (Wikipedia)

From Dublin to Kildare and Galway, these terrific vintage snapshots transport us back to a vibrant Ireland in the 1960s. More amazing collections could be found at the National Library of Ireland.

**A fishing trawler returning to Skerries, Co. Dublin with a full catch, circa 1960.**

**A man taking a breather in the Signal Cabin, Albert Quay in Cork city, 1961.**

**Two men at a pub in Moyvalley, Co. Kildare, 1961.**

**Theatre Royal on Hawkins Street in Dublin, 1962.**

**Group of men, Corpus Christi procession, Cahir, Co. Tipperary, 1963.**

**Garda directing traffic, O’Connell Bridge, Dublin, 1963.**

**A ‘Butterfly Nun’ in her cornette on Parnell Street, Dublin, 1964.**

**River Liffey at Upper Ormond Quay, Dublin, 1964.**

**Taxi driver at the rank on O’Connell Street beside the Sacred Heart Shrine, Dublin, 1964.**

**Protest against evictions from tenement buildings on York Street in Dublin, 1964.**

**American model Linda Ward (later O’Reilly) and two local boys on Winetavern Street, Dublin, 1960s.**

**A half-demolished Nelson’s Pillar on O’Connell Street, Dublin, 1960s.**

**An Evening Press newspaper seller does a brisk trade on O’Connell Street, Dublin, 1966.**

**Holy Communion girls led by a nun pass no. 3, Halston Street, Dublin on the feast of Corpus Christi, 1969.**

**Heuston Station (previously Kingsbridge), Dublin, 1969.**

**Urinal on Ormond Quay, Dublin featuring a poster ad for the News of the World, 1969.**

**The Easter Rising memorial Arbour Hill, Dublin, 1966.**

**Outside the National Bank, Dublin, 1969.**

**St. Catherine’s Church on Thomas Street in Dublin, 1969.**

**Pigeon House Road, Ringsend, Dublin, 1969.**

Take a Look Inside a 1970s Airstream Travel Trailer

In 1931, Airstream began with Wally Byam’s dream: to build a travel trailer that would move like a stream of air, be light enough to be towed by a car, and create first-class accommodation anywhere. Every inch of an Airstream has a function. Airstream is the most thoroughly tested brand in trailer history. Its engineering is the culmination of over 80 years’ experience plus millions of miles on roads throughout the world.

With a recession and a gas crisis, the 1970s weren’t a great decade for the auto industry as a whole, let alone travel trailers and Airstream. Driving for fun wasn’t on the table for many people. And that brought change to Airstream. For the first time in the company’s history, it left California – and for good. New products were introduced, unlike anything Airstream had done before. But even in a time of flux, with change everywhere, what remained was undeniably Airstream.

As a recession and the Middle East gas crisis hit American drivers hard in the late 1970s, it did the same to Airstream. With the expansion of the Jackson Center facility and a need to consolidate, Airstream finally made the move east complete. The California plant was closed in 1978, and all manufacturing and executive operations would move to the Ohio complex – where they remain today.

19th Century Rock Stars: Early Photos of the Hutchinson Family Singers From the 1840s

The Hutchinson Family Singers took 19th-century America by storm. Their fame rivaled and even outshone the stars of today. Through their performances in front of interracial audiences, they also changed hearts and minds about some of the big political issues of the day, like slavery and womens’ rights. They are considered by many to be the first uniquely American popular music performers.

The group formed in the wake of a string of successful tours by Austrian singing groups such as the Tyrolese Minstrels and when American newspapers were demanding the cultivation of native talent. John Hutchinson orchestrated the group’s formation with his brothers Asa, Jesse, and Judson Hutchinson in 1840; the eleven sons and two daughters gave their first performance on November 6 of that same year. The popularization of group singing in America arguably began with them. Jesse Hutchinson quit the main group to write songs and manage their affairs; he was replaced by sister Abby Hutchinson.

The Hutchinsons were a hit with both audiences and critics, and they toured the United States. They popularized four-part close harmony. The group’s material included controversial material promoting abolitionism, workers’ rights, temperance, and women’s rights, all stances popularized by the Second Great Awakening.

After the Hutchinson Family Singers’ first New York City concert on May 13, 1843, the New York Tribune wrote: “The Hutchinson family gave a concert on Saturday evening and acquitted themselves quite well. They . . . know how to make music, decidedly, though some of their songs are not well chosen either to gratify the audience or exhibit their peculiar powers. We wish they would take care to favor the unscientific public with the words of their songs distinctly. Russell does so, and it is to thousands one of the best points of his singing.”

35 Amazing Vintage Photographs Show How Parisian Women’s Fashion Looked Like Back in the 1910s

Paris is one of the fashion capitals of the world, and since forever a home of the most inspiring and exciting fashion style.

The Longchamp racecourse is situated in the Bois de Boulogne on the banks of the Seine River, in Paris, France. The first Longchamp race meeting was held in 1857. With the first real fashion shows organized in the 1910s, the new century hailed Paris as the fashion capital of the world. And couturiers routinely sent models wearing their latest designs to the racecourse.

As women were enjoying more social freedom, corsets – metaphorically and literally restricting – were changing in function from shaping the body to supporting it. And following the 1910 performance of “Scheherazade” by the Ballets Russes in Paris, a fashion mania for oriental styles was born.

Designs became asymmetrical. Preferred fabrics were satin, taffeta, chiffon and lightweight silks and cottons for the summer. Hemlines gradually rose and the female silhouette became straighter and flatter. The Art Nouveau movement influenced designers such as Paul Poiret, Jeanne Paquin, Jacques Doucet and Mariano Fortuny, who created loose and flowing styles.

Horse Found in a Tree After Storm in Louisville, Kentucky in 1937

When you hear about Louisville’s Great Flood, people are talking about the devastating flood of 1937. It rained almost every day that January — nearly 20 inches — putting 70 percent of the city under water. It was the widest and most destructive flood in U.S history at the time.

The photo here shows the aftermath of the flooding – a dead horse lodged high in trees due to flood waters:

More than 150 cities along the Ohio River — then unprotected by levees or floodwalls —were inundated, driving hundreds of thousands from their homes. Hundreds of people died. From Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, the damage amounted to $8.7 billion in today’s money.

Louisville was the hardest hit, with more than half the population of 308,245 evacuated. Nearly 50,000 homes were flooded, as were 250 of the city’s 350 churches. In today’s money, the damage total was $1.7 billion.

The Great Flood of 1937 sets the record for the highest the Ohio River has ever hit. On January 27, 1937, the water levels reached 52.15 feet at the upper gauge, where flood stage starts at 23 feet. At the lower gauge, it was 85.44 feet, where the flood stage begins at 55 feet.

30 Amazing Color Photographs That Capture Daily Life in Hong Kong in the 1960s

1960s in Hong Kong continued with the development and expansion of manufacturing that began in the previous decade. The economic progress made in the period would categorize Hong Kong as one of Four Asian Tigers along with Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Hong Kong’s population in the 1960s is estimated at 3 million. Half of the population was under the age of 25 and the group became Hong Kong’s baby boom generation. The surge of refugees continued to come in from China.

The past generations of Chinese families were deeply rooted in family affairs. The long hours in the factories would break apart that traditional structure when most people spend far more time working in factories than at home. But people lived under a strong willingness to bear sufferings. This was slightly compensated by their close relationship within the community, and cheerful talks in their spare times. Work places mainly served as educational hubs or the “second home.” Women also joined the work force in larger numbers, becoming working daughters or working mothers.

The construction business would also continue to increase along with the demand of highways, buildings, tunnels, and reservoirs. In 1962, the director of public works questioned where to go after the development of Kwai Chung and Tsuen Wan. The construction expansion went west to Tuen Mun and north to Sha Tin. The first post-World War II documentation to provide detailed information about the territory came in 1969 in a guide titled the “Colony Outline Plan.” It was the first paperwork to outline strategies to house a million people with low-cost public housing, along with defining tight regulations and guidelines on how to construct among the high density population.

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