Having been born in 1953 and growing up with 3 older sisters I witnessed the American Graffiti age as well as the rest of the 60's first hand. As Anne so eloquently stated it was a simpler time, well at least the first half of the 60's was. People talked to each their neighbors over the backyard fence. Social networking was the school lunchroom, the barber shop, and of course the beauty shop, yes back then they were beauty shops not salons. Growing up in Detroit foreign cars were almost unseen and those you saw were either sports cars, think MG's and Jaguars, or VW Beetles. Almost everyone had a family member who worked for the "Big 3" so American iron prevailed. The source of knowledge was the local newspaper and every big city had at least 1. I can remember when Detroit had 3 daily papers. There were not the 24 news channels of today. As a matter of fact TV stations signed off at night and all there was on the screen was a test pattern. Yes it was truly an age of innocence, particularly for teen agers for the most part. The winds of change were looming though.
Music may have been the first sign of change. Folk music started to stir ideas in American youth. Then there was the British movement, the California sound, and even Motown changed the way America's youth thought. I know in today's society it may seem silly but back in the early 60's the idea of white youth listening to "black" music was revolutionary. While all of this fanned the flames of change nothing changed the fabric of America more than the Vietnam War. I am not going to get into politics here but Vietnam changed the way much of America's youth thought and acted. For perhaps the first time teen agers parted ways politically with their parents. It pitted neighbors against their neighbors, friends against friends, and evenly sadly parents against children. Very few if any American family was left untouched by Vietnam whether it was a family member or friend's son getting their draft notice or even more tragically one dying somewhere in a country that 10 years before probably 90% of Americans didn't even know existed.
Don't get me wrong! It was a fun time to grow up, we actually knew our neighbors and many times couldn't wait to get to school in the morning so we could tell our friends something as we didn't have cell phones, texting, Twitter, etc. were not even thought of. Fashions changed and compliments of Mary Quant and Carnaby Street we got the miniskirt which spawned hot pants, both the fashion and teenaged boys reactions!
Of course that led to pantyhose, go-go boots and even women wearing slacks outside of their houses. Even bikini panties became popular and every teen aged girl wanted them.
To have witnessed the changes firsthand shows me where we were, where we are, and what we must do to keep us from going down the road to destruction both as a nation and a society. I have read many posts here about going back to the 50's and 60's and I know the author is referring to women's fashions but are they as ready to go back to that era of society?
BTW, American Graffiti is a classic movie and everyone should see it. Not only for the fashions, the cars and the drive-in nut also if you watch it from a plot point you may see what I am trying to say here.
