The America We Knew: July 1976 (Part 1)

[@tedquaker954]

Thank you!!!...... It's amazing/ horrible how far our once great country has deteriorated!!!

[@FredFlix]

Sad but true.

[@revvyhevvy]

And why do you feel that way, and what has caused it?

[@mark-xx1lt]

Our founding fathers would be weeping right now.

[@danparker1976]

In my opine the ungodliness of America..The culture has gone to 💩.Kids dont even grow up anymore..They pop out and almost immediately a phone is shoved in there face...To many things are wrong but id never want to live anywhere but here in America..Our leaders have failed us and especially the current occupant.​@@revvyhevvy

[@danparker1976]

they are spinning in their graves..​@@mark-xx1lt

[@BacktotheATL]

I was 10 and 11 in ‘76: living just outside of D.C. What a great time to be a kid!

[@scott-in-dfw3005]

Same....born in '65....what a great summer that was....Six Flags, roller rink, days at the pool....and actually popping fireworks in the street out front with all the other kids. The music too....

[@BacktotheATL]

@@scott-in-dfw3005 Such good times

[@collegeman1988]

I was in elementary school in 1976, and everything was Bicentennial, including Bass-O-Matic ‘76 . . . Mmm! That’s great tasting bass!

[@revvyhevvy]

I was about to enter college in 76!

[@janleslie7163]

SNL funniest cast went down hill ever since 😢

[@markkrull556]

I was 15 myself.

[@scott-in-dfw3005]

And "Shimmer"...it's a floor wax...it's a desert topping....tastes great, and look at that shine!

[@peterpaul231]

Makes me want to go to Dell Stader's Rabbit Hut.

[@dougmorris9317]

My God, I remember this like it was a week ago--I was 15 then, now I'm er...older! Thank you Fred! Happy Fourth my 76 friend, great show! 👍 😊

[@robertscott2210]

I was15 also, looking forward to junior year. And I remember it well also, especially Operation Sail ⛵️ 🇺🇲👍

[@FredFlix]

Thanks, Doug.

[@ajvintage9579]

I was 12.

[@Gobear1]

Yup, I turned 15 in August. Bicentennial fever was everywhere.

[@starmnsixty1209]

Many thanks, Fred. Brings back a wonderful time in my life, and a great time for the country. I wonder if any time remotely like it will ever come again.

[@josephcisneros9290]

Thank you Fred; And thank you 1976 America.

[@FredFlix]

You're welcome, Joseph.

[@smilinmoo]

Those Kodak commercials always got me right in the feels. Still do. “🎶Good morning yesterday, you wake up and time has slipped away…remember the times of your life.🎶”🥹

[@misterwhipple2870]

I hated Paul Anka's guts! That sappy, slurring voice, and all his other songs were dirty. That punk was a millionaire at the age of 16. That'll do bad things to your character.

[@vickieleggett386]

That song was the theme song for the prom when I was a sophomore in the spring of ‘78. I was lucky enough to be chosen as a waitress. The waiters & waitresses did a skit acting out various scenes from school life as that song played. It was a wonderful time!! And yes, that song always makes me tear up.🥲

[@smilinmoo]

@@misterwhipple2870 I’m not a fan of Paul Anka either-I just thought the commercials were very moving, even as a young person.

[@BobKilkus]

@@smilinmoo I liked the Polaroid commercials with James Garner and Mariette Hartley …

[@smilinmoo]

@@BobKilkus I liked those too, but I think those were commercials for Polaroid. I’ve always liked James Garner!

[@davidpenn9396]

The times were wholesome way way back into those years

[@JohnReitz-ps2ct]

Things were anything but "wholesome" back then. Pick up any big city newspaper from that era. You'll see stories of murder, rape, violence of all description, drug addiction, to say nothing of out control inflation, interest rates and gas prices. I was there, I remember...

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

@@JohnReitz-ps2ct I agree with you, John, to a point. Yes, I wouldn't use the word "wholesome" either, but, I was there as well, and I would go back in a HEARTBEAT, given the chance! Interest rates had come down, gas prices had come down from their high during the oil embargo of '73-'74. America was united because of our Bicentennial and we were feeling good about ourselves as a young nation at that point. The only other time we ever felt that way was during the Reagan years - when we KNEW were great and weren't ashamed to say it out loud!

[@revvyhevvy]

​@@JohnReitz-ps2ctYou are so right!

[@revvyhevvy]

​@@Nunofurdambiznez don't get me started on 'The Great Communicator'... IMHO with his deregulation of everything and 'trickle down' theory, he is the reason for our disparity in household net worth today!

[@jc4388]

When Bruce was the man.

[@1949LA-ARCH]

Thank you Fred, Awesome 😎NO Big Pharma commercials 😂

[@SHUB281]

These videos bring back memories of my childhood, like a hot July day.

[@antsforall]

Keep it up!!!! Like a time machine!

[@FredFlix]

I just need to oil the gears.

[@revvyhevvy]

​@@FredFlixA little dab will do ya! Thanks, Fred for all the nostalgic trips down memory lane! Keeps my 69yr old brain working!

[@briggscharleton6139]

Marched in a parade through our town on 7/4/76. Glorious times. Obsession is one of my favorite De Palma films. Thanks, Fred. God Bless America

[@gregggoss2210]

I loved that movie. Of course, it helped that I had a crush on Genevieve Bujold.

[@briggscharleton6139]

@@gregggoss2210 I still have a crush on her. Amazing how she really chose mostly great movies to work on. king of Hearts, Coma, Dead Ringers, Isabel

[@gregggoss2210]

@@briggscharleton6139, Coma, another great movie. Earthquake also.

[@DanielCochranSC]

God bless the United States of America - thanks for the memories from my youth. Bad News Bears rocked!

[@gregsimmons694]

God bless you! Jesus saves sinners!

[@mikemorrison270]

The mood of the country certainly has changed since 1976.

[@clifftanton8385]

Was 11 man those were happier times now I am almost 59 working at a diaper factory don't think iam going to last long here

[@Lizmarie1965]

I was 9 and I remember all this!! What a month!!

[@billyray8062]

Fred, thank you for momentarily taking me back to the best time of my life.

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

Right there with you, Billy Ray. 1976 was certainly one of the greatest times of my life, to be sure!

[@silkscreenart5515]

You had to live during these times to realize how bad things are now. All the family and friends who are deceased now, were all alive back then.

[@msbigdog1460]

You are exactly right! That was a time that I wish I could go back to, mainly because all those I loved were alive and well. Never even dawned on me at that time a day would come when the majority of my family and friends would be gone. That's the part of getting older that I hate.

[@gregsimmons694]

God bless you! Jesus saves sinners

[@JoeSmith-oq3hf]

If someone would invent a time machine I would be one of first volunteers to go back in time just to to be with my loved ones and friends from that time.E ven for one day to be with them again

[@Agwings1960]

The Sears Stores were such a good influence on the 70's culture and now it's all but gone

[@misterwhipple2870]

It IS gone. I worked in two different Sears stores in my youth. There are only two left, and they have nothing left to sell. Sad. Very sad. In 1965, Sears, all by itself, was one per cent of the Gross National Product. One in every 207 Americans worked for Sears.

[@Dorthy-wx9fq]

I remember this July 1976 I was 13 and I would be 14 that year. We, my parents and I just came back from having gone up to Alaska for the 2nd time. So many memories it does make me snicker about these ads. Thank you

[@stephenr3910]

We buried a Bicentennial time capsule at my school in 1976 and opened it in 2001. There was "Happy Days" and "Welcome Back Kotter" memorabilia among other items.

[@HereForTheComments]

Morning in July, 1976. "The Great American Birthday Party" is on TV in the living room and burgers are on the grill in the front yard. I'm a bright-eyed and red-blooded American young man, and to serve my country is still the highest honor I can think of. Things like "being President." Not because I want to change America, but because I love America and want to uphold her ideals. I'm sure my dad doesn't feel the same way though. I'm sure my dad isn't a fan of trippy psychedelic 4th of July promos. But from where I stand as a young man, we live in a time of great pride in American tradition.

[@FredFlix]

Nice comment, HFTC.

[@ensabahnur7657]

Truly great times!

[@revvyhevvy]

America began a rapid decline since then, thanks mainly to Reagan and hid policies!

[@mickieg1118]

If I could return to any year of my life 1976 is that year.

[@pibly7784]

Interesting. Why and how old were you then?

[@mark-xx1lt]

Thanks Fred for these 2 Bicentennial videos. Our house was in a Bicentennial Parade of Homes that year. My mother had purchased a home that was built in the late 1800s and refurbished the inside with antiques from the late 1700s, 1800s & early 1900s. It was pretty cool being a part of history.

[@FredFlix]

I'll bet it was, Mark!

[@mikemontgomery5755]

I graduated in '76, absolutely the best time

[@janleslie7163]

I was in the graduating class of 76 also ,we had a blast !

[@djbigpean]

FredFlix, thank you for so much for showing, African-American album covers and magazine cover, of memories

[@FredFlix]

Happy to do it, dj.

[@fredbrown4950]

I can remember all of this like yesterday I was 11 .

[@stephenr3910]

Same age.

[@gregsimmons694]

God bless you! Jesus saves sinners

[@AgentPepsi1]

Happy 4th of July Fred!! 😊😊😊😊

[@FredFlix]

Same to you, Tasha!

[@AgentPepsi1]

@@FredFlix 😘😘😘

[@robertromero8692]

Great nostalgia trip, Fred.

[@FredFlix]

Thanks, RR.

[@blondeblythe]

Fantastic job, Fred! I was 19, and what a wonderful year 1976 was!

[@jchow5966]

Great post! Thank you for the cultural history. ☮️

[@scottanddebranelson8419]

oh yeah man. even as a young lad i remember the pride we all felt back then. i also noticed two references of will rogers, though the first one was second hand through his son whom i had totally forgotten about. he sounded and looked like his old man. thanks again sir. now for part two.

[@FredFlix]

Glad you're enjoying it, S&D.

[@continentalgin]

Thanks, Fred. Brings back memories, for sure.

[@FredFlix]

You're welcome, CG.

[@AngelaGoodwin-fh6fw]

I don't remember what I was doing on the 4th in '76, but I became a high school graduate that year. Happy 4th of July, Fred!😊

[@FredFlix]

Same to you, Angela.

[@justsayin7576]

Fantastic compilation of the high points and memories of that year. I had just graduated from high school. The world was a different place then.

[@FredFlix]

TOO different, ramonaf.

[@gmwcfhg]

The ABC Monday Night Movie featured looks like a precursor to Robocop that would come out 11 years later - I was 5 in 1976 and vaguely remember celebrating the Bicentennial going to an outdoor drive in theater with my family with snacks and watching fireworks

[@TheRedDevil_NC]

Watching that Bingo Long movie in a drive in theatre in '76 was like being a King. The following year we got Petes Dragon. Oh yeah.

[@misterwhipple2870]

Helen Reddy! Don't remind me! I refused to watch that movie!

[@danielcarlson800]

I was 3 back in 1976. It seemed like people in general were happier then.

[@gregggoss2210]

I watched part 2 first because this one didn't pop up in my queue. Both excellent. Wow, that concert add! BOC and Rush! Holy moly, I wish I'd seen that show!

[@FredFlix]

Seems like I missed 'em all, Gregg.

[@joelcda6883]

I believe Rush also opened for Kiss during some of their 1976 tour dates. Oh, for a time machine to see one of those shows!

[@misterwhipple2870]

Rush was just getting cranked up then.

[@highlordstevious]

My grandma (1900-1981) always thought Will Rogers Jr. was ripping off his dad's name. Every time he appeared in commercials (which was a lot when I was 10 or 12), she'd say "Oh, shut up!" I mutter the same phrase often in tribute.

[@romelovesdan]

I can recall vividly with fondness -Kiss Spirit of '76 Tour poster on my wall, Bicentennial logo shirt and stickers, excited about the Summer Olympics, the MLB National League Centennial Baseball season, Pittsburgh Pirates and others wearing "pillbox hats", The All Star Game in Philadelphia. Mark "The Bird" Fydrich for the American League vs Randy Jones and the NL stars, as well as cool songs on the radio. Playing outside..... Beautiful

[@briggscharleton6139]

Had that KISS poster on my wall too. I have a Fydrich jersey

[@romelovesdan]

@@briggscharleton6139 Best time to grow up. imo

[@Cmon-Man]

Another great trip, thanks Fred. Happy Independence Day everyone. 🫡🇺🇸

[@FredFlix]

Thanks, Cmon-Man.

[@tomklock568]

Fantastic! Happy Independence Day Fred!

[@FredFlix]

Same to you, Tom.

[@franklinmills1756]

I remember a news channel would have a "200 yrs ago today" segment every day throughout the year. I had to pause on the ad for the Blue Oyster Cult concert with special guest Rush. I wish I could've seen Rush back in those days.

[@matthewfarmer2520]

I was born that year 1976 bicentennial birth certificate im 48 now. I have that magazine that has man on the moon on the front cover. I collect old vintage magazines for years.

[@collegeman1988]

I love this video, Fred! Thanks for posting!

[@FredFlix]

You're welcome, CM.

[@ChantelleBrown-fb7gy]

My favorite memory of the bicentennial was....and remember it was almost 50 years ago so this was TOTALLY new....Baskin Robbins had vanilla ice cream with red white and blue candies in it! I was sooo impressed and got it every trip all summer! Not long after my favorite became daiquiri ice but for the summer of 76' I must have had 30 red white and blue cones as sadly twas gone by Summer's end!!!😂😂😂

[@FredFlix]

That's cool, Chantelle...in more ways than one.

[@michellefabregat4363]

It’s great to see America In the year I was born.

[@emilysantoyo918]

Great video Fred. Happy 4th of July!🇺🇸

[@NickvonZ]

HAPPY 4th, Fred and folks! I was 12, living in Atlanta in 76.

[@FredFlix]

Happy 4th, Nick.

[@RJS1974]

Dont go Breaking my Heart! Nothing like AM top 40 back then. I can remember riding in my parents car and waiting to hear the latest hits.

[@misterwhipple2870]

Yeah, that was the year Elton John came out of the closet. As if everyone didn't know already!

[@RJS1974]

@@misterwhipple2870 I never worried about any of that stuff. He dated women and men and came out as bisexual. A lot of 70s rock stars either came out as bisexual or eluded to it. Elton got married to a woman in the 80s and the marriage lasted about three years. He’s now married to a man. I like his music he’s always been one of my favorite celebrities regardless.

[@misterwhipple2870]

@@RJS1974 Elton is a good singer and I like his music. I never worried about it either, I was being a smart-ass. But Bru- uh, I mean Caitlin is a big-mouth and I hate the a-hole!

[@chuckyufarley2999]

Yeah, somehow not the same hearing them in HD audio. I remember WLS sounding like you were listening through a soup can tied to a string.

[@RJS1974]

@@chuckyufarley2999 that was quaint. Simpler times.

[@davek5027]

Great!!! Can’t wait to dive into part 2!

[@Ij-jan]

Thank you very much😊

[@FredFlix]

You're welcome, Jan.

[@brendajeanproffitt6919]

❤❤❤❤ this Happy 4th of July to you and your family and everyone thank you Fred

[@FredFlix]

Same to you, friend Brenda.

[@DrummingMan1]

1976! Everyone smoked… I mean, everyone! Yeah honey, you can flick my Bic!

[@jons.6216]

I can remember when the catchphrase "flicking your Bic" became a popular expression! Even JJ on Good Times said it once! Haha! Dan Rather is still with us at the amazing age of 92 as of today!

[@gittes98]

Find it ironic that in 1976 the most American of years that the Olympics were held in Canada (Montreal) That ABC Sunday/Monday night theme brings back so many memories BTW the song I'm Easy is from the movie Nashville released the year before and had recently won the Oscar. However the single may have been released in July 76. Either way, it;s a great song.

[@smilinmoo]

Love that song-it’s in a couple of my playlists.

[@elwin38]

I was 8yrs old!! Long time ago!! So many memories.

[@pibly7784]

Same age as you !

[@elwin38]

@@pibly7784 ✊🏾70's kids!

[@sonnytoo9077]

Thanks Fred 👍

[@cainealexander-mccord2805]

8:16 Bic lighter commercials. Yesterday at the grocery store, I had to get in line at customer service to buy lighters. *Man* do I miss the 70s. Great stuff as always, Fred.

[@FredFlix]

Thanks, CAM.

[@misterwhipple2870]

Bic is the name of my butane I love to flick its dependable flame It comes in all the colors of the rain-ee-yaaa-en-yaaain-bowww Of all the lighters you can pi-iick There's only one that's called a Biiic You can count on the flick Of a Biiiiiic Oh, of a Biiiiiic

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

Fred - this is the BEST!!!!!!!!

[@FredFlix]

Thanks, Nunetc.

[@BELCAN57]

I hope everyone has a fantastic Independence Day !

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

Thanks!! Hope the same thing for you!

[@woofgbruk5947]

Being English I had to portray King George 111 in the Bicentennial play at Dubai Petroleum COmpany American Community School . . . I was stereotyped!!!

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

And yet, you somehow lived to tell about it LOL!!

[@gern7535]

I was 16. Had my drivers license and long hair and none of it was gray like it is now.

[@Ij-jan]

Thank you very much

[@loyevangelists]

I was 17 in July of 1976. I turned 18 in August. This was the summer between my 11th grade and 12th grade high school experience. I graduated from high school in June of 1977. Hard to believe that that was almost 50 years ago now

[@judyalvarez203]

I was 10 years old, and I remember my mother going to the disco and leaving me and my two brothers at home. I would beg my brothers to stay awake until our mother came( usually 2am). we watched the honeymooners, but they always fell asleep, I was scared waiting for my mom to return 😢.

[@terrymorris3609]

I turned 17 in 1976, what a year it was.

[@calvinballew5411]

I missed all of this because I was at Parris Island in bootcamp. Graduated on July 19 so all of the celebrations were over. Hard to believe how much time has passed

[@robertclark9]

I was down on the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade that 4th of July weekend. At 19 I wanted to take it all in. Tall ships, the whole bit. I remember it being a particularly hot summer in Boston that year.

[@conniebauer4128]

It's 2024 and we're now closer to America's tricentennial then we are to the bicentennial year.😮

[@misterwhipple2870]

In one year and 363 days we will be. Not yet!

[@ProfessorEchoMedia]

The month after I graduated high school. Even my friends and I who were too cool for everything fell under the Bicentennial spell. It was a fun event and distracted us from the unknowns we would face at the end of that summer. David Brinkley truly was the dullest man on the planet back then, wasn’t he? He should have been the spokesperson for sleep aids like Sominex.

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

And yet, if you go back and watch the interviews he gave during the last years of his life, he was smiling and animated and was clearly happy, not dull in the least.

[@misterwhipple2870]

Aaah, Walter Klondike, Harry Reasonable and David Stinkley! I remember them well!

[@dwaynecoy1871]

Who else got contact lenses when they first came out in the 70's? They weren't the soft lenses they have today that work so well. No, these were hard lenses that sometimes were a real pain in the butt. Also note one of the key selling points on the Dodge Colt was the "locking gas" lid. Yes, people stealing gas from your car was a big problem.

[@maxwellspeedwell2585]

My teacher had hard contact lenses in 1961.

[@misterwhipple2870]

I used to work with a woman who had the TANK stolen out of her '76 Cordoba one night, in her own driveway!

[@mariet8434]

I was 14 then.

[@ClaireCopeland-n6y]

Yes yes. I would not be 6 until August but i recall the bicentennial and most of this very very well. Thank you Fred. Can you please do the 1980s❤?

[@FredFlix]

The '80s are coming, Claire. I'm doing each month in order so we'll get there after I finish '78 and '79.

[@vinny4411]

I spent the week as a 14 year old on the beaches of Florida and a trip to Disney world !

[@alfredomarques243]

what a scene.... him playing that song in the movie Nashville.... 😢

[@kevinpridgen4654]

Yes those were the good old days growing up I was 11 years old and I remember everything thing was bicentennial red white and blue some one even painted a fire highdrant those colors

[@onefatstratcat]

thanks...

[@virgiljohnson7504]

What can I say 😊 those were the days ❤ fifteen years old and knew it all😮 or at least we thought we did 😅

[@chuckyufarley2999]

We can only hope the Semiquincentennial will be so grand. With 2026 being a Winter Olympics year, we need Dorothy Hamill to come back and help us kick the year off right.

[@luisreyes1963]

The United States turned 200 back in July of 1976. I merely turned 10 a month before. 🧒

[@danparker1976]

I turned 7 two months before lol

[@Michael-Philip]

I was 10 yo , in NYC we had a tiny black and white TV we didn't watch much TV. But the Yankees and Mets were always on

[@gern7535]

I'd forgotten about "I'm Easy" by Keith Carradine. It might have been a hit but I'm glad Keith stuck to acting because that song just didn't resonate with testosterone filled teenage boys, and don't think I could have taken anymore. It was bad enough we had James Taylor, but this was piling on!

[@charlesrobinson7469]

I Love All the Commercials, but my Favorite one is the Optical Department at Sears Commercial. Small thing, Big Impact.👍🏾

[@siameseblue4824]

I was 10, I loved Elton John and Bruce Jenner. 😮

[@misterwhipple2870]

And they BOTH played for the Other Team!

[@maxwellspeedwell2585]

Ahh… Fred is back with another video. Thank you so much for putting these out there. Can you do my favorite summer? (1972)

[@FredFlix]

I've completed ALL of 1972, MS, and I'll be posting them eventually.

[@rolfsinkgraven]

Happy Fourth off July Fred.

[@FredFlix]

Same to you, Rolf.

[@Wolfinger1935]

We are approaching the Sestercentennial (250 years). It would be nice if Americans could put aside their petty differences and show the kind of Patriotism we had back 1976. I remember the Tall Ships in the Hudson, the Fireworks ... I agree with the other comments. It wasn't a perfect time in our history... but I would go back in a heartbeat and leave today's insanity behind.

[@misterwhipple2870]

SesQUIcentennial.

[@Wolfinger1935]

@@misterwhipple2870 Sesquicentennial would be 150 years.

[@misterwhipple2870]

@@Wolfinger1935 You got me. I stand corrected.

[@Wolfinger1935]

@@misterwhipple2870 No worries!!

[@vinny4411]

You are both incorrect. It will be known as the Semiquincentennial.

[@thedreadtyger]

Bingo Long really was a good movie.

[@akbarlebowitz8151]

Wow!! I thought the song (I'm Easy) @ 11:24 sounded like Keith Carradine. Turns out it is (I didn't remember him singing). It's from the 1975 film Nashville.

[@goldenboi778]

I was just about to hit my teens in 76,oh i wish i could turn back time...

[@ernestcruz6316]

Happy fourth Fred! Try to come back on the fifth with your limbs intact, okay?

[@FredFlix]

I did get hit by a firework a few years ago, Ernest. I may not go outside.

[@ernestcruz6316]

@@FredFlix Ooh. Well enjoy the Fourth, my friend!

[@jameswilhoite8150]

Master of his domaine @fredflix another classic double header

[@richelliott9320]

I miss David Brinkley

[@michaelmitchell5098]

I remember that year. I was a teenager and didn’t understand why the bicentennial was so major when the soldiers returning from Vietnam were being treated like child rapists.

[@edwil111]

was a 16 yo dishwasher in a restaurant. Learned how to mop floors correctly. Got my drivers license. Drove like a jerk sometimes. and they "Flicked your Bic inside an airplane"?! Yep!

[@daveatkinson7462]

Starting July 12th 1976 On ABC Daytime Hot Seat With Host Jim Peck And Family Feud

[@FriedAudio]

Well, now I want to watch the ABC Monday Night Movie, "The Future Cop"...

[@Yvette...24FM]

i want to live in these days,America was awesome!! the 2000s SUCK

[@jamesmathews1841]

I couldn't agree with you more. Well said!

[@tracyisbest]

2:06 Was this the time that the Polish delegation showed up on July 9th? LOL! Maybe I'm thinking about some other U.S. birthday bash year where that occurred. Kinda funny!