I knew I had to say hello (hello, hello) She smiled up at me She took my hand And we walked through the park alone
Then I got hay fever
Posted on 01/09/2007 9:18:52 AM PST by 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.
My dad built us a fall-out shelter--underground. It wasn't NEARLY as big as that one in the movie "A Blast from the Past"!!!!!!
I knew I had to say hello (hello, hello) She smiled up at me She took my hand And we walked through the park alone
Then I got hay fever
Hey, I have one of those!
It's "tight" right now, I think. Things are still pretty groovy for me, too.
:-)
I graduated from HS in 1963..
At that time, the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean type surf music was big. Elvis came thru every 6 months with a hit. "Folk" groups like The Kingston Trio, The Limelighters, The Brothers Four, Peter Paul & Mary were hot items. The Smothers Brothers were the big comedy item, Bill Cosby was just breaking into popularity.
Bought a '64 Pontiac GTO in 1966, was drafted into the Army in 1967, and by then it was a different world altogether. (The shifting point seemed to be from Nov 22,1963 [Kennedy death] through Feb 1964 [Beatles hit charts in US])
Spent the "summer of love" (1967) in scenic Ft. Bliss TX in basic training. There were a couple of self-professed hippies in our outfit who were mercilessly abused, not just by the cadre, but by the rest of us too.
One guy ended up committing suicide.
By the late 60's, music was dominated by Motown, Hendrix, and pretty much anyone British. CCR & Big Brother & the HC were my personal fav's.
TV hits --> The Wild Wild West, I Spy, The Untouchables
I watched "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." on Friday nights. I was 11 and Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin were my first big crushes. I sneaked to put on my mom's lipstick before the show so I'd be beautiful for Napoleon and Ilya.
Um, by the way, I was a girl.
Do NOT forget the Roadrunner. He is one for ya. Pouring bleach on the high way and burning rubber to produce beautiful white smoke. I have a picture here somewhere. I loved the muscles cars and still do. But the best thing to ride around in was my Dads ole farm truck with him driving me barefoot with my feet on the windshield no air conditioning all widows and side vents open drinking a Coke with peanuts in it. I can still smell the oil,grain etc of that ole truck. Hey we still have it.
Three of us. I am the abused middle of three, all of the same gender. Between the "blessed first born male child" and mother's little baby. ;-) A girl in the middle position would offer the distinction of a different gender. Took a sociology course that looked at the middle of three of the same gender and those children inevitably turn out to be "the black sheep", which is meant in neither a good nor bad way but just that the child tends to be much different than the other two. Very interesting and dead-on in our family. It was like reading about myself. I also had very different features from the others (no glasses, blonde versus brunette, tan instead of sunburn, looked like my Mom whereas they were the spitting image of my Dad) so it is interesting to look back and understand why I truly felt different.
But getting back to my poor Mom with all that testosterone running around. I never even heard about the theory of putting the toilet seat down until I started dating!
Boring, huh? Actually, the decade was among the best 10 years of my life.
Learned my USAF specialty in California, and spent the remainder of the decade in various assignments practicing Commo/Cryptography.
Met and married the gal of my dreams, got a choice assignment to Rome, Italy in 67, avoided Nam (although I was disappointed at the time), and fathered my first child.
That about sums it up. Oh yeah, never smoked dope or took anything not prescribed by an MD. Never got spit on, but did get some stick from campus punk types in Kansas, left the decade only about 10 pounds heaver than in 1960.
Can you write a book about that mini-history? Mebbe Brad Pitt could play me in the movie...
But, bannie, you know we saw BOTH "moon walks," the real one AND Michael Jackson's!
But I think michaeljackson was still a cute black kid back then.
Ahh, Nauset Beach! That used to be our big treat every week or so! Big waves versus the plcid beach in West Dennis. Bought my first pair of Birdies Beach Britches bathing trunks in Orleans! Boy, that made me cool!
And all of the girls had homemaking in school.
My grandma taught me sewing; but in home ec we made suits and big stuff!
Macrame (sp?) planter hangers!
LOL.............yes, he was.
Now that made me LOL!
To this day, I still make the spaghetti recipe I learned in Home Ec! And everybody loves it!
Some strapped the deer onto the trunk of the car to parade past the highschool.
2736 <----- Mine.
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