I was constantly amazed at how many young kids roamed the streets of Uptown without adult supervision in the mid-1970s. But this was an era of hyper-inflation fueled by the Vietnam War, the OPEC oil embargo and women entering the professional workforce in record numbers. The advent of dual income families helped pushed housing prices through the roof in in the mid-1970s. Inflation was greater than 10% per year at one point. To pay for the necessities of life, many woman HAD to work. That, in turn, left many kids free to roam the streets with their friends, like these four amigos.
