In the 70s, there were two summers that were particularly memorable, 1976, when we celebrated to 200th birthday of America (which we featured in a recent blog post), and the year prior, when we all became afraid of the beach. Perhaps no movie has ever had such a profound effect on summer festivities than Steven Spielberg’s frightfully fun flick, Jaws. Released on June 20, 1975, this gory tale of a great white shark menacing a coastal community not only scared moviegoers out of their theater seats, but also kept many from sticking so much as a foot in the water at the local beach. Yes, when it came to the summer of 1975, everyone had sharks on the brain. And it all started with this:
Jaws, of course, proved to be an enormous box office success, grossing over $470 million. It would spawn a string of progressively worse sequels in the years that followed, as well as plenty of merchandising, such as this nifty, yet nerve-wracking, Jaws game from Ideal Toys. And if you happen to remember a man named Dickie Goodman, who would compile fake interview questions with clips from popular songs to much success, you might enjoy this little blast-from-the-past, called Mr. Jaws:
And finally, if you would like a little assistance remembering 1975 in general, perhaps this will help bring it all back:
In a year that gave us hits such as “Love Will Keep Us Together” and “The Hustle”, and television shows like Welcome Back Kotter, One Day at a Time and Saturday Night Live, it is a testament to this classic film that it can always bring us right back to those sweltering summer days of 1975, and remains perhaps the most beloved memory of that particular year. Got some memories of your own from the summer of ’75? Were you one of the people screaming in the theater? And did you go back a second time, just to scream some more? Share your recollections with us as we travel back 35 years to remember this special time.
July 8th, 1975 was my 9th birthday. I got Mattel’s Hush Li’l Baby doll. I wasn’t allowed to see Jaws, b/c my mom thought it was too scary, which was fine, b/c I was scared of that movie. I don’t think I actually saw it until I was 13. But from the Jaws craze, Buster Brown shoes had this cool shoe for back to school called “Chaws”; brown shoes, w/ a blue strip in the middle w/ a pic of a cartoon shark, and “teeth” cut out of the gum rubber soles. I loved those shoes. It was a great time to be 9 years old.
My parents, in a momentary lapse of reason, loaded up the family to go see this classic. I was six years old. I don’t recall the film bothering me at all. I sat all the way through it without issue. I even remember the audience spontaneously clapping when the shark got blown to smithereens. All was well until we left the theater and got to the car, where I promptly threw up in the floorboard of the back seat.
PS: Thanks for the info about Dickie Goodman. My brother had the 45 of the Mr. Jaws interview, and we listened to it all the time. I had forgotten who had created it, but it had a great influence on my brother and me, as we both did our own “interview” recordings for years after that.
I never heard of Mr.Jaws song. I heard of a Cartoon from Pink Panther called Mr.Jaws always wanting Harry Halibut. Jaws[the Movie] is good. I want,if it is in stores,whole movie collection. like Halloween,Friday the 13th,Nightmare on Elm Street. I need to get complete series of Jabberjaw,the shark that talked like Curley,from the three stooges and said,I get No Respect,like Rodney Dangerfield,I miss that guy! I wish he lived longer.