Vintage Shots Of 1960s Haight-Ashbury
The intersection of Haight and Ashbury, San Francisco in 1967. Source: Mashable
As American air raids wreaked havoc on Vietnamese soil in 1967, in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood it was the Summer of Love.
A series of natural and political events would transpire before Haight-Ashbury would become the epicenter of the “Free Love” mentality. It was one of the only areas spared from the fires sparked by the 1906 earthquakes, which meant that the neighborhood retained its charming Victorian architecture, if not its staunch sensibilities. Nevertheless, after the middle class left in the 1950s to relocate to the suburbs, Haight-Ashbury subsequently fell into disrepair.
A proposed freeway through the neighborhood in the 1950s led to a further decline in property values. Even though the freeway plans were cancelled, the damage had already been done–at least when viewed under a more conservative lens: low rents had attracted the beatniks, with the hippies soon to follow.
The hippie movement revolved around the exploration of alternative lifestyles and an overall rejection of societal rules. Engaging in Eastern Spiritualism, free love, and “mind expanding” drugs, the lifestyle soon drew the country’s disenchanted youth to the neighborhood, marked by the intersection of Haight and Ashbury.
Source: Mashable
Musicians such as The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and Jefferson Airplane moved in, too, and record stores openly sold psychedelic drugs and marijuana right beside their LPs. Exotic stores filled the streets, representing a hodge podge of interests and identities: the unique counter-culture had found a thriving home.
As happens in life, though, love and happiness too had an expiration date in Haigh-Ashbury. With youth streaming in by the thousands (spurned by the continual media coverage) Haight-Ashbury soon found itself filled past capacity; this lead to widespread homelessness and drug-related health problems.
By October of 1967, the remaining residents held a highly-publicized mock funeral for “The Death of the Hippie.” Within two years–following several violent and tragic events such as the Manson murders and the killings at Kent State and The Altamont Music Festival–the hippie movement would largely fade away from the American consciousness.
Today, San Francisco has been overtaken by a culture of a different kind–start-up loving techies. While low rents and Jerry Garcia-quoting hippies have all but disappeared from San Francisco and Haight-Ashbury, we look back on a time when both were commonplace in the ‘hood:
Topless clubs were popular venues for the ‘free love’ generation. Source: Mashable A barber shop, ironically located in a town full of hippies. Source: Mashable The Drogstore Café at the corner of Haight-Ashbury. Source: Mashable The youth of the culture were just as quick to light up a joint on the street as they would be a cigarette. Source: Mashable The Avalon Ballroom was a popular venue for many of the Haight Ashbury musicians, such as The Grateful Dead. Source: Mashable Melrose Records in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, San Francisco. Source: Mashable The Queen Anne-style homes housed the thousands of young Americans who flocked to Haight-Ashbury. Source: Mashable Hippies at the Haight-Ashbury sign in 1967. Source: Mashable “Hashbury” is the new capital of what is rapidly becoming a drug culture. Its denizens are not called radicals or beatniks, but “hippies." Hunter S. Thompson, New York Times, 1967. Source: Mashable Head Quarters, a Haight-Ashbury head shop. Source: Mashable Local business windows were filled with posters promoting peace and love. Source: Mashable Proclamations of love and peace appeared on buildings all over Haight-Ashbury. Source: Mashable A hippie cuddles his camouflaged puppy in Haight-Ashbury, 1967. Source: Mashable Source: The Victorian architecture of Haight-Ashbury accented the artistic vibe of the culture. Mashable Fashion was very eclectic and often quite colorful. Source: Mashable
Before Techies, There Were Hippies: Haight-Ashbury In 1967 View GalleryWant more on hippies and San Francisco? Check out our galleries on life in a hippie commune as well as vintage San Francisco, as well as this short news clip on 1967 San Francisco:
Finally, check out some of the most incredible Woodstock photos that will transport you back to 1969, and read a brief history of hippies.
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