Some of our best memories were made in the golden days of summer—school was out, the sun lingered late, and life felt endlessly free with nothing to do but enjoy it with friends and family. In the mid-1980’s, Canadian singer-songwriter and rock star Bryan Adams sang of the year he got his first real six-string, which he acquired at the Five and Dime, and proceeded to play it until his fingers bled. It’s his most well-known and biggest hit. So today, we’re going to take a look back at what that ‘Summer of ’69’ was like in East Tennessee.
🎶 “Man, we were killin’ time, we were young and restless, and needed to unwind.”
With the popularity of video games still about a decade away, 1969 represented a simpler time, where kids got together in the neighborhood and rode bikes, played Cowboys and Indians, had squirt-gun fights, ran through their sprinklers, or hit the neighborhood swimming pool or local lake. Kids drank from the garden hose and came home when it got dark or if they fell off their bikes (sans helmets) and skinned their knees needing a Band-Aid. Many youngsters likely played ‘astronaut’ as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969; watched most likely on a black and white TV on one of three or four channels. It truly was one giant leap for mankind with real American heroes executing unbelievable outer space adventures previously only imagined in Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers comic books or TV shows.
On summer weekends, East Tennessee families flocked to Fort Dickerson Park or Ijams Nature Park, which was dedicated in 1968. It became Ijams Nature Center in November of 1975, named for the generous Ijams family, who raised their four girls on 20 acres of land along the Tennessee River in 1910. In 1969, Ijams Nature Park offered paddling in its quarry lakes, birdwatching and rock climbing. These fun activities usually came with a picnic basket packed lovingly by mom, full of homemade sandwiches, potato salad, and Coca-Cola in glass bottles, enjoyed lakeside on a blanket while Dad smoked his pipe or relaxed with a cold one in the shade.
Other popular East Tennessee family events in the summer of ’69 included grabbing the ‘ole fishing pole to catch some dinner while boating at Lake Loudon or visiting Gatlinburg or the Knoxville Zoo. Picnicking and hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were also fun daytime activities. For vacationing, many Knoxvillians trekked to Hilton Head or Myrtle Beach for some sand, sun and maybe even surfing. In that aspect, not much has changed…well, except maybe for the surfing.
🎶 “Hot Fun in the Summertime”
The summer of ’69, much like the song that later recalled it, had amazing music that appealed to everyone and has remained timeless and evergreen. While two years after the 1960’s official ‘Summer of Love’, the year still gave us a super groovy soundtrack to live our lives, celebrating the “Age of Aquarius” with The 5th Dimension, the year’s #1 song, “Sugar Sugar” from the Archies, the Rolling Stones “Honky Tonk Women”, and “Everyday People” and “Hot Fun in the Summertime” from Sly and the Family Stone. In August of 1969, 400,000+ music fans flocked to Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York, 60-miles south of the town of Woodstock for the Woodstock Rock Festival. Thirty-two acts performed over three days of ‘Peace and Music’. The festival is the stuff of legend, even 56 years later. Merely a year later, a theatrical release captured and shared the essence of the festival with millions.
🎶 “…And if I had the choice, yeah, I’d always wanna be there…”
In the summer of ’69, when tummies started rumbling, Knoxville residents enjoyed hitting Shoney’s Big Boy, Zesto Drive-in, Burger Chef, Howard Johnson’s, and Shakey’s Pizza Parlor to name a few. The family could cool off with a stop at local favorite Kay’s Ice Cream or for a Root Beer Float at Long’s Drug Store. Drive-ins were popular stops for those ‘cruising’ around Knoxville, up and down the strip and Kingston Pike, with the windows down in their Mustangs, Chevelles, 442’s, Camaros, Roadrunners, VW Beetles, GTO’s, Darts, Impalas, Chargers or their parent’s Ford Country Squire station wagon. Memories were made while listening to all the Top 40 hits on Knoxville’s WKGN at 1150 on the AM dial or to Eddie Beacon, ‘the Swingin’ Deacon’ or Bill Johnson on WNOX. Many tuned into country favorites with Bill ‘Beetle’ Bailey on the all-night show on WIVK. Those hungry cruisers could score a burger, fries and a small Coke for around 55 cents while burning gas at the rate of maybe 10 mpg’s while paying 34 cents a gallon at the pump.
🎶 “And now the times are changin’, look at everything that’s come and gone.”
Time has certainly marched on in 56 years. While we’ve got smartphones, social media, electric cars, 200+ TV channels with any show on-demand, air conditioning everywhere we go, and more, there are things we used to hold so dear that are sadly gone. Cruising is gone, .34 cent gas is gone, getting a meal for .55 cents is gone. And in so many ways, our innocence is gone. But we’ll always have the memories made with family and friends over the summers of our youth. If only we had really appreciated those days more as they were happening. Ah, hindsight. Singer Terry Jacks knew the score with his nostalgic lyrics “We had joy, we had fun, we had Seasons in the Sun”. As we look back today at memories of summer’s passed…Bryan Adams was so right.
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