Reflections on the Hippie Culture in San Francisco During the 1960s

I wasn’t born until 1971 in the middle of America. As a child in the 1970s-80s, we faced the satanic panic against long-haired metal groups and the punk rock violence hysteria around the same time. Older generations were fearful of Generation X as well, much like the Diggers and the Grateful Dead encountered. My father was in the service from 1963–67, so he experienced the earlier part of the counterculture movement. He was a Vietnam Vet but eventually realized that leaders like LBJ, JFK, and Nixon had lied about the Vietnam War. My dad had a machine shop built in part with tool and dye training he received in the service, and the GI bill funded his further education in the field. He was a gifted man who grew his hair long when the local band Brewer and Shipley reached number one the year I was born. The Pentagon papers were a huge story at that time, and my dad hired some hippies and bikers to work in his auto electrical business in Harrisonville, Missouri, in 1973. Unfortunately, a shootout on the town square between some bikers and sheriff’s deputies in 1972 made it a risky move to hire them.

The Vibrancy of the Hippie Era

I lived in the late 1960s and it was a fun time, but peace and love were crumbling due to the Vietnam protests and the rise of stronger drugs. The Black Panthers were actively growing, and law enforcement was clashing. The city was vibrant with concerts in the park, and places like the Fillmore and Winterland hosted great shows. Food was great and weed was easy to get and fairly cheap. However, there were hints that the good times were over.

The hippies genuinely believed they could change the world! They gathered in the Haight-Ashbury district and the Panhandle, thinking they would be there forever. They had a utopian philosophy and wondered, “Why not?” I was seventeen during the Summer of Love. I lived in San Jose, some 50 miles south of San Francisco, with my friends, and we often made it up there. It was a nice, peaceful vibe with live music in the Panhandle, all acoustic, and people dancing. If it was warm, some girls danced topless, and nursing babies in public was another common sight.

The Diggers and Free Culture

A group called The Diggers believed money was evil and encouraged people to not use it at all. They opened a free store on Haight St., and a woman was caught shoplifting and made the manager. They also founded a free clinic, which still exists today but has moved to the Mission District. This was years before my time, but I learned what it smelled like!

After the hippie era, Haight St. went downhill. It was populated by drug addicts and beggars, and many stores closed. But I visited the neighborhood just a few days ago, and it looks good now. It remains very colorful and diverse, though no one sleeps on the sidewalk anymore. At the corner of Haight and Ashbury is a Ben and Jerry’s, a very fitting sight!