How American society changed.

From the 1950s to the 1960s, American society changed drastically. It was both triggered and reflected by music, art, and many other forms of media. The effects of these changes in society are still felt today.

Phrase “under God” was added to the pledge of allegiance

Religion was seen as an indicator of anticommunism

Clothing was conservative. Men wore gray flannel suits and women wore dresses and heels

French fashion designers were popular and copied in the U.S.

Families worked, played, and vacationed together.

Drive-in movies were popular

Gender roles were strongly upheld. Girls had dolls, and boys had Davy Crockett and Roy Rogers gear.

Cars were a symbol of prosperity and coolness

Highways were built to move people faster

Free time activities included flying saucer watching, and watching/dancing to Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.

Hit toys among kids were hula-hoops, western gear, and silly putty.

This was the era of the baby boom. Thousands of young men returned home from World War 2 eager to start their lives. American industry was expanding to meet peacetime needs. Economic growth was abundant. The 50s were characterized by a strong element of conservatism and anticommunism.

Civil Rights movement was at

its strongest. Nonconformity

Disregard of authority

Numerous social movements

Emergence of the Counterculture

The 70 million children of the Baby-boom were now teenagers and young adults. It was a time period ruled by the youth. They wanted change, they no longer wanted to be images of the generation before them. These changes affected education, values, lifestyles, laws, and entertainment.

The 1950s in America was an era of conformity. Conformity is the need to avoid standing out from the crowd. Suburban houses were identical, accepted standards of dress for men and women, and a uniform set of home appliances and equipment. Reasons for this conformity are believed to be the residual unity from WW2 and the growing threat from the U.S.S.R. Mass production, which led to mass consumption was another major factor. Television played a major role in outlining the ideal perception of the American family. This was shown in programs such as Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, and I Love Lucy.

The 1960s was a decade of nonconformity. It was an era dominated by youth. The youth in America greatly outnumbered the adults, as they were the product of the baby boom. The youth were not content with becoming images of their parents or merely blending in with society. They experimented with drugs, free love, and protested. Many of these people were called “hippies.”

The Civil Rights movement was at its peak from 1955 to 1965. After nearly a decade of non-violent protests and marches, Congress finally passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These guaranteed basic rights to all Americans regardless of race. The movement really took off during the 1960s due to increased following. Major events in the 1960s included various sit-ins, The Freedom Ride, responses to the Birmingham bombings, the March on Washington, and many more.

America in the 1960s was a time of enormous political, economical, and cultural change. People began to question the government and its ideals. As a result, there were many social upheavals that divided society and caused people to develop new sets of morals and ideals. These ideals differed from the mainstream, and the people who adopted these new morals were known as the counterculture. The counterculture was NOT a political movement. It was more of a new awareness that was countering mainstream society, hence the name “counterculture.” The counterculture had such a profound effect on society that it actually came to change mainstream society. Members of the counterculture were against government oppression and were for freedom to create their own values. They were against the war in Vietnam and against segregation. Music became the voice of the counterculture. These musicians had a very permissive attitude towards “sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll” and through the globalization of TV, these ideals spread to most American homes. As a result, these musicians and other popular figures became the voices of the youth.

Hippie : a usually young person who rejects the mores of established society (as by dressing unconventionally or favoring communal living) and advocates a nonviolent ethic.

Drugs played a huge part in the 1960s counterculture. The most common drugs of choice in the 60s were marijuana, psilocybin(mushrooms), LSD(acid), and mescaline(peyote). These drugs, with the exception of marijuana, are classified as psychedelic drugs. These drugs would expand the mind of people and allow them to explore different angles of things in the trance(trip) the drugs provided. LSD was legal in the U.S. until 1966, so it was readily available for experimentation. There were many famous advocates of psychedelics including writer Ken Kesey, Harvard professor Timothy Leary, writer Aldous Huxley, and many more. Although marijuana was not a psychedelic drug, it was immensely popular because it was relatively cheap, easy to find, and provided an enjoyable high. Drugs heavily influenced music of the 1960s. Many popular musicians wrote some of their greatest works under the influence. They included Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, The Beatles, and the Grateful Dead.

The 60s was a time of sexual revolution. The birth control pill was invented and AIDS was not around yet. Teens everywhere began experimenting with sex outside of marriage. A lot of this was due to the rampant drug use and the inability to make proper decisions.

The 60s was a time of discontent and disillusionment, especially of authority. People didn’t want to be oppressed by the government or anyone else for that matter. People wanted to be free to do what they wanted when they wanted. However, it was not a time of total anarchy, there was still order, just not oppressive order. It was common for the youth to rebel against parents, teachers, etc. The counterculture was not out to create a new world regime, they just wanted to live their own lives without being bothered.

Teens liked to drive their cars and sometimes race.

Teens got together and listened to the radio and records.

They began going to concerts They went to the drive-in movies

Silly Putty Advertisement

Matchbox cars from the 50s

Drive-in movie

Free time in the 60s was spent similarly to the 50s. Teens hung out with each other, they listened to music, and they went out to eat. It is commonly believed that everything about the 60s was different, but the truth is, they were still teenagers. Their beliefs may have been slightly different but day-to-day activity didn’t change all that much.

The 60s gave birth to various forms of art. Two forms that come to mind instantly are psychedelic art and pop art. Psychedelic art was heavily influenced by drug use and was very colorful, using contrasting colors and had a slightly surrealistic feel, but not classified as surrealism, which was another popular form of art at the time. Some famous psychedelic artists were Barney Bubbles, Warren Dayton, and Alton Kelly. Pop art was literally the art of popular culture. It characterized a sense of optimism during the post war consumer boom. It included many different mediums but it was all interest in mass-media, mass-production and mass-culture. The most famous pop artist was Andy Warhol.

Andy WarholSalvadore Dali

Marcel Duchamp Alexander Calder

Music in the 1960s reflected a lot of the social, political, and economical changes in America. Songs like Bob Dylan’s “Times They are a Changin” “What’s Goin On?” by Marvin Gaye and “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke reflected these changes. There were also protest songs such as “I Ain’t Marching Anymore” by Phil Ochs, “The War Drags On” by Mick Softley, and “Give Peace a Chance” by John Lennon directly opposed the war in Vietnam.

Jimi Hendrix The Grateful Dead

The Beatles

The Rolling Stones

Bob DylanCreedence Clearwater Revival

Literature in the 60s often reflected what was happening socially and politically in the 60s. Books like Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” reflected the issues with race, especially in the south. Authors like Maya Angelou and Gwendolyn Brooks wrote novels about being a woman of color during the time period. Disillusionment with the system was captured in Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22.”

Kurt Vonnegut

Ken Kesey

Jack Kerouac

Allen Ginsberg

William S. Burroughs

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.-Jimi Hendrix

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” -Jim Morrison

Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. -Timothy Leary

Many famous quotes still known today originate from the 60s. It was a time of enlightenment and open thinking.

•“Several excuses are always less convincing than one.”

-Aldous Huxley

The impact of the 1960s are still felt today in America. Two major impacts are the Civil Rights movement and equal rights for women. Another effect is the ability to say what you’d like, when you like, it’s the ability to question authority, which was unheard of before the 60s. Expressing yourself through music, art, and writing is something that is done all the time now, again, the roots of this lay in the 60s. Social nonconformity is another result still felt for those who wish to be different. I truly believe had it not been for the 60s, American culture and society would be drastically different today.