What Was It Like To Live In 1960s.?

Groovy man groovy

I was 15 when the 60s decade began and 25 when it ended, so some of my fondest years were spent in the era. The first thing I have to say is that in the early 60s living in the US was like being on a different planet than later on. The country was more focused and even the Democrats acted more like Republicans than they do now. The general picture I have of the early years is much sharper than the picture of have of things after long hair and acid rock took over.

Although in the early 60s the people were more organized, in the late 60s they were more fun and everything was far more colorful, particularly the shirts and nightclubs. The beach boy look was replaced by the rocker image and morality definitely took a backseat as the decade progressed. Sex was much freer than earlier on, but that's not to say we were all born-agains before women started burning their bras. Compared to our parent's generation we were quite loose.

Cars were horribly inefficient back then because Detroit still controlled the market place and, quite frankly, the didn't know how to make cars. That's not to say that the European cars were any better. I drove an Opel whose heater didn't work, brakes didn't work, whose windows kept slipping down into the panels and the windshield wipers flew off whenever I tried to use them. So at least from my viewpoint, the transportation situation was abysmal.

Houses were also much smaller then and families of four or five lived in houses that the 21st century century childless couples would consider too small. The 50s were even worse. Ranch houses, cape cods and split levels were the popular styles and decorators didn't know what open planning meant.

I think people were less selfish then, and they were certainly more capable of independent thought. Cable news channels weren't blanketing the nation with opinion yet and the networks only produced a half hour of national news a night plus occasional specials about important topics. Of course the networks leaned more toward the liberal side back then and absolutely killed Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign, but in general, I think they were more evenhanded than the purveyors of the news are today.

All in all, some of life back then was far superior than today, but it definitely was less convenient and perhaps that's not a good thing.

A lot less stressful than now !