1968
IT HAPPENED IN…1968
Inflation threatened the U.S. economy.
Unemployment remained low, averaging 3.6%.
The U.S. hourly minimum wage was raised to $1.60
per hour.
Major strikes by teachers hit New York City and
Florida.
For the first time, crime ranked highest among
issues concerning the public.
The 1968 Civil Rights Act made housing
discrimination illegal for most dwellings.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in
Memphis, Tennessee.
Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed in
Los Angeles, California.
The Vietnam War became the longest war in U.S.
history.
President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not
seek reelection.
Richard M. Nixon was elected President, defeating Vice President
Hubert H. Humphrey in a close race.
The last Monday in May was designated “Memorial
Day” honoring those who died in service to their country.
Memorial Day replaced “Decoration Day” which had been
observed on May 30th since 1868.
San Antonio, Texas celebrated its 200th
anniversary with HemisFair 68, a world’s fair.
The motion picture industry adopted a voluntary
film rating code restricting viewing of inappropriate films by the
young.
Network television premieres included “Mister
Rogers’ Neighborhood,” “Adam-12,” “Mod Squad,” “60 Minutes,” and
“Hawaii Five-O.”
Country singers Johnny Cash and June Carter were
married.
First Philadelphia Bank installed the first
automated teller machine.
Intel Corporation was founded.
Newly introduced products and inventions included
microprocessors, the computer mouse, and Bose speakers.
3,308 U.S. soft drink bottling plants were in
operation.
A
portion of the full color image first used for a
Saturday Evening Post
advertisement in 1967 was repeated in black-and-white for this trade
magazine advertisement.
%20Hires%20Root%20Beer%20Bottler%20-%20The%20American%20Soft%20Drink%20Journal,%20May,%201968.jpg)
(Figure
1968-01, The
American Soft Drink Journal, May, 1968)
The identical black-and-white image was repeated
along with changed copy for this advertisement.
%20Hires%20Root%20Beer%20Bottlers%20are%20so%20successful%20-%20Beverages%20International%20Inc.,%20Soft%20Drink%20magazine,%20June%2018,%201968.jpg)
(Figure
1968-02, Soft
Drink magazine, June 18, 1968)
“The Hires Company” placed this interesting and attention-getting full-page “questionnaire” for Hires bottlers. Unfortunately, the copywriter didn’t believe in fact-checking, claiming “Hires invented root beer,” a “fact” that is simply not true.
%20(arcs)%20Hires%20Root%20Beer%20Bottlers%20-%20claiming%20Hires%20invented%20root%20beer%20-%20The%20American%20Soft%20Drink%20Journal,%20November,%201968.jpg)
(Figure
1968-03, The
American Soft Drink Journal, November, 1968)