To LongHairedGirl and others: RE: push in 80's to quit work and Pioneer
Explanation: This was because no one in the 80's even expected to make it to 1990. Check out the entire Bound Volume (for WatchTower and Awake!) for the year 1984. Many of the covers are talking about Prophecy, the year 1914, and The Generation of 1914. Those magazines were used for YEARS in the ministry as irrefutable "proof" as to how far into "The time of the end" we were. No one, and I mean NO ONE - would have ever thought we'd make it to the year 2000 in this "system of things." If you had even implied it, you'd be accused of having weak faith, and possibly even holding Apostate leanings. So, just like before 1975, there was a tremendous ramp-up to quit working full time and Pioneer to save as many people as possible before the Great Tribulation broke out. Because unlike today, once the Great Tribulation broke out, the symbolic "Ark doors" were CLOSED - and on one else was going to be saved. They were toast!
This sense of urgency and paranoia can NOT be understated enough to the people would weren't even alive yet. The height of the Cold War era and nuclear annihilation compounded the feeling of dread.
Next month, May 2024, will mark the 40th Anniversary of the infamous "Generation of 1914" WatchTower cover. Amazing.