Once I found a penny from 1968. It was the year I took AP US history and I looooved my class. The penny was defaced, smashed, as if by a hammer and in my head I believed that it was part of the protesting of Vietnam, when hippies roamed the earth and burned and defaced US symbols of democracy.
The next item in my collection was an original tape of the Beatles "Seargent Pepper and the Lonely Heart's Club Band". It was a bit worn, but the tape was authentic, a 1968 original that I found in a dusty box. I treasured the tape and the messages of revival, protest, and drug induced musical freedom. I don't condone drugs, but the historic imprint on the music.
Finally, my special 1968 mustang. I drove my 3 speed no-air conditioning little car all around through high school, putting up with its quirks, putting in anti-freeze and changing the oil...once I was all dressed up for an award ceremony and my car overheated on the way so I stopped, opened the hood, rolled up my girly sleeves and dug in...meanwhile a truck of guys pulled up and asked if I was a damsel in distress. I confidently wiped the oil from my hands, dabbed the water that had splashed on my shirt, closed the hood and said, "No thanks, I've got it." I started my engine and left them in my wake. Ahhh, it made me feel a little bit of power and confidence to do that for myself.
More than that though, I imagined that it embodied a time of national interest, the radio once informed the drivers of the Nixon debtes and watergate scandal, updates on Vietnam and extend to the Cold War. To think that it was more than a car, but a piece of history that I was now a part of. It was a beautiful thing, and I played my Beatles tape, placed my penny in the ash tray, and happily drove my "history-mobile" around. Anyway, I think I am selling it to a mustang showroom, which would be pretty cool and I will know in a few days. Here are some pictures as a hopeful farewell tribute to my piece of 1968 history. Au revoir!
