1968 - Everyday Life

Everyday Life

The Uniform Monday Holiday Act signed into law by President Johnson June 28 gives federal employees four 3-day weekends per year. Scheduled to take effect in 1971, it follows centuries-old European custom and orders that Washington's Birthday (Presidents' Day), Memorial Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day be observed on Mondays regardless of what day February 22, May 30, October 30, or November 11 may be (many states balk at changing the date of what used to be Armistice Day and it will be put back to November 11 in 1978).

Mattel introduces die-cast Hot Wheels to compete with the Matchbox Cars introduced by the English firm Lesney Products & Co. in 1953. Faster and more modern in design, they will soon come with accessories such as slick plastic tracks that can be assembled into race courses, and Hot Wheels will eventually be used for electric slot-car racing.

Legoland opens near the Lego factory on the Jutland peninsula at Billund, Denmark (see 1934). The new theme park has been built for visitors who have come to see the factory that produces the colorful plastic bricks, now sold all over the world. The factory and park will become a major Danish tourist attraction (see 1996).

Las Vegas begins to change its image as the $15 million Circus Circus hotel-casino opens with a huge, $1 million statue of Lucky the Clown and entertainment that features acrobats and such rather than music-hall stars and girly shows. Industrialist Howard Hughes Jr. arrived in town 2 years ago on a stretcher, occupies a large suite at the Desert Inn, will soon buy the Sands along with some other casinos, and lobbies the Nevada state legislature, whose members will enact a law next year permitting corporations such as Hilton Hotels and Holiday Inn to own casino-hotel properties in the city (see International Hotel, 1969).

The Jacuzzi Whirlpool bath introduced in June at California's Orange County Fair by the 53-year-old farm-pump maker Jacuzzi Bros. begins a fad only slightly related to hydrotherapy (see 1949). The $700 Jacuzzi "Roman Bath" will spawn a host of imitators.

Ralph Lauren is founded by New York fashion designer Ralph Lauren (originally Lifshitz), 29, whose "old money" and "old West" Polo brand looks will make him a fortune.

New York fashion designer Calvin Klein, 25, shows his first collection. A firm believer in functional simplicity, he eschews the theatrical ruffles of most other designers.

Anne Klein & Co. is founded by New York fashion designer Klein, now 45, and her second husband, Matthew "Chip" Rubenstein (see 1948); Klein patented a girdle last year to be worn under miniskirts. Her fashions will be sold in nearly 800 department stores and specialty shops, and she will continue to design until her death in 1974.

Sanforizing inventor Sanford L. Cluett of Cluett, Peabody dies at Palm Beach May 18 at age 93. Nearly 45 companies in 58 countries license his 40-year-old anti-shrink technology, now used to treat 3 billion yards of cloth per year.

Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, now 39, is remarried on the Greek island of Skorpios October 20 to shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, now 68. Washington wit Alice Roosevelt Longworth, now 86, says, "Hasn't anyone ever warned Jacqueline Kennedy about Greeks bearing gifts?"

Sicilian rape victim Franca Viola, 20, is married December 4 to an accountant who defies the custom that says a raped woman is dishonored and cannot marry anyone except her rapist (in this case an admirer whom she has spurned).

President Nixon's younger daughter Julie, 20, is married at New York December 22 to former president Eisenhower's grandson, David, also 20.