Provost Winifred Sloan (seated, centre) is pictured with a select group of Council employees who celebrated 40 years of service in the public sector.
Grease: The Musical, was in full swing on Broadway and the UK was embracing decimalisation.
The first, very basic, hand-held calculators (priced at £300) were appearing on our shelves and we were getting our first glimpses of the Martian surface from the Mariner spacecraft.
You could buy a detached house for £7,000 and, with petrol at 2 pence per litre, you could fill your car for less than £2.50.
More importantly, it marked a time when twenty-four fresh faced employees were taking their first steps on the corporate ladders of organisations and departments that would later become South Ayrshire Council.
That was some 40 years ago and, last week, Provost Winifred Sloan hosted a special lunch and presentation ceremony at County Buildings to mark 40 years of services for those same employees and to say thank you for their dedication and long service in the public sector.
Provost Sloan commented: "I was delighted to acknowledge a select group of remarkable employees who have achieved 40 years of service and, in some cases, more than that.
"Between them, they have clocked up close to a thousand years of work for the benefit of local people in South Ayrshire.
"That's an extraordinary statistic and each of them represents the very best of South Ayrshire Council, undertaking a range of jobs and duties with responsibilities across every aspect of the organisation in their years of loyal service."
Leading the vote of thanks at the lunch, David Anderson, South Ayrshire Council's Chief Executive said: "The Council prides itself in delivering an excellent and high quality service to the residents of South Ayrshire.
"I'm passionate about how we work together to do this and our select group of loyal employees, along with our annually nominated Outstanding People, epitomise the best examples of how work best.
"Forty years, or more, of unstinting dedication to service deserves to be recognised at the highest level and I would like to extend my thanks, on behalf of the Council, to each and every person by marking their marvellous milestones."
Following the lunch and the presentation of gifts and a commemorative certificate, Provost Sloan concluded: "Today has been a real cause for celebration and each of the 24 are a real inspiration to the rest of us.
"They have given us the chance to reflect on their achievements over many years of service and on their hard work for our local communities.
"I'd like to say a huge thank you to them all and congratulate them on how much you have done and contributed to the people of South Ayrshire."