Life in the 1960s

This is a list of items describing life in the 1960s, mainly in the Los Angeles, California, USA, area.

1. The decade was one of economic growth: US GNP nearly doubled from 1960 to 1970.  Inflation was low, at least until the end of the decade. Gasoline prices were between 20 and 36 cents a gallon.  (See the chart, above.)
2. Telephones were mostly black, and had dials. A.T.&T. introduced and promoted Touch-Tone telephones at the 1964 world's fair, but they did not come into common use until the 1970s. The phone company owned all the telephones; you had to pay extra to have an "extension" phone, and extra for a color telephone.
   • There was only one telephone area code, 213, for the whole Los Angeles area.  (There were eight area codes for the state of California; viz. 213, 415, 916, 714, 805, 209, and 408. This situation existed from 1959 to 1982. In 1982, 619 was split off 714, and in 1984, 818 was split off 213.)  Long distance calling was expensive, and so was reserved for special occasions.
   • In 1960, most telephone numbers included a prefix of two letters, which were the beginning of a word, and five numerals. Some prefixes used in the Los Angeles area were FRontier, ORchard, MAdison, VErmont, TErminal, and FAirfax. Through the decade, the phone company switched to "all number calling", so that they could use prefixes that didn't spell much of anything, such as 95.
   • The Los Angeles (213) area phone calls were based on "message units" according to distance and length of call.  A call of less than about 4 miles was local.  From 4 to 8 miles counted as 2 message units.  Thus a 15 minute call from Westchester to Manhattan Beach was 8 message units, and cost about 32¢.
   • Large companies had PBX operators; you had to dial the switchboard number, and ask for the extension.
3. Until 1964, City Hall was the tallest building in Los Angeles, having 32 floors. Most downtown banks were located on Spring Street, as was the Los Angeles office of the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange.  The major department stores were located on Broadway.
4. There was no Amtrak; the railroad companies operated their own passenger trains. Some of the famous named trains terminating in Los Angeles were:
   • The Coast Daylight (SP) to San Francisco via San Luis Obispo [became the Coast Starlight to Seattle under Amtrak]
   • The San Joaquin Daylight (SP) to Oakland via Fresno [discontinued at the founding of Amtrak, 1971]
   • The Lark (SP) an all-sleeper overnight train to San Francisco [discontinued 1968]
   • The Sunset (SP) to New Orleans [continued by Amtrak; no longer stops in Phoenix; service was extended to Orlando, until suspended in 2005 because of hurricanes]
   • The Golden State (SP) to Chicago via El Paso [discontinued 1968]
   • The Chief (ATSF) to Chicago via Albuquerque [discontinued 1968]
   • The Super Chief-El Capitan (ATSF) to Chicago via Albuquerque [continued by Amtrak; because Amtrak’s service was not up to Santa Fe standards, Amtrak changed the name to the Southwest Limited.  It is now called the Southwest Chief.]
   • The San Diegans (ATSF) to San Diego [continued by Amtrak; now part of the Pacific Surfliners]
   • The City of Los Angeles (UP) to Chicago via Salt Lake City [discontinued at the founding of Amtrak, 1971]
   • The Challenger (UP) to Chicago via Salt Lake City [discontinued at the start of Amtrak, 1971]
   • The City of Las Vegas (UP) to Las Vegas [operated 1956 to 1967]
5. The railroads had problems adjusting to changing conditions, with the reduction of mail and express service on trains, competition from trucks and private automobiles as the Interstate highway system was built, and competition from the airlines with the introduction of jet service in 1958 (which led to most business travel going by air), along with deteriorating track, government regulation which required approval for every rate increase and passenger train discontinuance, and a highly unionized industry with inflexible unions.  This led to the merger of the Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads in 1968, which went bankrupt in 1970, the largest corporate bankruptcy up to that time. Talk of the pending merger of PRR and NYC may have lead to other railroad mergers that took place during the 1960s, including the C&O and B&O (1963), the Southern absorbed the Central of Georgia (1963), the Norfolk & Western absorbed the Wabash and the Nickel Plate (1964), and the merger of the Atlantic Coast Line into the Seaboard Air Line to form the Seaboard Coast Line (1967).  These latter mergers were all successful, as was the 1970 merger of the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy.
6. The last streetcars ran in Los Angeles in 1963.  The last of the "Big Red Cars" of the Pacific Electric ran in 1961.
7. ZIP codes were introduced in 1963. From 1943-63, large cities had been divided into numerical zones. Before World War II, most mail was carried on Railway Post Offices, which were special cars designed for carrying and sorting mail, and often delivering and picking up mail on the fly.  By 1960 passenger train travel was declining, and as there were fewer passenger trains to carry the mail, the post office took more and more mail off the trains.  An act of Congress in 1958 allowed the railroads to discontinue money-losing passenger trains. As fewer trains were available, the mail continued to be taken off trains, causing a further loss in revenue for passenger trains, creating a downward spiral.
8. The postage for a first class letter was 4¢ per ounce since 1958, 5¢ from 1963 to 1968, and 6¢ from 1968 to 1971.  Air mail cost more (until 1977), and unsealed greeting cards could be sent at the (lower) post card rate.
9. There were many airlines that no longer exist, including Eastern, Western, Braniff, Bonanza (until 1968), Hughes Air West (from 1968), TWA, National, and Pan American. Because the FAA regulated air traffic, and set interstate air fares, several in-state airlines charged lower fares, and drew sizable market share, including PSA (founded 1949) and Air California (founded 1967). These two airlines were began charging lower fares than the interstate airlines could legally charge, and virtually drove them out of the internal California market. Incidentally, Air California hired married stewardesses, when the rule at the time was for stewardesses to be unmarried.
10. Jet travel was becoming the rule, the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 being the main "workhorse" airplanes. The Boeing 727 (1963), Douglas DC-9 (1965), and Boeing 737 (1968) were introduced during the ’sixties.  The first jet aircraft, special Boeing 707s to be used as "Air Force One", were delivered in 1962. (They were used until replaced by 747s, in 1990.)
11. Smoking was permitted indoors, and even in airplanes; there were not even separate smoking sections. Trains, though, had some cars designated NO SMOKING, and buses usually only allowed smoking in the last few rows.
12. The "Surgeon General’s Report" about the dangers of smoking to health was issued a report in 1964, leading to the warnings printed on all cigarette packages beginning in 1966.
13. Television was mostly black and white in 1960; by 1970, color was becoming the rule.  In the 1960s, the FCC began requiring new TV sets to have built-in ability to receive the UHF channels (14-83).  In 1962, KMEX, channel 34, the first Spanish-language station began broadcasting. KCET, channel 28, began broadcasting in 1964. "Sesame Street" began in 1969, on what became PBS.  PBS was formed the same year, and merged NET (National Educational Television) the next year.
14. Cigarettes were advertised on television and radio until January 2, 1972.
15. Polio was still a significant concern, so that most people got polio vaccinations, either the Salk vaccine, or preferably the Sabin oral vaccine, which was introduced in 1961. People were routinely vaccinated for smallpox.
16. Roller skating was popular, both in rinks and on sidewalks.  Steel skates that could be attached to your own shoes were popular.
17. The Vincent Thomas Bridge opened in 1963, connecting San Pedro with Terminal Island, replacing the Terminal Island Ferry.  (The San Pedro ferry building is now the Cabrillo Marine Museum; the Terminal Island ferry building was torn down.)
18. There were more gas stations and more brands:  Chevron Dealers and Standard Stations; Texaco; Union 76; Hancock; Mobil; Wilshire (which became Gulf); Shell; Richfield; Phillips 66; and Enco (which became Exxon).
19. Radio was mostly AM.  Some of the most important radio stations in L. A. during the decade were:
    • KMPC (710)--standards and soft rock
    • KFI (640)--top 40, which gradually became "adult top 40"; they also were the Los Angeles Dodgers station
    • KHJ (930)--top 40 format, called "Boss Radio"
    • KFWB (980)--was a top 40 station in 1960, but when Westinghouse bought it in 1966, it became all news.
    • KNX (1070)--mixture of talk and DJs; became all-news in 1968
    • KRLA (1110)--top 40
    • KFAC (1330)-classical music
20. Most office reprographics was done using mimeograph machines (such as Gestetner or A. B. Dick). For a small number of copies, carbon paper was still in wide use. For making copies of pages in books, there were copiers that used heat-sensitive paper, but cost about 25¢ a copy, which was a high price for large numbers of copies. Dry photocopiers (using "xerography": Xerox) came into use during the decade, and greatly reduced the cost of copying (after the initial investment in the equipment).
21. There were no handheld electronic calculators until 1971. There were desktop adding machines used in offices, and slide rules, used by scientists, engineers, and students.
22. Computers were large mainframe systems, like the IBM System/360.  Companies that could not afford to own or lease their own computer could subscribe to time share services.  There was no internet, but its beginnings were realized when the first connection of ARPAnet was made between Stanford and UCLA in 1969. 
23. Most home music systems consisted of an amplifier & radio (with tubes!) and a phonograph.  Small portable transistor radios were common, with a single earphone.
24. Music was sold on LPs and 45s. Most record players had four speeds: 78, 45, 33 1/3, and 16 2/3. There were snap-in inserts for playing 45s on players lacking a large spindle. Tape recorders were reel-to-reel and bulky in 1960.  In 1962 Earl "Madman" Muntz introduced 4-track tape cartridges, but they never really caught on. In 1964 Bill Lear (of Lear Jet fame) introduced 8-track cartridges.  Compact cassettes were introduced in 1964 in Germany, and in 1966 in the US, but did not become dominant until the 1980s.
25. The Los Angeles Dodgers played in the Coliseum until 1962, when Dodger Stadium was built, in Chavez Ravine.  Vin Scully was their principal announcer, having started with the team in Brooklyn.  Famous players on the roster included Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Duke Snider, Jim Gilliam, Willie Davis, and Tommy Davis. Walter Alston was the manager.
26. The Los Angeles Angels (American League) team was organized in 1961.  They played their first season in Wrigley Field (where the old PCL Angels had played), and then moved in 1962 to  Dodger Stadium (which the Angels referred to as "Chavez Ravine").  Their attendance was about half of the Dodgers’ attendance, so they moved to Anaheim in 1966, and renamed themselves the California Angels.
27. The Los Angeles Rams played in the Coliseum.
28. The first Super Bowl was held in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in January, 1967.  The Pro Bowl was held every year in the Coliseum.
29. Monday night football didn’t begin until 1970.
30. The Los Angeles Lakers played in the Sports Arena (1959-69) and then moved to the "Fabulous" Forum in Inglewood.
31. In 1960, most professional men wore suits and ties to work, and white shirts. By the end of the decade, colored shirts were becoming popular.
32. King Harbor in Redondo Beach was built between 1956 and 1963, and Marina del Rey was completed in 1965.
33. Presidents of the US were Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.
34. Other world leaders included Khrushchev and Brezhnev in the Soviet Union; Macmillan and Wilson in the UK; De Gaulle in France, Castro in Cuba, and Mao in Communist China.  Others included:  Diefenbaker, Pearson, and Trudeau, PMs in Canada; Chiang Kai-Shek in Nationalist China (Taiwan); Nehru in India; Ben Gurion and Eshkol in Israel; Nasser in Egypt; Tito in Yugoslavia; and Adenauer in West Germany.
35. Popes were John XIII (1958-63), who began the Second Vatican Council,  and Paul VI (1963-78), who concluded the Second Vatican Council and implemented its decisions, issued the encyclical Humanae Vitae in 1968, reaffirming the church's condemnation of artificial contraception.  He became the most traveled pope (up to that time), but he displeased conservatives (because of their objection to the "new" mass) and liberals (because of Humanae Vitae).
36. Around 1960, many people still felt that Made in Japan was synonymous with cheap; by 1970, Japanese products were, in many cases, perceived as superior and more reliable than American products.  Japanese cars (Toyotas and Datsuns) first began appearing in large numbers.  By 1970, Honda was the largest maker of motorcycles.
37. Signs for routes of the Interstate Highway system first began appearing in California in 1960; the system was scheduled for completion in 1972.  The Los Angeles freeway network was built largely in the ’sixties. At the start of the decade, the Harbor, Hollywood, Pasadena, Long Beach, Santa Ana, and San Bernardino Freeways had been built. By decade’s end the 605, 91, 405, 170, and 60 (and others) had been added.
38. There were many US numbered highways in Los Angeles: 6, 60, 66, 70, 91, 99, and 101.  Pacific Coast Highway was numbered Alternate US 101 (now California 1). Many other highway numbers were changed in 1964. Artesia Boulevard used to be California state route 14.
39. Some streets have changed names since 1960.  Artesia Boulevard was known as Gould Avenue in Hermosa Beach, Gould Lane in Manhattan Beach, and Redondo Beach Boulevard in Redondo Beach.  La Cienega Boulevard was known as Freeman Boulevard in Inglewood, and Anza Avenue in Los Angeles city and county.  Anza Avenue in Torrance did not connect with either 190th Street or Pacific Coast Highway.
40. The civil rights movement continued throughout the decade, although the main movement ended around 1968.
    • Congress passed major civil rights legislation in 1964,
    • There were race riots in Los Angeles in 1964 and later in many other cities.
41. The Berlin Wall was built in 1961.
42. There were religious changes in the 1960s. Many "mainline" protestant churches continued to lose membership throughout the decade, including the Episcopal Church, The United Presbyterian Church, the United Methodist Church, the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America, The American Baptist Churches, and the United Church of Christ.
    • The Second Vatican Council was held 1962-65. The impact of the council went beyond the Roman Catholic Church, most of which occurred in later decades.
    • The United Presbyterian Church adopted the Confession of 1967, supposedly to create a "contemporary statement of faith", but in reality it became part of a "Book of Confessions", diluting the confessional nature of the church. The church continued, with other "mainline" protestant churches, to drift into a vague sort of liberalism.
    • Lutheran churches merged. In 1960 the American Lutheran Church (mostly Lutherans of German heritage), the United Evangelical Lutheran Church (Danish), and the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Norwegian) merged to form The American Lutheran Church. The Lutheran Free Church (Norwegian) joined in 1963. In 1962 the United Lutheran Church in America (German), the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church (Swedish), the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (Danish) formed the Lutheran Church in America. This reflected a trend of Lutherans after World War II feeling themselves American, rather than ethnic, unlike their parents. (A merger of all of these had been contemplated, but did not take place until 1988.)
43. The "space race" existed throughout the decade. President Kennedy announced in 1961 that the US should set a goal to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. The lunar module of Apollo 11, named Eagle, soft-landed on the moon on July 20, 1969.
44. In 1960, there were two evening newspapers in Los Angeles: the Mirror-News, and the Herald-Express. In 1962, the Mirror, which was published by Times-Mirror, went out of business. Also in 1962, the Herald-Express merged with the Los Angeles Examiner to become the (evening) Herald-Examiner; the Examiner, Herald-Express, and Herald-Examiner were all part of the Hearst syndicate. There was a strike at the Herald-Examiner which began in 1968, and the paper never really recovered; the paper had been the "working-class" paper, and many of its writers and subscribers refused to support it during the strike, and it never got them back. The Herald-Examiner ceased publication in 1989.
45. Milk delivery was common early in the decade.
46. Many social movements had their beginnings in the ’sixties. Many of the social movements of the decade did not become "mainstream" until the 1970s.
    • In 1963, Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, a harbinger of what was then called "women’s liberation"; the National Organization for Women was founded in 1966.
    • In 1962, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring did the same for what was called the "ecology" movement; the first "Earth Day" was observed in 1970.
    • In 1969 the "gay liberation" movement was sparked by the Stonewall riots in New York.
    • In 1965 Ralph Nader published Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile, which was one of the beginnings of the consumer movement.
    • The American Indian Movement was founded in 1968, with the original purpose of protecting Indians from police abuse.
    • The National Farm Workers of America was founded in 1962 by Cesar Chavez and others; in 1965 they launched a boycott of table grapes, lasting five years.
    • In 1968, Paul Ehrlich published The Population Bomb, with the notion that the world's population was reaching the earth's carrying capacity, and that we needed to control population, lest there be widespread famine and starvation.  This led to such groups as Zero Population Growth, which Ehrlich co-founded.  Most of Ehrlich's predictions did not materialize, partly due to the green revolution, with a tremendous increase in food production, as well as falling fertility rates, first in developed countries, and later in less developed countries.
47. Seat belts were not required on automobiles in the U.S. until 1968.
48. In 1967, several California banks (United California Bank, Wells Fargo, Crocker National Bank , and Bank of California) issued Master Charge credit cards, to compete with Bank of America's BankAmericard.
49. There were more grocery chains: in addition to Ralph’s and Von’s there were Market Basket, Shopping Bag, Thriftimart, Mayfair, Food Giant, and many more independents.
50. Some companies that existed at the time were: Douglas (merged into McDonnell Douglas in 1967), Hughes, TRW, Convair (part of General Dynamics), AeroJet, Northrop, Lockheed, Martin-Marietta (formed 1961), Garrett AiResearch, Honeywell, Boeing, The Aerospace Corporation (formed 1960 out of TRW), and North American Aviation (merged into North American Rockwell, 1967).
51. Automobile assembly was an important industry in the Los Angeles area, with these plants: Chrysler (City of Commerce), Ford (Pico Rivera), GM (South Gate: Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac), and GM (Van Nuys: Chevrolet).  In fact, Los Angeles produced more automobiles than any city except Detroit.
52. There were also tire manufacturing plants in the Los Angeles area:  Firestone in South Gate, Goodyear in south central Los Angeles, and U. S. Royal (became Uniroyal in 1967) in the City of Commerce.
53. There were more department stores, including Robinson’s, I. Magnin, Joseph Magnin, Bullock’s, Ohrbach’s, The May Company, and The Broadway.  Both J. C. Penney and Sears had retail stores that have since closed.
54. The trend of unincorporated suburban areas in Los Angeles County incorporating as cities continued from the previous decade:  Commerce, La Mirada, Temple City, San Dimas, and Cudahy (1960); Bell Gardens and Hidden Hills (1961); Palmdale (1962); Hawaiian Gardens and Lomita (1964); and Carson (1968).
55. There were dime stores, including F. W. Woolworth’s and J. J. Newberry’s.
56. The movies were made according to the Hays code until 1967. In 1968 the code was replaced with the system of ratings, which were then G-M-R-X.
57. Religious movies continued to be popular, until about mid-decade, including Elmer Gantry (1960), Barabbas (1962), and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).
58. Notable movies of the 1960s included: 
    • 1960: The Apartment, The Alamo, Elmer Gantry; Ben Hur; Can-Can; Psycho; Spartacus
    • 1961: West Side Story,  Judgment at Nuremberg, One Hundred and One Dalmatians; The Guns of Navarone; Exodus; The Parent Trap; The Absent-Minded Professor; The Alamo; Swiss Family Robinson; The World of Suzie Wong; La Dolce Vita
    • 1962: Lawrence of Arabia, The Longest Day, The Music Man, Mutiny on the Bounty, To Kill a Mockingbird, Gay Purr-ee; The Miracle Worker; Sweet Bird of Youth
    • 1963: Tom Jones, How the West Was Won, The Sword in the Stone; Lilies of the Field; Irma la Douce; Bye Bye Birdie; From Russia with Love; The Great Escape; It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World; The Pink Panther; Son of Flubber
    • 1964: My Fair Lady, Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Mary Poppins; The Unsinkable Molly Brown; Topkapi; The Umbrellas of Cherbourg; Fail Safe; A Fistful of Dollars; Goldfinger
    • 1965: The Sound of Music, Doctor Zhivago, The Great Race; Cat Ballou; Darling; A Thousand Clowns; The Greatest Story Ever Told; That Darn Cat!
    • 1966: A Man for All Seasons, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming; A Man and a Woman; Georgy Girl; Our Man Flint; The Singing Nun; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
    • 1967: In the Heat of the Night, The Graduate, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Jungle Book; Camelot; The President's Analyst; To Sir, With Love; You Only Live Twice; Thoroughly Modern Millie; In Like Flint
    • 1968: Oliver!, The Lion in Winter, Romeo and Juliet; Funny Girl; 2001, A Space Odyssey; Ice Station Zebra; Planet of the Apes
    • 1969: Midnight Cowboy, Anne of the Thousand Days, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; True Grit; Anne of a Thousand Days; The Love Bug; On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
59. Notable Broadway musicals of the 1960s included (by season):
    • 1959-60: The Sound of Music; Fiorello!; Gypsy; Take Me Along; Once Upon a Mattress
    • 1960-61: Bye Bye Birdie; Do Re Mi; Irma La Douce
    • 1961-62: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; Carnival!
    • 1962-63: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Oliver!; Stop the World--I Want to Get Off
    • 1963-64: Hello, Dolly!; Funny Girl
    • 1964-65: Fiddler on the Roof; Half a Sixpence 
    • 1965-66: Man of La Mancha; Mame; Sweet Charity
    • 1966-67: Cabaret; I do! I do!
    • 1967-68: Hallelujah, Baby!; The Happy Time
    • 1968-69: 1776; Promises, Promises; Hair
    • 1969-70: Applause; Coco
60. Notable TV shows of the 1960s included: The Andy Williams Show (1957-71); Bonanza (1959-71), Dobie Gillis (1959-63), The Andy Griffith Show (1960-8), Mr. Ed (1961-5), The Flintstones (1960-6), The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-66), The Monkees (1966-68), Get Smart! (1965-70), The Defenders (1961-4), The Fugitive (1963-7), Mission: Impossible (1966-73), The Andy Williams Show (1962-71), Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In (1968-73), Secret Agent, The Prisoner (1969), The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-71), Beany and Cecil (1962-7), Petticoat Junction (1963-7), The Patty Duke Show (1963-66), Green Acres (1965-71), Jeopardy! (1964-75), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964-8), Bewitched (1964-72), The Addams Family (1964-6), The Munsters (1964-6), Underdog (1964-73), F Troop (1964-7), Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C., Hogan’s Heroes (1965-71), Star Trek (1966-9), The Wacky Races (1968-70), The Brady Bunch (1969-74), Let’s Make a Deal (1963-7).  For more on 1960s TV shows, visit this Wikipedia page.

References:

• Wikipedia
• Feinstein, Stephen. The 1970s From the Vietnam War to Flower Power (part of the Decades of the 20th Century series). Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2000.  A nice summary, written about an 8th grade level.

See also:

• Timeline of the 1960s
• Brief history of the 1960s
• Wikipedia article on the 1960s
• Kingwood Cultural Library--American Cultural History: 1960-9
• Headline history of Los Angeles, 1946-62
• Headline history of Los Angeles, 1963-79
• Song lists from the 1960s
• Wikipedia list of 1960s TV shows in the US
• Life in the 1940s
• Life in the 1950s
• Life in the 1970s
• Life in the 1980s

• Last updated: March 17, 2008.