Types of Hippies from the 1960s

Types of Hippies from the 1960s

I’ll begin my article by saying there are many different kinds of hippies, including “a real good kind.” I was there, rolled through it all, and I remember everything.

By David Stone

Assorted Ideas, Large & Small

Types of Hippies

woman in white shirt standing over the river bank
Photo by Olof Nyman on Pexels.com

The first type was the classic Woodstock-type hippie. This includes long hair, tie-dye shirts and jeans, patched coats, beaded jewelry and granny boots or bare feet. They listened to folk music with their clackers, they did yoga in the dirt, and when you passed them on the street they smelled like cigarettes and jasmine.

Woodstock hippies used the power of politics and love to save the planet. They ate brown rice and tofu but would kill a cow if there is no other food. They were very clean people, but they only showered once a week if their water supply was scarce.

The next type of hippie was the “freak” hippy. This type of hippie didn’t necessarily follow all of the rules to live like a hippie because he or she didn’t want to be a part of that kind of movement.

They were usually high on some form of pill or another, and they used drugs as their gods.. Not all hippies came in contact with these freaks, but those who did saw them playing drums under streetlights at four o’clock in the morning. They are usually found at “be-ins.”

The next type was found at a Grateful Dead concerts or any other jam band event. These types of hippies liked to dance and follow the same routine every day, but they did it with music playing in the background. They took ecstasy and other psychedelic drugs, and they couldn’t imagine life without them.

Hung up on a dream…

Another type was the “white trash” hippy who lived in a VW bus and smoked pot all day and night. This type of hippie liked driving through small towns and handing out flowers to children – even though the children ran away from them.

You sometimes caught this guy eating a Burger King Whopper with extra tomatoes, no pickles.

Then, there was the “hippie couple.” They were usually seen on Haight Street holding hands and walking a dog or baby in a stroller. Their clothes were clean and most of the time they wore matching clothing.

They rode public transportation, listened to the Grateful Dead, ate vegetarian food with tofu and read Kerouac in coffee shops.

You also had a variation in the “hippie family.” This type of hippie lived in upstate New York or Vermont. You found them at Woodstock, but only in August. They ate organic food and made their own granola with raisins and prunes.

Their children played drums and guitar, and all of the kids liked swimming naked in streams while the parents sat on rocks nearby smoking pot.

Countless types of hippies…

And there was also the “old hippie.” These types of hippies were usually in their late fifties or early sixties. They can be spotted, these days, having coffee at Starbucks, wearing sunglasses and playing chess.

The last type is the “contact hippie.” These hippies were always in search of something new like the next Kerouac adventure. They were usually seen “in the middle of nowhere.” They had cars that were totally customized because it was their home.

These are just some of the types, but there are many more. I’ll end my article by saying that you don’t have to be described in this article to be considered a hippie; all you really need is peace, love and happiness (–a hippie’s life motto).

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are still many types of hippies you might come in contact with who live a free and happy lifestyle. But they don’t use the “hippie” tag anymore.

Some examples include long-haired earthy people, “freaks” (hippie drug addicts), “jam band” hippies (dancing to music all day long), “white trash” hippies (smoking pot all day), hippie couples, hippie families, old hippies, or contact hippies.

Being considered a hippie means different things to different people; the main idea is that you don’t have to follow strict guidelines to be one–all you need is peace and happiness.

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