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Thursday, July 20, 2023
1968
1968 was the summer of love, long hair, and beads,
Don't forget the budgie bells - the pet shops sold out! No one was anyone if they didn't tinkle when they walked...
Yes, the Age of Aquarius had yet to dawn on this trio. Men's hair lengths on the continent of Europe were never as a long as in Britain - and certain parts of America. You would probably have been locked up and given a forced haircut in Spain and Portugal and the French and Italians, for over a century, have preferred the Classical look. True, some Germans grew their hair and the Swedes started to look like Vikings again but, in the main - unless you were a candyfloss pop star or a model - men kept it short. Part of the reason was that aside from Britain as from 1963, nearly all men did two to three - in Portugal, four - years national service and many were on reserve lists for instantaneous call-up in the Cold War.
Men were given forced haircuts at the airport on entering Soviet Bloc countries if it came over the collar because of the evils of Western decadence. The one exception was Czechoslovakia. If you look at pictures or film of the Prague Spring, many of the men had surprisingly longer hair. But then, long hair has always accompanied libertarian social attitudes. And boy, did the Czechoslovaks want to be free. The first time I saw daytime TV was rolling news on the Warsaw Pact invasion. We all thought the balloon was going to go up.
There was a world's fair in San Antonio in 1968, and one of the most popular elements was the Czechoslovak pavillion's theater called Laterna Magika. It was a very creative combination of live action and film that involved acting, dancing, and a wide range of music types. My friends and I made the long drive to San Antonio several times to see the fair and always went to see Laterna Magika. Our last visit was in August with our school drama club, and our sponsor had arranged for us to meet some of the cast. The invasion had happened the day before, and we thought they would cancel the meet and greet, but they went ahead. There was no way the invasion could be kept out of the conversations. One of my classmates asked if the Czechs, being creative types with longish hair, were afraid to go home. One of them replied, "It worries us, but we have to go back. If people like us give up on our country, there will never be change." They would have been given political assylum in the USA in a heartbeat, but they didn't seek it. I will never forget the creativity and courage of those people as long as I live.
Not to nitpick but the summer of love was 1967, mostly in San Francisco. By 1968 hippies and love had spread across the US so I think that is why people remember that year as the summer of love.
Don't forget the budgie bells - the pet shops sold out! No one was anyone if they didn't tinkle when they walked...
ReplyDeleteYes, the Age of Aquarius had yet to dawn on this trio. Men's hair lengths on the continent of Europe were never as a long as in Britain - and certain parts of America. You would probably have been locked up and given a forced haircut in Spain and Portugal and the French and Italians, for over a century, have preferred the Classical look. True, some Germans grew their hair and the Swedes started to look like Vikings again but, in the main - unless you were a candyfloss pop star or a model - men kept it short. Part of the reason was that aside from Britain as from 1963, nearly all men did two to three - in Portugal, four - years national service and many were on reserve lists for instantaneous call-up in the Cold War.
Men were given forced haircuts at the airport on entering Soviet Bloc countries if it came over the collar because of the evils of Western decadence. The one exception was Czechoslovakia. If you look at pictures or film of the Prague Spring, many of the men had surprisingly longer hair. But then, long hair has always accompanied libertarian social attitudes. And boy, did the Czechoslovaks want to be free. The first time I saw daytime TV was rolling news on the Warsaw Pact invasion. We all thought the balloon was going to go up.
There was a world's fair in San Antonio in 1968, and one of the most popular elements was the Czechoslovak pavillion's theater called Laterna Magika. It was a very creative combination of live action and film that involved acting, dancing, and a wide range of music types. My friends and I made the long drive to San Antonio several times to see the fair and always went to see Laterna Magika. Our last visit was in August with our school drama club, and our sponsor had arranged for us to meet some of the cast. The invasion had happened the day before, and we thought they would cancel the meet and greet, but they went ahead. There was no way the invasion could be kept out of the conversations. One of my classmates asked if the Czechs, being creative types with longish hair, were afraid to go home. One of them replied, "It worries us, but we have to go back. If people like us give up on our country, there will never be change." They would have been given political assylum in the USA in a heartbeat, but they didn't seek it. I will never forget the creativity and courage of those people as long as I live.
DeleteNot to nitpick but the summer of love was 1967, mostly in San Francisco. By 1968 hippies and love had spread across the US so I think that is why people remember that year as the summer of love.
ReplyDeleteNot nitpicking. Valid point. Those of us in the rest of the country didn't catch on until later.
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