Popular culture at the beginning of the 1960's.

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Popular culture at the beginning of the 1960’s

To many of the people at the time, they were the ‘swinging sixties’. They were a decade when fashions changed continuously and young people appeared to have more freedom than ever before. It was a time that many people look back on with fond memories, but which others blame for some of the failings of society.

In the middle of the 1950’s, Britain was still getting over the shock of the war; things were slowly getting back together but shortages were still part of everyday life. This was a very dull time, for British youths especially. The only way of consoling themselves was with their dreams and the delights and images they saw on the big screen of life for kids in America.

The American children had a great deal more than the children in Britain. They spent money like it was growing on trees, had the latest clothes and generally lived a more fun-filled life.

Another thing that British youths were deprived of was the latest wild and exotic “Rock ‘n’ Roll” sounds that were coming from the states. There was so much more available to American youngsters and British teens just didn’t have the spending power of their counterparts.

The majority of British couldn’t afford a car or they weren’t old enough to drive so there was an extremely small amount of mobility. The legal age for people to drive was 17 in Britain and 16 in the United States. The most popular at the time for those who could afford it was probably the mini. Compact; box like, with a tiny wheelbase, the Mini appeared in August 1959 to climax a decade of British motoring design. It was a success from the start.

The brain-child of Sir Leonard Lord of BMC, who commissioned it, and of St. Alex Issigonis, the designer, the revolutionary Mini had a transversely mounted front-wheel drive engine that was economical at 40 miles to the gallon, and it could carry five people at a squash.



Priced at £497 for the standard and £537 for the deluxe models, the Mini managed to project a jaunty personality that was entirely classless.

It fitted in perfectly with the casual, happy-go-lucky atmosphere of the 60's, appealing as much to pop stars and peers as to housewives and postmen.

Marketed in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours it conquered many foreign markets, with the USA the only notable exception.

With only slight improvements made over the years, the ever-popular Mini continued in production until the very end of the 20th century.

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One of the biggest changes of the sixties was the change in clothing and fashion. Before the 1960’s, it was frowned upon for any flesh to be shown by a female. This changed greatly throughout the sixties, with top designer, “Mary Quants”, exciting new ideas helping make London, rather than Paris, the centre of the fashion wild.

Petite, doll-like, with a frame of short dark hair around her face, Mary Quant first began designing clothes for herself and friends, "who did not want to grow up to have candy floss hair, stiletto heels and great boobs".

Her early clothes ...

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