Fun fact: the bottom 11% in 1970 didn't have flush toilets.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cf...
In 2001, the bottom 7-8% don't have dishwashers, which were generally considered a luxury item in the 1970's. Go read this article, describing the material conditions of the poor (circa 2001):
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/01/understandi...
Tell me, what items did the middle class of 1970 have that the poor of 2001 lack?
They're not items, but I'd say hope, stability, confidence, status, etc.
Really? In the US? In the 70's? This was at the end of the Vietnam War, during the oil crisis, remember?
As a random example consumer confidence at the lowest point during the financial crisis was still higher than it was in 1973 (during the Oil Crisis): http://useconomy.about.com/b/2008/04/01/consumer-pessimism-s...
They're not items, but I'd say hope, stability, confidence, status, etc.