Fifty years ago, we began America's middle-school decade

Decades have an image in our collective memory.

The 1960s were about social change.

The 1980s featured yuppies, the end of the Cold War and cocaine.

The 1990s saw the rise of grunge, growing wealth and the emergence of the internet.

The 2000s were about hip-hop music, 9/11 and the Great Recession.

The 2010s highlighted social media's explosion, political division and the Giants and Warriors each winning three championships (maybe that's just me).

The 1970s? They were America's middle school years – particularly the decade from 1972 to 1981 (from Watergate to Ronald Reagan becoming president).

Stay with me, especially if you have fond memories of that era. I do.

Fifty years ago we began the middle school decade of American history.

Think of middle school. It's when kids are most awkward. Photos from sixth, seventh and eighth grades are put away, often forever. In middle school, we try to fit in but don't know how. We know what and who is cool, but can't figure out why.

In middle school, we're awkward and uncomfortable and wish we could just hit a fast-forward button.

Just like the 1970s. Don't just think of Watergate and disco and runaway inflation (although those fit this narrative).

The styles were also awful. Wild, unkempt hair. Sloppy clothes. Caught between the 1960s (traditional or hippy) and the 1980s (preppy or cool street clothes). It was an embarrassing time, the middle school of style.

Cars were awkward. Sedans (including the Ford Pinto and AMC Pacer!) and small trucks (the Chevy Luv! Pickups made by Datsun and Toyota!). Heck, in the late 1970s, the Ford Mustang looked like something a middle-aged businessman would drive to work, not a sports car. That decade was the middle school era of cars.

Watch video from that era, particularly news reports that show how everyday people looked and acted: They looked terrible. Tired. Sad.

Part of the reason for the visual awkwardness of 1972-1981 was the quality of the videotape used. By the 1970s, videotape replaced film for news footage and for many TV shows, meaning this era was preserved with fading, poor video. Compare the quality of the video on "I Love Lucy" or "Leave it to Beaver" with "Happy Days" or "Laverne and Shirley." The latter shows look old and tired because they were shot on videotape (also true: They were old and tired shows).

Likewise, video of Jimmy Carter or the coverage of the Three Mile Island disaster looks older and more tired than coverage of Civil Rights marches and the Vietnam War a decade earlier.

It's as if those filming knew it was middle school and history would spend time looking at childhood (the 1960s and before) and adulthood (the 1980s and later).

I loved the 1970s. I'm embarrassed by the 1970s.

We're supposed to reflect on our younger years with nostalgia and warmth, but as someone who wore a leisure suit, drove a Volkswagen Rabbit and watched "Happy Days," I also acknowledge the truth: Those were the middle school days.

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@outlook.com.