I well remember the excitement, the frenzy that held the brothers in those days..We all knew that the end was "really here"...those of us who were cautious since the WT had said that "It could well be" rather than "it will be", believed that it might go a little bit over time by weeks or even a year or so because humans had calculated the dates.
MAny others, especially my fellow elders, were completely convinced that it would be all over by '75. Even our K/Hall was obtained on that basis. We got a place on a 10 year lease in about 1971/72 and put a lot of money into remodelling it, on the basis that the hall would survive Armageddon but the freeholders would not be around to take it back .
I was careful not to be carried away with it all, but I did follow a line taken by a friend who said that "I am sure that Jehovah would never allow his organization to be completely wrong about this, his name is involved" .....So in the mid 70's thereabouts I was sure it would come..
So how did we react when it did not come? On JAn 1st 1976 I heard a disc jockey say that the world had not ended despite what J W's had said. But we hunkered down, confident that it would soon come . A few years past and immediacy gave way to a determination to prove that WE were not fair weather Christians who gave up easily. So we settled down , telling ourselves to be loyal. Eventually even the WT carried what was seen as an apology ...........
It still took me many decades to work out that it was all B/S . I guess I am a slow learner......
Thank you Terry. Scans are important since the Awakes have slipped off of the c/d rom. Nowadays most dubs seem to believe the official line, that they never said anything much and it was all over eager brothers' fault........