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Flower-Power Bus

Hippie (also hippy) is a term originally used to describe some of the rebellious youth of the 1960s and 1970s. The word, "hippie" was popularized by the late San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen. Though not a cohesive cultural movement with manifestos and leaders, some hippies expressed their desire for change with communal or nomadic lifestyles, by renouncing corporate nationalism and the Vietnam War, by embracing aspects of non-traditional religious cultures, and with criticism of Western middle class values.

Such criticism included the views that the government was paternalistic, corporate industry was greedy and domineering, traditional morals were askew, and war was inhumane. The structures and institutions they rejected came to be called The Establishment.

"Hippies" of the time were interested in "tuning in to their inner minds" (with or without drugs, mystic meditation) and improving mainstream society. This influence was sometimes from far eastern metaphysical and religious practices that were done mostly by monks and aboriginal shaman in the past. The inclusion of far eastern religious practice in religious circles of the 1970s became a New Age movement for Mystics and "Spiritual Seekers," as well as a joke for hipster comedians.

Pejorative connotations

The term "hippie" has also been used in a derogatory sense, to describe long-haired unkempt drug users. Among those of the Beat Generation, the flood of youngsters adopting Beatnik sensibilities, appeared to be cheap, mass-produced imitations of the Beatnik artist community. By Beat standards, these newcomers were not "Hip" or "aware" or "clever" enough to really be "hip." On the other hand, conservatives used the term "hippie" as an insult toward young liberals and progressives.

Today, the term "hippie" is often used by more conservative or mainstream people with the pejorative connotation of irresponsibility and participation in recreational drug use. It is also sometimes used as a derogatory term by members of the punk rock subculture, usually used to describe something or someone seen as trite, foolishly optimistic, pointless or boring.

A modern pop culture example of the word "hippie" as an insult is its use by the cartoon character Eric Cartman in the South Park series. For an example, see the "Die Hippie, Die" episode, excerpts from which can be viewed here.


Origins

In the 1940s and 1950s the term "hipster" came into usage by the American Beat generation to describe jazz and swing music performers, and evolved to also describe the bohemian-like counterculture that formed around the art of the time.

The 1960s hippie culture evolved from the beat culture, and was greatly influenced by changing music style and the creation of rock & roll from jazz.

The first use of the word Hippie on Television was on WNBC TV Channel 4 in New York City at the opening of the New York World's Fair in 1964, some young Anti-Vietnam War protesters with long hair like The Beatles were called Hippies by NYPD and reporters. The police swung their batons at them to chase them off the escalators and they fought back. They had long hair and beards and wore T-Shirts and Denim Jeans.

On the East coast of the U.S., in Greenwich Village, young counterculture advocates were called, and referred to themselves as "hips". To be "hip" meant at that time, "to be in the know". Young disaffected youth from the suburbs of New York City flocked to the Village in their oldest clothes, to fit into the counterculture movement, the coffee houses, etc. Radio station WBAI was the first media outlet to use the term "hippie" to describe the poorly-dressed middle class youths as a pejorative term originally meaning "hip wannabes".

September 6, 1965, marked the first San Francisco newspaper story, by Michael Fellon, that used the word "hippie" to refer to younger bohemians. The name did not catch on in mass media until almost two years later.

Hippie action in the San Francisco area, particularly the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, centered around the Diggers, a guerrilla street theater group that combined spontaneous street theater, anarchistic action, and art happenings in their agenda of creating a "free city". The San Francisco Diggers grew from two radical traditions thriving in the area in the mid-1960s: the bohemian/underground art/theater scene, and the new left/civil rights/peace movement.

Los Angeles also had a vibrant hippie scene in the mid-'60s, arising from a combination of the L.A. beat scene centered around Venice and its coffeehouses, which spawned the Doors, and the Sunset Strip, the quintessential L.A. hippie gathering area, with its seminal rock clubs, such as the Whisky-a-Go-Go, and the Troubadour just down the hill. The Strip was also the location of the actual protest referred to in the Buffalo Springfield's early hippie anthem of 1966, For What It's Worth.

Summer 1967 in Haight-Ashbury became known as the "Summer of Love" as young people gathered (75,000 by police estimates) and shared the new culture of music, drugs, and rebellion. The outdoor 'human be-in' concert started the 'Summer of Love'However, the Diggers felt co-opted by media attention and interpretation, and at the end of the summer held a Death of Hippie parade.

The hippie movement reached its height in the late 1960s, as evidenced by the July 7, 1967 issue of TIME magazine, which had for its cover story: The Hippies: The Philosophy of a Subculture.

Because many hippies wore flowers in their hair and distributed flowers to passersby, they earned the alternative name, "flower children".

Politics

Hippies often participated in peace movements, including peace marches such as the USA marches on Washington and civil rights marches, and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations including the 1968 Democratic Convention. Yippies represented a highly politically active sub-group.

Though by 2005 standards, they were prone to sexism, the culture rapidly embraced feminism and egalitarian principles.

Though hippies embodied a counterculture movement, early hippies were not particularly tolerant of homosexuality. Acceptance of homosexuality grew with the culture.

Hippie political expression also took the form of "dropping out" of society to implement the changes they sought. The back to the land movement, cooperative business enterprises, alternative energy, free press movement, and organic farming embraced by hippies were all political in nature at their start.

Drugs

Driven by the appeal of the Sixties "drug guru", Harvard professor Timothy Leary, who advocated hallucinogenic drugs as a form of mind expansion, many hippies participated in recreational drug use, particularly marijuana (see cannabis, cannabis (drug), and hashish) and hallucinogens such as LSD (see both psychedelic and psychedelic drug) and psilocybin (see Psychedelic mushroom). Some hippies prize marijuana for its iconoclastic, illicit nature, as well as for its psychopharmaceutical effects. Although some hippies did not use drugs, drug use is a trait often ascribed to hippies. Some hippies used drugs to express their disaffection with societial norms.

Drugs were, and still are, controversially considered a central theme in hippie culture.

Legacy

By 1970, much of the hippie style, but little of its substance, had passed into mainstream culture. The media lost interest in the subculture, as it went out of fashion with younger people and even became the target of their ridicule with the advent of punk rock. However, many hippies made, and continue to maintain, long-term commitments to the lifestyle. As of 2005, hippies are found in bohemian enclaves around the world or as wanderers following the bands they love. Since the early 1970s, many rendezvous annually at Rainbow Gatherings. Others gather at meetings and festivals, such as the Peace Fest.

In the United Kingdom the New age travellers movement continued many hippie ideals into the 1980s and 1990s.

Characteristics

  • Longer hair and fuller beards than current fashion. People with curly or natty hair associated with the 1960s counterculture and civil rights movement wore their hair in afros. Some people find the longer hair offensive. They believe it is unhygienic, frivolous, or feminine; or offensive because it violates traditional cultural expectations. (When Hair moved from off-Broadway to a large Broadway theater in 1968, the hippie counterculture was already diversifying and fleeing traditional urban settings.)
  • Bright-colored clothing, and unusual styles, such as bell-bottom pants, tie-dyed garments, dashikis, peasant blouses, and non-Western inspired clothing. Much of their clothing was self-made in protest of Western consumer culture. Head scarves and long beaded necklaces, for both men and women, were also fashionable.
  • Listening to certain styles of music; psychedelic rock such as Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane, blues such as Janis Joplin, traditional Eastern music, particularly from India, or rock music with eastern influences, soulful funk like Sly & The Family Stone, and jam bands like the Grateful Dead.
  • Performing music casually, often with guitars, in friends' homes, or for free at outdoor fairs such as San Francisco's legendary "Human Be-In" of January 1967, the Woodstock Festival of August 15, 16, 17, 1969, or contemporary gatherings like Burning Man festival.
  • The VW Bus is usually known as the counterculture/hippie symbol; a peace symbol is usually painted where the VW logo would otherwise be seen. Because of its low cost (during the late sixties), it was revered as a utilitarian vehicle. A majority of buses were usually repainted with graphics and/or custom paint jobs - this was the predecessor of the modern-day art car.

Although not as common they did also use the Chevrolet corvair cars and vans.

Neo-hippies

Art car seen in Northern California (perhaps owned by a hippie or neo-hippie)

"Neo-hippie" is a name given to turn of the 21st century youths who still believe in the hippie philosophy. Dreadlocks, especially with beads sewn into them, are popular among neo-hippies.

Much like their 1960s counterparts - the peace and justice theme continues - especially with antiwar demonstrations in the wake of the Iraqi invasion back in 2003, and repealing Patriot Acts I and II.

The art car has replaced the VW Bus since pre-1968 buses (including those manufactured after 1968) are sought-after by collectors. A few hippie-era buses remain.

See also

European countercultures after WW2

http://www.cybartv.org/html/whoweare.htm


External links

Bibliography

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