Some random thought....
I was only 13 in 1962, but I remember listening to Kennedy's speech on the Cuban Missle Crisiis on the radio. My Dad might have watched it on the TV, but I had a radio; very tense. I won't say "scary" becasue this was pre VietNam, and the US was always the the "good guy", and we always won the war.
My 19 year old brother was walking perimeter guard for the Air Force in Kansas. He had a superior officer try to sneak past him, and he almost got shot by my brother.
The unknown during this time was how would the Russians respond. We did not understand them, and they were inscutable, at best. It was very interesting to see the U2 spy plane photos of the missle installations.
I remember seeing " whites only" water fountains on the way to Ocean City, MD, and I remember thinking that was simply wrong.
Kennedy was an unpopular president--The Cuban Missle Crisis was his high point, but things were going poorly for him after that. IIRC, there was debate as to whether he could seek a second term.
Most families were single car and single earner, only. Divorce was rare. Driveways were often not paved, merely dirt, or stone. Cars were financed for 2 or 3 years.
There were various types of lawn mowers. Most popular was the manual, push, reel type. Gas powered, self-propelled reel types were also popular, rotary type mowers were novel.
TV--there were three (3) channels, no remote control. Thety had been recently invented, but were considered "decadent" by most people.
Gas stations were full service, and often there were "give aways" to entice customers. Green Stamps were a promotional item that many stores gave away. Blue laws prohibited most stores from doing business on Sundays. There were basically only 2 types of bicycles--Americans with a single speed and a coaster brake, and English with three speed Strumey Archer and caliper brakes. Everybody clipped baseball cards ( doubles only) using a clothes pin to make motorcycle noises on your bike.
45RPM records, single song per side, big hole in the middle.
No OSHA

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags