77summer

[77summer]

Argot

Every word on the cover is in French. In loud print, dead-center—Dictionnaire de l’argot moderne.

It's not surprising when learners of a second language struggle to understand the language actually used by native or near-native speakers. The speed problem is obvious; teachers speak slower and enunciate more for the benefit of the students, while native speakers might not even know they're slurring all their words.

But in some cases, the language out on the streets is just so far removed from the one in the textbooks. This tends to be how it is with French, thanks to the strong presence of argot. Simply put, it's slang. But, at the same time, it's also a jargon commonly associated with the lower classes and (historically) criminals.

Victor Hugo took great pains to research this ever evolving language and, by incorporating it in his novels like Les Misérables, gave it its own space in the conversation about the French language. Since then, linguists and anthropologists have published tons of papers on argot and its influence on culture and identity.

In the mid-century, publishing houses re-released their argot dictionaries with brand-new additions every year. That's just how fast the language evolved, much like our slang now. These days, though, everything's just a Google search away.

The dictionary Miguel gives Gwen was compiled and edited by a theater director and a police officer. One was involved in the working-class world of French theater, and the other had extensive dealings with the criminal underclasses.

(Photo by Drouot, showing a collection of books on argot.)

#references #eleven

[77summer]

Woodside, Queens

“I was born in Woodside.”

(Content Warning: Mentions of Homophobia)

A neighborhood in western Queens, Woodside is directly to the west of Jackson Heights. Around the mid-1800s, it had the largest population of Irish-Americans in Queens. Today, Asians make up the majority of the population, but the area still retains a strong Irish identity.

Woodside plays host to the St. Pat's for All Parade, an event hosted by LGBTQIA+ members of the Irish community. It is completely separate from the annual NYC Saint Patrick's Day parade, which started way back in the 1700s. The idea for a new event came about in the 90s, after the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization (ILGO) was denied permission to take part in the city's parade. The first St. Pat's for All was held in 2000.

I picked this area as Miguel's birthplace (as opposed to, say, Corona) because of its ties with the Irish-American community.

(Photo by Good Migrations.)

#references #ten

[77summer]

Corona, Queens

... only two blocks down from the apartment, where it stops being Jackson Heights and starts being Corona halfway across the road.

Located to the east of Jackson Heights, the neighborhood of Corona was established by real estate developers in the mid-1800s. It has a long association with sports and is attributed as the "birthplace of professional baseball."

Today, Corona's population is more than 70% Hispanic. However, different ethnic groups have made the neighborhood their home over the past century. At the time of the story, its population was primarily a mix of Italian, African-American, and Dominican communities.

Though not a native New Yorker, jazz musician Louis Armstrong was one of its most famous residents and lived there for almost three decades. His house on 107th Street is now a museum.

(Photo by Samuel Walters.)

#references #nine

[77summer]

1980 Summer Olympics

“My Anya wants to get into the next Olympics,” he says, shaking his head at nothing. “‘Nadia won when she was 15, Papi. I’ll be 15 by the next one.’”

While Mr. Corazón's daughter Anya dreams of joining Team USA as a gymnast at the next Olympics, we know in hindsight that it would never be.

The 1980 Olympics were hosted by the USSR in Moscow, a year after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The United States, along with 66 other countries, chose to withdraw from the event. This was and still is the largest boycott in the history of the Olympics. Because the majority of the remaining participants were aligned with the Eastern Bloc, they also won most of the medals.

The Soviets would end up boycotting the 1984 Olympics as well, as those were held in Los Angeles. So really, a lot of these sporting events throughout the 70s and 80s were just the two sides of the Cold War boycotting each other.

(Photo by CNN.)

#references #nine

[77summer]

Pumping Iron

“Hey, I just signed up with a health club up in Flushing. I could get as big as those guys in Pumping Iron—” “No, not that far.”

Released in January 1977, the documentary Pumping Iron brought professional bodybuilding to the mainstream. The film centers on bodybuilding competitions and features Arnold Schwarzenegger winning his sixth Mr. Olympia title in 1975.

Prior to the film's release, bodybuilding was a niche interest. In fact, such competitions were referred to as "freak shows." But it became a surprise box office hit and got rave reviews. Just like how the 1972 Olympics sparked a running craze, Pumping Iron also inspired people to start regularly hitting the gym.

The opening sequence of the film features Schwarzenegger taking a ballet class to improve his body lines when posing during competitions. This was another first for mainstream audiences: Watching a hypermasculine guy taking up a stereotypically hyperfeminine sport.

#references #nine

[77summer]

The Birth of Nike

... the loud checkmark symbol along the sides of his cherry-red sneakers.

I couldn't give Miles his signature Air Jordans because they wouldn't come out until the 80s. But the brand was already around at the time, so I figured he could be a Nike fan here too.

Though Air Jordans are meant to be basketball shoes, Nike's original lines were designed for track and field. From the early 60s, the brand sold shoes at track meets but wouldn't gain widespread recognition until the 70s, during the so-called Running Boom.

The marathon at the Munich Olympics of '72 (where American athlete Frank Shorter won gold) was supposedly what triggered the Running Boom all over the US. Audiences glued to their TVs noticed how a lot of American athletes at the games were using footwear with a striking checkmark (a.k.a. "swoosh") logo by a relatively unknown company called Nike. People bought them in droves and started, well, running. And the rest is history.

I chose the Marathon line for Miles for no other reason than them having classic Spider-Man colors (red exterior, blue insoles).

(Photo by Sothebys, showing a pair of Nike Marathons from 1973.)

#references #nine

[77summer]

Raising a Baby Boomer

“Your dad tell you to quit it, running all over the place?” he murmurs. She shakes her head. “He can’t stop me. And neither can you.”

(Content Warning: Child Abuse)

The term "helicopter parent" was coined in the late 60s by the psychologist Haim Ginott in his book Between Parent and Teenager. But they weren't really a thing until some decades later. Many millennials would likely remember growing up with strict parents, who were very concerned about their grades, their friends and crushes, and their after-school activities.

Those parents were baby boomers, like Gwen in this story. They were raised by the Silent Generation, who grew up during two pivotal events in modern American history: the Great Depression and the Second World War.

You could say the world probably changed too fast for their generation. Maybe they didn't really know what they were doing, once they started having kids of their own (to be fair, sixty-something years later, do we?). But the vast majority of the Silent Generation practiced what is now called "free-range parenting."

This style allows children the freedom to do what they want, with minimal or no adult supervision. During the 60s and 70s (even the early 80s), kids were generally expected to leave early for school and not come back until it was time for dinner. Weekends and summer holidays meant they would be "kicked out" of the house, supposedly so the parents could have some peace and quiet. Kids would then run around the neighborhood with their friends, go to the movies or the arcade, and (once they reached their mid-teens) get their first taste of drugs, alcohol, and sex. Parents barely had a clue about their kids' activities, if at all. The impression was they didn't really care.

There was, however, a catch. The Silent Generation was known for their strong traditionalist values, their deep respect for authority, and their goal to maintain the status quo. They had the final say on what their kids could or couldn't do, often without room for discussion. And if the kids disobeyed, corporal punishment was commonly used. Quite ironic.

Writing this fic, I wanted George to be that typical 1970s parent: authoritative decision-maker and yet largely absent and disinterested father.

(Photo by Joseph Szabo, taken in 1969 of a girl named Priscilla.)

#references #eight

[77summer]

Best of My Love (The Eagles)

Voices in quiet harmony drift from the radio in the living room, each line of the song punctuated by a bass lick.

A significant single in the history of The Eagles, Best of My Love (released in 1974) was their very first song to top the Billboard Hot 100. It is the final track on their third album On the Border.

The song features a downtempo arrangement with a strong country/folk flavor. Lyrically, it seems to be about a romantic relationship that ended badly or one very close to its end date. Despite this, it was apparently a popular wedding song.

In the fic, the song is playing on the radio when Gwen comes back to the apartment, where she finds that her dad has fallen asleep on the couch.

Listen on Youtube

#references #eight

[77summer]

1976 Summer Olympics

Dad spent last summer religiously glued to ABC as they aired every game live from Montreal.

Almost exactly one year prior to the start of the story, Montreal hosted the Summer Olympics. Coincidentally, the Canadian Prime Minister at the time was the current one's father.

The '76 games weren't without controversy. There was a dip in actual participation, as more than 20 countries boycotted the event. The majority who withdrew from the games were African countries protesting against the Olympic Committee's decision not to ban New Zealand, whose rugby team played in South Africa amidst the apartheid.

On top of this, it came to light that the games exceeded their budget by 720% due to a variety of issues, including poor management and corruption. This is the highest an Olympic event has ever gone over budget. It took the city over three decades to pay it all off.

By the time Miguel leaves to move back to his birthplace, Montreal is no longer the same city he escaped to.

(Photo by Associated Press.)

#references #eight

[77summer]

Egg Cream

There’s no saying no to egg cream.

Spidey fans unfamiliar with this drink will likely have heard of it from Noir in the first film when he said, "I like to drink egg creams, and I like to fight Nazis. A lot." The irony about its name is that it has neither egg nor cream.

A quintessential NYC drink, it was developed by Jewish immigrants in the late 1800s. There's no definitive source about the origin of the name, but it's said that it derives from the Yiddish "echt keem" ("pure sweetness").

Traditionally, it has only three ingredients: milk, seltzer water, and chocolate syrup. Judging by how many local shop owners on social media have said this, Fox's U-Bet Chocolate Syrup is the only way to go.

By the time of the story, soda fountains were in decline (thanks to Coca-Cola and the like). So the 70s were past the heyday of the egg cream. But in 1974, Ray's Candy Store in Manhattan's East Village popped up... and to this day, it's still one of the best-known places to get this now rare drink.

(Photo by A Slice of Brooklyn.)

#references #eight

[77summer]

NYPD

“Yeah, had to work round the clock. We’re still understaffed, so… Tough times, but we’ll pull through. We always do.”

The New York City Police Department struggled throughout the 70s because of the city's financial crisis. Officers were laid off regularly, while those that managed to stay employed had to take drastic pay cuts. On top of this, far-reaching corruption within the police force was exposed by a whistleblower and made national headlines.

The sharp decrease in staff numbers made the NYPD ill-equipped to face any widespread emergencies, especially since the force was preoccupied by the hunt for the Son of Sam, as well as the many mobs and drug cartels around the city. With such a weak police force, petty crime steadily grew rampant throughout the city. Break-ins were commonplace, as were muggings.

In this fic, Captain George Stacy is the commanding officer of the 115th Precinct, which covers the neighborhoods of Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, and North Corona, along with LaGuardia Airport. (In reality, this would be highly improbable as most officers aren't allowed to live in the precincts where they're assigned.)

(Photo by AxlCobainVedder via Reddit, taken ca. 1974.)

#references #seven

[77summer]

Time Life Books

Unit 65’s box is empty. Means Dad already got to it yesterday, when she couldn’t. No big deal, when it’s all just his Sports Illustrated issues and her Time Life books these days.

By 1977, the Internet was technically a thing. It was originally developed for military purposes, as the initial point of the technology was for military personnel to communicate within a secure network. Around the time of this story, a limited number of scientists had already started using the Internet to send each other e-mails. But it wasn't something the general public could freely use (yet).

So what to do with such limited access to information? Besides the local library, there were book subscriptions. One of the most popular mail-order services in the publishing industry was Time Life. It was a collaboration between Time magazine and Life magazine to provide books on general info in an easy-to-understand and entertaining format.

The books were quite small but fully illustrated, with text written in an approachable style so that even children could understand it. Subscribers would receive books in the mail every month and gradually complete a themed series (i.e. the American Civil War, wild animals, natural sciences, etc.).

For quite a lot of people, this was their only access to updated information on science and technology.

(Photo by Amazon.)

#references #six

[77summer]

Cold War

“You know, he always said his age was rotten. Too young for the Great War, too old for the Second. But old enough to get that telegram that his eldest boy would never come home from Korea. Or his second and third. Those boys passed in Vietnam.”

It's difficult to make a quick summary of why exactly the US kept getting involved in one war after another during the 20th Century, but everything essentially boils down to the Cold War.

Lasting for about half a century, from the end of the Second World War up to the fall of the Soviet Union in the 90s, the Cold War was so called because it wasn't "hot." That is to say, its two sides had no direct conflict with each other and never engaged in open war. Instead, their rivalry was expressed in other ways: the nuclear arms race, espionage networks such as the CIA and the KGB, propaganda, the Space Race (to see who could get to the moon first), and even the Olympics. All were damaging in their own ways, but the worst of these were proxy wars.

Rather than directly engage with each other, the US and the Soviet Union involved themselves in smaller countries' wars, each one allying with opposing sides in local conflicts. Two such proxy wars were fought in Korea in the early 50s and in Vietnam from the 50s to the 70s.

On the part of the US, involvement in these conflicts was seemingly to save the world from the threat of Communism. By the fall of the USSR in 1991, it was believed that the US had succeeded.

Gwen in this story grows up right on the cusp of huge changes in the history of the world.

(Photo by R.V. Spencer, taken of two refugee children in June 1951 in South Korea.)

#references #six

[77summer]

Milk Snatchers and Punk Rockers

He spouts venomous rage in the calmest tones about “Tory wankers” and “bloody milk snatchers” and “Labour idiots who’ve lost their spines.”

In a "montage" of Hobie ranting about British politics, he mentions "bloody milk snatchers." This refers to Margaret Thatcher, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons at the time of the fic. She wouldn't become Prime Minister until 1979.

In 1971, when Hobie would have been 13 year old, then-Education Secretary Thatcher abolished free milk in all British schools, a tradition that started in the 1940s. The press dubbed her the Milk Snatcher, a nickname that stuck. The move was ostensibly meant to save the government its annual milk budget of £9 million. But it was also another step in Thatcher's plan to end state welfare in the UK. It would only get worse during her tenure as PM.

The 1970s were an especially tumultuous period in Britain's recent history. Called the "Sick Man of Europe" for its struggling economy and growing poverty, the UK of the 70s gave birth to a generation of punks who needed an outlet to express their rage at the establishment. They found it in music, amongst many other art forms.

(Photo by Tes Magazine.)

#references #five

[77summer]

Forest Hills, Queens

… the same program for the same three weeks every summer, the same teachers at the same school on the same street in Forest Hills.

Located in central Queens, the neighborhood of Forest Hills was developed in the early 1900s through architectural commissions. The most notable of these developments is Forest Hills Gardens, a community designed to resemble a quaint English village. With an emphasis on greenery, the area looks worlds away from the concrete jungle of Manhattan.

Comics!Peter Parker grew up in Forest Hills, on 20 Ingram Street. The family who lives in the actual house regularly receives fan mail for Peter. Weirdly enough, their surname is Parker too.

Of course I had to include Forest Hills in the fic somehow, as it's an important part of comics lore. So I chose it as the location of the ballet school.

(Photo by Nooklyn.com.)

#references #two

[77summer]

Rejoice (The Emotions)

His housemates bound up and down the stairs… Someone begins blasting The Emotions’ brand-new album…

This chart-topping album by the girl group Emotions was released in early June 1977, two weeks prior to the scene where it's featured. Its most famous track is the opener Best of My Love. The album is pure, mainstream pop of the 70s.

One of Hobie's housemates starts playing the album while he and Gwen are cooking homemade chips. My main reason for picking it was to show that Hobie lives with people whose tastes and principles he doesn't necessarily agree with. A punk keenly aware that he lives in the real world, so to speak.

But also, the album's just a banger.

Listen on Youtube

#references #five

[77summer]

Jamaica, Queens

This further out east, where Manhattan’s skyscrapers are more a distant cloud than an expanse of hulking brick and metal, green exists beyond the borders of parks and playgrounds.

Jamaica is a large neighborhood in southeast Queens. It is the location of John F. Kennedy International Airport, as well as the eastern terminal of the IND Queens Boulevard Line (a.k.a. the E and F trains).

A striking quality about Jamaica is how the neighborhood is almost neatly divided by socio-economic class: Jamaica Estates in the north has massive, millionaire-owned mansions (including Donald Trump's childhood home), while the Southside has many housing projects for low-income families.

At the time of the fic, Jamaica's population was predominantly African-American with a growing diaspora from the Caribbean. Unlike in other areas closer to Manhattan, many locals lived in detached or semi-detached houses.

From the start, I wanted Hobie to live in communal housing with a group of artists and musicians. My original plan was to set them up in a loft in SoHo in Manhattan, but I thought Hobie and his pals having a big garden to grow their own food would fit his anarchic lifestyle better.

(Photo by Homes.com.)

#references #five