Relive your memories of the 60s, the decade that vibrated a nation, right here on The 60s Official Site where "music is our middle name." 

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Last Update: March 5, 2020

"Funny How Time Slips Away" from us all 

This Week's Top Ten Countdown comes from this week in 1966.

There has never been a decade quite like the sixties; the diversity, conflicts, hope, anger, the music, the dance crazes and the fun that characterized those years are captured here. The 60s decade was a decade of change. Not only were those changes evident in fashions but world events,music of the 60s, automobiles, toys, and individual self expression as displayed during the largest outdoor rock concert ever performed, Woodstock.

The television shows of the fifties and sixties depicted the morals and values of our society. The simplicity of our lifestyle were so evident at that time. The westerns on the televisions series were about the good guys always winning.

Music and events of the day interacted with one another as we progressed through one of the most turbulent decades in modern history. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy ,Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and presidential hopeful Bobby Kennedy illustrated the turbulent and restless society. Lance Morrow said "The real 1960s began on the afternoon of November 22, 1963. It came to seem that Kennedy's murder opened some malign trap door in American culture, and the wild bats flapped out."

In contrast the sixties decade has been described by historians as the decade that resulted in the most significant changes in our history. In 1969 the race to space was won by the U.S. by putting a man on the moon. This one event caught more press and attention second to only the Vietnam War. The 1960s were also time of turmoil, probably described as such for the racial unrest during this period, social injustice and because of our involvement in the war in Vietnam. The magnitude of violence in the streets of U.S. cities as well as on college campuses in protest of the War in Vietnam was unprecedented in our history. The burning of the flag and draft cards were widely used as tools for protest.

Even though the 60s had its periods of unrest and violence, it was a great decade to have grown up in. If you don't believe it just ask anybody who was a baby boomer. (Anybody who was born from 1946-1964.) Even though you may have not lived during this decade, you will still enjoy browsing this significant history and if you were fortunate enough to experience the 60s, when baseball was the favorite past time, just sit back and remember how great the sixties really were! Look how fashions and ideals of today were shaped by baby boomers. Try to remember when life seemed so much more carefree and slower. The music was clean and fun and we actually understood the lyrics. We knew all our neighbors on the street where we lived. Innocent fun was the game not violence against our fellow man.

The school dances with the crazy dance steps of the popular dances at the time were fond memories. We invented steps to add to the ridiculous steps these had. We were having fun just as the sixties were meant to be. Check out these popular dances of our times.

Games were pretty popular back in the 1960s Ouija and Twister were all the rage, before the internet, board games and other types of social games made great entertainment. For adults, in particular ladies, the bingo halls were frequented often, a pastime which has since been in a steady decline. Other pastimes have also gone out of fashion, whereas some have stood the test of time.

Stumbling through the 60s you will recall the famous and not so famous written and spoken words that were so much part of the 60s culture. Margot Kidder said it well with "It was a wonderful time to be young. The 1960s didn't end until about 1976. We all believed in Make Love, Not War. We were idealistic innocents, despite the drugs and sex." And John Lennon said "The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn't the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility." I don't know about the possibilities but I do know that the 60s was an event that even today's school children try to research and understand why the 60s decade had so much impact on today.
The 60s were a time of fun and innocence and much of it was reflected in the music and the lyrics such as

"The message may not move me, or mean a great deal to me, but it feels so groovy to say "I Dig Rock and Roll Music" from Peter, Paul and Mary's 1967 hit "I Dig Rock and Roll Music.

Spiro Agnew described all the segments of the 60s with his quote "Yippies, Hippies, Yahoos, Black Panthers, lions and tigers alike - I would swap the whole damn zoo for the kind of young Americans I saw in Vietnam."
Read more quotes from the 60s generation.

 
How Did We Survive?

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes…Though sometimes we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats. No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires…and sometimes no brakes. Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose, and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon…Twinkies, ding dongs, and Kool-aid made with REAL white sugar. And we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were outside playing and moving around.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day...no cell phones! And you know what? We were okay.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's! Something as simple as going out for ice cream was an event.

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law or got in trouble in school was UNHEARD of...They actually typically sided with the law!