It seems like the term "Hippie" is painted with a very large brush. My recollections of the sixties had two very different camps of youths (and older types) that had distinct fundamental differences between them. There were the vast majority of kids who, to me and like me, were Longhairs. These were people who wore their hair in any fashion but conservative, wore the conforming non-conformist uniform of bell-bottoms, faded jeans, tye-dyed stuff, beads, drew peace symbols on everything, played the music, spoke the lingo, did some drugs, attended college and were politically active. Hippies, on the other hand, did the communal thing, actually practiced the peace/love (and especially) drop-out lifestyle, didn't become involved with anything of a social nature in main-stream society, and avoided politics completely. Hippies were the ones who rejected most aspects of conventionality in favor of a segregated self-sufficiency. Longhairs may have been a sub-culture existing within normal society, but true Hippies were a different culture altogether that existed outside normal society.
Much truth to this. Hippies and Freaks. But the distinction is very blurred. Both groups intermingled and were very tolerant of each other. I tend to think that hippies were more spiritual and freaks more practical. Many long hairs, or freaks held jobs or attended college and did not physically op out to the degree of the commune types. But the same experimentation and vision was present in both. Although I never did see any bead wearing in my area and communes were pretty tough to set up in the East, we never had any money or access to property. Any "communes" were short lived as the rented houses drew too much attention and no one had property in the country. Second thought, they were the same. Except true hippies were more spiritual...I think, maybe not.
I was hoping someone would mention the freaks. They were the sub-culture of the sub-culture. For me, Frank Zappa was the poster child of freaks. Freaks were the envelope pushers of the Longhairs, hooligans of the anti-establishment set, but only as a marketing ploy with no real commitment to social upheaval (although Zappa did write about the Watts riots in "Trouble Comin' Everyday", his adherence to music never got him into socio-political activism. Most other declaration songs just spouted about non-conformal attitudes). Teeny-boppers and high school kids bought into the Madison Avenue "Check me out" homogenized Longhair lifestyle that made day-glo posters, black lights and lava lamps a declaration of independence. 1969 saw a whole section of SEARS catalogues given over to Nehru jackets. The freaks were the ones that really spooked the establishment, and Meagain is right, the lines between Longhairs, Freaks and Hippies became, albeit wrongly, blurred. Hippies were the Hog Farm, Yellow Springs, etc. Yep, Hippies even existed back East, but the people who were true Hippies were NOT attention gatherers, Admin Building occupiers, Rock Stars, activists, drug culture advocates or movement supporters. They were (and are) the people who, without fanfare actively pursued a peaceful co-existance, many times as part of a group, or family, where togetherness, sharing, providing, growing, nurturing and expanding are some of the life qualities that provided enough to allow a person to find comfort and fulfillment in life. It's not a restrictive lifestyle, but one which sheds a lot of the material and social bonds and at the same time allows anyone to drool over a Mercedes, own a credit card and know the difference between a Cabernet and a Claret. You'll find them usually living in collective communities, and very much interactive with local populace. So when I read some of the writings in these forums, I can't help but wonder.....!
While I'm not an old hippy I've often been told I'm 16 going on 50, and my one regret in life is that I missed out on all the self-sufficient communes that shook off the conventions and inhibitions of the outside world. I want to know two things to make up for my unfortunate timing. Were they ever as ideal as they sounded? How would I go about finding a commune in Britain or (okay, now this sounds desperate and misguided) setting one up if I ever met people like myself in the 'real world'?
Communes were not invented by hippies........ About the questions.....1- no, not ever...............2- the actual times are not for communes, but anyway you start a hippie commune the same way you would start one of any other kind.....the main condition is having a group of people that thinks the way you do and are willing to share the small affairs of daily life.....like a large family of no blood related members........
Were they ever as ideal as they sounded? I would think that it depended on what passes for "ideal", a relative concept! There were many stories and reports that described the arrangements that existed at many of the communes and they were pretty varied according to the people who lived in them. Some were very agriculturally based where self-sufficiency and living off the land were key elements of the group, others were artistically centered where self-expression and creativity were not only outlets of an individuals free spirit, but also a source of income. Still others followed a hodge-podge of different lifestyles. Some practiced a limited amount of free-sex (I can't recall any that practiced unlimited free-sex. Interesting concept, but the lifestyle didn't promote orgies, but did view sex as a life pleasure and some sharing was OK). All communes had the usual pleasures and problems associated with small or large numbers of people living together, including all human strengths and failings. Some communes were well thought-out, planned and run communities, while others were doomed from the start by good and not-so-good intentioned people. They existed in cities, in the country, in God-foresaken isolated corners of nowhere...some they still haven't found yet. Personally, a commune is not my cup of tea. I admire the commitment, philosophy and dynamics of people who pursue the lifestyle, and I could dig it for a short period, but not for the long haul. Would love to hear from someone who actually lived in a hippie commune. As far as starting one in Briton...when two or more like minded people get together, anything is possible.
How nice to be able to neatly lump folks into one group or another. I lived then (although not on the college scene) and I certainly lived in a city that experienced the widest variety of humanity on the planet; draft dodgers, veterans, longhairs, hippies, flower children and the Silent Majority. I have longhair, consider myself a hippie, quasi-Jewish-wiccan and gay. My package is a multi-colored paisley http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yippies PS - Add the yippies to your list.
