hippies

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>An interesting alleged history of the word at the bottom of this page. ....

HDAS shows "hippie" in a jazz context from 1952.

A quick look at N'archive shows "hippie" used freely and routinely in the
mainstream press from 1960 -- although not so frequently as later (ca.
1967). It does not seem to have been always derisive or sarcastic. E.g.:

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June 1960: Earl Wilson's column: <<Bobby Darin, a hippie from New York
City, ..., completely conquered all the New York hippies. He gave the gals
the jiggles ....>>

Sep. 1960: Earl Wilson's column: <<The B'way hippies were exclaiming, "How
about that Castro ....">>

March 1961: Dorothy Kilgallen's column: <<Melina Mercouri, the Greek film
star who's become a big thing with hippies over here, has been shopping for
a Paris apartment ....>>

May 1961: Fred Danzig's column: <<The best TV comedy in many a day turned
up ... as "The Premise" players, an off-Broadway troupe of hippies, reeled
off some piercing and funny satire.>>

July 1961: Earl Wilson's column: <<I realized I was a square, so now I try
to talk to hip people -- hipnicks, I call them or hippies.>>

Dec. 1961: Walter Winchell's column: <<The Hippies call their pet B'way
hotel in the 50s (which shelters reefer-smoking jazzicians): "Hotel in the
Sky">>

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Here "hippie" = "hip person", I think, not always in a jazz context. I
guess I heard this myself around 1962, certainly before the "South Street"
song (1963, I think); there was nothing mysterious or novel to me (or my
peers) about "hippie" in 1963 IIRC, although I guess it didn't yet convey
the later acid-head/hair-freak/beads-and-flowers image.

-- Doug Wilson




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