FicWad

1960s—Chapter 06
By Dr T

Summer of Love

-60s-

The following are excerpts from Daria’s personal journal as well as the reports from ‘The Summer of Love’ in San Francisco sent to her father and aunt. These reports were used as research resources for a number of network and magazine items, and were only published as an edited unit by Daria in 1992, on the 25th anniversary of that ‘summer of love,’ along with connecting narratives, although Daria did use the material in fictional adaptations and a later memoir. In the reports, Daria used the initial Q for her first-person voice, P for Jane. She would their real initials when ‘reporting’ on some of their activities.

Daria’s journal, Sunday, May 21
We arrived late this afternoon, tired from the flights. DC to Denver wasn’t bad, but there was some turbulence about 20 minutes before we landed here. Jane had never flown before and was on high alert the whole time. Being the seasoned flier that I am, with three whole round-trip flights (LA to visit Disneyland when Quinn was in her princess-mode, Paris for the school trip, and NY for the world’s fair), I had fun teasing her.

We are going to be staying in a tiny apartment – really just one room, with a full-sized Murphy bed, a small sofa, and a table with two kitchen chairs, tiny galley kitchen, and a small ‘bathroom’ even though there is only a shower, no tub. Still, since the building has a laundry, it will do for a base of operations, as it’s about nine blocks from the alleged center of activity (the corners of Haight and Ashbury). Now we just need to take a few days to decide which plan we will go with.

-60s-
Journal, Wednesday, May 24
Well, Plan 2 is ready to try tomorrow. While our place is currently just outside the ebb and flow of the hippie action, we found a diner three blocks away from Haight & Ashbury, and then just around the corner. Plenty of traffic of all kinds. We were still wearing our ‘square clothes,’ and that was in part what got us heard. It’s a galley diner, open from 6:00 am through 7:00 pm – narrow frontage but deep. In exchange for our each buying a meal around 11:00 plus each getting two more cups of either tea or coffee in the afternoons, plus 10% of anything we earn, we get to busk in front of their window, plus toilet privileges – a deal well worth the price for that last part! I think they also agreed because what the owners (three brothers) most dislike about the hippies is their (alleged?) contempt for work, and they appreciated that we are approaching this aspect as much as a job as it is an adventure. So, from roughly 11:30-5:30, I’ll hopefully draw attention to us sitting on the blanket and cushions playing my guitar (I hope my calluses are built up enough!) while Jane is able to sell drawings. That should give us cover as we explore the goings-on in the evenings, plus anything we can glean from conversations during the day.

We shall now, at least when heading towards ‘work,’ dress only in jeans and similar accoutrements. I have put away my usual (what Jane calls my ‘librarian’) glasses, and will wear the new tinted round pair busking and my clear ones at night. Despite Jane’s suggestion, at the moment we’ll both stick with Keds rather than sandals – maybe I’ll switch if the weather gets warm enough. Still, boots for the evenings!

-60s-

Report, June 1
Hello, my ‘name’ is Q. I am a 19-year-old college student from the east coast, and I am near the center of the hippie movement, the corners of Haight and Ashbury in San Francisco. I, and my friend P, are not here as reporters, but we are here as observers. There have been many reports from here since at least the early spring, but those reporters are even more outsiders than we are. It is our goal to mix with the people here and talk with them: the locals, the so-called hippies, the want-to-be hippies and hangers-on, the tourists, etc.

The neighborhood is larger than the intersection, of course, and overall it is a lower-middle class/working class neighborhood, not the slum suggested by some reports. It must be admitted that, under the current conditions, the neighborhood might be deteriorating if things continue as they are. What conditions? The crowds. Crowds of people our age and a bit older, some looking for the kind people and loving promised in that new song ‘San Franscisco,’ some are drawn by the new sounds of ‘psychedelic rock,’ some are looking, or at least hoping, for the drug-related culture suggested to be here by some other songs and by main-stream media. Many others are here to gawk at the above groups, and unfortunately others are here to take advantage of all the above people. Older folks are drawn to stare at everyone, and of course there are the people who have lived here for a while.

Many of the residents who pre-date the earlier beats and the newer hippies are not happy.

Even a short exposure to the ebb and flow of the Haight-Ashbury area will show a wide range of groups and sub-groups. Mornings still mostly belong to the locals. Many of those with local businesses which in no way cater to the younger crowd seem to be working harder to get things done before that crowd and the tourists that gather to stare at them descend – starting mostly in the late afternoon and evening through the early hours of the morning, although the true tourists are mostly gone by 7:00 pm or a bit later.

Saturday afternoons and evenings have been the most crowded. There are indeed a large number of musical groups in the neighborhood. Some are, or are likely to soon be, well-known outside of the Bay area, while others will likely stay local or disappear. At least one of these groups may be found giving a free concert of some sort on Saturday, in or near either Golden Gate Park or Bueno Vista Park (or different groups in both). Some do it to give something back to the crowds in the neighborhood, some to try out new material, and some, no doubt, to publicize their music or draw people to their paying gigs.

The demographics of the streets change throughout the hours of the day. Our observations….

-60s-

Journal Excerpt, June 10
Jane has picked up some paints that can be used on skin, and will offer face (or arm, leg, belly) painting, price ‘negotiable.’

-60s-

Journal Excerpt, June 14
My fingers ache like crazy; I barely got a break yesterday. On the other hand, I had almost $14 in the hat, beating my previous high by almost $2. Jane sold 16 sketches and did 10 face paintings, but all but one were small. So I beat her earnings for the only the third time. Overall, the earnings have been up for over the last week. In part, it is probably because of Jane’s suggestions. I don’t mind wearing at least one flower in my hair, but the loose peasant blouses and no bra are a bit more obvious on me than her – I must be careful not to lean forward too much! I at least put the bra on when we cover the night life now, I’ve been groped a few too many times. I’m also again wearing my heavy boots at night from now on.

I am also not sure of Jane’s ideas on dealing with the leers – her holding my hand like that might not discourage perverts, just change which perverts stalk us. We had to shake off one last night so he couldn’t follow us home. Jane is also getting a bit snuggly at night…and I am not sure how I feel about that – perhaps I’ve heard ‘White Rabbit’ too many times, but I do feel I’ve fallen down into a rabbit hole of unrealities at times. I do know we (especially I) don’t want to get too involved with anybody here…except, just maybe, Jane.

-60s-

Report Excerpt, June 16
(NOTE: Response to the request for an update on the economics of the area)
So, here is the usual weeknight crowd around Haight-Ashbury. The ‘normal’ locals have a wide range of ‘regular’ jobs, the tourists of course have their lives elsewhere. There are a few people in what most would identify as being part of the hippie crowd who also hold regular jobs, even if many despise those jobs, while others have part-time or casual jobs. A few lucky ones make at least a survivable living or better from the music, art, or even craft they do, while some of the part-timers and casual workers supplement their livelihoods in similar ways.

No doubt, there is a somewhat higher percentage of those making all or part of their livings here from the latter activities. Many musicians live in or near the area, even if they mostly play throughout the Bay area when they play for pay. There are a number of buskers, some doing music, others pure street performers (mimes, street magicians, etc.), artists hawking everything from sketches to small paintings to bits of their own crafts, and any number of street vendors hawking all sorts of trinkets and souvenirs.

There is every sort of panhandler you can imagine, from mothers with babies or toddlers, a few old-fashioned hobos, street urchins straight out of Dickens, Christian and Buddhist preachers, and so on. We have not seen too many traditional street hustlers (three-card monte and the like), but there are some just outside the area. Compared to the rest of the city, or to Manhattan, there are maybe 20 percent more buskers and vendors, an equal number of panhandlers, and as mentioned, many fewer other hustlers. Overall, while you are really no more to be accosted here than similar parts of similar cities, the proportions of who would be bothering you are merely different.

One thing the area’s residents are alleged to be here for are the drugs, and there are drugs in this area, no doubt. The dealers do take care not to be seen in the open, but the pungent odor of marijuana is present in the air all day, from a mere hint in the mornings to heavily mixed with humid night air or fog by the late evening hours. Those stoned on stronger drugs start appearing in the early evenings, while those using cocaine or ‘speed’ show up a bit later in the evenings. Those taking trips on LSD are mostly doing so at parties or in private groups.

The dealers are part of the local economy.

But where do the others get the money, for food, drugs, recreation?

When they arrive here, most come with at least some money. Many of the younger crowd, including those of college-age, come from privilege; they come from money, new and old. They are happy to take their family’s money and spend it here, claiming it is a blow against their parents’ ‘materialism.’

Perhaps that is true, for some or even many. For others, it’s their excuse. For many, they will be here only as long as their parents’ money holds out. For a few, they’ll fall into the part-time/casual workforce, just so they can stay and enjoy their time here a little bit longer. For a few others, they’ll become addicted to something and end up on the streets, hustling however they can to get to that next ‘fix.’

For some of the women, there is one thing most can easily sell if they (or their boyfriends) are desperate enough – themselves. That is not to say it is common, or that it is seen directly in this neighborhood often. Still, there is casual recruitment for the Bay area ‘go-go’ clubs, underground topless bars, strip clubs, as well as plenty of ads of all sorts for such jobs as well as somewhat suspicious ‘modeling’ and ‘escort’ positions. There is also anecdotal evidence that those applying may be recruited into even more questionable positions.

However, what is more common is for girlfriends to be supporting their boyfriends – the girls working these low paying service jobs, or working in the at least marginally questionable jobs while their boyfriends enjoy the street life/night life of the area.

Still, some of the people working on the street are honest performers. Next week I’ll tell you about at least six – a street magician/comedian (R), two different male guitarists/singers (M & W), a female guitarist (D) and her sketching partner (J), and a street artist (B, who apparently has seen ‘Mary Poppins’ a few too many times, perhaps once or more on LSD).

Now P and I have to rush to catch a ride to Monterey, where there is to be a largescale three-day concert. I will submit a separate report on that before next week’s report on busking and any other news.

-60s-

Journal Excerpt (translated from Latin)
….But the reason why I have switched to Latin is because of what happened when the crowd was really tight. A man was trying to grope me, and yes, I swatted his hands away. But when I felt him (at least it was probably the same man) rubbing against me, I moved away twice, but when it resumed (again probably the same man), I was shocked to discover that he was unzipped and fully exposed. To my surprise, I grabbed hold the second time it approached and I rubbed him until he shot all over my hand and his underwear and both our jeans.

Was I overwhelmed by the music? Was there so much m-smoke in the air I was slightly stoned?

-60s-

Report excerpt, June 23
….Now moving on to D and J. These are two college co-eds from Maryland, friends and roommates at their college. Unlike some buskers who need to hustle to claim a territory every day, these two have made some sort of deal with the operators of a diner, who run off any competitors that try and set up before these two start operations just before noon every day. (No doubt another reason they chose this stretch is that they are protected by an awning when it rains a bit, as it often does). The two then work their territory until the tourist trade dries up around 7:00 pm.

D plays the guitar. By professional standards, she isn’t that good, but she isn’t bad and she’s often original. By the standards of the local buskers, she’s in the top 10 to 20 percent of the musicians, but not anywhere near the elite. However, between 11:30 and 7:00, she probably plays at least six and half hours – taking two breaks for tea and one for a quick hamburger and shake in the early evening. Her playing helps attract the street traffic, along with her and her partner’s looks. D and J may not be beautiful, but they are attractive – something all female buskers must be to have any chance.

J is a brilliant artist, and she can create a six by nine-inch pencil portrait in less than five minutes (cost, fifty cents), while she usually has between five and eight sketches of the street crowd, store fronts, etc. on display for sale as well (cost, 25 cents), that she creates while waiting for portrait customers. J, sometimes with a bit of help from D, will do face (or leg, arm, or body) painting, ‘price negotiable.’ Less their costs (including their meals and drinks at the diner—they consider that their ‘rent’ for the space), they generally take in between $10 and $18 a day between them, which should keep them going until they leave for home in late July or early August.

Both admit to some harassment, mostly from older male tourists and hangers-on, but still claim overall to be having a positive experience. When asked if they would like this as a long-term life-style, both claimed to be more than willing to ‘return to the real world.’ “This is a dream,” D stated. “It started off pleasant enough overall in May, but every day it seems to dissolve a bit more. I doubt it will last in any decent form for much after this summer. It’s still been great to be here.”

“I’m sure I’ll be working on ideas I’ve picked up here for months, if not years,” J added. “For artists, musicians, writers – creators, in other words – this summer is great, and I hope it stays this way for some time to come. Unlike D, I think it might last to some degree, even if it’s not as vibrant as it has been.”

-60s-

Report Excerpt, June 30
Despite what has been said, mostly by older observers, the music scene here in the Haight is not really uniform. Yes, it may nearly all fall under the umbrella of ‘rock,’ but that is now a very wide-spread genre. For our parents’ generation consideration, does the music of an Andrews Sisters song, a Crosby or Sinatra crooning ballad, a Kay Kaiser track, a jitterbug tune, be-bop, a small Goodman group improvisation, the Dorsey Brothers, and Spike Jones really sound like exactly the same style? Similarly, ‘rock’ (as perhaps opposed to much of 1950s rock-and-roll as opposed to do-wop and pop) is now a broad term.

Here, any number of styles may be heard or favored: the various interpretations of the local psychedelic rock may predominate live band performances, but radios are more likely to favor the Beatles’ latest (the ‘Sgt. Pepper’ album) and similar sounds. Buskers tend to favor more folk/rock combinations. Visitors from southern California may defend the latest version of the ‘beach sound,’ closer to the San Francisco sound than early Beach Boys but still identifiable. I have even heard a few of the around-30s waxing a bit nostalgic for the sounds of the late 1950s. Among the varied groups played in a two-hour period on a local radio station….

-60s-

Journal Except, July 2 (translated from Latin)
I cannot believe what Jane and I did to each other last night. I partially blame the general lifestyle, the wine we had, and Jane. The atmosphere here and the wine are obvious. Jane, because she bought ‘it’ – ‘it’ is a flesh-toned tube with a certain shape at each end, made of a rubbery substance, about eighteen inches long, and perhaps a bit thicker than the real thing I encountered at the festival.

I was shocked when she showed up with it; I don’t know where she found a place to buy such a thing, or had the nerve to do so. It took her two nights, but she persuaded me to use it on, and in, her, and she enjoyed it so much I allowed her to return the favor. So, despite never had a male there, I am no longer technically a virgin. I was so relieved—and, yes, excited—it barely stung at first.

Neither of us is sure if this means it is more or less likely we will actively seek male companionship when we return to LSC.

It is likely ‘it’ will see more use.

-60s-

July 8

Daria was glad that, although taller, Jane really did not weigh all that much. Jane’s arm was wrapped around Daria’s shoulders and Daria’s arm was around Jane’s waist – this kept the taller teen upright as they staggered up to their third-floor efficiency apartment. As Daria opened their door, Jane, who had been leaning against the corridor wall, slid down to the floor.

Daria rolled her eyes and went into their apartment to take off her jacket. She then grappled Jane under her armpits and dragged her into the room, propping her up against the Murphy bed before shutting the door.

Jane opened her eyes and then giggled.

“I don’t know what you’re on, but you are certainly stoned,” Daria muttered as she took off her boots. She took off Jane’s, and then striped herself and then Jane. She rolled her eyes when Jane muttered, “I gotta pee.”

Daria helped Jane stagger into the bathroom and then after she was done there into pajama bottoms. Jane cuddled into Daria as soon as she joined Jane in the bed. “I love you,” Jane muttered, “but do you think we’ll ever get laid?”

“Probably,” Daria assured her.

“Do you love me, too?”

Daria hugged her best friend. “Of course I love you. Now go to sleep; we have to be back catering to tourists and listening to our peers.”

Jane did as Daria asked.

-60s-

July 22

“Please?” Jane pleaded.

“Jane, I have NO intention of trying LSD under any circumstances. I understand why you want to, but can you really rely on what you bought on the street?”

“Well, three different people said they had bought from him and had great trips,” Jane defended.

Daria sighed. “And if you have a bad trip? You know some people react…physically on bad trips.”

“Joe from the Free Clinic responds to bad trips,” Jane responded, handing Daria a phone number. They didn’t have a phone, but there was a pay phone in the lobby of their building.

Daria sighed. “Fine. Take the tab.”

-60s-

For Daria, the next four plus hours were a bit nerve-wracking. Jane did not have any bad or threatening physical reactions. She smiled a lot, she writhed a bit, and she muttered even more. She occasionally made gestures as if she was trying to reach out to touch objects only she could see. Finally, the gestures and twitching slowed and she fell asleep. It was only then that Daria felt she could relax.

-60s-

Report excerpt, July 27
Conclusion of the final report:

Day by day, the Haight is becoming more crowded and the mood becomes just a bit crasser, a bit more drug-oriented. Some keep struggling to keep the original spirit going, others seem ever more desperate to keep that spirit going while others are even more desperate to find ‘the summer of love’ in the first place. The Diggers continue to work hard to pretend the last two hundred years of industrial consumer capitalism hasn’t happened, while many of our fellow college students are trying to figure out if they should go back to their previous existence or if there is some alternative that might satisfy them, here or elsewhere.

We’ve been overhearing several afternoon debates, between the busker D we mentioned before and a street philosopher, C. C argues, and both D and I agree, that what has been tried here this summer is something similar to what the ancient Cynics proposed. The third part of the mantra ‘tune in, turn on, drop out’ certainly applies to both movements. The difference between D and C is that C argues that this time there may be an approaching point where this lifestyle may become the norm, while D argues that it can be at best an individual choice and the best that can be hoped for is that the life style becomes accepted.

This, combined with a rejection of these ideas, might be what defines the youth here – the true believers, the wishful and hopefuls, and those who reject the idea and are only interested in the drugs and sex. There can be little doubt that the Haight has already changed far beyond, and not for the better, what was hoped for last spring. There can also be little doubt that there will be ripples from this place, this summer, that will spread to campuses and communities around the country and possibly to other parts of the world. Will this be a wave that crashes and recedes, a tide, a permanent flood?

Time will tell.