Memory Lane
“Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.” —Oscar Wilde
1920s
Dance marathons • Jazz age • Al Capone • Will Rogers • Insulin • Charlie Chaplin • Model T • Prohibition •
Talkies • Harlem Renaissance • Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington • Radio
1930s
Monopoly board game • Rubber, nylon, & plastic • Jitterbug • Automatic washing machine • Dust Bowl • Dick and Jane books • The Marx Brothers • Radar • Benny Goodman/Count Basie • FDR’s New Deal & fireside chats • Television • Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers • Drive-in theaters • Kodak color film
1940s
Xerox machines • Penicillin • Zoot suits • Food rationing • Aerosol spray cans • Synthetic cortisone • Bikinis • Tupperware • DDT • Frank Sinatra • Long-playing records (LPs)
1950s
Tang • American cheese • Civil rights movement • TV dinners • I Love Lucy & Leave It to Beaver • Teflon • Vietnam War • Marilyn Monroe • Microwave oven • Elvis Presley • McCarthyism • Hula hoop & Frisbee • Credit cards •
Sock hops • First Barbie doll • Laser
1960s
Astroturf • Beatlemania • The Monkees • Tab • Vietnam War protests • Tie-dye • Motown • Star Trek • Miniskirts & bell-bottoms • The women’s rights movement • Dick Van Dyke Show & Laugh-In • Eight-track tapes
1970s
Star Wars • Mark Spitz • Shag carpet • Floppy disks • Hamburger Helper • Platform shoes • M*A*S*H • VCR • The Exorcist • ERA • Lava lamps • The Brady Bunch & Charlie’s Angels • Watergate • Inkjet printers • Waterbeds • Cabbage Patch Kids
1980s
World Wide Web & personal computers • Breakdancing • Jane Fonda aerobics • Bonfire of the Vanities • Boomboxes & Walkmans • Cheers & Baywatch • Rap & hip hop • VHS/VCR • Human growth hormone • AIDS • Challenger explodes • 24-hour cable • Fall of the Berlin Wall
1990s
PlayStation • Rwandan genocide • Grunge & Goth • Beanie Babies • The Gulf & Yugoslav wars • Chat rooms & blogs • Genetically engineered foods • Stem cell research • Y2K preoccupation • E-commerce • GPS, MP3, & DVDs • SUVs • Biodegradable products • Seinfeld, The Simpsons, & Friends • Viagra • Columbine, Oklahoma City, & Waco • The impeachment of President Clinton
2000s
Sudoku • iPod & iPhone • American Idol • H1N1 • Twitter • YouTube • Bratz dolls • Leggings • War on terror • Segway • Debates about same-sex marriage • Facebook • Botox • War in Afghanistan • 9/11