Tell me about the '60s (vanity)

[HungarianGypsy]

I am wanting to write a story based on a young adult in the 1960s. Since I was born in 1973 all I really know is what I studied in books. But, I want to get beyond love beads and LSD. I want to be able to write this as it really was. I know it's said if you remember the '60s you weren't really there. But, if anyone does remember I would appreciate reading your stories and facts. Thank you.

[alice_in_bubbaland]

LOL! We lived with my grandparents, in Flatbush for about two years. My parents were saving to build a house on LI (northshore), 42nd St & Flatbush Ave., if I remember correctly. We then moved to Bayville, NY. What a great place to grow up.

[mad_as_he$$]

BW great list got most of what I was thinking. I could add:

1.No fake breasts.

2. We often took guns to school and didn't go to jail.

3. No Wal-Mart to speak of.

4. An ethnic person was a novelty in many locales.

5.Malls were usually open strip type.

6. Grocery stores only had about 2,000 different items.

7.Micky D's was a treat (but mostly it was A&W for a treat).

8. The Dallas Cowboys were never arrested for anything.

9. Jesse Jackson was a nobody in MLK's shadow.

10. Elvis was king but Clapton was god.

[svcw]

Looks like my wedding photo.

[Gay State Conservative]

Wow, that's quite a broad brush you're painting with.

The "free-for-all of self indulgence" probably didn't occur in all parts of the country,but it sure did in the Northeast (where I grew up) and,I assume,in California as well.

[lapdog]

It doesn't take long to change. When I enlisted, way back when, I had hair past my shoulders and looked like I lived on the streets. The next time my mom saw me, I had a buzz cut and stood tall( but smoked cigarettes). She walked past me too. I had friends who came back hurt. You couldn't tell where they were hurt until you looked in their eyes. Some looked like they were dead but just didn't know it yet.

[linda_22003]

There were entire professional basketball teams made up of white players!

[Howlin]

Oh, there was the coolest guy in our town who was a little bit "risky" in our parents' minds.

Black Chevy BelAir with GLASS PAKS (sp?)....you could hear him coming blocks away.

He's now the mayor.

[Liberty Valance]

"Did I tell you guys how great you look in the red jackets....
Guy where's your sunglasses?"

[BunnySlippers]

No kidding.

I resent all the beads, blue jeans and stuff. Now, it's hip for young women to look sexy.

[linda_22003]

I thought that movie caught the time perfectly - especially that wonderful scene when they hear their song on the radio for the first time and are dancing around the appliance store.

[Remole]

One thing to consider is the effect of Color TV. Once color TV came into most homes, NY and Hollywood and advertisers went nuts for about 10 years experimenting with different color schemes, the bolder the better. How else to explain bright orange kitchen counters, outrageous hair colors, wide ties, and lime-green automobiles?

Until about 1965-66, when most TV transmission was in B & W, fashion and style were, let's admit, rather boring. But once color entered the home, it seemed like the USA went into a 10-year period of color hallucination.

For example, compare Ed Sullivan 1965 with Rowan and Martin or the Monkees, 1968. You'd think that there was a century in between, but there were only 3 years.

[RightWhale]

Write what you know.

[Carolinamom]

The only dish washers were KIDS. No homogenized milk; the bottled milk (delivered to your house) had cream at the top.

[Howlin]

I grew up in the South -- in the Greensboro area; we had plenty of riot and sit-ins.

And MOST of us were trying to finish college and get on with our lives.

You just cannot say that the people who weren't drafted or enlisted all spun into self-indulgence.

[Red Badger]

Can't recall ever hearing about that.....Oh wait! Tom Hanks! Now I remember!........

[Republican Red]

I was born in 1960

I grew up in unlocked houses and unlocked cars

I never wore a seat belt

I played with neighborhood kids until dark

I was taught by nuns who were allowed to beat the crap out of any student deemed "bad"

Achievement was hailed and failure was ridiculed

One of my favorite "toys" was a flower mold that allowed you to make delicate flower petals. The child would simply dip the mold into the boiling plastic and wait for it to dry. An 8 year old and and scalding hot plastic - what a combination.

My older brother beat up a bully that picked on me because of my red hair. My brother was applauded by my parents and the nuns looked the other way.

Looking back, I don't know how I got to the 70's alive and well.

[Howlin]

STUTE? STUTE? What was I thinking.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Madras shirt, white Levis and penny loafers were the uniform of the day. Some guys rotated with black Converse hightops (the chuck Taylor edition) but that was the only variation allowed.

[hunter112]

Nobody felt ashamed to drive a really big, fast car!

[mad_as_he$$]

Thought of some others:

1. The Ponderosa was a wonderful place to live.

2. Dodge City had the best lawman anywhere. AND the best bar owner.

3. Palladin would fix anything for you that Bat Masterson couldn't.

4. Space was the final frontier.