Grand Canyon 1983
December 4, 2009 10:31 PM   Subscribe

 
Mistakes were made.
posted by disclaimer at 10:42 PM on December 4, 2009


?
posted by killdevil at 10:42 PM on December 4, 2009


Grand Canyon, 1938
posted by davejay at 10:47 PM on December 4, 2009 [2 favorites]


Everything about that photoset is awesome. The cars, the colors, the clarity, the clothes!

I can't believe they used to let people fly planes inside the canyon back then. Totally insane.
posted by mathowie at 10:47 PM on December 4, 2009 [1 favorite]


Grand Canyon, 1883
posted by davejay at 10:48 PM on December 4, 2009


Back then, shorts were shorts.

Anecdotally, I lived in Arizona from the time I was five until I was 26, and went to the Grand Canyon exactly once, when I was about 16. It looked just like these pictures, only jams were the happening short pant at the time.
posted by padraigin at 10:48 PM on December 4, 2009 [2 favorites]


Garfield County, 1883-1983 (pdf)
posted by davejay at 10:50 PM on December 4, 2009


Wow, it was damn near as big as it is now!
posted by Malor at 10:52 PM on December 4, 2009 [3 favorites]


Grand Canyon (of Mars), 2003

ok I'm done
posted by davejay at 10:52 PM on December 4, 2009


Those are some excellent photographs. I was transported completely.
posted by Kikkoman at 10:56 PM on December 4, 2009 [2 favorites]


In my opinion, the best and most epic Imax film ever made, Grand Canyon: Hidden Secrets (1984) , is no longer showing at the Grand Canyon but it is incredibly epic, and contains wonderful 1983ness too.
posted by niccolo at 11:05 PM on December 4, 2009


Sometimes Bob's hat is normal, sometimes it's crazy.
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:05 PM on December 4, 2009


Awesome photos.
Although, the whole time I was looking at them I was hearing this in my head.
And those shorts are just rude.
Like, way too close to having your balls in the family photos rude.
posted by chococat at 11:07 PM on December 4, 2009


Pikes Peak 1968 [self link]
posted by netbros at 11:14 PM on December 4, 2009


The people are so much more interesting than the scenery.
posted by philip-random at 11:20 PM on December 4, 2009 [5 favorites]


Also, this picture (keep your eyes on the road, buddy!) totally reminded me of this.
posted by chococat at 11:23 PM on December 4, 2009


Planes in the canyon: they don't allow that anymore? Ah well, no big loss.

Sometime around 1980 I was ~10 years old and we took a family trip to the Grand Canyon. My brother had a thing for planes, so the two of us went for a flight in a small plane through the canyon. The plane held perhaps ten people and they told us they needed to distribute the weight correctly so my brother ended up towards the front of the plane and I ended up in the back with an aisle seat, next to a largish woman.

As we flew over the lip of the canyon the plane dropped a bit. From then until landing, the woman next to me vomited continuously. I think I caught some glances of the canyon around her heaving head.

So it was memorable, but not in a good way.
posted by DrumsIntheDeep at 11:25 PM on December 4, 2009 [3 favorites]


Such thighs! From Grand Tetons, 1983.
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:28 PM on December 4, 2009


Nice to see Super Mario made it out back before he put on weight and went into plumbing.
posted by Smedleyman at 11:42 PM on December 4, 2009 [1 favorite]


Another very cool set over there: Stones Concert 1975
posted by growabrain at 11:57 PM on December 4, 2009 [1 favorite]


and even a cooler one: Beatles Concert 1965 !
posted by growabrain at 12:01 AM on December 5, 2009


the mystery enfolds: 7 years earlier.... in Barbados! (1958)
posted by growabrain at 12:05 AM on December 5, 2009


Rick as a young'n.
posted by wemayfreeze at 12:19 AM on December 5, 2009


It's kind of hard to believe that grown men used to walk around dressed like that.
posted by fshgrl at 12:19 AM on December 5, 2009


Look in a dictionary under "1980" and you'll see this picture there.
posted by milnak at 12:36 AM on December 5, 2009


my favourite
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:39 AM on December 5, 2009


Grand Canyon, from someone born in 1983.
posted by dead cousin ted at 12:42 AM on December 5, 2009


I also have some videos from the helicopter ride over the canyon here.
posted by dead cousin ted at 12:54 AM on December 5, 2009


Sadly, I must agree with others: The freaky people are much more interesting than the canyon. Snapshots like that don't come close to capturing the sheer expanse of the place but they do a damn find job of showing off dude's porno staches, short shorts, and Trans-Ams.

I don't think dudes wearing short shorts are any more ridiculous than people in those weird baggy pants or long baggy shorts, but at least in the latter two cases I am not blinded by vast expanses of pasty white thigh flesh.
posted by Justinian at 1:12 AM on December 5, 2009


Every time the background is real, the Sears Studio folks die a little.
posted by Graygorey at 1:13 AM on December 5, 2009


I just watched the whole set in slideshow mode, and it was really enjoyable. Thanks a lot.
posted by nicolin at 3:50 AM on December 5, 2009 [2 favorites]


"It's kind of hard to believe that grown men used to walk around dressed like that."

The strange thing is, us grown men that used to walk around dressed like that say the same thing about you whipper-snappers.
posted by HuronBob at 3:53 AM on December 5, 2009 [2 favorites]


Sadly. 1983 doesn't seen that long ago to me. And yea, I wore short shorts back then.
posted by octothorpe at 4:24 AM on December 5, 2009


Come for the shorts, stay for the hair.
posted by DU at 4:57 AM on December 5, 2009 [2 favorites]


Nice find.
posted by ph00dz at 5:12 AM on December 5, 2009


It's easy to snark on the clothing, but this is something that always struck me about the transition to the 1970's to the 1980's -- fashion turned from flaunting the body with tights and exposed flesh to hiding it in baggy, ill-fitting oversized drapery. Having gone through adolescence in a world of miniskirts and short shorts the WTF moment was probably seeing the poster for Flashdance, a movie ostensibly dedicated to showcasing the beauty of its leading lady which advertised this by putting her in a shirt made by Omar the tent-maker. Oh, and that was 1983 too.
posted by localroger at 5:33 AM on December 5, 2009


at the rate we're cannibalising old fashions i'm not sure if we're looking at the past or the future
posted by doobiedoo at 5:44 AM on December 5, 2009


I'm with you octothorpe. I loved everything about these pictures in a completely non-ironic way.
posted by JeffK at 5:59 AM on December 5, 2009


The pretty girl in striped shorts makes me weep for my lost youth.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 6:23 AM on December 5, 2009 [3 favorites]


Whoa, awesome photo sets. Is it weird the only thing I can focus on is how skinny people were back then?
posted by fermezporte at 6:25 AM on December 5, 2009 [3 favorites]


Rick as a young'n.

and as a teenager
posted by Dojie at 6:28 AM on December 5, 2009


Is it weird the only thing I can focus on is how skinny people were back then?

It was the clothes that kept us thin. Once baggy became the norm, we expanded to fill the available space.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:33 AM on December 5, 2009 [8 favorites]


I just watched the whole set in slideshow mode, AND I was playing Boards of Canada's "Music Has The Right To Children" in the background, and it was awesome :)
posted by kcds at 6:35 AM on December 5, 2009 [1 favorite]


These photosets bring back harsh memories of the great Middle East T-shirt and pant-leg embargo of the '70s and early '80s.
posted by stargell at 6:53 AM on December 5, 2009 [1 favorite]


I resent the fact that the 1980s has become the new generation to mock, rather than the rightful king, the 1970s.
posted by mecran01 at 7:37 AM on December 5, 2009


The other crippling notion is that in 1984, when I was in high school, 1944 was the equivalent period in time.
posted by mecran01 at 7:39 AM on December 5, 2009 [2 favorites]


Another very cool set over there: Stones Concert 1975

Everyone was just so tan in 1975!
posted by Windigo at 7:48 AM on December 5, 2009


These are awesome. Thank you so much for this, it's a time machine.
posted by biscotti at 7:51 AM on December 5, 2009 [1 favorite]


Wow! I was born in '83. Thanks for posting these pictures - fascinating stuff.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 7:52 AM on December 5, 2009


After all these years I finally understand why we weren't allowed to wear shorts at my junior high school!
posted by interplanetjanet at 8:06 AM on December 5, 2009 [1 favorite]


Is it weird the only thing I can focus on is how skinny people were back then?

Er, yes. Because the variation in mean BMI in the US for people aged 20-29 between 1983 and now is less than one point. Either you have an incredibly sharp eye for strangers' avoirdupois or this is observation bias.
posted by Sidhedevil at 8:33 AM on December 5, 2009


"I don't like to make fun of Nixon, it's so old it's like making Ike jokes, and besides I feel bad for the guy. I picture him, you know, walking along the beach...big old baggy shorts on, and a metal detector..."

The old mocks the new, the new mocks the old, and eventually everybody trades places.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:36 AM on December 5, 2009


I could tell just from the thumbnails that the woman was wearing red striped Dolphin shorts.
posted by oneirodynia at 11:17 AM on December 5, 2009


All of those squirrels are dead now.
posted by Mr. Anthropomorphism at 11:32 AM on December 5, 2009 [4 favorites]


Oh god. The clothing. The feathered hair. The untamed eyebrows. The constant threat of impending cameltoe. I am filled with a bizarre mix of nostalgia and terror.
posted by elizardbits at 11:32 AM on December 5, 2009




the variation in mean BMI in the US for people aged 20-29 between 1983 and now is less than one point.

Maybe, but:

Available estimates for the period between the 1980s and 1990s show the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children increased by a magnitude of two to five times in developed countries (e.g. from 11% to over 30% in boys in Canada), and up to almost four times in developing countries (e.g. from 4% to 14% in Brazil). (source, see also 1, 2).

Now that's for children & I suppose it's possible to imagine they all lose their excess weight as they become young adults. So here's the info for young adults--

A national study looked at weight of individuals in the U.S., 1976-1980 and again in 1999-2002. It found:

- The average 20-29 year old man went from 168 to 183 pounds.
- The average 20-29 year old woman went from 136 to 157 pounds.

I'm pretty sure I could spot a 15-20 pound increase in weight.

FYI, the average height was in the two time periods was essentially the same. (In fact both men & women were just a hair shorter in the 1999-2002 time period. So you there's no way you can say the weight gain is due to an increase in average height--if anything, it's the opposite.)

Source: Mean Body Weight, Height, and Body Mass Index, United States 1960–2002
posted by flug at 1:01 PM on December 5, 2009 [3 favorites]


Way cool. Thanks for sharing this.
posted by defenestration at 1:50 PM on December 5, 2009


I just watched the whole set in slideshow mode, AND I was playing Boards of Canada's "Music Has The Right To Children" in the background, and it was awesome :)

This.
posted by jjray at 2:33 PM on December 5, 2009


The other crippling notion is that in 1984, when I was in high school, 1944 was the equivalent period in time.
posted by mecran01 at 10:39 AM on December 5 [2 favorites +] [!]


? - that's 40 years difference. 1984 was only about 26 years ago.
posted by stbalbach at 6:35 AM on December 6, 2009


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