The 60s

American Bandstand, Aqua Velva Ads, Aretha Franklin, and, the Andy Griffith Show Black lights, Bewitched, bean bag chairs, beads, Batman and the Beatles Cleopatra, Corvairs, Corvettes, Chevelles, Captain Kangaroo, Civil Rights Movement Dionne Warwick, Derek and the Dominoes, Dennis the Menace, and Dodge Dart. Ed Sullivan’s Amateur Hour, Elvis Presley, the Edsel, and new expressions emerge. Fiddler on the Roof , Flower Power painted vans, Free love, Fiber optic lights, Giget, Green Acres, Glen Campbell, Gun Smoke, Go-Go Boots, “Go with the flow!” Hello Dolly, Have Gun Will Travel,and the Hippie Movement begin...“Hang Ten” Imperial (the car), I dream of Jeanie, and new phrases “In your face” crop up. JFK youngest U.S. President, and Jackie Kennedy stylish First Lady, Kennedy was assassinated and the nation mourned the loss of their young leader. Lamborghini 350 GT, Lava Lamps, Lady and the Tramp, Lost in Space, Lassie Mousekateers, mini-skirts, mobiles, macramé plant hangars, Mash, The Monkeys, Nissan Skyline GT-R, Nash Metropolitan, and Nestles’ Nestle were signs of the times. Ordinary people seek peace during the years of war and social change of the 60s. Pillsbury Doughboy, Petticoat Junction,and Peter, Paul, and Mary, placate. Queen for the Day TV show, bring a fantasy escape during radically changing times. Rabbit ear antennas for TV shows: Route 66, and Rowan and Martin’s Laugh- In. Sherri Lewis and Lamb Chop, Shake and Bake, and the sexual revolution start. Twist to The Four Tops, The Flintstones,The Adam’s Family, The Twilight Zone. “Up your nose with a rubber hose” and similar expressions are the times’ lingo. Valley of the Dolls, Volkswagon Karmann Ghia, and Vanilla Fudge, gain popularity. Wonderful World of Disney, Vietnam War, protests, and “Groovy” words crop up. Xenoglossia emerges; “Make love, not war,” “Far out,” “Catch you on the flip-side.” Yonderly Vietnam Veterans return home to social unrest without a hero’s honor. Zanadu dances around in the minds of the partakers; religion is legal, not marijuana. Copyright March 7, 2015 Written for Poetry Soup Member Contest: The Decades Sponsor: Kelly Deschler