Archie Bunker Tells It

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The patriarchal figure in the 1970s television series All in the Family was Archie Bunker, played by Carol O’Connor, who never missed an opportunity to espouse the good old days and why he believed the country was going down the tubes.  Bunker believed the past attitudes towards race, religion, gender and politics should have held firm and continually argued with his liberal son-in-law, Mike, against progressive ideas.  “Those were the days” the opening and closing theme song of the show sung by Bunker and his wife Edith included lines lamenting the way it was -  “Didn’t need no welfare state, everybody pulled his weight,” and “you knew who you were then, girls were girls and men were men.”

In 1972, All in the Family and its cast of characters were promoted with merchandise as a tie-in with the U.S. presidential election of that year.