A Thought about the Counterculture.

The Counterculture could not have existed without a culture to be counter to. That is, a repressive society that made rebellion inevitable. Nowadays, a wander through downtown Montreal will reveal Stetsons and Berets, long & short hair, beards & bald chins, suits and saris and birkhas and birkenstocks. But in the 50s, there were tightly observed limits.

Montreal West, where I spent some of my childhood, had, in the fifties, six (6) barbers!!! Now, despite double the population, there's only one, Rocco, and he only works a few afternoons a week! Yes, back then, folks got their hair cut weekly (!!), and woe to him who missed a week. Obloquy, and possible arrest!

Nowadays, I get my hair cut in May, and that's it!

In other words, to understand the 60s one must understand the 50s as well. They were both pretty awful, but the 60s had a better quality of awfulness.