And then there was Charles Manson and “the Family.” Many people who didn’t die in the upheavals of those years remain as casualties of the ’60s, maimed either by drugs or the Vietnam war. On the level of popular culture there were such events as the mysterious death of Brian Jones and the Rolling Stones’ tour that culminated with the deaths at Altamont. Aside from the Vietnam war there were the Kennedy and King assassinations, and a steady stream of violent protest demonstrations. Incredible violence surrounded the times. But in the ’60s the youth of America, disillusioned with the American way, sought to escape from all this by returning to past ideas of communal living and to slogans of love and peace. MICKEY MOUSE, MARILYN MONROE, and Coca-Cola T-shirts are still popular all over the world, proving America’s ability to sell an image.
