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I think AIDS was around long before it became known. In 1974 I was working in the title department of an oil/gas company. It was my job to process estates and distribute the oil/gas revenue to the heirs. I'll never forget reading the death certificate of a young man (early 30s) who died in San Francisco the previous year. The cause of death was listed as "pneumonia" but the physician had added that the actual cause of death was "probably unknown" and the deceased had "skin lesions, oral sores, fever, sweats and significant weight loss". The physician also added that he knew of "other young men in the area who had apparently died of the same mysterious affliction".
That death certificate and the physician's obvious concern has haunted me all these 40 years. I've read about Robert Rayford's dying of AIDS in New Orleans in 1969 but I suspect that there were others who pre-deceased him in San Francisco.
Fascinating! '74...
And where did all the Krishna people go..I liked them...
Head Shops? Still here in Colorado...never closed.
My dad's definition of "hippie" (back in the 70s) was someone with long hair who listened to "jungle music" and is "hopped up" all the time and does not take a bath.
My own definition is someone who seriously questions the institutions (not necessarily for the sake of non-conformity) and may do novel good things (protest war) or novel stupid things (drugs).
Think about it: Have you ever heard of anti-war protests in the world as big the anti-Vietnam War protests? There were a few conscientious objectors during WWII, but nothing as big as during the Vietnam War.
Then the civil rights movement. The last time there was such a movement was during the abolition era, which was around the Civil War. In the South there were water fountains for "whites only" and water fountains for non-whites. Very shameful. When I got into college in the late 70s it was in a farm community, but there was a lot of diversity. My high school and junior high was a little diverse but nothing like college. An that is 35 years ago or so. We've come a long way to the point where we have gone too far in some areas - affirmative action and political correctness) and then regressed in other areas (passivity about military spending, the NDAA, The Patriot Act, government spying on you and me).
At least the interesting thing is that America goes through periods of anger against big government and such a period will come up again. I will also be out there protesting. I am protesting on Facebook (much to the angst of my "non-political" friends) against the endless wars.
I'm now dating all of them. One 74 year old "Linda Evans" type hadn't worked since........1962.
Completely missed the sixties. Well read, though. But man, what I'm hearing.
1) the return of "men are there to pick up the tab"
2) John/Jim/Bob "always took care of this" (sorry, but JJB have been dead for five years
3) Eckart Tolle "is the answer to all the questions!
All my high school ladies have at least a Masters and all are still working. Would have made fabulous moms.
The entertainment value never ends.
I was standing at a phone booth in Amsterdam one night, a middle class woman from Miami behind me: I left a note for my husband I was off to Europe to be a hippie for 6 months, and to take good care of the kids!
I see these type of people today at the corner with cardboard signs they are very young
Way back then there was lots of fat to live off of
Not now
20 million illegals have snapped it up
Being on the streets today is not Disneyland
I'm confused ... what people are you talking about? Folks who were hippies in the '60's are on the streets today? That is not my observation.
I have friends who are slightly older than myself who were real hippies ... are still are for the most part.
-- My friend Allen, who had long hair and beard, started a commune with about 5 other people near Athol, western Massachusetts ... over the years most of the others sold out their share and moved away but the farm is still there managed by Allen and one other original commune member, who is now his business partner. The farm grew in size and over the years two homes (with electricity and plumbing) and other buildings improved the property. Allen today is very active in historic preservation and an activist against 'fracking' and building an oil pipeline through his state.
-- "Crazy" Michael and "Mother Earth" Joanie both live in the same modest brick rowhome in Philly's Fishtown neighborhood. They moved in together - never married - 40 years ago and paid something like $7 or $8 Thousand for the place. The neighborhood is going through "gentrification" and their little home, filled with lots of authentic Hindu and Buddhist art work, is easily worth about a quarter million dollars and was paid off long ago. These two were real hippies - Michael still wears his gray hair long down his back and Joanie (now a grandmother) wears Mexican peasant dresses and muu muus and gypsy like jewelry. They take vacations and dine out often in nice restaurants.
-- Pamela, a woman of old Philadelphia Quaker stock, was kicked out of her parents home at 17 (and still in high school) when they discovered she was in a lesbian relationship. A self described bisexual, Pamela eventually fell in love with a Jewish guy and converted to Judaism. They had two daughters, now grown. In her enthusiasm for her new religion Pamela enrolled in a rabbinical college, learned Hebrew and Yiddish, and became a cantor. She lives a very middle class lifestyle and floats between different synagogues as a cantor (second to a rabbi, who chants and sings the prayers).
I think these histories are pretty typical of what happened to hippies.
Remember when everyone was reading Heinlein, Kesey, Tolkien, Ginsberg, Kerouac, Thoreau? Gee, we sure didn't have a lot of women authors leading the way.
And I always had to make time between classes to get over to the library to read the latest issues of The Village Voice and The Oracle.
Remember when everyone was reading Heinlein, Kesey, Tolkien, Ginsberg, Kerouac, Thoreau? Gee, we sure didn't have a lot of women authors leading the way.
No, they had to disguise themselves to get published.
James Tiptree Jr.
CL Moore
Andre Norton
Yeah that has been my point earlier in the thread. Again I am not judging "hippies". I am very cool with the entire notion, provided you do not have other depending on you.
I kind of regret not embracing the late 60s early 70s youth movement. Unfortunately, the only part I participated in was the free love part, which resulted in the early marriage part.
What a great time, went to Woodstock a few months after graduating high school along with a few other festivals & "happenings". We would go to parties & they would neglect to inform us that the sangria was "electric" which made the party really interesting after that. I saw all the bands except the Beatle & the Doors, tried to explore spirituality instead of jumping right into a career.
Worked & hitch-hiked around Europe for 6 months on my own dime while still a teenager: never knew of or even heard of anyone who had done that before & discovered an entire culture of travelers roaming from Amsterdam to Australia on the "hippie trail". (I had to stop halfway across Turkey because India & Pakistan were bombing the Khyber Pass at the time.)
And the girls.... after the pill & before aids...
It all helped to put things into perspective for me, there's more to life than jumping right from school into an office.
Nothing is perfect but it was an unbelievable time. Even with the hard realities of life & responsibilities that followed I wouldn't change a thing, other than regretting smoking cigarrettes & wearing bell-bottoms.
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