July 4, 2025, will mark the one-annum countdown to the semicentennial of the Bicentennial.
“What are you talking about, Phalon?” you might ask.
You are probably aware that the next Independence Day will mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The semiquincentennial, if you will. But if the Bicentennial — in this case a proper noun — could come back today and get a look at our upcoming semiquincentennial, it would say, “Hold my Billy Beer.”
The Year America Lost Its Mind
If you aren’t old enough to remember the celebration of 200 years of these United States, let me paint a portrait of the event — or in this case, explode paint bombs of red, white and blue across the amber waves of grain.
1976 was the year America lost its mind.
The Bicentennial was a two-year-plus, over-the-top bacchanal that could best be described as a tacky, garish, brilliant, trashy, meretricious, flashy, patriotic, inventive and glittering celebration of America. In other words: my kind of party!
Red, White and Everything
First, everything — and I mean EVERYTHING — was rendered in some form of red, white and blue. Fences, houses, barns, cars, cats, water towers. Every product reflected the Bicentennial in some way: Bicentennial burgers, Bicentennial Ring Dings, Bicentennial deodorant. Yes, there was a Bicentennial-themed deodorant. “Smell like the signers, who wore the same heavy clothes for days on end in July!”
The Freedom Train, the Freedom Greyhound Bus. A rancher name one of his bison, “Tennial.”
Every night on TV, we were greeted by the “Bicentennial Minute” — short, educational commercials featuring celebrities like Alan Alda or Ron Howard. Sponsored first by Royal Dutch Shell, the oil giant behind Shell gas stations, then later by the many varieties of Raid bug killer.
Some people referred to the event as the Buy-centennial. You can’t spell freedom without free enterprise.
The U.S. Mint churned out billions of Bicentennial quarters. People hoarded them in the belief they’d be worth a fortune years later. Now, years later, they’re worth…25 cents.
There were softball games between teams dressed as the Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam. Liberty was at a disadvantage because they had to lug that tablet around the bases.
It all culminated on July 4, 1976, with the biggest cookout ever. Veteran newsman Walter Cronkite helmed Bicentennial Central and stayed on the air nearly 24 hours, anchoring events from across the country.
One of the largest events was in New York Harbor, where every vessel that could float crowded the waters near the Statue of Liberty and downtown Manhattan for Operation Sail — a parade of tall ships, believed to be the largest flotilla of masted vessels ever assembled.
It mostly went off without a hitch, except for the ship Esmerelda, sent by Chile (then under brutal dictator Augusto Pinochet), to help celebrate 200 years of American freedom. That ship was actually a prison vessel in which Chilean freedom fighters had been tortured as recently as a few weeks before arriving to celebrate liberty in the U.S.A. Talk about having egg on your face.
That night, Macy’s began its annual fireworks show on the Hudson River — the biggest in the universe, it’s believed.
What Happened to the Spirit of ’76?
So why all this interest in 200 years but far less about 250 years? For one, Bicentennial is easier to pronounce and spell than semiquincentennial. And the symmetry between 1776 and 1976 isn’t really there for 2026.
The Spirit of ’76 was both a clarion call to patriotism and a perfect slogan for gas station coffee cup giveaways.
Maybe the Spirit of ’76, however each of us defined it, just doesn’t feel present in 2025. In 1976, America was surprisingly united — not because we all agreed, but maybe because we were all just tired of fighting.
The Vietnam War had unceremoniously ended in 1975. Nixon resigned in disgrace in 1974. We needed a breather.
The Bicentennial came at just the right time. Right, left, Republican, Democrat — it was something just about everyone could share.
Fifty years later, in our uber-polarized era, that kind of unity feels sadly lacking in our nation.
John Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence, opposed political parties in the newly founded nation, fearing they would lead to strife and even violence.
Turns out he was onto something.
Adams also believed that future anniversaries of the Fourth of July be observed by all Americans with both reverence and celebration. On July 2, 1776, he wrote:
“It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”
In 1976, American did not disappoint John Adams.
Joe brings decades of journalism experience to the Ridge View Echo, covering everything from local school boards to the U.S. Supreme Court. A former National Law Journal editor and Columbia Law School press officer, he now enjoys telling community stories in Blairstown, where he lives with his wife, Rose, and their two dachshunds.
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
