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.

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.

07 Fashion and Culture of the 1950's

Fashion is continually adapting in American culture and the 1950’s are particularly known for some experimental designs in clothing. For the most part male fashion did not make huge strides in adaptation but it was becoming more popular to have single breasted suits compared to double breasted. Woman’s fashion would change throughout the entire year in order to maintain a consistent level of consumerism. The introduction of the bikini bathing suit came in the 1950’s and Joe recalls the name coming from an island where some nuclear testing took place. Integrating recent events into a consumer’s world helps to develop American advertising we see today.


Other stereotypical 1950’s culture was being shared by the Basiles including a finned station wagon as the family car. This station wagon had no seat belts or air bags and neither did most of the cars on the road. As the automobile industry began to boom, it was clear that driving safety became a bigger priority. With the crash test ratings and multiple airbags of today it is easy to compare and trace the evolution of the automobile industry.


The new idea of barbeques was also introduced in the 1950’s. Joe, being a man of the culinary arts himself, took right to it. Having a grill in the backyard allows for families to come together in a unique way. The barbeque boom also opened new doors such as above and in-ground pools. Joe was anxious to get one himself and it has been in use since the day it was installed. Things like the barbeque and pool coincide to bring a family or neighborhood together and can get endless use.

06 The Basiles and 1950's Politics

1950’s politics were a very influential time in the development of American policies today. Joe was directly affected by the Korean War. After returning from the Pacific he was still considered on reserve in the Navy and was requested to fight in Korea. He was so determined he would fight that after completing his first physical he actually had a going away party. To his displeasure, he ended up failing his second physical with a cyst on his spine. In retrospect, if Joe hadn’t have failed that second physical, he may have not dated Jan resulting in the Basile family being nonexistent.


Political events such as the Little Rock Nine were an eye opener to the Basile household and the country abroad. Such segregation as different colored bathrooms, water fountains, and other public facilities was considered ridiculous and certainly not practiced in the North. Joe and Jan can recall hearing such things on the news and sitting in disbelief and awe that something like this could be happening in their country. The civil rights movement quickly grew by the 1960’s, but before the segregation was exposed, the remainder of the country was blind to it.


The rise of the Cold War shook a bit of fear into the hearts of the American people, including the Basiles, during the 1950’s. Yet again the media is responsible for revealing horrors such as the nuclear testing in New Mexico and Arizona. Joe and Jan and even their older children Michael and Peggy recall blackouts and dug and cover drills. Although these drills are precautionary, it brought the nuclear war home which stirred a fear shared by all Americans.