Looking Back at Summer in the '60s (PHOTOS)

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Steve M.

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https://weather.com/holiday/memorial-day/news/2015-05-21-summer-60s-photos#/30


Everyone looked so slim and trim back then, even the 'ol lady and me! Ck out those bell bottom jeans below. Bought them at Gaylord's dept store, which doesn't exist anymore. Funny thing about it is I still say "far out", "cool", all that, and have managed to keep my hippie values and non conformist attitude in these locked down times.


https://i.imgur.com/2N3J7PN.jpg
I don't care what anyone says, the 60's were great times. We had the best music, the handsomest and most beautiful women, literature and films were creative and exciting, and JFK was our version of royalty in the White House. I had a blast then. Still do, but things go a little slower now :]






 
Counting the minutes until some 49 year old pipes up about how much better things are now, because he read some articles and a book which convinced him of that. That seems to be an unshakeable belief among those who were not there.
Whatever.
 
I'll be that guy and I'm 42.
The 60s were great I've read.
If you were a white male.
Otherwise, the story might be a little different. Not a rule but lets say a very prevalent theme.
But I've only read about life, I've never experienced anything of merit due to my age.
Phil Forrest
 
I think it was a great time for a lot of people. Civil rights were in the forefront, segregation was abolished, the Mustang came out, Ford beat Ferrari at it's own game, mary jane crept out of it's closet to embark on a slooooow path to legality, and people were discussing peace and how to end a war. Most of my friends were black, gay, or both and they were experiencing new freedoms of speech and movement. This was in the South mind you.
 
In the ‘60s one could turn on the AM radio in your car and listen to new music by:

The Beatles
The Stones
The Beach Boys
Motown (and, that’s a lot!)
Bossa Nova (that was like going from a black and white TV to color)
A slew of one-hit wonders that would last forever…
Louie Louie
Wild Thing
For What It’s Worth
Dominique (A number one hit by a singing Nun… won’t see that ever happening again)

Anyway, maybe the ‘60s were not perfect but it was a great decade for listening to the radio.

Mike
 
Slide 10 remains me of my older brother, especially because he had a red Triumph like in the photo. For the most part the photos IMHO are boring. And trust me, it was not a boring time.
 
Phil_F_NM said:
I'll be that guy and I'm 42.
The 60s were great I've read.
If you were a white male.
Otherwise, the story might be a little different. Not a rule but lets say a very prevalent theme.
But I've only read about life, I've never experienced anything of merit due to my age.
Phil Forrest
Click to expand...

Caribbean Missile Crisis and Vietnam War.

But Winogrand was in full swing. Soviet has sixties spring in arts.
 
Yokosuka_Mike said:
In the ‘60s one could turn on the AM radio in your car and listen to new music by:

The Beatles
The Stones
The Beach Boys
Motown (and, that’s a lot!)
Bossa Nova (that was like going from a black and white TV to color)
A slew of one-hit wonders that would last forever…
Louie Louie
Wild Thing
For What It’s Worth
Dominique (A number one hit by a singing Nun… won’t see that ever happening again)

Anyway, maybe the ‘60s were not perfect but it was a great decade for listening to the radio.

Mike
Click to expand...


The other thing about the AM pop stations that I remember was that they were not format programmed. Jimi Hendrix was followed 1910 Fruit Gum Company, then the Supremes, Cream, the Association, a girl group, doo wop etc. It was a total mishmash of genres. At least that is the way it was on stations in Baltimore.
 
(Sigh) They sure don't make nostalgia like they used to!
(Sigh again)

As someone else points out these images remind me how trim and thin people tend to look back then. I can't say this is a surprise to me as I do a lot of street photography and am often surprised at how many people in the street look, well, "porky" and unhealthy. Sorry if you think I am being fattist but I can say that I have also had to fight all my life to manage my own weight as I am largely fighting against my Central European genetics. I have largely managed OK but its a battle. And I know its hard in today's culture where being a foodie is pushed by the media and frankly unhealthy lifestyles are encouraged but it does never the less drive it home to me when I compare the photos of the 1960s with ones I see today - even people we would think of as being more or less healthy weight look "pretty well fleshed" by comparison. Makes me wonder where this will lead. I suppose its another sign of our society's decadence.
 
ChipMcD said:
The other thing about the AM pop stations that I remember was that they were not format programmed. Jimi Hendrix was followed 1910 Fruit Gum Company, then the Supremes, Cream, the Association, a girl group, doo wop etc. It was a total mishmash of genres. At least that is the way it was on stations in Baltimore.
Click to expand...

Not only did we have great AM radio stations in the ‘60s, we had A&M Records too!

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
The Baja Marimba Band
Carpenters
Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66

And, so many more!

Mike
 
Love the photos proposed in the link.
I remember those times...with nostalgia of course yes, I was young.

I should really go through the boxes of photos I have around...for the moment the nearest to that era photographic memories go to beginning of the '70s...
There was still hope around...and it was easier to photograph people :)

robert

med_U3692I1464078493.SEQ.0.jpg
 
Phil_F_NM said:
I'll be that guy and I'm 42.
The 60s were great I've read.
If you were a white male.
Otherwise, the story might be a little different. Not a rule but lets say a very prevalent theme.
But I've only read about life, I've never experienced anything of merit due to my age.
Phil Forrest
Click to expand...



Great if you were white generally looking at those pics, which is not to criticise the photos themselves but that does rather stand out. Zero representation or recognition of non white culture being displayed by whoever put that article together. When you consider the contribution made to US culture generally by this group I'm a little bemused!

There are things I miss about that era ... and things I don't.
 
The 60s started with the birth control pill and ended with the Honda CB750. In the years between some of the best music, ever. My family owned a record bar, selling vinyl.. good times, happy memories.

Thanks for the link, though as already mentioned it's a biased sample. Lots of not so good stuff happened too - e.g. Agent Orange was first used in Vietnam in '61.

Not to forget the shocking road toll either. A 0.08 blood alcohol limit was introduced in '66 and seat belts weren't compulsory in Australia until 1970, in direct response to a decade of carnage on the roads. I still remember seeing terrible crashes in that period.

Still, the memories of surfing uncrowded waves and listening to music are hard to beat.
 
peterm1 said:
(Sigh) They sure don't make nostalgia like they used to!
(Sigh again)

As someone else points out these images remind me how trim and thin people tend to look back then. I can't say this is a surprise to me as I do a lot of street photography and am often surprised at how many people in the street look, well, "porky" and unhealthy. Sorry if you think I am being fattist but I can say that I have also had to fight all my life to manage my own weight as I am largely fighting against my Central European genetics. I have largely managed OK but its a battle. And I know its hard in today's culture where being a foodie is pushed by the media and frankly unhealthy lifestyles are encouraged but it does never the less drive it home to me when I compare the photos of the 1960s with ones I see today - even people we would think of as being more or less healthy weight look "pretty well fleshed" by comparison. Makes me wonder where this will lead. I suppose its another sign of our society's decadence.
Click to expand...

Those were the days before 'Big Gulp' sodas. I can recall buying refillable 8 oz. bottles of coke from vending machines in the 60's.
 
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