The Hippy Subculture
The Hippy Subculture “The hippies—the rebels and dropouts of the Haight-Ashbury community of San Francisco—generated one of the most influential of history's dress reform movements. Their style was so outrageous and anomalous that it alone could have made the hippie movement impossible to ignore” (Lobenthal) They wanted to show rejection of their parents’ lifestyles and morals and used their clothing as a way to rebel (Baughman) and also “wanted clothes that reflected their values and adopted a huge range of diverse styles” (Pendergast) Their clothing was bought from thrift stores and second hand shops to show their rejection of materialism. (Pendergast) Hippies wore flowers in their hair and clothes, faded and dusty bell bottom jeans, and
…show more content…
When people moved out to the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco, people would be given free food, clothes, and drugs. “The fact that they handed out drugs free of charge demonstrates how common drug use was in Haight-Ashbury and how prevalent drugs were in the counterculture” (Brownell). The use of LSD was unknown to the public until the 1960’s when a psychologist at Harvard University named Timothy Leary began to experiment with LSD and encouraged his students to use. (Brownell) Timothy told young people to “Turn on to the scene, tune in to what is happening, and drop out—of high school, college, grad school, junior executive—and follow me the hard way.” “The drug influenced everything from the tie-dyed clothing styles to the art, music, and motion pictures of the era.” (Bigelow) LSD is a powerful psychedelic drug made from a naturally occurring compound called lysergic acid. (Bigelow) It’s made from ergot; a poisonous mold that is grown on rye and other grains and is considered a semi-synthetic drug rather than a pure synthetic drug because the key ingredients used in its manufacture are found in nature. (Bigelow) LSD was first synthesized by a Swiss chemist in 1938, but the effects of it on the body weren’t discovered until a few years later. (Baughman) The drug is odorless and colorless with a bitter taste and can be inserted in blotting paper, sugar cubes, and mushrooms. The blotting papers were smaller than postage stamps and were taken orally along with the mushrooms and sugar cubes. Blotting papers infused with the LSD were square and decorated with colorful graphics.
When people moved out to the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco, people would be given free food, clothes, and drugs. “The fact that they handed out drugs free of charge demonstrates how common drug use was in Haight-Ashbury and how prevalent drugs were in the counterculture” (Brownell). The use of LSD was unknown to the public until the 1960’s when a psychologist at Harvard University named Timothy Leary began to experiment with LSD and encouraged his students to use. (Brownell) Timothy told young people to “Turn on to the scene, tune in to what is happening, and drop out—of high school, college, grad school, junior executive—and follow me the hard way.” “The drug influenced everything from the tie-dyed clothing styles to the art, music, and motion pictures of the era.” (Bigelow) LSD is a powerful psychedelic drug made from a naturally occurring compound called lysergic acid. (Bigelow) It’s made from ergot; a poisonous mold that is grown on rye and other grains and is considered a semi-synthetic drug rather than a pure synthetic drug because the key ingredients used in its manufacture are found in nature. (Bigelow) LSD was first synthesized by a Swiss chemist in 1938, but the effects of it on the body weren’t discovered until a few years later. (Baughman) The drug is odorless and colorless with a bitter taste and can be inserted in blotting paper, sugar cubes, and mushrooms. The blotting papers were smaller than postage stamps and were taken orally along with the mushrooms and sugar cubes. Blotting papers infused with the LSD were square and decorated with colorful graphics.