Life in 1970s Maine

Submitted by bugmoon t3_117ouk2 in Maine

Please delete if this isn’t the right place for this! I’m working on a project about life in Maine in the 1970s, more specifically around 1975. I’ve found some news stories from this year but I haven’t been able to find many photographs. Are there any resources with photographs or stories that anyone knows of? I’ve looked through some online archives, have not yet read The Lobster Coast (I am planning to) as I’ve heard it’s a great history of the state, but would love to see some photographs of anything to do with daily life, fashion, interior design, housing, businesses, etc from that decade specific to Maine. Would also love to hear from anyone here that grew up in or visited Maine during the 70s. Thanks for reading!

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mtbsnow t1_j9cvm0c wrote

Check out photographer John Duncan's book Take it Easy: Portland, Maine in the 1970s

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bugmoon OP t1_j9f952l wrote

Thanks for the recommendation!

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[deleted] t1_j9fkv9i wrote

came here to say that ^. Its a great look at the old days

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zwiiz2 t1_j9f9s9y wrote

I opened this post to plug John's book, he's a really interesting guy to talk to, and a great photographer.

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Background_Coyote230 t1_j9cydlf wrote

There’s a Portland Encyclopedia of the 60s, 70s, and 80s on Facebook that will be worth checking out!

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IamSauerKraut t1_j9dvfss wrote

Go to your local library and ask to look at newspaper articles from the 1970's. Most will be on digital media, prolly.

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mizshellytee t1_j9da8md wrote

Last year, Downeast did a big issue on 1972 as a pivotal year for Maine. While it doesn't cover all of what you're looking for you'll find a few things in there, I think.

https://downeast.com/history/1972-the-year-that-changed-maine/

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IamSauerKraut t1_j9dv5u7 wrote

They have a blurb about Joannie Benoit in high school but show a picture of her wearing her Bowdoin kit in the Boston Marathon 7 years later. I have a pic of Joannie in her Cape Elizabeth gear from 1974. She ran her 880 in the girls race faster than I ran mine in the boys race... Triple C conference.

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kaozennrk t1_j9dr0rz wrote

At age in 1975 I would be given $2 and walk a block to Cumberland Farms on Pine Street in Portland and buy Winston 100s for my step mother. I always wished I had my own money to buy the 25 cent candy bars there on the shelf.

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FragilousSpectunkery t1_j9fa38o wrote

That was for a carton, right?

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kaozennrk t1_j9g4vdn wrote

Yeah, I might have my price wrong. It was just a pack. Could have been $1.05 but that seems so low.

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tracyinge t1_j9fpbf3 wrote

The local library can help you with this.

For fashion take a look at 1975 high school and college yearbooks.

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mljacob1 t1_j9mplnh wrote

OP, I'm a bit late to the game but just wanted to give my two cents. As others have said, Maine Memory Network is the place to go for photos. The Maine Newspaper Project is another favorite of mine, it has digital records of local newspapers (broken up by county). The stories and ads are useful for getting an idea of what life was like and what people were talking about at the time. Good luck!

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Subject_Meat5314 t1_j9d7s34 wrote

I have a community theater poster from Athens, ME that’s mid 70’s and a couple others from late 70’s/early 80’s if you’re interested. Also one from Slate’s in Hallowell from ‘79.

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bugmoon OP t1_j9f9hw0 wrote

That would be great to see!

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Majestic-Feedback541 t1_j9d9eh9 wrote

Newspaper.com is an awesome place to dive into! I found a lot of old interesting articles when researching my family (like my great grampa was in the paper cause he bought a plane and was fixing it up, just because he was retired and bored)

If you have an area of interest or something, you may very well find a wealth of information! :) Even if you just browse, with nothing more specific than Maine lol

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bugmoon OP t1_j9f9tra wrote

That’s great thank you so much, that must be so cool to see relatives in the paper as well!

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Majestic-Feedback541 t1_j9f9ysd wrote

Considering he died a good 20 years before I was even born, it was a welcomed and wonderful find!

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jerdonkiesman t1_j9dcju7 wrote

I can provide some amateur home photography from my grandparents estate if interested. They would have been in their 30s-40s back then

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bugmoon OP t1_j9f9yc4 wrote

That would be fantastic! I’ve really struggled to find photographs of people’s homes anywhere so it would be awesome to see those if you don’t mind sharing!

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sspif t1_j9ofvyq wrote

The river drives on the Penobscot ended in the early 70s, so that must have been a huge change for folks in the northern half of the state.

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