You didn’t feel like you were living through history in the 60s, but you were, and here are ten things you’ll only understand if you grew up then.
Under the desk
There were times in the school day when everything stopped. But it wasn’t for recess. No, the teacher warned everyone to get under their desks and curl up. It was a ‘duck and cover’ drill. They were pretty important.
After all, nuclear war was a genuine possibility back then. It became another drill that kids didn’t question. Only people who grew up in the ‘60s know how routine, but also scary, these drills felt.
The next morning
Apollo 11 landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. Millions of Americans saw it happening live. Sure, the image was blurry, and sure, the audio wasn’t great. But none of that mattered. The moment became something everyone talked about the next day.
Anyone lucky enough to grow up in the decade remembers that moment. They saw the landing as it happened. It’s an experience that very few people can say they saw live. It’s just this special group.
All four faces
Your lunch box was plain one week. It had four familiar faces staring back at you the next week. Yes, ‘60s kids remember Beatlemania hitting the U.S. in 1964. Those four musicians from Liverpool were all over.
Kids carried their Beatles items into school and swapped them. They’d show each one like a collectible. It was honestly a little crazy. In fact, it felt like the whole world had become obsessed with them, all at the same time.
Hair at dinner
Not all of the conversations were good, though. The Beatles’ long hair actually became a talking point in many American homes. Adults saw it as a serious problem. Apparently, the long hair was a sign of moral standards disappearing.
It was pretty different from the debates we have today. It was one of the first major pop culture controversies, and kids in the ‘60s grew up through it all. The debate was tied to the music they actually liked.
Brand-new reruns
The classic ‘60s shows weren’t classic shows back then. They were simply TV programs. In 1960, The Flintstones hit the screens. The Jetsons came two years later. Kids in that decade watched them without thinking about reruns or how the shows would be remembered.
They were just new shows with new jokes. You just turned them on after school. But now, people call it ‘vintage television.’ Who would’ve thought it at the time?
The older girls
‘60s fashion was like nothing else. Just ask someone from that decade. They saw girls wearing white boots and short skirts out of nowhere. The clothes weren’t like those before. No, they weren’t a throwback moment, either.
Go-go boots and miniskirts were normal back then. You didn’t even need a fashion magazine to see it. The clothes were in stores and on TV. It really stood out. After all, it was completely different from what’d come shortly before.
The evening report
Not everything in the ‘60s was that great, though. A lot of kids grew up hearing worldwide news much closer to home. They’d see footage from Vietnam on TV, and they’d witness real scenes from the war. It was the very first ‘television war.’
Yes, ‘60s kids didn’t understand everything. But they remember seeing how much older people worried about the draft. They knew some of the names and some of the places. You can’t easily forget those.
Before it was retro
The Twist didn’t always feel old-fashioned. It actually felt current in the ‘60s. It’s all thanks to Chubby Checker, who popularized it. The dance didn’t take long to spread. What made it so popular was that it was so easy.
You just copied what you saw, then tried it at home. People associate it today with the past. They don’t get how modern it once felt. People who grew up in the ‘60s certainly remember that, though.
Color envy
It didn’t matter that your screen couldn’t show color just yet. Hearing that a show was ‘in color’ was enough to get you excited. Take Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, for example. Not every home had a color TV set when that came out.
What did that mean? Just that some kids watched shows advertised in color, in black-and-white. Yes, really. It was such a moment when you finally got to watch color TV. It was a moment that only people who grew up in that decade remember.
Those yellow arches
Everyone’s heard of McDonald’s today. It’s kind of hard to imagine there was a time when they were new. But that’s exactly what people in the ‘60s experienced. They saw the bright yellow arches spread across the country, and later, the world.
They saw how the design made it stand out from other restaurants. They experienced the sudden speed of the food firsthand. Something different was about to happen in the food world. ‘60s kids got to experience the whole thing.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
