When you look around the web for 70s color palettes, many of the photos you see are actually from the 1950s or 60s, not the 1970s.
So that you can be sure that these color palettes are actually representative of the 70s, they have been taken from photos with a verified capture date from that decade.
All the photos are public domain works from the Documerica archives, a US-government project that aimed to document the 1970s for future generations.
Hex codes taken from each of the images are included in case you don’t want to go to the trouble of downloading each image yourself.

1. Aug. 1973: Taxis on 5th Ave. near 48th Street, Manhattan

Photo by Dan McCoy
2. Aug. 1973: Women in wigs, the Bud Billiken Parade, Chicago

Photo by John H. White
3. Oct. 1974: Housewife in the kitchen of her mobile home

Photo by Horacio Villalobos
4. Apr. 1973: Traffic jam, Herald Square, Manhattan

Photo by Dan McCoy
5. Oct. 1972: Test of skill, Alabama State Fair

Photo by Woodson LeRoy
6. Jul. 1973: Pink Floyd, Columbia, Maryland

Photo by Erik Calonius
7. May 1974: Two men, Chicago’s South Side

Photo by John H. White
8. Jun. 1973: Beach at Little Duck Key, Key West, Florida

Photo by Flip Schulke
9. Jun. 1973: Lunch in the car, Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island

Photo by Arthur Tress
10. Feb. 1974: Gas station stop, Cascade Mountains

Photo by David Falconer
11. July 1975: Couple on the street, Michigan Avenue, Chicago

Photo by Perry Riddle
12. May 1974: Commuter, Philadelphia

Photo by Jim Pickerell
13. 1973: Traffic in the Herald Square area of Midtown Manhattan

Photo by Dan McCoy
14. Jun. 1974: Engineer of the Lone Star passenger train

Photo by Charles O’Rear
15. May 1974: Refurbished interior of an Amtrak carriage

Photo by Charles O’Rear
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