ERA Broker Celebrates Milestone

Thayne Houston, ERA Brokers’ Principal Broker celebrated his 50th birthday June 1st.

He was born in 1960, the start of seventh decade of the 20th century in the same year as Bono (U2), John Elway, Sean Penn, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Daryl Hannah.

He grew up during a time of diversity.  A decade of change that was evident in world events, technology, music, television, automobiles, fashions and individual self expression.

The cost of a first class postage stamp was 4 cents and the compact Ford Mustang was one of the decade’s greatest successes along with the first heart transplant.  People protested against war and for Women’s Liberation.   Marylin Monroe passed away.  John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther Kings, Jr’s were assassinated.

The 60’s music ranged from pop and folk rock to a more psychedelic sound and the musical phenomena of the decade was Woodstock.

As Howdy Doody came to an end The Andy Griffith Show and The Flinstones joined the TV lineup with I Dream of Jeannie, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, The Beverly Hillbillies, Mission: Impossible and Bewitched.

The highest-grossing film of the decade was The Sound of Music. Other blockbuster films included Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Birds, The Pink Panther, Mary Poppins, The Dirty Dozen, Cool Hand Luke, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Easy Rider and Planet of the Apes.

The first working laser was demonstrated. The first computer video game was invented.

Touch-Tone telephones were introduced and the first home video recorder, “Telcan”, became available. The first hand-held calculator was priced at $2,500 a piece. In London, the first Automatic Teller Machine is opened. The first computer mouse was developed and video conferencing, teleconferencing, email, and hypertext were all in their beginning stages and, “Arpanet”, the research-oriented prototype of the Internet, was introduced.

Being a half a century old shouldn’t make you bummed out even if the candles cost more than the cake. Don’t sweat it if your arms are almost too short to read the newspaper and your ears are hairier than your head; keep singing along with that elevator music. Take a step back in those black socks with sandals, look and smile at all that you’ve achieved in 5 decades of greatness!

Happy Birthday!!