United States in 1977

💰 How much things cost in 1977

Currency: USD

🎵 The music of 1977

The song of the year: Debby Boone – You Light Up My Life (Billboard Year-End Hot 100 #1)

Other songs people listened to in 1977:

• Andy Gibb – I Just Want to Be Your Everything
• The Emotions – Best of My Love
• Debby Boone – You Light Up My Life
• ABBA – Fernando
• Fleetwood Mac – Dreams
• Eagles – Hotel California
• Donna Summer – I Feel Love
• The Bee Gees – More Than a Woman

📺 TV, cinema and pop culture

Cartoons: Super Friends / Scooby-Doo (on ABC Saturday morning). But the real event of 1977 had nothing to do with cartoons — Star Wars came out and changed everything.

TV series: Roots (ABC miniseries, Jan 1977) — 130 million viewers. The most-watched miniseries ever.

At the cinema: Star Wars — Han Solo, Darth Vader, the Death Star. Cinema was never the same.

Person of the moment: Darth Vader / Luke Skywalker — Star Wars rewired the brains of every child on Earth

The cult toy: Star Wars action figures (Kenner). Kenner shipped empty boxes for Christmas because they couldn't make the figures fast enough. You got a 'Early Bird Certificate' — basically a promise.

👗 Fashion and snacks

Fashion: Disco: white suits, gold chains, platform shoes. Saturday Night Fever as a fashion manual.

Snacks: Pop Rocks, Doritos, Reese's Pieces, Hostess cupcakes, Slurpees

📰 What happened in 1977

Event of the year: Star Wars changes cinema forever. NYC blackout and looting. Elvis Presley dies at Graceland.

Sport: Super Bowl XI: Oakland Raiders beat Minnesota Vikings 32-14. Ken Stabler leads Oakland to first title.

💻 Technology and everyday life

Tech news: Apple II personal computer launched. Commodore PET. Atari 2600 home game console.

The gadget to have: Apple II computer / Atari 2600 (September 1977)

How people communicated: You stood in line for Star Wars. Sometimes twice in the same day. Nobody thought that was weird.

How people listened to music: 8-track tapes in the car, vinyl at home. Disco was everywhere whether you liked it or not.

The weekend: Star Wars came out in May and by Christmas the whole country was obsessed. If you were born this year, the Force has been with you literally your whole life.

📵 What didn't exist yet in 1977

• personal computers widely (Apple II just launched)
• cell phones (1983)
• internet
• VCR widely
• cable TV for most

More years from the 1970s