December 31, 1969-----Where were you?

[ROOK1]

Only 20 days til I'm born and only 25 years til the internet is invented. Is anybody else having issues with the site?

[ROOK1]

I cant believe this thread is almost 40 years old and not one person has replied.

[kilrwail]

It was really weird to see that date on everything last night when the site came back up. Time warp! I was in third year university, but don't remember it clearly - it was the sixties, after all

[sptcoupe]

Deployed in SE Asia with about 45 other Marines, in the bush, raining hard, trying to stay dry and make a holiday meal out of C-rations (MREs not invented yet!). Coudn't get the damn candle to stay lit on the C-ration pound cake in the rain, so had to give up on the New Year's party cake, and go with some soggy cookies one of the guys had received from home about a week earlier, instead. Texas Instruments had just come out with a new version of their four function, pocket-sized calculator, and the price had come down to about $190.00. Credence Clearwater Revival's "Favorite Son" was a big hit, mini skirts, flower power and campus riots were the all the rage (but the mini skirts were what had our attention - go figure!) , and I had my eye on a 1968 spider, dark green with black interior, that was being sold by a Marine who's wife was expecting and they needed a bigger car when he got home about 1 month before I was due to rotate. I carried a photo of it everywhere we went, and remember talking to the owner about it and looking at some photos of it on December 31st, 1969. Got home too late to get it, and had to wait until 1972 before we got our first spider (and FIAT), in Spain.

Who else remembers New Year's Eve 1969? Love to hear about it.

[Gunsmith]

My Father Dec 31st 1969 to my mother..."Your What?"

Six months later I was ready to see my first Spider.

[Foster48x]

4 Day's until my 1st Birthday!

[Spiddy]

Boy, that takes me back some. I was 20, my wheels were a Saab 96 which I rallied frequently, and I was deeply in love with Lorrinda Smith. On that day, a group of us went to Trafalgar Square to see in the New Year. We drove up in my freinds old Vauxhall Cresta because it was the only car in the group that could seat 8 of us relatively comfortably - and intimately I distinctly remember it had atrocious brakes. On Park Lane we went into the back of a taxi at the lights, but it was a gentle knock (we'd almost stopped) and no harm done.

We parked up in St James' Square behind Admiralty Arch - couldn't do that today, and walked under the Arch directly into Trafalgar. The place was heaving and the usual number of revellers were in the fountains (can't do that today either) soaking all those stupid enough to get too close. Then hyperthermia set in and it was a quick retreat to the medical unit which was always on hand.

At Midnight, Big Ben rang out and everyone joined hands and sang "Old Langsyne". The atmosphere was amazing and so were the joints - or at least, that's what I was told. Honest, officer.

I didn't take Lorrinda straight home. Best to start the New Year as on means to continue.......

It was a great time which I remember with joy, but remembering that date also brings back sadness. The owner of the Cresta, John, was killed in a road accident some 6 months later when his Alsation dog jumped onto his lap causing him to swerve and hit the only tree for miles around. And Lorrinda died 4 years ago of cancer. I managed to get a call through to her the morning she died.

Make the most of life, it's all too short.

[katsi]

I would have to guess that on December 31, 1969 I was most likely crapping in my pants in San Diego, CA as It would have been just a few months past my 2nd birthday and 15 years before I would ever lay eyes on or ever actually notice my first Fiat Spider (1979 Red with white racing stripe and tan interior). That was one great week with that Spider.

[launieg]

I was in my second year of university, and I cannot recall the specifics, but I would have been at a party among my rather crazy friends that New Year's Eve. It isn't much to post about and I wasn't going to, but Spiddy, your post was wonderful and makes me remember that just a few months later I went on a student charter to London. I spent most of the month crashing at a flat in West Kensington with some young folks I met at the Plumpton Festival. We all went on to the Isle of Wight Festival. It was an entertaining year (1970) to say the least. Strangely, it does not seem that long ago; hard to believe it is almost 40 years now! Wow

[mdrburchette]

I was 7 years old and living in Modina, Ohio. The Christmas holidays were special to me because my Oma and Opa (living in the US for a year) were with us and they always had the best gifts! What memories.

[tonyfromjersey]

I was 3 1/2 years old, my family was living on Long Island (New York). I was a real child prodigy, I had painted my first masterpiece and fully mastered the piano and violin, performing Mozart at Lincoln Center earlier that fall. Having completed all of my undergraduate requirements, I was eagerly awaiting my first semester at MIT, where I would be studying cold fusion.

Either that or I was taking a nap and wondering when Santa was coming back. It depends who you believe, me or my sister.

[MNspiderman]

I was about 3 and 7/8 yrs old. Probably playing with my new toys wondering when what year it was going to be when I finally get my 1970 Cougar Eliminator. Finally got that dang car when I was 16. Also I remember when it was normal to get 3 feet of snow. now its normal to only get 6 inches of snow.