Into the Toybox 1970 to 1979

1970 to 1979

1970 to 1979 was a great time for children who loved to read because we finally got our library! For those not as keen on reading, video game systems started to come onto the market during this time and those kids could easily beat you at Pong!

What did Pitt Meadows Look like during this time?

The population of Pitt Meadows was around 5,000 people by 1979. It was a great year for history lovers in our community, as a group of dedicated citizens established the first museum in 1978! The Museum was incorporated as a society in 1980! We see the building of the new municipal hall down Harris Road, and the municipality took on a new motto – “Prosperity Through Endeavour”. Of course, the decade wouldn’t be complete without mentioning that we finally opened a library in a small house (sharing a building with Pete the Barber). Acknowledging that it was the Women’s Institute that originally formed a library for our small community in 1921 located in the municipal hall (and this library was TINY, it had only 93 books available in 1929!).

Entertainment

Toys that were created during this time: Cabbage Patch Kids (1982),Atari Game System (1972),Rubiks Cube (1974),Dungeons and Dragons (1974)

During this period, women were starting to enter the workforce in larger numbers, meaning we had many “latchkey” kids. Kids would come home to both parents working, which meant they had to figure out how to entertain themselves after school and before their parents got home. It was a small taste of freedom for those who got it. For kids who still had the luxury of a stay-at-home mother, they still had to figure out ways to entertain themselves, but they had to do so under the watchful eye of mom.

It is still a time when kids would play outside, and now they would come home when the streetlights came on (as we had actual streetlights at this time). Kids would play with their neighbours and classmates outdoors: riding bikes, exploring the area, reading, listening to music, and playing games, it was a fun free-for-all.

During this time, we also started to see some pretty iconic movies enter the scene. Little films that you may have heard of like “Star Wars” and “Jaws”. Of course, we also see a rise of iconic musicians as well, like Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath, Elton John, and Led Zeppelin. Media during this time was solidly stacked in our favour.

Education

British Columbia

For children who were disciplined regularly during this time, you will be happy to note that corporal punishment (and the strap) was abolished with an amendment to the Public School Act in 1976. In 1979, a “Core Curriculum” was established for provincial schools from K-12. This curriculum consisted of three categories that must be taught and focused on a “back to basics” curriculum emphasizing traditional subjects like English, Math and Science. It was also a period where we saw Canada transition from the Imperial system to the Metric system starting in 1975 and being mostly complete by 1980, this would impact the education system as it meant that starting in 1975 schools began teaching the metric system. In 1976, the Department of Education was renamed the Ministry of Education, and by 1978 is it retitled Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (it will be changed again later).

Pitt Meadows

In Pitt Meadows, education was relatively quiet. We have an increase in school enrollment which prompted the building and completion of another elementary school. Davie Jones Elementary opened around 1978 (the Grand Opening was held on October 26th, 1978) and was the third multi-room elementary school at the time (the first being Pitt Meadows Elementary and the second being Meadowland Elementary). The school was named after Davie Jones, who was a business owner and a Pitt Meadows’ representative to the School District 42 Board of Trustees. He served on the board for 14 years, and promoted the advancement of the community by helping with events and activities.

*****

The 1970s were a time of great change. Pitt Meadows was still a town where everyone knew everyone, and kids could go outside and play with little supervision.

Back to the Toybox

Balancing Clown Toy

Whirligig

Tiddledy Winks

Plastic Toy Horse