The 1960s

The 1960s - Presidents

John F. Kennedy barely beat out Richard Nixon in 1960 to become youngest president ever at 43 years old. He was also the first president born in the 20th century. The election featured the first-ever televised presidential debates.

The 1960s - Presidents

His beautiful and stylish wife Jackie was highly admired. He promised that the U.S. would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. 1963, he was assassinated while riding in an open limousine in Dallas, Texas, by Lee Harvey Oswald.

The 1960s - Presidents

Kennedy was succeeded by Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) and went on to win a landslide reelection victory to remain president in 1964.

The 1960s - Presidents

Richard Nixon returned to win the presidency in 1968 (and again in 1972).

The 1960s - Civil Rights

(Story of Us - Ep11 - 30:04-35:36)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached nonviolent resistance to raise awareness and protest injustices. In 1963, King delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech in Washington DC before the Lincoln Memorial, presenting his vision of a society in which all people would be judged by their character rather than their skin color.

A word cloud of Kings I Have a Dream Speech:

The 1960s - Civil Rights

In 1968, King was murdered outside a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed racial segregation in public facilities.

The 1960s - Vietnam War

At the beginning of the decade, the U.S. worked to advise and train the Vietnamese forces. The goal was to help South Vietnam develop the ability to retain its independence from communist North Vietnam. As civil unrest broke out, many Americans supported a war effort to contain the spread of communism and was not yet costing large numbers of casualties.

The 1960s - Vietnam War

(Story of Us Ep11 7:10-11:14)

Between 1964 and 1968, the U.S. took the offensive against North Vietnam and the guerrilla forces in the South known as the Viet Cong. American forces had a very difficult and fairly unsuccessful time in securing even the largest of cities. Lack of success, rising death tolls, and the news of civilian massacres by some American soldiers made the war very unpopular.

The 1960s - Vietnam War

The soldier, traditionally a hero to Americans, fell in stature. Some associated soldiers with drugs, and returning veterans often were treated with disrespect. Many found it difficult to find a job because employers worried about possible drug use and emotional stability.

The 1960s - Fashion

Jackie Kennedy was a trend setter in fashion. She wore a pillbox-hat to the Presidential Inauguration, starting a craze for the hats. Inexpensive versions were produced for women of modest means. She also set fashion standards for hairstyles and clothing, too.

The 1960s - Fashion

Synthetic fabrics were stylish, especially spandex and polyester. The turtleneck became a hit with men, wether formal or informal. Wearing a turtleneck with a sport coat became the American look.

The 1960s - Fashion

After Beatlemania hit the country, imported from England, boys and young men let their hair grow long enough to get a Beatles haircut - the mop-top look. Women typically wore their hair either super short or long and straight. Men were growing long hair, too. The afro also became popular.

The 1960s - Fashion

The miniskirt, especially paired with go-go boots, became a hit in the 1960s. Nancy Sinatra (daughter of Frank) had a #1 hit in 1966: These Boots are Made for Walkin, and she often appeared in white miniskirt and white go-go boots.

The 1960s - Fashion

By 1967, the peacock revolution was on with its bright colors and extravagant patterns. BIG was the order of the day - big collars, big lapels, wide pointed collars, wide dotted ties.

The 1960s - Fashion

Using lots of gel, big plastic rollers, and heavy-duty Aqua Net hairspray, many women opted for the beehive version of the bouffant.

The 1960s - Fashion

The hippie culture - consisting of students, artists, and others who chose to leave mainstream society, and who were known as flower children - was in full swing by 1967. Female hippies tended to like long, straight hair. Male hippies also preferred long hair, often adding mustaches and beards.

The 1960s - Fashion

Granny dresses and granny glasses were popular with hippies. Dresses were long and full. Blue jeans were also in - often hip-hugging and very tight with bell bottoms.

The 1960s - Fashion

One of the biggest fashion introductions of the 1960s was the disposable diaper. While it was cost effective to use cloth diapers, rinsing and washing them was fun for almost nobody. Pampers brand diapers were introduced in 1961.

The 1960s - Food

Fast food... Wendys was begun in 1969 by Dave Thomas, who named the new chain after his daughter. Arbys, specializing in roast beef, came in 1964. Originating in Detroit, Dominos Pizza specialized in delivering phone orders within thirty minutes, making pizza into fast food.

The 1960s - Food

Fast food (continued)... McDonalds introduced the Big Mac in 1967, and began exporting its golden arch throughout the world and cementing its position as the #1 burger chain. Colonel Sanders sold his 600+ KFC franchises in 1964, but stayed on as a good-will ambassador.

The 1960s - Food

Farmers greatly improved their productivity thanks to new technologies in fertilizers, pesticides, and machinery. By 1963, the average farmer was producing enough food for 31 people, twice that of farmers in 1950. The U.S. corn crop exceeded 9 billion bushels in 1965, six billion more than at the beginning of the century.

The 1960s - Food

Farmers continued... Farmers could grow only 25 bushels of corn per acre around WWI, but by the end of the 1960s were getting at least 100 bushels. By 1969, a cow was producing ten quarts of milk per day rather than the 6 she yielded in 1940.

The 1960s - Food

Farmers continued... By the end of the decade, a single farmer was now able to provide enough food for 47 people. Increasingly, large agribusiness were squeezing out the family farm, a trend that would accelerate in future decades.

The 1960s - Leisure, Toys, & Games

Lots of people bought a Lava Lite. Invented in Germany, it was cylindrical and contained a yellow wax heated by a coil. The heat would make the wax rise in strange moving shapes. It would then fall back down as it cooled before heating up again.

The 1960s - Leisure, Toys, & Games

The water bed was a fashionable item that many people purchased in the 1960s. People started to added bumper stickers to their cars with all sorts of funny or political commentary.

The 1960s - Leisure, Toys, & Games

Toys! Slot cars were big in the 1960s, and many colleges even had teams that would challenge other teams on campus and other colleges. The super ballwas another hit from Wham-O

The 1960s - Leisure, Toys, & Games

More Toys! The Barbie doll was brilliant for Mattel because the doll was affordable, allowing parents to get the desirable doll for their daughters. It was the expensive accessories that made the company a fortune! Another popular doll (I mean action figure) started in 1963 was G.I.Joe.

The 1960s - Leisure, Toys, & Games

Even More Toys! The yo-yo was a big fad with kids and adults alike. Two other icons of the decade were the Etcha-Sketch and Mr. Machine.

The 1960s - Leisure, Toys, & Games

The 1960s had the country fascinated with surfing. It was invented long before, but saw a resurgence in popularity in Hawaii and California in the 20th Century. In the 60s, many surf songs and surf movies were a huge hit.

The 1960s - Leisure, Toys, & Games

Skateboards evolved from roller skates, but actually have more to do with surfing than roller skating. In the early 60s, surfers devised an earth-bound version of the surf board.

The 1960s - Leisure, Toys, & Games

Although they had been around for many years, it became very popular in the 1960s to collect baseball cards. Kids werent so worried about their future value, but wanted to feel more connected to their favorite players.

The 1960s - Sports

There were two dominant figures in American sports during the 1960s: Vince Lombardi was the iconic coach of the Green Bay (Wisconsin) Packers Lombardis Packers won five NFL championships and the first two Super Bowls in 1967 and 1968. Famous for saying, Winning isnt everything, its the only thing.

The 1960s - Sports

Cassius Clay won the light-heavyweight gold medal in boxing at the 1960 Olympics. At 22, he became heavyweight champion and quickly gained fame as a very boisterous figure. He talked about how he would float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. He would soon convert to the Islam religion and change his name to Muhammed Ali. He is now considered one of the greatest heavyweights ever, if not the best.

The 1960s - Sports

In baseball, Yankee Roger Maris did the unthinkable - breaking Babe Ruths home run record in 1961 hitting 61 of them. Some people didnt respect his record, as he had played a 162game schedule, eight more than in Ruths time.

The 1960s - Sports

In 1968, the Detroit Tigers won the World Series on the back of Denny McLain, who won 31 games for the team.

The 1960s - Sports

Basketball took its place next to baseball and football as the countrys third most popular sport during the 1960s. The Boston Celtics dominated, winning the championship every year in the decade except 1967. They were led by big Bill Russell, who won five MVP awards and became the first African American head coach in any major pro sport.

The 1960s - Sports

The other big star of the NBA was Wilt The Stilt Chamberlain. In the 61-62 season, he averaged 50.4 points per game and scored a record 100 points in one of them. The Russell-Chamberlain match-ups were legendary and people still debate who was better.

The 1960s - Music

Country music was still popular into the 1960s, dominated by stars such as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Johnny Cash.

The 1960s - Music

In the early 1960s, surf music bands, especially The Beach Boys were big and established the California Sound The boys were clean-cut, well-groomed, all-American boys. A couple years later, all-American was out and the Britain invasion was on!

The 1960s - Music

In 1964, the Beatles, a British band, made its American debut on the Ed Sullivan show. They were an instant hit and Beatlemania was let loose! That year, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr had 12 of the top 100 records.

The 1960s - Music

The Beatles remained red-hot, but by the end of the decade they began to think of themselves more as individuals and less as a group. They broke up in 1970. For years, Beatles fans hoped for a reunion, but that dream died in 1980 when John Lennon was murdered outside his NYC apartment.

The 1960s - Music

Also part of the British Invasion, the Rolling Stones were pitched as the antiBeatles group. Led by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, they were considered more hardedged, racy, and rocknroll

The 1960s - Music

In rural New York state, a music festival called Woodstock was held (1969) featuring folk and psychedelic rock performers like Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, the Who, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, and more. It featured overcrowding, a lot of rain and mud, and inadequate restroom facilities. Images of nudity and drug use struck Americans with horror or fascination, depending on their point of view.

The 1960s - Music

Soul music was big in the 1960s, featuring such artists as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and the Godfather of Soul James Brown.

The 1960s - Music

In the 1960s, Detroit became known as Motown Run by Berry Gordy, he brought soul music closer to pop so his recordings would appeal to a wide audience including white listeners who werent as keen on soul.

The 1960s - Music

(Listen to these songs on the 1960s page of the website)

Some of Motowns best artists and songs were: Marvin Gaye - How Sweet It Is Smokey Robinson - Shop Around and Tracks of My Tears The Four Tops - I Cant Help Myself & Reach Out Ill Be There Mary Wells - My Guy Vandellas - Heat Wave & Dancing in the Street Diana Ross and the Supremes - Stop, In the Name of Love & You Cant Hurry Love

The 1960s - TV
Television series continued to present the All-American families popular during the 1950s: Father Knows Best (1954-63) The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952-66) The Andy Griffith Show (1960-68)

The 1960s - TV
Some TV families added more humor, wackiness, and even mock-horror to the typical American family: The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-71) The Munsters (1964-66) The Addams Family (1964-66) The Flintstones (1960-66)

The 1960s - TV
Batman (1966-68) gave the crime-fighting superhero a colorful TV show with futuristic gadgets and an exciting cast of villains to fight. The sci-fi show, Star Trek (1966-69), became a hit originally and in reruns, with thousands of trekkies still following loyally to this day.

The 1960s - TV

The Twilight Zone (1959-65) was not a huge hit, but was admired highly by critics as a quality program. Most shows had unusual, provacative, and sometimes creepy stories with an ironic twist at the end.

The 1960s - TV
Mr. Haddads childhood favorite, Sesame Street debuted in 1969 on PBS. A cast of Muppets (coined by their creator Jim Henson) entertained and educated preschoolers. Teachers quickly found that youngsters starting school had better knowledge of letters and numbers.

The 1960s - Space Travel

Russia launched its satellite, Sputnik, into orbit in the 50s. By 1961, Russia became the first nation to put a man into space. But the United States was coming up fast and would soon pull ahead. In 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to reach space - a month after the Russian.

The 1960s - Space Travel

The first U.S. manned orbital flight in 1962, John Glenn became the first man to circle the Earth (he did it three times). Glenn became the first great American space hero, and years later he became a state senator.

The 1960s - Space Travel

The climactic space effort of the 1960s began on July 16, 1969, with the takeoff of Apollo XI, carrying Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
l to r: Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin

The 1960s - Space Travel

On July 20, 1969, Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface, commenting for history that he was taking one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Almost as memorable was Armstrongs earlier declaration when the lunar module touched down: The Eagle has landed.

The 1960s - Space Travel

Pictures of the moon landing filled TV screens throughout the world, and the U.S. clearly had taken a major lead over the Russians in the space race.

The 1960s - Automobiles

One of the first automotive superstars of the 1960s was the Ford Thunderbird.

The 1960s - Automobiles

Another of the decades most popular cars was the Chevrolet Corvette. Today the 1963 Corvette Stingray is a leading collectors item.

The 1960s - Automobiles

The Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro were also big hits of the decade.

The 1960s - Automobiles

In the 1960s, muscle cars were kings of the road with bigblock engines and lots of horsepower!

The 1960s - Automobiles

Mr. Haddads father grew up in the 1960s - and his favorite movie scene was the famous car chase in the movie Bullitt with Steve McQueen. Then he got into some trouble after leaving the theater! (Count how many hubcaps the Dodge Charger loses in the clip!)