One of those "I'm Hard at Work" posts

specifically, I'm finishing up the Imperial airship saga. In the meantime, have these Life-culled images.

In 1969, student protests had moved from being against things (like the Vietnam war) to disrupting campuses and making demands. In May, Life got a smattering of comments from the students themselves - including a rather familiar face who'd just got her undergrad from Wellsley College -

Since we're on politics - 1968 was a hell of a year. Hubert Humphery was the Democratic candidate, but the Democratic party had fractured, thanks mostly to the war in Vietnam. He got the nomination at the infamous 1968 democratic convention, where even Life describes the police "rioting" against the many protesters. There were many protesters as the youth wing supported Eugene McCarthy and late-comer Bobby Kennedy - until the latter was assassinated. The democratic side was even more fractious as the segregationist George Wallace was running as a Democrat as well. A straight populist, he appealed mostly to disenfranchised whites. Against this, Richard Nixon united a 'big tent' Republican party - one that appealed to many working class people and union types - as his 'silent' majority. Nixon also cultivated the "southern strategy" - up until the Civil Rights act, racist southerners were traditionally democrats. In the wake of protecting black people's rights, as President Johnson had predicted when he signed it into law, the racists migrated to the Republicans, helped along by Nixon, who managed to appeal to them via a careful campaign of signals that never actually locked him into politically damaging positions.

Here Nixon panders to Big Mastodon

The student protest movement, that started out extremely focused, and somehow meandered into every hippie stereotype we know today, is grimly amusing to me. The end of the 1960s was the end of 20 years of prosperity for the west, and in particular for America. For a young person, rents were low, university tuition was low (to the point that you could work your way through law school by waiting tables part time), cars were cheap and easy. Insurance was cheap, as was gas, (as was, frankly, the cars themselves.)

What nobody knew at the time is that the postwar boom was nearing its end. Inflation from the Vietnam War and constantly rising wages would lead to 'stag-flation', and foreign manufacturers would begin to seriously muscle in on American markets - especially the Japanese. The United States was on the same narrative arc that Goodfellas had - though they had yet to get to Layla's piano coda.

Nissan initially sold a small car and a small pickup - and the pickup was a success immediately, without any ad campaign, even. While Japanese manufacture was not state of the art, the Datsun pickup was a tough, durable little thing. "Datsun" was the name of the car - for face-saving reasons the Datsun became the nameplate overseas until the 1980s, when the Nissan name replaced it.

In the late 1960s, Detroit was increasingly aware that the imports were more than a passing fad - none more so than AMC, who more or less specialized in markets that the imports were strongest in.

Honda had already been the subject of a Life magazine article, but only made a splash in America with the CVCC of the early 1970s. Toyota, however, was already making inroads.

The truth was that many people looking for second cars were attracted to the small Japanese offerings.

Which made a lot of sense, if you consider station wagons were still the most popular family car.

This one would clearly be named the Green Monster.

Oldsmobile occupied a very comfortable niche in the market, as purveyors of comfortable cars with excellent value for money.

The first-gen Camaro was a quick and dirty reaction to Ford's mega-hit Mustang. Ads played up the fact that it shared bits with the much more high-tone Corvette:

Consumerism - too much is never enough.

Ford was not overly concerned. Though even the Mustang was starting to suffer from Detroit obesity.

Dodge, meanwhile offered new disease vectors! (This is why they were America's #3 automaker.)

Stripes are a sign of the virus:

And most car ads promised that their car would help you score with (university girls/friends of your kid sister etc.)

Also, 'OJ Simpson endorsed' suffers what we might call the 'Cosby Effect' going forward.

Can I just say this ad was into it before it was cool?

Oh, and I'm not really mentioning it, but in spring of 1969 we were about to land on the moon.

Heublein is a long forgotten brand. They made ready mixed cocktails, a few of which are still produced today.

Yes, this is the Bahama Island Chain formed by models in bathing suits, what of it?

Hmmmm, what else do I have that's not very PC -

This image is PC, but I've shown it to other people and SA forums poster Duke Chin make a joke too good not to share:

"This feels like more of a threat than an advertisement. Like a ransom note showing up under my door.

You fly 737. First Chance You Get.

No?

I kill family."

This may be the neolithic form of what our civilization would later know as pop-tarts:

This ad is noteworthy basically because of how poorly it is done. It looks like they took a picture of some cowboys, and then turned it into a Marlboro ad by drawing a lit cigarette in a cowboy's mouth, slipped a carton of Marlboros drawn on some white paper into the scene, and called it a day.

While buying those cigarettes, remember to get some amphetamines:

You can also get both together:

I also have to pass this along. Life did an article on Ringo Starr and his movie acting:

Ringo Starr wanted to be Samwise in a Lord of the Rings Movie. My mind reels as I imagine what a LOTR movie would have looked like in 1970. I'd like to think we could get the rest of the Beatles as the Hobbits. Maybe Frodo could have been Paul McCartney? I'm imagining them walking through an alp, in robes, sometimes very stoned and smoking cigarettes. Christoper Lee famously locked down the role of Gandalf by having a gushing nerd-conversation with Mr. Tolkien himself in a pub one day, so he's in. I'm not sure if Led Zeppelin is formed yet, but I imagine we could work them in somewhere, as elves or dwarves or something. Barbra Bach as Galadriel?

Raquel Welch plays Boromir in the new Lord of the Rings Movie. Right, Ringo Starr dressed as Sam the Hobbit.

OK, back to work on Airships.