1964: Beatles, Mustangs and Exploring with Gemini

I was reading Popular Mechanics this morning and stumbled across an ad for the Ford Mustang. This made me think about the year 1964. In a way, 1964, is a pivotal year in American history.

Why?

Look at this this way. In 1964 these things happened:

The Beatles ("British Invasion")

(Source: NARA Archives-Blackwell-Beatles Letter, pg 1)

In the pictures above, I found the the Blackwell letter in the Nara archives. Written from a teenager to the government, one can just sense the importance and the change that the Beatles would have on the culture of the time. No more big-bands or sweet rock-n-roll. The era was passing.

The Ford Mustang

(Source: Archive.org-Styling and the Experimental Car)

The Mustang has come to symbolize the Baby Boomer movement to me. Sleek, low and sporty, this auto, based on a ordinary Ford Falcon is a break from the chrome-laden cars of the late fifties. Try the film and see a facinating glimpse into car design of the early 1960's.

The Space Program-NASA-Gemini

Lastly, the Gemini program symbolizes a move into space, a transformation from the fiftes "shoot and pray" method of space exploration. Man in space was becoming a reality, with the Apollo moon landing happening in just a few years. In fact, Apollo 8 would see the first exploration of landing sites for later Apollo missions.


So, what's your opinion? Maybe it wasn't 1964....if not, what year?

Try the links below for more details.


Have a great weekend! See you Monday!


Links:

Wikipedia-1964

Archive.org Mustang design film

Nasa Gemini program

Nara historical archives