Last week saw another teen dream come to pass for me. On our way home from the house Husband rented in the Catskills, we stopped in Woodstock. Ever since I painted hippie logos - a white dove, hearts, and peace signs - on the yellow plastic trash can in my childhood bedroom, I longed for the day I could commune with my like-minded (albeit drug using) fellow '60s leftovers. Little did I know that my future in Woodstock would involve paying $7 for a peach smoothie in which vanilla soy milk was substituted for peach nectar because the hippie cafe ran out of the pivotal ingredient for a peach smoothie (they also ran out of bananas, which are in every other smoothie on their menu), but I needed to pee and thus was willing to fork out for access to a clean toilet. Seriously, almost every store in the town was outrageously expensive (except for the tie-dyed t-shirts), which is about par for the course for the biggest sell-out generation in America overall. (Which is not to say that everyone is a sell out, but if I see one more AmeriTrade commercial cashing in on boomer nostalgia - congratulating folks for rock 'n' roll and their current interest in their own financial security, I may punch my TV screen.)
Anyway, Husband took this picture of me in Woodstock:
I like the sentiment of the sign a lot. The brown bag I have in my armpit contains a book I saw in the window of the Woodstock Quiltsupply shop, and felt compelled to purchase: Dirty Wow Wow and Other Love Stories: A tribute to the threadbare companions of childhood." The book (and the quilt store, which was very cute) puts the warm fuzzies back into my thoughts about Woodstock, idealism, and youth.
Historically, the whole Hippie movement should have made a significant impact on American culture and society. However, for some reason it did not. Or perhaps the reasons are known and I just haven't done the proper research. Actually, I haven't done any research on the Hippies at all.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago at a library book sale, I came across a couple copies of the The Last Whole Earth Catalogue. The Whole Earth Catalogue was the Hippie communes bible on living outside the mainstream society.
Sorry, my 61 year-old eyes cannot read the sign. What does it say?
ReplyDeleteI went to Woodstock in '99 (as in, the mass concert). That was an, um...interesting...experience. :)
ReplyDeleteSorry Suzanne, if this "old hippie chick" has her math reasonably close you were born five years after it was all over! The Fillmore closed in '71, they turned the Night Owl Cafe into a poster shop and we discovered that peace, love and understanding can't pay the rent.
ReplyDeleteWoodstock today is no different than the east or west village is today. Nothing like it was in '60's it really is a shame that the magic that was is no more.
You would have loved it.
'60s wienie - if you click on the picture, it gets bigger. But I'll tell you anyway, since I know how bad your computer is. It says: "On this site stood American patriot Rob't Hass who believed that a healthy democracy must discourage apathy and respect dissent." Very cool.
ReplyDeleteArlene: Yes, I missed the whole thing!!! I was there in spirit, though. When I was a teen (in the early '90s), I mostly listened to music from the '60s and read a lot of accounts of the times. I also, much to my dad's chagrin, wore a lot of used clothes from the era and emulated the hippie style as best I could with new stuff. I dug it, man!
My partner and I were on a little weekend getaway a couple of weeks ago and drove by the Woodstock site. We tried to go to the Woodstock Emporium, but it was closed on Mondays. So we didn't get to spend too much for a non-peach smoothie, although I would have.
ReplyDeleteI was born in the 70's and totally missed the whole 60's thing. But I love it and am a little jealous of the old folks who got to rock-n-roll right. I got to wear plaid and mosh, not the same thing at all.