8 Groovy Fads of the 1960s, 4-8

Peace and love reigned in the 60s along with tie-dye and the twist, all of which you'll find on this last page of the list.

4. Surfing

What better place than a sunny beach to spread peace, goodwill, and free love? Polynesians had been surfing for centuries, but when lightweight surfboards became affordable in the late 1950s, everyone could grab a board and hang ten. By the early 1960s, the fad had really caught a wave, and movies like Beach Party and Beach Blanket Bingo helped popularize surfing and beach culture.

5. Peace Symbol

Thanks to British graphic designer Gerald Holtom, no hippie had to go without a peace symbol talisman. Holtom, who was hired to create an image for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, claimed his inspiration for the symbol came from the shape of the letters N and D in the semaphore alphabet. The icon was adopted by the hippies and remains as popular today as it was when protests and antiwar marches were daily events.

6. The Twist

This dance craze of the early 1960s came as the result of Chubby Checker's number one song of the same name. The Twist was the first modern dance style that did not require a partner, and couples did not have to touch each other while dancing. Checker said, "It's like putting out a cigarette with both feet, [or] coming out of a shower and wiping your bottom with a towel to the beat of the music." It seemed like everyone was jumping on the bandwagon with a Twist record. Checker also recorded "Let's Twist Again," and Joey Dee and The Starliters reached number one with "The Peppermint Twist," while Sam Cooke was "Twistin' the Night Away."

7. Tie-Dye

The ancient fabric dyeing method of shibori began in Japan centuries ago, but it became a fashion trend symbolic of the 1960s. By wrapping fabric around sticks or gathering and securing it with rubber bands, then submerging it in a bucket of dye, a funky, almost hallucinogenic pattern emerges when the sticks or rubber bands are removed. This homemade method became popular with hippies, providing living color to the ethnic look that so many embraced during the era of free love and liberation. Tie-dyed clothing is still pretty much the standard uniform for peaceniks today.

8. Lava Lamp

Invented by Edward Craven Walker, this novelty lighting instrument featured a glass bottle full of wax and oil with a coil in the metal base. When the lamp was turned on, the coil would heat up and globs of wax would bubble around in the oil, producing a "lava" effect. Some claimed the lava lamp was meant to simulate the hallucinogenic visuals from the drugs that were becoming so popular.

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      CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

      Helen Davies, Marjorie Dorfman, Mary Fons, Deborah Hawkins, Martin Hintz, Linnea Lundgren, David Priess, Julia Clark Robinson, Paul Seaburn, Heidi Stevens, and Steve Theunissen