Like, whenever I look at articles about the 60's, it is always on things from the late 60's: Woodstock, Man on the Moon, Buffalo Springfield, The Beatles' hippie phase, Vietnam, flower power, etc. I rarely hear of things prior to c. 1967 being viewed as 60's.

It's probably because they were really iconic at the time. Nobody who was alive during the 60s never forgot those events. However, I don't know why people think the early 70s were culturally part of the 60s. I mean they had their own separate identity from the 60s, so it's unnecessary to group them.

The key event that spanned those years was the Vietnam War. This event influenced evrything in those years ... Flower power/peace rallies, politics and music.

I don't agree that the late 60's is all that comes to mind when talking about that decade. The Cuban missile crisis, Kennedy was assassinated outside that period. Malcolm X was also assassinated.


Don't forget a little band called The Beatle.

I'm watching Mad Men right now and I'm biased for the early 60s  ;D

Some interesting events happened, the 1960 election, American Airlines plane crash, of 1962, Civil Rights Movement, death of Marilyn Monroe. That's just what's on the TV show lol.

It's a super interesting decade overall, with so many life/world changing events.

vietnam war, man on the moon, kennedy, beatles, hippies, civil rights movement, muscle cars, rock music, etc was like 1964-1972.

vietnam war, man on the moon, kennedy, beatles, hippies, civil rights movement, muscle cars, rock music, etc was like 1964-1972.


Groovy!

Because they seem to equate "Sixties= Flower Power Era". The difference between the two is that the early '70s was less optimistic as by that point Vietnam was seen as a lost cause, similar to Iraq II in the late 2000s. If anything the "Seventies" itself gets the shaft, with the essence being that only 1976 was a "true" '70s year, after Saigon and before Atari/earliest new wave/early PCs/Star Wars coming in the following year. That's why it seems that seventies nostalgia was far weaker than what it was for the 50s/60s and now the 80s/90s, and people viewed it as a lost era. But IMO after the first Earth Day (around the time the Beatles officially broke up and right before Kent State), the true "sixties" was over, and this was in the spring of 1970, just months after the technical '60s ended. It's a lot more marketable than the Twist craze (often grouped in with "The Fifties"), go-go dancing, and even beehive hairdos.

People often do the same thing for the "Fifties", perceiving it to be 1956-1963 or so and focusing too much on the pre-teen/teen culture when in reality it was just a small part of the era that really began back around 1947 when television/The Cold War was taking off and was more about being Good Old Boys/Girls who attended church every week, have women who took care of the house/kids, and be as right-winged as possible.

And I do see a few people describing their '90s (mostly late Millenials/early Plurals) as the Y2K era that began with the Spice Girls and ended with Beyonce and 50 Cent's rise so they can enjoy their Pokemon, King of the Hill, The Matrix trilogy, Dreamcast, Nu Metal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and pre-movie Spongebob when in essence it was the bridge to the 21st century. It seems like these perceptions come from those who weren't quite alive the remember the whole era, but only could remember the late phases and the transition onto the next and caught that era in "reruns".

When I was a little kid, like six, I used to think everyone from 1960 to 1969 got high, dressed in flowery dresses and suits, and sang rock music.

Then I saw real pictures of the 1960's, from 1960 to 1964. I was shocked to find that people were quite 1950's looking. I've even seen pictures from 1966 that looked 1960's, but fairly conservative.

My guess was that 1967 to 1970 was such a crazy time, it sticks out in people's minds more.

The key event that spanned those years was the Vietnam War. This event influenced evrything in those years ... Flower power/peace rallies, politics and music.

I don't agree that the late 60's is all that comes to mind when talking about that decade. The Cuban missile crisis, Kennedy was assassinated outside that period. Malcolm X was also assassinated.


Don't forget a little band called The Beatle.


Yes, I agree about Vietnam. But I would also add the Civil Rights Movement.

Those two things mixed together influenced the 1960's a lot.

When I was a little kid, like six, I used to think everyone from 1960 to 1969 got high, dressed in flowery dresses and suits, and sang rock music.

I had the very same thought.

When I was a little kid, like six, I used to think everyone from 1960 to 1969 got high, dressed in flowery dresses and suits, and sang rock music.

Then I saw real pictures of the 1960's, from 1960 to 1964. I was shocked to find that people were quite 1950's looking. I've even seen pictures from 1966 that looked 1960's, but fairly conservative.

My guess was that 1967 to 1970 was such a crazy time, it sticks out in people's minds more.


I remembered when I thought the 60s were about hippies as a kid.