Then and Now

The assignment for this quest, we are supposed to interview a person who is at least 10 years older than what we are and have them identify five different examples of popular culture that were popular when they were growing up. Then we are asked to also choose five examples of popular culture which are popular in our lives or today’s society. For this Quest, I interviewed my father who was born in 1959.

(Then)

 The first example of popular culture which my father chose was when he was growing up how the standard radio receiver in the average American family’s personal vehicle only hosted AM (Amplitude Modulation) Broadcasting. He talked about how the quality of the AM radio stations were often full of interference and static much like they are today on a radio. He also said that when a person would drive their AM only equipped vehicle under a wide bridge or through a long tunnel, how the radio would frequently lose signal causing the stations to only be heard poorly if heard at all. My father explained to me how excited he remembers being when his parents purchased their first vehicle which was equipped with FM (Frequency Modulation) Broadcasting radio.  

(Now)

Today, not only are all new automobiles equipped with both FM/AM radio but a majority of the vehicles manufactured in the past couple of years come equipped either with Satellite radio being standard in the vehicle or the vehicle being pre-wired to accept Satellite radio through its receivers. At the current time, a customer has to subscribe to receive Satellite radio signal in their personal vehicle and pay either monthly, annually or a once lifetime fee to the Satellite radio provider. I believe that Satellite radio will eventually become the standard and possibly the only type of radio signal vehicles come equipped with because of the clarity of the Satellite radio frequencies and because of the option of the consumer being able to listen to his or her favorite Satellite radio station any place they travel to unlike AM or FM broadcasting. 

(Then)

The next subject which my father spoke of was the popularity of 8-Track players inside of vehicles from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s. The 8-Track quickly became a popular music playing device not only in people’s vehicles but also in people’s homes, replacing the vinyl record which was so widely used and popular prior to the invention of the 8-Track tape. But, like the AM Broadcasting radio which I wrote about above, after the invention of the music cassette tape, the 8-Track tape quickly died off. The 8-Track tape was very limited in its capabilities compared to the cassette tape which became popular in the 1980s. For instance, the 8-Track could only hold on average, four-10 minute songs compared to the cassette tape being able to typically hold between 30 to 45 minutes of music on each of its two sides of tape. Also, the 8-Track tape had problems with coming loose and being “eaten” by the 8-Track player.

(Now)

During my childhood years of growing up in the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, I can remember the popularity of the music cassette tape. By the time that I was old enough in the late 1980s to understand in great detail, the popularity and details of the cassette tape, the “in thing” was for the youth population to own a portable cassette player or a “Boombox” which a person could also carry around with them and listen to their cassette tapes. Then in the mid-1990s, I can remember as a teenager, the CD (Compact Disc) becoming the popular music listening device. The CD quickly took over the popularity of the cassette tape much like the cassette tape took over the popularity of the 8-Track some 10-15 years earlier.

 

(Then)

The third topic my father spoke of was how when he was a child growing up, how he can remember the lack of safety devices which came standard in automobiles. My father talked about how he could remember as a child, not having seatbelts inside of his parents’ vehicle and how most vehicles also did not come standard with outside mirrors or reverse lights. At the time when my father was growing up as a youth in society, Airbag safety devices in vehicles were also completely unheard of.

 

(Now)

Now days, Seatbelts (although they may not be used as much as what they should be), Airbag safety devices, rearview mirrors, reverse lights and other safety devices are the bare minimum safety equipment which is mandatory for automobile makers to make standard in every vehicle which is sold to the consumer. Automobile safety features have become such a popular and required feature to modern vehicles that automobile manufactures seem to be in competition with each other constantly to be the make their vehicles the first on the market to have a new safety device such as the back-up video monitor so the driver can visually see objects behind the vehicle when in the reverse gear more clearly than using only rear view mirrors or turning one’s head to attempt to look behind the vehicle. Manufactures also compete to release the greatest amount of vehicles each year which rate at the top of the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) picks for vehicles released to the general public.

(Then)

The fourth example which my father used for popular culture items when he was growing up in the 1970s was the clothing fashion of Polyester and plaid clothes which were popular with the American youth population. My father showed me a photograph which he has of him and my mother as high school teenagers walking along a sidewalk in the downtown district of Prescott, Arizona before prior to them moving away from the area after graduating high school. In the photo, my father is seen wearing a shirt made out of polyester.

(Now)

I am not to up to date with the current fashion scenes of today’s youth but I have heard the hype and often criticism of teenage boys wearing slim-fit-pants, also known as “Skinny Jeans” which in my opinion resemble a pant style which is often seen worn by the younger female generations. Flare style cut jeans also appear to be in style with the female population. While I was growing up as a teenager, the “big thing” in clothing fashion for the male population in the areas which I grew up in was the baggy shirt and sagging jean fad which was also known as the “Gangster Style” of clothing.

 

(Then)

The final thing which my father talked about was how when he was growing up attending elementary through high school how classrooms used 16mm (millimeter) movie reels to show educational videos to the student population.

(Now)

Although I recently returned back to college at the fairly late age of 29 years old, I have seen first-hand in the classroom setting both during my educational classes and at my 1^st grade daughter’s school, the popularity and ease of using laptop computers and Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) internet to view videos in the classroom which come directly from the internet or a downloaded video disk or program which is pre-installed on the laptop. For the most part, the use of wirelessly broadcasting videos to the classroom population provides a greater variety of available videos, higher quality and more modernly produced videos than what were available with the 16mm movie reels.