14 Fashion and Culture of the 1960s and 1970s

Along with the political and social changes in American culture during the 1960s came a music and fashion lifestyle that drastically differs from that of the average American in the 1950s. The 1960s brought the sudden explosion of drug and alcohol abuse. While the Basiles had never had any problem with such abuse in their own children, it was popular for young Americans to use drugs that include marijuana, LSD (acid), cocaine and heroin. My mother, Donna, believes her lack of exposure to such drugs is mostly due to her attendance at a private Catholic school her entire life. Her and her siblings have heard of such drug use from their friends that attend public school but very rarely at their own. Joe and Jan’s biggest concern with such abuse was with the use of cigarettes and binge drinking. They would award their children one hundred dollars of they didn’t smoke one cigarette until they were eighteen. It just so happens that my mother, Donna, was the only child to got caught sneaking a cigarette.

Fashion during this era involved radical changes, patterns, colors and styles. Woman’s fashion gradually shifted from very short skirts to very long skirts from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s. Men began wearing opened collared shirts and both genders began to wear platform shoes and boots. Both the drug use and sudden fashion shift have a direct correlation with the musical culture during that time. After the “British Invasion” of many popular rock bands from England, Americans began using them as models for clothes, habits and social norms.

15 The Affects of Vatican II

Joe and Jan wanted to provide a religious aspect to their children’s lives but putting them through Catholic school, always attending Sunday Mass, and being involved at Blessed Sacrament Church in Albany, New York. Being a family that always practiced religious sacraments and Masses, it can easily be understood why the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II was such a big change for the Basiles. Vatican II was an event lead by the Pope that called for change in the church. Some examples of these changes included the priest saying the Mass in the native language of the people attending and the entire alter is now faced towards the pews. These changes were made in the celebration of Mass to allow the people attending to become more involved and better understand what is being done on the altar.

Having such a change occur in a religious community can produce varying responses amongst practicing believers. Some people who opposed Vatican II believed that making such changes pulled the Church away from its historic and ancient ideals. As for the people who supported the change, they felt that it was necessary in allowing the practicing believers to become more involved in the Mass. It is more popular to see the younger generation, like Joe and Jan’s children for example, become more accepting of this change because they were barely exposed to the traditional form of Mass therefore never creating a sense of connection.

13 Big Dom's Sub Shop

In 1972, Joe bought thirty-five percent of his brother Dom’s sub shop that came to be known as “Big Dom’s”. At that time it was located on Ontario St. in Albany, New York. After Joe became a part owner, he mastered the expansion of the business into five more locations before 1980, starting on Central Ave. in Albany (1972), then Latham (1975), Troy (1976), Western Ave. in Albany (1977) and finally one in Rotterdam (1978). These sub shops became a part of the Albany culinary culture and each family member had to do their share to help the family business. Every one of Joe and Jan’s kids and even some of their friends had a part time job at one of the “Big Dom’s” at one point or another.
Joe says that he could use all the help he could get. Owning six shops across Albany County is very difficult with only an average of one hundred and thirty full time employees and about another hundred part time employees. Joe recalls the most challenging part of the business was maintaining control of each location with such a slim amount of employees. Although there was a chaotic and tough time while during the company’s expansion period, Joe knows that it was well work it. Due to him and Jan’s hard work, they could afford to send all of their kids to private high schools and colleges. This was very rare in that era and Joe knows he was a little more fortunate than the average American family at that time.

12 The Basiles Under Nixon

In the 1968 election, Joe Basile voted for a man that he considered the “lesser of two evils” along with almost the entire nation. Richard Nixon is known for many things throughout his presidency and not many of them are very good. Like many other citizens who voted for Nixon that year, Joe felt Nixon had fallen through on far too many of his promises. Nixon’s coined phrase “Silent Majority”, referred to the majority of Americans that opposed what had become of the United States during the 1960s but simply did not express it. To spite this attempt at convincing the American people Nixon is the answer, Joe referred to himself as the “verbal majority”. In other words, Joe felt that he and the rest of the country were very expressive of how poorly they thought of Nixon.
To permanently scar his already terrible first term, Nixon decided to lead the Watergate scandal. After making it clear that he tried to spy on the other party’s campaign he then became the only president in the history of the United States to resign. Every American family, including the Basiles, was feeling aggravation, confusion, deceit and most of all embarrassment on a global level. The president of the most powerful nation in the world had lied to his own people on numerous occasions and then fled the scene of the crime without even a slap on the wrist.

11 The Basile's During Vietnam

The Vietnam War is possibly the most confrontational war in American history. With America entering Vietnam at the peak of civil right protest and student activism, it was a war that the general public did not feel was necessary. Joe on the other hand felt it was absolutely necessary because the Vietcong were killing innocent people and trying to become world leaders. What he did not approve of was how the United States went about carrying it out. He felt we needed more troops and that we were politically split at home. This division can be taken on a national level and even a domestic level in many cases.

Like his father, Michael (the eldest child) attended Christian Brother’s Academy. In a military environment such as that, activism and any form of protest was highly unacceptable. But like so many other youth of Michael’s age, he felt his voice had to be heard. So at a parade that the academy was taking part in, Michael attempted to wear a black arm band over his dress blue uniform with some of his fellow cadets to protest America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. When Joe spotted it, he immediately forced him to remove it because he knew Michael could have gotten in serious trouble. Joe also believed the lack of support that the troops received was another direct influence on our nation’s success. This difference in thinking not only shows the division of political believes but a symbolism of the feud between protective parents and rebellious children.

10 Student Activism

Almost every social and political movement in the 1960s can be rooted in the movement and progress of the educated youth. College students of that generation are responsible for the civil rights, women’s rights and gay liberation movements. Demanding to be heard by the public and government officials, the educated youth had a voice in every social shift and every political maneuver throughout the 1960s. Joe felt that such participation on student activism was necessary and that it helped to change the nation’s views. His speculation of why this activism came about is that the higher level of education that that generation was given allowed them to better understand and formulate personal morals, ethics, beliefs and understanding of how the country should be run.

One of the most memorable and infamous moments in the history of student activism is the shootings at Kent State University. This tragic event involved a large protest of Kent State University students against the American invasion of Cambodia. The National Guard was called to keep the crowd under control but the soldiers ended up shooting fifteen students, killing four of them. Joe can recall the national response being one of aggression toward the government’s actions and sympathy for the students’ mission. He claims the event was a huge wake-up call for the nation’s adults because they know any one of those kids could have been their own. It truly opened the eyes of whoever hadn’t noticed the student’s involvement in our nation’s policies.

09 Gay Liberation Movement

While the 1960s are primarily known for the civil rights movement, the gay liberation movement was also put underway as a civil right. With the extreme demand for personal freedoms by America’s youth came new and unorthodox public acceptances. While the gay liberation movement was taking gigantic leaps in largely populated cities such as New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles it was still very difficult to adapt the ideologies and customs of many conservative Americans. Joe being one of these conservatives was originally against the gay liberation movement.

Joe and his siblings were raised by his two parents who were born and raised in Italy. Joe speculates that this may be one of the factors in influencing his early social ethics, saying he was raised in the, “old-school”. This fraise refers to conservative, traditional, and orthodox mindsets that were popularly conditioned from generation to generation. Joe even admitted that at that point in his life he would consider himself a “mild homophobe”. This being added with a lifetime of strong religious teaching and beliefs, it was naturally difficult for Joe to accept the idea of people of the same sex in love. Due to the vast majority of people with similar ethics during this time, so many homosexuals had to hide their true sexual identity in fear of public humiliation.

08 The Basile's during the Civil Rights Movement

With the turn of the decade into the 1960s came the sudden foundation and drastic expansion of the civil rights movement. Being from the North, the Basile’s were not exactly in the thick of the racial, gender and sexuality conflict. Despite this displacement from the most tense regions of the country, the Basile’s along with every other northern family had a voice in the argument. While the south was in a reckless standoff, the north had already desegregated schools and public facilities for the most part. The Basile’s, for one, supported equal rights among different races and genders and were sure to teach their children that everyone is entitled to the same rights.

Along with most other families from that time period, Joe can recall the desegregation of Birmingham public schools. The conflict was between the black population and the white population, including the Alabama State Government. Being a man from the North who had already seen desegregated schools; it was startling to see the actions taken by local law enforcement in an attempt to ward off black protesters. He can remember seeing images of mauled black men who had been the victims of police beatings and police dog attacks. He was shocked to see such behavior because this desegregation had already taken place in the North, long before the contemplation of such a policy had even begun in the South.