In the aftermath of World War II, the United States experienced an unparalleled growth in wealth that facilitated the rise of the American middle class and a rapid increase in the birth rate. However, the generation borne out of this era developed belief systems distinct from those of previous generations, and in many ways, outright rejected many traditional values.
What became counterculture ideals—peace, free love, experimentation, and racial equality—crystallized around the burgeoning hippie movement. Thanks to cheap housing and a relatively open social environment, San Francisco became the nexus of hippie culture in the 1960s.
The San Francisco of this decade was a cauldron of drugs and communal living that fostered an explosive creative environment and became home to tens of thousands of newcomers seeking the hippie dream.
These Kodachrome slides were found by @CitroenAcadiane that show street scenes of San Francisco in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Most seem underexposed (dark). Otherwise, good collection.
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