When did Portland first become a hipster darling? (house, movies)

[kyled]

Originally Posted by Beenhere4ever

Is a "hipster" like a yuppie?

Hipster
Yuppie

Essentially a yuppie is a young professional, generally with a higher income and a desire for social status; while a hipster is a young person, generally with middle class income, who ascribes to a counter-culture that shuns "conformity".

[Beenhere4ever]

Originally Posted by AZBrauMeister

The first time I heard the term "hipster" was when Elaine called Kramer a "hipster doofus". I love that episode.

I realize this doesn't add much to the conversation, but oh well. :-)

Hey, its a Kramer mention. Takes good memory to bring up an analogy.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by AZBrauMeister

The first time I heard the term "hipster" was when Elaine called Kramer a "hipster doofus". I love that episode.

I realize this doesn't add much to the conversation, but oh well. :-)

I think it was also in the episode where Kramer dates a good-looking woman in a wheelchair--she breaks up with him after she calls him a "hipster doofus".

Let's see though, Kramer wears sort of retro vintage thrift store-looking clothes, he's always got some crazy new idea or cultural trend he's adopted for the moment(Cuban cigars, turning drawers into Japanese capsule hotels, making his living room like a ski lodge, running his own fake late night talk show, etc...)--and some how gets by financially without any visible means of employment.

Sounds like a hipster to me....

[belmont22]

Originally Posted by Deezus

I think it was also in the episode where Kramer dates a good-looking woman in a wheelchair--she breaks up with him after she calls him a "hipster doofus".

Let's see though, Kramer wears sort of retro vintage thrift store-looking clothes, he's always got some crazy new idea or cultural trend he's adopted for the moment(Cuban cigars, turning drawers into Japanese capsule hotels, making his living room like a ski lodge, running his own fake late night talk show, etc...)--and some how gets by financially without any visible means of employment.

Sounds like a hipster to me....

Yeah fo sho.

[lalahartma]

Hello?! Early 90s, for sure.

[lalahartma]

Originally Posted by Minervah

When I look at hipsters, I flash back to the styles of the 50's. Not much imagination. The beatnicks were smart and cool, the hippies were fun and easy going, the hipsters seem kind of aloof and bland.

The 40s/50s were hipsters, beatniks a bit later, but actually many of the same peoples. Jazz, man.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by lalahartma

The 40s/50s were hipsters, beatniks a bit later, but actually many of the same peoples. Jazz, man.

I very clearly remember the Beat generation of the 50's. Ginsberg, Kerouac etc. Hipsters have been around for a very long time though, but not as we see them today and they were mostly associated with muscians. They weren't so much writers or Society dropouts as the Beatnicks who were sort of an offshoot of hipsters. Back in the 50's those who didn't conform were lumped under the Beatnick label right or wrong similar to the way the Hippies were in the 60's right or wrong.

Society always had a group of those who liked to think they were out of the mainstream. Some were, some played at it.

The Beat Generation - Literature Periods & Movements

This is just one of many articles you can find about Beatnicks on the Internet.

[westboundrambler]

Originally Posted by Minervah

When I look at hipsters, I flash back to the styles of the 50's. Not much imagination. The beatnicks were smart and cool, the hippies were fun and easy going, the hipsters seem kind of aloof and bland.

This is one of the better definitions I've seen.

Originally Posted by Minervah

Couldn't be more opposite.

Eh I wouldn't say completely opposite, they do have a bit in common, along with you initial definition of them I would say the stereotypical hipster tends to be pretty snooty (a trait shared with yuppies) if you aren't green enough, or if you aren't into this "new band" or if you aren't even in the same frame of mind as them, they tend to look down on you (not all obviously, there's plenty of nice ones, this is just a stereotype, and on I've seen prevail incredibly true when I used to visit my friend in Chicago at the art school he went to). The thing that was great about beatnicks and hippies was that they had great culture. They had great poets, incredible music, and brilliant minds. Todays hipster seems to just want to have fashion on the forefront of their persona, which to me is the exact opposite of what beatnicks and hippies were about, sure they dressed differently but it was about the culture not the clothes. Another downside is, even when these new age hipsters are "into music" it's usually crumby bands and they're only into them because they're odd, new, or obscure.

[emathias]

I moved to Portland in 1977, when I was 4. We lived on the on the East Side, first in an apartment somewhere I don't remember where. Then we lived on NE 84th Ave just south of Glisan St, near Montavilla Park and then SE 93rd for a while. In 1980 we moved to a small town west of Portland but my dad still worked in Portland and we visited friends often.

My parents were fairly trendy, and a little counter-culture. They had an unusual collection of friends. Portland then had a sort of rough feel to it, but I'd say my parents were part of the movement changing Portland from a timber town into more of a cultural center. In 1974 the Saturday Market was started. In 1979 Metro was created to manage Urban Growth Boundaries. In about 1980, Powell's Books located in its present spot and started becoming the book store as people know it. In 1984 the renovated Pioneer Courthouse Square and Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall opened. In 1985, Bud Clark was elected mayor. In 1986 the 24-hour Church of Elvis opened. The first MAX light rail segment opened in 1986. In 1992 the Trojan nuclear plant was decommissioned.

None of those things, by themselves, made Portland a hipster haven, but they laid the groundwork. They each played parts in creating the Portland that supports a "hipster" reputation. They created a certain kind of mindset among Portlanders.

In my opinion, the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s was the era of "proto-hipsters," when Portland was becoming a city that would attract hipsters. Then in the 1990s, hipsters started moving in with larger numbers. By the time the 2000s hit, Portland was hugely hipster and hipsters had become the dominant cultural voice of the city.

[smarino]

I like the New Orleans term better, although it's probably stretching it to fit the same definition as hipster, New Orleans and Portland being what they are. Yuffie, or, young urban failure. People that COULD be making big bucks, but prefer to live a laid back lifestyle and focus more on good food, music, etc. rather than driving a new something-or-other. A hipster to me is just a very annoying young person.