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.