Introduction to the Beatnik Society and the Hippie Nation

The Beat Generation is a term used to describe a group of American writers and artists who came to prominence in the 1950s, and the cultural phenomena that they wrote about and inspired (later sometimes called "beatniks"). Central elements of "Beat" culture included experimentation with drugs and alternative forms of sexuality, and a rejection of materialism.  The language and topics of the beat writing pushed the boundaries of acceptability in the conformist 1950s: they often openly discussed drug use, sexuality (in particular homosexuality) and criminal behavior without condemnation.  There was a generational shift when the crowds of young hipsters started hanging out with the old beats. The younger people wore bright clothes and believed in political activism to change the world. The Beats called the hipsters: "Hippies." And thus a new generation was born. These Hippies were more radical and free than their Beatnik predecessors. Drugs, sex, and art were used to express the socialistic ideals of the Hippies. However the Hippies eventually became the popular group for young people and people just joined the movement to be cool. The movement eventually lost its momentum because their socialistic ideals could simply not take form in a capitalistic society of America, and the Hippies disbanded. The revolution ended.

The Downfall of the Hippies and the End of a Revolution

 By: Lori Thomas
The Hippies were experimenting with socialism within a capitalist society. That is what contributed to the end of the Era of the Hippies. They had lofty goals, but reality was that America had become a leader in the nation because of it’s capitalistic basis. The kids were broke. They ran out of food. Many became ill or permanently injured by bad drugs. The baby boom was taking shape and it was time to grow up. The commercialization of the movement also contributed to it’s end. People began to join the Hippie Nation simply because it was cool. They could do drugs instead of work. Unfortunately, the message began to get lost. As the political and economic realities began to set in, the groups disbanded.

Growing up in the Hippie Nation impacted the entire lives of the Hippies.

Beatniks v. Hippies: What is the difference?

By: Rebekah Sorrells The only difference between beatniks and hippies, were that the beatniks came before the hippies. The beatniks were the "parents" of the hippies. A writer named Jack Kerouac in 1948 coined the phrase "beat generation" to describe a group of struggling poets and writers all of whom were loosely part of a new bohemian group of people who were simply tired of conforming to society and its closed mindedness. In the post world war II generation, if a person did not conform to governments control they were branded communists. The products of this generation were the beatniks, and they used creative means to express themselves. Things like poetry, books, and songs were what made the beatniks “artistic, creative and alive in a country that was feeling dead.”

Economic and Political Reform of the Hippie Era

By: Lori Thomas
The penniless band of wandering hippies were rebelling against the materialism of the culture they abandoned. They gave up the comforts of their parents homes, laundry, money, and abandoned the work ethics their parents pushed. They bartered and traded many of their necessities in a communal effort to sustain their lifestyles. They protested, en masse, in Washington D.C. to end the war in Vietnam. This with other rallies spread their message through the media. Eventually their message would be reflected in the presidential declaration that ended the war in Vietnam1969. With each protest and rally, the Hippie movement gained momentum. They wanted to reform the racial boundries and free women and children from oppression. The world was beginning to realize that many small voices joined together could blare a message and evoke change.

By: Rebekah Sorrells
What started in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s with issues like prohibition, racism, and women’s suffrage led to the movement during the 50’s through 70’s. People in the 1950’s began protesting government actions they didn’t agree with, from war to racism. What started with a small number of beatniks protesting in the 1950’s snow-balled into masses of people protesting on college campuses and even in Washington. Government inevitably had to transform to encompass the masses of people demanding change. With the changing government came drastic changes to society. The conservative World War II generation produced the sexual/drug experimenting generation.

Protesting contributed a great amount of influence on the war.

Social, Spiritual, and Sexual Reform of the Hippie Era

By: Lori Thomas
San Francisco, California became a welcoming hub for the Hippies to nest. They planted themselves in the Haight Ashbury District. This area provided access to two large parks that would eventually offer free concerts for legendary music like the The Greatful Dead. The Buena Vista Park was a social campground for many hippies that did not have shelter. Since most of the group abandoned their homes and joined the roving train of VW buses and hitchhikers, they were left to band together in makeshift camps. The stodgy conservatism of their parents left them rebelling against the traditional relationships between men and women. This ignited a revolution of free sex, and “feel good” mentality. The prevalence of LSD and Marijuana only lessened their inhibitions. LSD became the Hippie “sacrament”. Many professed a deep spiritual awakening only achievable by a potent LSD “trip.”

By: Haily Albrecht
The way hippies altered society’s outlook on sex and sexuality changed today’s society’s attitude on the matter forever. Before the sixties people were conservative until the new counterfeit generation, hippies, started expressing themselves by switching from long skirts that were to their ankles to short mini-skirts that exposed more skin and also by ditching their bra’s completely to show “independence”. As journalist and psychologist started writing articles that encouraged this behavior the more severe the teens and young adults actions became. Birth control was also now available and this encouraged them to having “casual sex”. Also, more people began to be outspoken about their sexuality and were now “coming out of the closet”. These risky actions were bred out of their wanting of sexual freedom, and hippies wanting to be able to not have to be ashamed for who they were.

Where did the Hippies come from?

By: Lori Thomas

The hippie movement of the 1960-1970 swept up hundreds of thousands of American youth. They were rebelling. But from what?

“To understand where we are going, we have to understand where we have been.”

The 1950’s, post World War II, was a serious time. Children were expected to listen to their parents music, be respectful and dutiful. Boys were expected to join the military and provide food and shelter to their wife and children. The girls were expected to marry, clean, cook, and raise children. As the post war economy began to boom. So did the family budgets and personal freedoms of the children in the homes. Many of the parents and grandparents had seen rough times through war and the Depression. They wanted easier lives for their children. Upper middle class families were now able to send their children to college and generally allow the children more free time to socialize. Rock and Roll was hitting the airways. The television, radios, papers and other media were making longer range communication possible. The children had more money to spend on music and fashion and were starting to influence each other in ways not seen in previous generations. The parents were mortified. The harder they resisted the changing youth, the more the youth movement gained momentum…

This brings us to the 1960’s. The “hipsters” were emerging. The name was shortened to the “Hippies” and the group began to grow into a powerful force. The movement remained youth oriented and was formed initially to rebel against the conservative, economically focused priorities of their parents. The focus was reform. They wanted to reform the foundations of American culture.

Clothing, Art, and Music Reform in the Hippie Era

By: Kelsey Kehlenbeck

The beatnik group later evolved into a more psychedelic group known as hippies. Similar to the beats, the hippie community consisted of rebellious youth who also connected with their sexuality and use of hallucinogenic drugs. Hippies expressed a free spirited lifestyle through music, art, and clothing. Music had a major impact on the hippie movement because of the emotional, spiritual, and political lyrics that spread the message of peace, love, and unity across America. Hippies also used music as a voice for their many protest. Song lyrics portrayed their dreams and ideas about life. Famous music artist such as Morrison, Hendrix, and Joplin openly used drugs while performing on stage. Rock and Roll was the style of music played by these bands that gave fans a satisfying emotional high. Andy Warhol, a pioneer of art in the 60’s, changed the view of art by taking photographs of popular movie stars, then horrific tragedies, and later on creating colorful paintings of flower petals. Colorful swirling patterns, tie-dye, and graffiti were all forms of popular art in this era, as a result of hallucination from psychedelic drugs.  Colorful patterns also reflected in hippie fashion. Loose fitted tops, tie-dye clothing, bellbottoms, scarves, vests, headbands, and long beaded necklaces are some examples of fashionable clothing items of hippies.

 

By: Lori Thomas
Out of the hippie movement emerged great music, literary, and art reform. The use of Marijuana and LSD proved an effective muse in creating new lyrics and sounds. The Trips Music festival was held in Golden Gate Park within the Haight Ashbury District. Some describe this festival as a precursor to Woodstock. Hundreds of thousands of hippies gathered in Woodstock, to drop Acid, smoke Weed, and experience each other sexually, spiritually, and socially. Some of the most influential musicians of the time provided a musical backdrop to keep the crowd rolling. Despite rain, mud ,and bad drugs, Woodstock continues to be a defining event of this era.



The Beatniks

By: Kelsey Kehlenbeck

Many rebellious youth that refused to conform to the materialistic lifestyle of the 1950’s

resulted in the beat generation. The beatnik culture consisted of simple fashion, poetry,

and jazz. This movement revolved around the expression of feelings and beliefs through

poetry. All of this was brought to life by Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Lawrence

Felinghetti, Gregory Corsos, as well as other writers. Many enjoyed reciting poetry while

a steady jazz beat is played in the background. A popular form of jazz during this time

was, Bebop, a smooth swing style of music with a fast tempo. Piano, Drums, Brass and

woodwind instruments all mix together to create this genre. The use of hallucinogens,

sexuality, and spirituality, are common characteristics beatniks convey to express their

opinions about life. Male beats attire would consist of black turtlenecks, berets, dark

sunglasses along with long hair and facial hair to reject the idea that men should remain

clean cut. You could find a female beat wearing a pencil skirt, black turtleneck, black

leotards, a scarf and minimal jewelry. The beatniks chose to have a plain sense of

fashion because of their refusal to adapt to the materialistic fashions of their time.

Andy Warhol was a popular artist from the era.