Hippies In 60s
During the 1960's a radical group called
the Hippies shocked America with their
alternative lifestyles and radical
beliefs.
Through out history the world has seen
some generations that have made an impact
more than all of its predecessors.
The decade from 1960 to 1970 was definitely
one of those eras. The people
didn't follow the teachings of its elders, but
rejected them for an
alternative culture which was their very own(Harris 14).
Made up of the
younger population of the time this new culture was such a
radical society
that they were given their own name which is still used today.
They came
to be called the Hippies. The Hippie movement started in San
Francisco,
California and spread across the United States, through Canada, and
into
parts of Europe (World Book). But it had its greatest influence in
America.
During the 1960's a radical group called the Hippies shocked
America with their
alternative lifestyle and radical beliefs. Hippies came
from many different
places and had many different backgrounds. All Hippies
were young, from the ages
of 15 to 25 (Worldbook). They left their families
and did it for many different
reasons. Some rejected their parents' ideas,
some just wanted to get away, and
others simply were outcasts, who could only
fit in with the Hippie population.
"Under 25 became a magical age, and young
people all over the world were
united by this bond" (Harris 15). This bond
was of Non-conformity and it
was the "Creed of the Young" (Harris 15). Most
Hippies came from
wealthy middle class families. Some people said that they
were spoiled and
wasting their lives away. But to Hippies themselves this was
a way of life and
no one was going to get in the way of their dreams and
ambitions. Hippies
flocked to a certain area of San Francisco on the corner
of Haight Street and
Ashbury Street, where the world got their first view
of this unique group. This
place came to be known as the Haight Ashbury
District. There were tours of the
district and it was said that the tour "was
the only foreign tour within
the continental limits of the United States"
(Stern 147). The Hippies were
so different that the conservative middle class
could not relate to them and saw
them as aliens. The Haight Ashbury district
lies in the very center of San
Francisco. In the years of 1965 and 1966
the Hippies took over the Haight
Ashbury district(Cavan 49). There they
lived and spread their psychedelic theme
through out the whole area. In the
Haight Ashbury district there were two parks
that that all Hippies knew well.
The most famous of the two was the Golden Gate
Park(Cavan 43). The single
most important event that put the Hippies on the map
was held at the Golden
Gate Park. It was called the Trips Festival. The Trips
Festival was a
week long festival designed to celebrate the LSD experience(Stern
148).
Besides this festival dozens of other events took place at Golden
Gate
Park, some of which were free concerts by The Grateful Dead and
Jefferson
Airplane and Anti-War rallies held by Hippie political leaders.
The other park
is called the Buena Vista park and is known for housing
hippies at night and for
socializing during the day. As the 1960's
progressed, the youth in America
united. "In 1969 400,000 young people
materialized for three dizzying days
to listen to rock and blues music, to
wear funny clothing or no clothes at all,
to talk, sing, dance, clap hands,
to drink beer or smoke pot and make love-but
mostly to marvel again and again
that they were all there together" (This
Fabulous Century 64). This
festival was held in a small town in up-state New
York and came to be
called Woodstock, after the town it was held in. Also in
Greenwich
Village, New York Hippies had a place. The Village on every Sunday was
known
to have hordes of singers with banjos and drums celebrating their
youth
together(Stern 103). One of the basic foundations of the Hippie
movement was the
flagrant use of illegal drugs. There were many drugs that
the Hippies used but
none was more used then marijuana. From 1960 to 1970 the
number of Americans who
had tried marijuana had increased from a few hundred
thousand to 8,000,000. The
majority of these new users were from 12 years old
to college seniors(This
Fabulous Century 84). To some Hippies, drugs and
music were the most important
aspects of their lives. Another drug that was
prevalent in the Hippie population
was LSD. Some Hippies thought that "LSD
puts you in touch with your
surroundings" (Cavan 114). But that was not what
always the case. On
occasion a hippie would take bad LSD and would experience
a "bad trip"
or would "freak out" (Cavan 115). When someone took bad LSD,
freak out
is exactly what they would do and sometimes they never came back.
Bad LSD was so
common that even at Woodstock people were having bad trips and
freaking out.
Even with this bad LSD everywhere people still used it,
they went as far as to
make a religion out of it. A man by the name of Dr.
Timothy Leary was a Harvard
professor who had ideas about LSD. He said "LSD
is western yoga. The aim of
all Eastern religion, like the aim of LSD, is
basically to get high; that is to
expand your consciousness and find ecstasy
and revelation within" (This
Fabulous Century 84). Another preacher of
the use of LSD was an author by the
name of Ken Keasey. He traveled around
the United States in a psychedelic bus
giving LSD to anyone and everyone who
would take it. Hippies were notorious for
there out of the ordinary music.
Many Hippies were actually musicians
themselves. Hippies used music as a way
to get their thoughts and ideas out. One
of the most influential musicians of
the time was Bob Dylan. The lyrics of the
song "Like Rolling Stone" express
the thoughts of many Hippies. They
say: How does it feel; How does it feel To
be without a home Like a complete
unknown Like a rolling stone?(Harris 69)
These lyrics expressed Dylan's personal
thoughts to what was happening to
him. He did feel "like a rolling
stone" and so did his peers. His simple but
meaningful lyrics are what made
him so popular and successful. Many Hippies
considered Dylan as a spokesman for
their beliefs. Drugs were also themes in
many bands songs. Jimmy Hendrix's
"Purple Haze" is about marijuana. "Lucy in
the Sky with
Diamonds," is a Beatles song about LSD. The Grateful Dead
also took part in
the fad with their song "Casey Jones," with lyrics such as
"High
on Cocaine" and "You better watch your Speed." Besides their
music
and drugs Hippies did some out of the ordinary things that were as
shocking
as their day-glo clothing. It was common for hippies in the
Haight
Ashbury District to put a nickel in a parking meter, then set up
blankets and
lie down in the space for a half hour(Stern 161). This was
unusual behavior so
it is not strange that the public did not take them
seriously. "People
thought Hippies were the next funniest thing to the Three
Stooges"(Stern
161). Television shows like the successful Laugh In made
fun of this counter
culture. Movies made fun of them as well. One called the
Presidents Analyst was
extremely successful. The movie was dedicated "to the
life, liberty, and
pursuit of happenings," and was based on the Hippies wacky
antics. People
all over the America were outraged at how strange these people
were and at the
same time were in tears at how funny they were. Even though
from afar the
Hippies were entertaining, in reality they were devastating
the American family
and were tearing the country in two. While the adults of
the time were
conservative, hard working, and caring mainly about money, the
Hippies didn't
care about any of that. They were party animals. Many didn't
work unless it was
completely necessary, they never went to church nor did
they care for saving
their virginity until after they were married. They were
anything but
conservative and their families rejected them for it. Hippies
easy going
attitudes and fun and games lifestyles were put away when the
topic of politics
came up. Indubitably the instigator for their existence,
politics played a huge
role in their lives. Having strongest feelings for the
Vietnam War and for the
Civil Rights Movement, the Hippies made their
beliefs known to the world. They
did this in many ways including musical
shows, pacifist folk songs, and through
peaceful sit-ins(This Fabulous
Century 206). But none of their actions were more
seen and heard of then
their protests and rallies. The Hippies were aware that
the war was being
lost and that thousands of American soldiers were dying. They
took it upon
themselves the make their beliefs heard. They put together a
protest larger
then the ever before. Once organized not just Hippies came, but
students,
intellectuals, radicals, and citizens of all classes took part in it
(Harris
36). This protest was held in Washington DC in the heart of the
United
States. 250,000 protesters gathered for one common goal. They
wanted their
troops to come back home and for United States involvement in
the war to be
ended. Through the years of the Vietnam War hundreds a anti-war
rallies were
held. By the decades end protests seemed to have done some good.
Sixty five
percent of all Americans had similar views as the hippies(This
Fabulous Century
206). They wanted their troops back and that's what they
got in the 1969 when
the President gave the word to bring them back home.
Hippies had other feelings
about racism and persecution. They took part in
the civil rights movement, just
as they did in the for the Vietnam troops.
When President Kennedy tried to pass
his Civil Rights policies and they never
went through, the Hippies were more
aggravated (Harris 8) Eventually some
Hippies tried to make their colonies where
there was no racism and
persecution. There were Hippie communes all over the
United States. Some
communes believed that they were "fighting against the
white man's perverted
society of pollution ,war, and greed (Stern 166). These
communes didn't get
very popular and failed after a few years. Hippies still
fought for racial
equality. Finally when the 1960's were over new laws were put
into action
helping racial equality which would not have happened without
the
Hippies. During the 1960's a radical group called the hippies shocked
America
with their alternative lifestyle and radical beliefs. They were young
people who
enjoyed life to its fullest. They used illegal drugs and listened
to rock and
roll music. With their alternative beliefs and practices they
stunned America's
conservative middle class. Concerned chiefly protesting the
Vietnam War and with
civil rights they made a huge impact on the America and
the world. Even today
the effects of the Hippie movement is still felt. They
made huge advantages and
set examples for the youth of today and years to
come.
Bibliography
Cavan, Sherry. Hippies Of The Haight. St.Louis:
New Critics Press, Inc.,
1972. Harris, Nathaniel. The Sixties. London:
Macdonald Education Ltd., 1975.
"Hippies" WorldBook Multimedia Encyclopedia.
CD-ROM. Stern, Jane and
Michael. Sixties People. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, Inc., 1990. This Fabulous
Century. New York: Time-Life Books,
1970.