1960s Culture

Books & Literature

 During the 60s, authors strived to relate their stories to the struggles and successes
of the public. These struggles and successes included poor race relations, gender
issues, feminism, and society roles.

Books and Authors of the 1960s

• To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)- Struggle between races and social status

• Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak)- Centered on the growth, emotions,
and change of children

• The Silent Spring (Rachel Carson)- Brought about the environmental movement of
the 1960s

• In Cold Blood (Truman Capote)- One of the first books with graphic details and
suspense based on facts and real events

• The Feminine Mystique (Betty Friedan)- Discusses the unhappiness of women of the
time and sparked a second round of feminism
Music & Radio
 Music in the 1960s was marked by the “British Invasion”, the Motown record company, the “culture of
drugs”, and the “peace and love” songs. Many of the songs became tunes for popular dances such as the
Twist, the Mashed Potato, the Watusi, and the Swim. (*Woodstock)

 The British Invasion: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield, The Dave Clark Five, The Kinks

 Motown: The Temptations, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, Diana Ross & the Supremes,
Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix

 Drugs, Rock, & Roll: Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Steppenwolf, Simon & Garfunkel, Mamas and
the Papas, ELVIS PRESLEY!!!

 Folk Peace and Love Songs: Peter, Paul, and Mary “Blowing in the Wind”, Jackie DeShannon “Put A Little
Love in Your Heart”

POPULAR SONGS OF THE 1960s: Chubby Checker, “The Twist”, The Beatles, “Hey
Jude”, The Rolling Stones “Satisfaction”, The Four Tops, “I Can’t Help Myself”, Elvis Presley, “It’s Now or
Never”
Woodstock
 Known as one of the most pivotal moments in music
history, Woodstock was a Music Festival in 1969 in which
more than 500,000 people attended. The event took place
on a dairy farm in New York. Thirty-Two bands and
individuals performed over a span of four days. Woodstock
signified peace, cultural expression, and youth.

Performers included: Jefferson Airplane, Jimi

Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, the Who, Janis Joplin and
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Movies & Television
 Movies and television in the 1960s reflected the many social changes and cultural movements of the decade.

 There were only three channels on TVs- ABC, NBC, and CBS. Most shows were family oriented and upheld good morals. Most families
only had one TV per household. TV was used for advertisement, and certain shows were played at specific times to reach the appropriate
audience. For example, cartoons were shown every Saturday Morning for kids.

Popular TV shows:

-American Bandstand, Batman, Bewitched, Gilligan’s Island, Leave It to Beaver, Lassie, The Andy Griffith Show, Popeye

 Movies were based on realism and honesty. Many Broadway musicals were made into films including The Sound of Music and My Fair
Lady. Morals were ignored, as sex, language, and violence became more involved in films.

Actors, Actresses, and Movies:

- Julie Andrews, Audrey Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, John Wayne, Natalie Wood, Burt Lancaster, Peter O’Toole

-The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Oliver, West Side Story, Goldfinger
Sports
 Three Olympic Games were held in the 1960s. America claimed many gold medals including:

-Muhammad Ali was a gold medalist boxer in 1960.

-Wilma Rudolph, and African American woman, who was not supposed to walk again after being ill
as a child, proved everyone wrong by winning three Gold Medals as a runner.

-The U.S. Ice Hockey team defeated all odds by winning the Gold Medal in 1960.

-The U.S. Men’s Basketball Team collected Gold at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics

 Baseball player, Roger Maris, set a home run record that was not broken until 1998 by Mark McGwire

 Jackie Robinson was the first African American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962

 The first Super Bowl was played by the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs in 1967. The Packers defeated
the Chiefs.

 Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a NBA game, setting a record still unbeaten.
 Colorful Shoe
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Jackie Kennedy
 HAIRSTYLES

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 BANGS and LONG hair MALE hairstyles
Bangs and long straight hair was considered Men living in the 60s were influenced by
“sexy” during the 60s. Younger women and the shaggy hair of the British boy band,
teenagers were going for this look. The Beetles.
 Square toed shoes became popular with
the colors red, white, and blue.

The 1960s were a time of

colorful clothing.
Bright colored shoes were
thrown together
with bright color outfits.
The shoes always
matched the purse.

Chunky heels with big buckles and extravagant ties were worn by women.
Bright colored stockings were worn with bright
colored shoes and mini skirts.
It was not uncommon to see designed
stockings coming all the way up to the
woman's knee.
Go-go boots became popular after movie star Honor
Blackman, as Cathy Gale and Diana Rigg, as Emma
Peel in The Avengers, were seen wearing knee high,
black leather go-go boots. Boots became a trademark
of the show world. However, it was Nancy Sinatra's
1966 hit, "These Boots Were Made For Walking" that
captured the public imagination and launched the
boot on its road to hipness.

They started off ankle-high and

moved up to knee-high by 1966.
 K e n n e d y
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 The Mini Skirt
The mini skirt created by Mary Quant
became a high fashion trademark during the 60s.
 The Bikini
Bikinis made their appearance in the 1960s with bright colors
and patterns.
They did not show as much skin as
they do today because they were hip riding
bikinis that gave
a baby
doll look.
Suits
Suits were worn by both men and women and were popular in the
60s; however, they were mainly popular and worn by men.

In the 1960s suits changed from bland colors to extravagant colors

with patterns such as plaid. With extreme versions of ties ranging
from really wide to really skinny.
London Modernists known as “Mods”

were the fashion drivers of the 1960s.

They were the production of the baby

boom and quite different than the

generation of fashion seen in the 50s.

They had a modern approach to fashion

by redefining clothes using bright

colors and lots of geometric patterns

rather than pastel colors. They also had a

modern approach to makeup use by using

bright colors and more makeup such as

eyeliner

and fake

eyelashes.
 Late 60s
Tie-died shirts, headbands, beads, bellbottoms, sandals, buck-skin vests, Mexican peasant blouses, scarves,
and being in public without a bra and no shoes were the fashion trends of the late 60s.
 SOCIETY roles
-Women

During the 60s women from WWII baby boom were beginning to enter the work force at
higher numbers than ever before demanding equal rights and equal pay. There were
problems with sexual harassment and unequal and discriminatory actions against women in
the workforce.

Since the federal government approved birth control in 1960 over 80% of women were using
the contractions. This affected the rate of child birth significantly as less children were being
born.
SOCIETY roles
-African Americans
African Americans were still being treated unfairly, although in the 60s a
number of legislations were passed to help them out including the
passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964, that banned discrimination based on
race, color, religion, or national origin in employment practices and
public accommodations, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, that restored and
protected voting rights, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, that banned
discrimination in the sale or rental of housing. African Americans re-
entered politics in the South, and across the country young people both
white and black were inspired to action.
Religion
 The mainline Protestantism no longer represented all of
society's spiritual interests in the 1960s because the baby
boom produced a large population that had different ideas
and opinions which gave birth to more complex diverse
religious groups and practices. There was an increase in
the belief of separation of church and state.