1975

Consider the Fitz story in the context in which it occurred.

Music, entertainment, and the news caused hours of debate on the boats

Time moved slower before the eighties. Each decade had it's own flavor and identity, but it took longer to develop. There was no Internet or Tik-Tok to change things overnight.

And since there were only a handful of TV channels to choose from, the networks offered content to multiple generations of advertising targets.

So, even in 1975, culture and entertainment from the forties, fifties and sixties, were still alive and thriving. Take for instance the big event on TV that night; a Dean Martin Celebrity Roast of Evil Knievel, with old-school guests like Don Rickles and Milton Berle, who got his start performing on stages in the Catskills. This was during a time when Led Zeppelin was the biggest band in the world and had earlier in the year released Physical Graffiti. In 1974, Kiss made their first appearance on national television. I can tell you, my parent's generation alternated between bemused and pissed off.

Nixon had resigned over Watergate just a year before the Fitz sank. And Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese, effectively ending the long, tragic war there. So there was always something to debate.

On TV the night the Fitz sank

Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Evil Knievel

There is dispute over whether this aired on November 10th or 11th. Either way, it's a good social barometer of the times.

In 1975, there were plenty of TVs on board the boats, but once underway, signal reception was spotty, always changing, and often non-existent.

Typical Detroit TV broadcast in 1975

Yes! I was psyched to find this gem on Youtube. Jac LeGoff and John Kelly. Hell, yes! If you know, you know. There's even an interview with Coleman Young. If ya'll don't know who these people are, you can skip this one.

A few months before the sinking, President Gerald Ford survived two assassination attempts

Both were in California. Both were from women. One, was a member of the Charles Manson family.

Top TV Shows of 1975

All in the Family
Rich Man, Poor Man
Laverne & Shirley
MaudeCBS
The Bionic Woman
Phyllis
Sanford and Son
Rhoda
The Six Million Dollar Man
ABC Monday Night Movie
Happy Days

Remember this end of night broadcast sign-off?

Back in the 70's TV, wasn't broadcast 214/7. At the end the night's broadcast, the networks played this national anthem video.

The disappearing dot. Shutting off your TV in the 70s.

When you shut off old TVs, the picture would kind of converge into a dot in the center of the screen and then the dot would disappear into the seeming horizon.

Comic books and collectibles were a popular diversion on the boats

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Mail-Order Mysteries

Kirk Demarais

God bless the obsessive people out there who are willing to go to the lengths that Demarais went to in order to create this encyclopedia of nostalgia. The book not only collects the original advertisements from the back of old comics, but also the items they are advertising. So, the book is filled with the original ads, the history of, and artful pics of the X-ray glasses themselves, or the shrunken heads, or the 100 toy soliders, all for a couple bucks or less.

Wacky Packages

Topps

From 1973 to 1975, Wacky Packages were at the height of their popularity, even outselling the Topp's classic baseball cards. At ten years old, I used to walk or ride my bike a half-mile to a Seven Eleven to buy cigarettes for my mom, and inevitably a pack of Wacky Packages. You can guarantee these stickers spoofing the top brands of the day were stuck in odd places on the boats during those years. Art Spiegelman was a major contributor. He later went on to win the Pulizter-prize for his grapic novel, "Maus."

History of EC Comics

Taschen | Grant Geissman

Comic books were passed around and left behind. Generations of men read beaten and chewed copies of old comics, while Marvel in the seventies was re-inventing the super hero story with deeper characterizations and darker storylines. There are plenty of books devoted to the Marvel story, but this masterpiece by the leaders in quality coffee-table books, Taschen, is about the history of EC Comics (Tales of the Crypt) Weighing almost 14 pounds, its content will keep you obsessed for a month.

Top Movies of 1975

(Released before November 10th, 1975)

Jaws
Shampoo
Dog Day Afternoon
Return of the Pink Panther
Three Days of the Condor
Funny Lady
Tommy
The Apple Dumpling Gang
Roller ball
Lucky Lady

Billboard Top Ten

(November 8, 1975)

Island Girl, Elton John
Lyin' Eyes, Eagles
I'm Sorry, John Denver
Who Loves You, The Four Seasons
Miracles, Jefferson Starship
Heatwave / Love is a Rose, Linda Ronstadt
They Just Can't Stop It, The Spinners
This Will Be, Natalie Cole
Feelings, Morris Albert
The Way I Want to Touch You, Captain & Tennille

Commentary: As a Detroit-bred rocker, my fourteen-year-old self thinks, "This is a sorry-ass offering from the middle of the decade that created some of the best rock in history." I doubt any of these songs would have been played purposefully on the lakes during the seventies.