YEAR 10 HISTORY – RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT

THE 1960’S
Darshil Shah
The 1960s was a period of change for Australia. The ethnic diversity produced by
post-war immigration, the United Kingdom’s increasing focus on Europe, and the
Vietnam War (to which Australia sent troops) all contributed to an atmosphere of
political, economic and social change.
Fashion
During the 1960s fashion changed more dramatically than in any other decade of
the twentieth century. From the simple, feminine and
traditional styles of the early 1960s to “Mod” fashions
like miniskirts and hot pants, to the wild, daring,
‘anything goes’ mentality that existed by the end of the
decade, clothing in the 1960s reflected a new movement
towards comfort, youthful independence and rebellion.
The major influences on fashion in the early 1960s came
from London, which became the staring point of the so-
called ‘Swinging Sixties’.
‘Mod’ Fashion started in London and slowly spread
across the world. “Mod’ Fashion also reached Australia
from America as the increased amounts of people
adopting this new fashion technique due to the
president’s wife (Jacqueline Kennedy). The Beatles also
influenced the ever growing styles of the 60s as their
wild and long hair was seen as independence in the
youth.
One other main development in fashion which shocked the whole world and at the
same time changed it was the mini skirt. This is believed to be the biggest shock in
the 1960’s as throughout the whole world, this was against any tradition, and now
SMH the independence for women started. In England, this was made popular by
fashion designers, however in Australia, this being worn on the Melbourne cup
made it a shock but nonetheless the start for popularity of the mini skirt.
One of the last highlights of the 60’s era was flower power. It was characterised by
the increasing “hippie” and folk movement which inspired many new colours,
flamboyant styles and simple clothes to characterise the protest and freedom.
Music
Pop music at the beginning of the 1960s had settled down from the early rebellion
of rock and roll. This can be seen in USA censorship of “real” music. The artists
were often manufactured, as they were carefully
chosen and presented by record companies in
order to stop outrages and rebellion in music. In
the early 1960s folk music became extremely
popular. Artists such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez
sang songs about the need for social change—and
the words in the songs were as important as the
beat or the music. Unlike most rock and pop
music, this was not music to dance to but music to
listen to. Rock musicians began to move away
from simple lyrics and could use their songs to reflect the issues of the time and
the attitudes towards them.
Motown and soul also gained popularity as the record label introduced by Berry
Gordy. The reason it gained popularity was due to African American artists singing
about things both whites and blacks can relate to.
The British music scene was vast and the music was being spread all across the
world. British music was the most influential music all around the world, and
mainly started the hysteria of mainstream rock music and the craze over it. With
the Beatles as an inspiration, the Rolling Stones were made popular by singing a
Beatles song. They were the alternative version to the Beatles. The Beatles and the
Rolling Stones led the way for British bands to dominate pop music. They took rock
and roll back to the USA. This became known as the ‘British invasion’ of the music
scene.
When the Beatles arrived at Australia, there was a crowd so big, that the Beatles
themselves could not hear themselves. This was the beginning of the Australian
mainstream rock scene, where everyone was crazy over The Beatles and other
artists.
The next major influence on rock music of the 1960s came from the east coast of
the USA. Surf music, played by bands such as the Beach Boys, was a new style
that became popular.
Also, the use of drugs for recreational purposes was coming from Professor
Timothy (San Francisco) Leary who suggest to “turn on, tune in, and drop out.”
Australia was also affected as this became the common thing to do if you wanted
to have fun.
Inspired by traditional outdoor folk and jazz festivals as well as hippie ‘be ins’ and
‘happenings’, rock festivals became a symbol of this new culture. Thousands of
people would come to enjoy the music. Australia had many of these festivals which
attracted people to have fun and be free and hope for a more peaceful world.
Entertainment
In the early 1960s, Australians mainly
watched American shows such as Leave it to
Beaver, I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke and
British programs such as Coronation Street
and Doctor Who. The best known Australian
TV star of the time was Graeme Kennedy,
who hosted a show called In Melbourne
Tonight with his ‘sidekick’ Bert Newton.
Improvements in technology meant that more
Australian prime time programs were being
made. The two most successful were the
police drama Homicide and the comedy The
Mavis Bramston Show. As the popularity of
television led to a decrease in movie
audiences, movies became reliant on
developing technology that was superior to that of television and would attract
audiences out of their lounge rooms. Big budget ‘epic’ films were popular. The epic
Ben Hur screened in Australia in 1960 in lavish technicolour.
Australians did not simply watch TV and movies. The first Adelaide Arts festival
was held in 1960 and more Australians went to the
theatre, ballet and opera than in the past.
Sport
In the 1960s Australians enjoyed international sporting
successes that seemed out of proportion to the size of
our population. The 1960s were a golden age for
Australian tennis. Australians dominated the Davis Cup
(winning it seven times) and Wimbledon (winning the
men’s singles title eight times, and the men’s doubles title seven t imes). Rod
Laver was one of the greatest male tennis players in the history of the game,
winning the first-ever Grand Slam.
Dawn Fraser also dominated the swimming sport and won eight Olympic medals.
There was also success in athletics such as the 1500m race at the Rome Olympics
and many other achievements that put Australia at a very high position at that
time. This bought recognition to the world that Australia is a capable nation and
the respect grew higher and higher.
The sporting success attracted many people to play sports and try and acquire the
same success as their equivalent role models. Many Australian sports were played
such as lawn balls, netball and rugby, but many sports from USA were popularised
such as 10 pin Bowling. Soccer was a very popular game at that time due to the
overgrowing support for it.
Although we were a sporty country, the majority of Australians watched sports
rather than play them, and smoking related diseases were higher than England.
But, in the 60’s, health food was introduced and people started realising how to be
healthy and how to live healthy. However, the opening of fast food chains and
frozen chips didn’t help the Australian public to boost their diet and stay in shape.

Main Influences of USA and Britain on Australian Pop Culture

Britain is where this all started, the music, the fashion and nonetheless the culture
changing era. Those ideas quickly spread all across the world, most importantly
Australia. Australia did have its some of its own ideas put into the popular culture,
but the music and fashion was heavily influenced by Britain and USA.