The Volkswagen Beetle, often referred to as the “VW Bug,” was a car that made a significant impact on the counterculture of the 1960s. In a time of political and social upheaval, the Beetle represented a symbol of nonconformity and individuality.

The VW Bug was first introduced to the United States in the late 1950s, but it was in the 1960s that it truly took off in popularity. The car’s unique, rounded shape and affordability made it appealing to a wide range of people, from college students to young families. But it was its association with the counterculture movement that cemented its place in history.

A Counterculture Favorite

The counterculture of the 1960s was characterized by a rejection of traditional values and a desire for change. The VW Bug embodied this spirit of rebellion, as it was seen as a departure from the large, gas-guzzling cars that dominated American roads. The compact size and fuel efficiency of the Beetle made it a practical choice for those who wanted to save money and reduce their carbon footprint, while its quirky design set it apart from the more conventional vehicles of the time.

In addition to its practicality, the VW Bug was also embraced by the counterculture for its versatility. It was a popular choice for hippies and other countercultural groups, who often customized their Beetles with brightly colored paint jobs, peace symbols, and other symbols of their movement. The car became a rolling symbol of peace and freedom, and its popularity only grew as the counterculture movement gained momentum. Its widespread use by the counterculture also helped to popularize car culture as a whole, paving the way for the muscle car era that would follow in the 1970s.

The VW Bug’s unique design, affordability, versatility, and association with the countercultural movement made it an icon of the era and a symbol of nonconformity and individuality. Today, the Beetle remains one of the most recognizable cars of all time, and its legacy continues to inspire new generations of car enthusiasts and countercultural activists alike.

Unique Mechanicals

The Volkswagen Beetle of the 1960s had several unique mechanical features that set it apart from other cars of the era. These included:

1. Rear-engine design: The VW Bug had its engine mounted in the rear of the vehicle, which was a departure from the front-engine design that was common in most cars of the time. This design allowed for more interior space and improved weight distribution, making the Beetle a more balanced and stable car to drive.
2. Air-cooled engine: The Beetle’s engine was air-cooled, which eliminated the need for a heavy and complex radiator and cooling system. This made the car lighter and more reliable, as well as easier to maintain.
3. Simple suspension: The Beetle had a simple suspension system that consisted of a beam axle and torsion bars, which allowed for a smooth ride and good handling. This design was both rugged and reliable, and it helped to keep the car’s cost low.
4. Lightweight construction: The Beetle was built using lightweight materials, including a body made of steel and an aluminum engine case. This helped to keep the car’s weight down and improved its fuel efficiency.
5. Flat-four engine: The VW Bug was powered by a flat-four engine, which was a compact and efficient design that made the most of the limited space available in the rear of the car. This engine was designed to be simple, reliable, and easy to maintain.

These mechanical features, combined with the Beetle’s distinctive rounded shape and affordable price, made it a popular choice among car buyers in the 1960s. The Beetle’s unique mechanicals also contributed to its reputation as a car that was fun to drive, easy to maintain, and built to last.

The Rock era began with conservative 50s and 60s dress. Just check out some early pictures from Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, and you’ll see crew cuts on the boys and pony-tails or bouffant hairstyles on the girls. Knee length dresses were the norm for women and button down plaid shirts for men’s casual wear.

Note that the guys were all wearing sports coats and dress shoes. This was the norm for school dances in many parts of the country. Canvas sneakers were just coming into fashion but weren’t in fashion for a dance. Leather sneakers or athletic shoes weren’t around yet. School dances all had rigid dress codes. Jeans or skirts too short got you sent home.

Mid 60s Dress and Style

By the mid-60s, fashion had done an 180-degree turn. Miniskirts and hot-pants were in for girls, sometimes paired with go-go boots. Ponytails were gone and long, straight hair was in. Granny dresses, the peasant look, and clunky shoes were all in style. Quite a difference from just a few years earlier.

Men’s hairstyles grew long and shaggy, with beards, mustaches, and sideburns. The Afro was popular for blacks of both genders. Bright colors, Nehru jackets, and turtlenecks were in style.

The Beatles hair told the whole story. Their hair was slightly longer than normal in the early 60s, a contrast to the crew cut standard. It flopped around a little bit (driving the girls crazy) as the performed. By the mid-60s it was definitely long, came down to their eyes in the front, and flopped around a lot. By 1967, they added mustaches, and by 1970 they wore their hair shoulder length and with full beards.

Towards the end of the decade, unisex styles became popular 60s dress, with bell-bottom jeans, screened or embroidered t-shirts, and love beads being the fashion of choice. Flower, bright colors, paisley, and psychedelic themes were everywhere. And it’s tough to forget for formal wear, those big wide ties, 5 inches wide was the standard in stripes and plaid, and it made no difference what other pattern it was worn with. What were we thinking to wear one coupled with a polyester leisure suit?

It was clear that individual expression won out in the 60s. Teens, even from the most conservative areas, wanted to be different than their parents and dress was a big distinction. Older teens could choose their own clothes, younger teens that made up the majority of the baby boomers still had to stay within the school and parental guidelines. It made for some interesting combinations.

“Louie Louie” is one of the most famous American rock ‘n’ roll songs. It was written by Richard Berry in 1955 and has since been recorded by hundreds of different artists. Berry recorded the song with The Pharoahs in 1957 as the flip side of his recording of “You Are My Sunshine.” Although the song had moderate success, Berry sold Louie Louie to help pay for his wedding.

Fast forward to 1963 when a local band from from Portland, Oregon called the Kingsmen decided to use “Louie Louie” as their first demo recording. They weren’t happy with the results. On top of the fuzzy voice, there were several other errors, and they didn’t expect much from the results. There were many different accounts of why the lyrics were slurred, one hypothesizes that the microphones were out of place, another that lead singer Jack Ely was either horse from singing the night before, wearing braces on his teeth, or just plain hung over.

Whatever the reason, The Kingsmen souped up what was a ballad into a high energy number by adding a festive rock ‘n’ roll rhythm, a sassy guitar, background chatter, and almost unintelligible lyrics, and Louie Louie became America’s #1 party song.

They were surprised as the song was promoted by DJs in Boston and eventually became a hit. Rumors arose that the lyrics were intentionally slurred by the Kingsmen to cover the fact that it was full of profanity and contained a graphic depiction of sex between a sailor and his lady, which added to the song’s popularity.

The FBI got involved in the controversy under the Interstate Transportation of Obscene Material (ITOM) law. I guess they thought that their investigation would do some good, but after 2 years, all that they succeeded in doing was to increase the record’s sales and create an industry out of guessing what the real words were.

One can only wonder if there were any FBI agents with children, and if they realized that, even in the 60s, the best way to promote something was to try to take it away! For the record, here are the words from the FBI file:

Louie, Louie…oh yea, a-way we go
Yea, yea, yea, yea, yea
Louie, Louie…oh baby, a-way we go
A fine little girl – she wait for me.
Me catch the ship – a-cross the sea.
I sailed the ship – all a-lone.
I never think – I’ll make it home.
Louie, Louie…a-way we go
Three nights and days we sailed the sea.
Me think of girl constant-ly.
On the ship – dream she there.
I smell the rose – in her hair.
Louie, Louie…oh baby, a-way we go
Me see Jamaica – moon a-bove.
It won’t be long – me see me love.
Me take her in arms and then.
I tell her I never leave a-gain.
Louie, Louie…oh yea, a-way we go

As a side note, there evidently was some obscenity in the recording, and it totally slipped by the FBI. Reports are that, just before the second verse, about 54 seconds in, drummer Lynn Easton banged his sticks by accident and shouts the “F” word.

The Summer of Love was the summer of 1967 and was centered in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. Thousands traveled there from all over the world as the hippie counterculture movement grew in popularity. Some were hippies, many were wanna-bees, and like many other rock culture events, a lot more claim to have been there than actually were.

The beginning of the Summer of Love was actually the Human Be-In at Golden Gate Park on January 14th. It was billed as “A Gathering of Tribes” and set the stage for the year. The Be-In was where Timothy Leary declared “turn on, tune in, drop out” and that pretty much described the underlying attitude. It was the first mass hippie gathering. Two young producers named James Rado and Gerome Ragni were there, let their hair grow with the rest, and captured some of the excitement in their musical “Hair” that is still being performed today.
John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas wrote the song “San Francisco” that was originally supposed to be a promotion for The Monterey Pop Festival in June, but is remembered as The Summer of Love theme. It was recorded by Scott McKenzie and became a worldwide hit:

If you’re going to San Francisco,
be sure to wear some flowers in your hair…
If you come to San Francisco,
Summertime will be a love-in there.
The Summer of Love crowd peaked during the summer vacation season. Altogether, an estimated 100,000 hippies and others from around the world flocked to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, Berkeley and other San Francisco Bay Area cities to see what it was like to be a hippie.

Flower Power became one of the Summer of Love themes. Originating with some Haight-Ashbury children who wore flowers in their hair while selling paper flowers, the flower became a sign of peace and love, and Flower Power became the name of a political movement.

As the Summer ended, many of the attendees headed back to school. There they were seeds for the growing hippie movement. Some went the Leary way of turning on and tuning out, others went the Flower Power way of promoting love and peace through political movements.

Want to read more?  Here’s an excellent video.  

The Antiwar Movement was one of two major cultural shifts in progress during the golden age of rock. It grew as the civil rights movement, perhaps helped by the acceptance of Race music (R&B) into Rock and Roll was just gathering steam (read more).

At the same time, many people , including a large number of the youth of our country, began to question our country’s involvement in Vietnam. These were still conservative times, and maybe it was just that the kids were more open to questioning government authority, but it created a major division in our society.  The Antiwar Movement set up a situation where it was us (teens) against them (the establishment).

Perhaps it was because Vietnam wasn’t an official war … the government never actually declared war, and we never had clearly defined goals as in previous wars. There wasn’t a lot of commitment to fighting a “police action”. As the death toll continued to rise, teens of the 60s saw their friends get drafted, sent to Vietnam, and never return. On top of this,unlike previous wars that the country was familiar with, troops were “rotated”, brought home while the fighting was still going on, with first hand reports that the war wasn’t going well and we didn’t have a clear goal.

Early protest came mostly from the Folk side of Rock music. Songs by Bob Dylan and Joan Baez were relatively mild as they introduced the seeds of protest. By the mid 60s, mainstream Rock joined in with Country Joe’s “I Feel Like I’m Fixing to Die Rag”:

Come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don’t hesitate,
Send your sons off before it’s too late.
You can be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.
Country Joe and the Fish

By the late 60s, there were nearly half a million soldiers in Vietnam and the draft was claiming more and more guys. College campus protests arose across the country, and protest music became a lot stronger. Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead mixed their protests with drugs, creating what became known as Acid Rock. By the time of Woodstock, flag burnings on stage were common and Jimi Hendrix’ version of The Star Spangled Banner let the world know that we saw our country in a different way than the establishment.

As the war wound down, protest music faded, but the Antiwar Movement’s influence still lasts. Country music, a close relative of Rock, grew in popularity through the South as Rock antiwar tunes alienated conservative listeners. The dividing line between “Country territory” and the “Rock world” closely matches the Red State / Blue State, division in today’s politics.

The Antiwar Movement Peace Sign was borrowed from a British nuclear disarmament movement and caught on quickly in the USA.  It’s still so popular today that it has it’s own Unicode … that’s the computer code that makes letters and numbers.  The code U+262E generates ☮.  An alternative peace sign, the V Sign was borrowed from a WWII victory symbol.  It’s origin was probably an expression of desire for the war to end.  The V Sign has it’s own Unicode,U+270C which generates ✌.  Note that the V Sign for peace is with the palm facing outward.  Be careful how you use it.  Facing inward is considered obscene and insulting in some cultures.