Part V

Tuning In, Turning On, and Dropping Out: Transforming American Culture

In this part . . .

The 1960s were a time of experimenting with different lifestyles. The hippies adopted a nonmaterialistic lifestyle, accepted premarital sex, and used marijuana and other drugs. They dressed unconventionally, tried living communally, and believed that love was the answer, for everything. The ’60s were also a time for experimenting with new styles of music, while looking back to some of the older forms. Folk, soul, blues, the surf sound, and acid rock were all popular, and all types of music were played at festivals, such as Woodstock. Creativity was rampant everywhere — fashions ranged from the scant and provocative miniskirts to the thrown-together hippie style, and art was op, pop, and psychedelic. Comics were not only funny, but they also made people laugh at the absurdity of their lives. And TV reflected life during the decade and brought the events of the day into Americans’ living rooms as it had never before done.