San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) - Scott McKenzie Columbia Musical Treasury of All Time Favorites presents: The Sensational Sixties.
Thanks, 66Newport, but I tend to run on sometimes when I post something. I imagine that a lot of what a person's recollections of those times is would be affected by where they lived. A guy from a small town in Pennsylvania (like me) would have different memories and feelings about it than, say, a guy from Southern California. My first experiences with "big city life" was when I would go to visit my older Sister every Summer in Philadelphia. This would have been during the late 50's. I remember seeing signs on corner deli's for hoagies, and thought those must be something that only black people ate. I found out later that was not the case, and loved them as well as Philly Cheese Steaks, and my first taste of Pizza, too. It was also in Philly that I saw some of my first hot rods. I remember riding along in the Greyhound bus and seeing a full fendered 32 five window at a gas station, and later on seeing some primered 50 Fords with their back bumpers almost dragging the ground. She lived in West Philadelphia in a row home and it was a very nice area at that time. You could sit out on the steps in front of your home until all hours of the night and have no worries. All the neighbors knew each other and threw block parties where everyone brought pot luck food. I also got to see the big kids standing outside of the studio where **** Clark had American Bandstand. Everyday there was a long line of them waiting to get in, then we would go home and watch the very same kids dancing and rating the records. It was our little brush with greatness. If there is anything I miss about those days it was the way people got along. We all knew each other, neighbors looked after each other's kids, and when we heard about some crime it was shocking. Today someone gets shot and we don't even stop eating our Big Mac long enough to comment about it. Don
Same here...I grew up in small town Iowa...wouldn't trade that for anything...my hot rods were '49 Fords and '50 Chevies...not '32 Fords or anything of the like...kustoms were my bag...still are today. My "big city" was Omaha, NE....about 200,000-250,00 population at the time (1961-'62)...and considerably different "cruising" than our small town Main street... We never locked our house, or cars...doubt they even locked the court house or the school doors back then...and most everyone was trusted...never got a ticket for drinking and driving then either...but my Dad knew about it before I got home...and he was waiting...!!! It's a shame those days are Looo-ooong gone...!!! R-
It's so great that you not only have those memories, but you also have the pictures too, and share them with all of us. I bet you wish you would have taken a lot more than you did. Don
I just groan thinking about all the times I had to "gauge" my film all day long as I walked by legends.......I can barely think about it....ugh, no, UGH!
1962 I was living in Plesent Grove a subburb of Dallas My dad built his first rail in the back yard ,,wow seems like a long time ago
when I was crusing in the 50's & 60's I was also a Biker but I always had a Car of some kind which you could buy at the local junk yard for 15 to 35 dollars they were the local used car lot! I think that it was the Best Time of my life in 63 I opened my Business in Queens NY and the rest was History just my 3.5 cents
I don't know if they did this in other people's areas, but where I lived you could call up the junkyard and ask if any decent old cars had come in that ran, and they always had some. ( People just got tired of their old cars sitting around and would junk them, even if they ran and looked good) Then you could buy a car from them and sometimes they would deliver them to you for $ 25 to $35, but if you wanted the battery they would charge you $ 5 or $6 more. I bought a 37 Dodge, a 38 Ford, and some others I can't even remember that way. I worked with a guy who bought all his daily drivers from the junkyard. He would go there and pick one out, and drive it until it fell apart. Then he would call them and they would tow it away. He would hitch a ride with the tow truck to the yard and pick out another one, drive it home, and continue to drive that one until it died. Surprisingly, in those days there were a lot of very nice, complete cars in those yards and since there were few cops and no computers, a guy could put his license plate on a different car and just keep driving. Don
Don, just curious, what part of PA? My in-laws are from a small town in PA named Oil City..beautiful state.
i do recall back in the very early 60s that it cost money to junk a car. My Dad was a mechanic and our relatives were always trying to leave an old car for him "for parts". Even if he was not at home....surprse! what's that in my yard? ...and around 64 or 65 I bought a 57 Olds with a bad trans from a scruffy used car dealer/repair place for $10, and $5 for the 15 mile tow to my parents house so I could swap that motor into my lot car. I was 13 yrs old. That place had dozens of $10 cars that all had some problem. That's the same place that had the 40 deluxe coupe hotrod for 600, so it was really overpriced back then.
1964. I graduated from high school in 1964. A school friend showed up at my house in a '29 roadster. Bone stock, scruffy but complete and not dinged up. He paid $25 for it. We ran around all summer in it and when it was time to head off to college he "made a killing" when he sold it for $50!!
I was born in 35, lived the good years. my first car was a 37 Chevy coupe, paid $165.00 for it, alot of money for a guy making $.75 per hour. next a 41 Ford coupe then a 48 Ford convertable plus a couple more. Got married, had kids, got divorced, remairred, back into rodding. Yes life can be good. Yes I was there.
I was from the Pittsburgh area and Oil City is north of there somewhat. It is pretty country up there. Don
I was born in 47,grew up in NJ within sight of the NYC skyline.I never saw a hot rod,as in cut down 1930's cars, at all.There were lead sleds and plenty of 55-57 Chevy types.Went to drag strips a lot and saw older g***er cars.Did some military duty near Colorado springs in 1967-68 and saw some truck hot rods.Too be honest,the first time I really looked at a real hot rod was probably 1980.Probably due to the fact i was a bike guy?
I was born in 1943, my first car was a 54 plymouth 2dr hardtop with a 53 4dr plymouth parts car. I added a homemade 3 single intake and split exhaust. The family car was a 1958 fairlane 500, 2dr post 292 3 speed. life was good
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away Born in 55, grew up in Fresno CA surrounded by the car culture. Had a ring side seat to watch, but it was mostly gone by the time I came of age. Been trying to recapture it ever since
Born in 1950 and with a garage next door pumping out hotrods and drag cars I had a ringside seat growing up. We lived one block off a major cruise/street race scene and I used to sit upstairs in my bedroom window watching the cars race every Fri/Sat. night. As soon as I could drive in '66 I was into the whole thing too. Built a '57 Chevy and started hitting all the local hangouts. It was the best time of my life, and nothing else like it since!
Born in '36. Lived in Quincy, M***. Bought my '32 five window for $75.00. Got a Desoto hemi for $35.00. In an attempt to join the Flywheels Auto Club of Braintree, I had to get an aproval from the local police. Since the '32 was my year-round daily driver, I drove it to the police station and asked for a recommendation. I was told by the cop that there are no hot rods in Quincy. They weren't allowed! Raced a new '56 Pontiac at a light and started up in second gear just to see what would happen. No problem! Had a great time with virtually no money in my pockets. It's been a lifetime obsession, and that's a good thing.
born in 51, I was hooked on anything that had 4 wheels and a gas powered motor at about 9-10, started buying hotrod, and carcraft at 11-12 when i could go to the store with someone, lived in a small town,(2 country general stores) on a big farm about 40 miles from Alanta, Ga. I grew up in the 60s when the factory musclecars were just comming out. I remember going to the dragstrip at 13 with older friends, g***eres had muffler tubing for rollbars. this was when nhra was to weak to swat flys, and the scantioned strips did pretty much as they pleased. in the south anyway. I have 2 older sisters, and got my daily dose of american bandstand from Philly. everyday. I remember alot of the culture of the mid to late fifties. the 50s and 60s were great times to grow up. The USA we grew up in is long gone sorry to say.
born in 41 so I went thru most of it, got behind a little while in the Navy from 59-63....one thing that was good back then was if some one put a dent or scratch on your vehicle they would leave a note and most of the time wait till you return to it and the accept responsibility for the incident, very seldom now days for anyone to do that.. hey Von, wife was born in Pecan Gap, lived in Cooper for many yrs.. still has some kin there...
"Pretty much sums it up"!!----Good answer! I was born in the good year 1932---So, guess I can regress back a little further. I was in hi school from 1946-1950, in Inglewood,Ca. the returning G.I.'s had some cool cars that would buzz the campus leaving us teen agers salavitating at the sight.---Lowered at the rear,twin pipes,twin Appleton spots & full skirts, plus DeSoto ribbed bumpers, it was a great sight & sound. There was 3 guys that had white identical '36 3wd coupes & they had plaques that stated just that, "COUPES". Some of you may recall their names, Bob Pierson, Joe Torvick, Jim McKinley---Pierson later had the famous 2D chopped coupe. With hardly having 2 nickles to rub together, most guys in that time frame drove their daily drivers---Model A's, '34's,'36's, some '40's, & if you drove a '41 Ford or Chev.---That was really Up Town! Cars back then were all 6 volt & staying out late with your gal listening to the favorite disc jockey on the old radio would run the battery down quickly.---So we always parked on a slight hill at school to get a push start with your buddies pushing. Friday night cruising would consist of painting Pep Boys whitewall paint application carefully on each tire, to put your best appearance while on the street that night. Before the term "Street Racing" came about, the guys with the hot flatheads & hot GMC's would cruise the local drive ins looking for some action, back then called "Choosing Off" another hot cars owner, sometimes resulting in a "pink slip" race,(winner gets losers car). The old LAX area facility had a 2 lane paved road running diagonal from Sepulveda to Manchester it was and still is Lincoln blvd.--Bean fields ran on both sides of this 1/2 mile straight road. When the "word" got out about a big hot car choose off race, bystanders would all line up on the bean field edge & watch the participants roar by. It was a false ***umption back then that if you ran with headlights OFF,it would increase a hotter spark!---(which it didn't). Guys with Appleton spots would be stationed at each end of Lincoln rd. If the "fuzz" appeared, they would flash the spots back & forth warning everyone to flee.---(I almost got stuck in the soft soil one night). Thats my story on CULTURE & I'll stick to it!!!-----Deuce Daddy Don
I was born in 1948. Grew up in Milwaukee, WI. My older brother Jan was a big influence in getting me into cars. I remember riding in his buddies yellow '49 chevy ragtop and hitting the junkyards looking for parts. I remember sitting in literally hundreds of pre-war cars... I was about 4 years old... I got the bug. Then he started hanging around the sporty car guys when he got back from service in '58. He bought a blue/white '55 Bel-Air with a 265 Power pack and a 3 on the tree... but he really wanted a sports cars. We literally visited every foreign car dealer in Wisconsin... test drove Healeys, Jags, TD's, TF's, TR-2's, etc. He finally bought a '55 XK-140 from King-Braeger Chevrolet where my Mom worked. There were a few hot rods and customs around the neighborhood. Some guys would "de-chrome" their new rides... a kid two door down shaved and lowered his new '58 Impala. My 16 year old neighbor Tom got a '40 Ford sedan for his 16th birthday... they put duals on and a two carb manifold. His dad had an old carriage house behind the house with a "pit" so every kid from miles around would come over and change their oil and work on their cars. Tom's Dad was the service manager for Edwards Motor Company a Dodge/DeSoto/Plymouth dealer. He always had a neat demo to drive... mostly D-500 Dodges or a Firesweep DeSoto. During the late 50's I spent a few summers in Shawano, WI with my aunt and uncle and their 11 kids! They owned a popular truck stop restaurant on the outskirts of town... the L&L Ranch.... 1/2 mile from the fairgrounds. We'd walk to the races on Saturday night to watch the jalopies race... then they'd come buy the restaurant for chow afterwards. Two hotrodders always showed up with a pair of '32 coupes... one of each flavor. My buddy Joe bought a '37 Chevy from "Jew Boy's" s**** yard in downtown Milwaukee for $6.00. It was about 5 miles away.... we were all 13 or 14... the car didn't run so about five of us took turns behind the wheel while the others pushed the car to my friends Chuck's house where his dad had an extra garage. Later Chuck and I bought a '56 Plymouth for $35.00 in '62. It needed a valve job. We pulled the heads and I ground the valves in shop cl***. We bondoed up the rust and sold it for $275.00 to Chuck's Dad's buddy (who was always drunk so he must have thought he got a good deal). When we moved in '62 the guy across the alley from me had a 6 car block garage where he and his buddies would work on their cars. A few guys had pre-war stuff but mostly we saw Shoebox Chevies and Fords... these were $75.00 "high school cars" back then. **** G. had a '56 Chevy ragtop with a '56 Olds front bumper bondoed to it and Packard tail lights. His friend had a '55 Ford with a 6 and a three carb intake. The guy two doors dowm had access to his Dad's machine shop... he built several Ford-allacs and Merc-allacs and a mini-bike with a Harley 45 engine.... Chuck and I would cruise Wisconsin Ave with his older sister and her boyfriend until Chuck got his first car... a '58 Del Ray two door. When I turned 16 I bought a '53 Old two door for $65.00 later trading for a red '57 Super 88 that had the name "The Impressor" painted on the lower R/f fender. My friends named the car that 'cuz I could smoke my ****red recap slicks for a few hundred feet... my Olds went down with a broken valve so I bought a '52 Chevy business coupe for $18.00 from Ray Tann's Tire shop... had a brush paint job and "Polish chrome"... I'd put 60 lbs of air in the R/R tire and I could smoke the tires for 1/2 block but the black mark was only 3/4" wide. I never got a ***le for that car, and when my Dad found out, he drove me down to Tann's to get my $$$ back...6 months later! Ray gave me the $18.00 but he was pissed because the R/R tire was new when I bought the car but had the cords showing thru when I brought it back... There was an older guy named Arnie who had a two carb Hudson that was pretty fast. Arnie was a farm boy who hung around the "cool kids" to gain some acceptance. He'd give us young kids rides in the Hudson. One night we to the local lover's lane overlooking lake Michigan in South Milwaukee. the hudson had a spotlight on it so Arnie would drive in circles shining the light on "the neckers" hoping to get one to chase us. Two guys bit and we'd headed out of town on Drexel Ave (gravel) with a couple cars chasing us. then Arnie stopped in the middle of the road and the guys got out of the car to come beat our ***es. What the Didn't realize was that Arnie was about 6'7" tall and about 350lbs... when he got out of the Hudson he towered over everyone... his hands were the size of a basketball. The kids the apologized for chasing us but did ask him nicely if he would please not shine that spotlight anymore... In September of '64 Chuck's Dad bernie bought a new '65 Impala hardtop (283/'glide) at the new car showing the day before the new Chevy's came out... In those days you never saw the new cars until the official new car intro. Bernie saw the Impala and wanted to take it homw that night.... there were some heated discussions and he finally bought the car with the stipulation that he would drive straight home and park it in the garage until morning... he agreed. long story but we managed to "borrow" the car from Bernie after he had a few brandies and beers. Chuck popped the wheel covers before we left the garage and we headed to The Ave. We got a big welcome with the new Chevy... looked like a space ship. We found two cute girls who wanted a ride... I got in the back seat with one and the other got in with Chuck. Chuck had stopped behind a parked car so he had to back up to get back into traffic. Of course he had to smoke the tires to impress the girls... the problem was the babe didn't get the right side door closed before he backed up and we smashed into a fire hydrant! We kicked the girls out and I got to hold the door shut all the way back to Chuck's house... it was about 18" shorter than it should have been. We had been gone less than a hour... when we got back home Bernie asked "How bad is it?" Huh? Bernie said..."You ***holes would never be back this early unless you wrecked my new car!" That was an "Amercan Graffiti Night" if there ever was...
Born in 42 and lived a lot of the good old days. Some times we have to loose what we got to realize how good we had it. Love them 60,s.
In conclusion: Fonzie was a pussie. Beach Boys and Jan & Dean were yesterdays Justin Beiber. American Grafitti was about 75% right, especially as it trickled down to the Midwest USA.[/QUOTE] I guess growing up out in the Antelope Valley helped you figure it all out. You read about it to get an opinion? And comparing Brian Wilson to Justin Beiber? Here's a better conclusion: You're a douche. (That's for the Fonz)
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