SWEET HIPPIE RIDES
Volkswagen Microbus (1942–1971)
Volkswagen Beetle (1950–1965)
Volkswagen Squareback (1962–1973)
Volkswagen Fastback (1962–1973)
Volvo sedan (1950–1965)
Saab (1950–1965)
GMC/Chevy or Ford pickup (1951–1956)
Retired mail truck, school bus, hearse, ice cream truck, or repair van
INTERIOR DECORATIONS
Beads
Peace symbol pendants
Sage (to cover odor)
Crystal teardrops, strung on leather straps
Stained-glass pendants, strung on ribbons
Dreamcatchers
A lock of your old lady’s hair
PAINT YOUR VEHICLE! CONSIDER…
Breaching whales (not “beaching” whales. That would be a bummer.)
Grateful Dead skeletons and/or bears
Flowers
Psychedelic swirls
Airbrushed likeness of Jimi Hendrix, or yourself, or your old lady
IF YOUR “CAR” IS A BICYCLE
Spray it with paint (pink, green, or zebra stripes).
Add streamers to the handlebars.
Thread wildflowers between the spokes.
Find a small child to ride on your handlebars.
Attach a basket to the front (for carrying produce) and a milk crate to the back (for carrying litters of kittens).
Add a cheerful-sounding horn.
Glue tiny plastic farm animals all over the bumpers.
TYPICAL HIPPIE BUMPER STICKERS
Peace slogans*
“Music slogans
Marijuana slogans*
Tolkien quotations
*These may increase chances of getting pulled over.
Sources: Hippie Handbook
Why did hippies do this? No one knows. For a while there in the seventies, it was difficult to find a hippie windowsill that did not have an avocado seed sprouting in a jar. (Some hippies credit this phenomenon with ending the war in Vietnam.)
Peel and eat the avocado. Save the pit.
Let the seed dry for 48 hours.
Peel off the papery brown skin.
Insert 3 toothpicks equidistant from each other around the middle of the seed, pushing them in far enough to feel securely lodged.
Place the seed, pointed end up, in the jar so that the toothpicks rest on the edge of the jar’s mouth, suspending the seed.
Add warm water to the jar so that the bottom third of the seed is submerged.
Put the jar in a warm spot, away from direct sunlight.
Check the seed daily, adding warm water to the jar so that the bottom third of the seed is always in water.
When the seed begins to sprout roots, move the jar to a windowsill.
Soon you will see a stem push up through the pit. When the stem is 3 to 4 inches high, you can plant the seed in soil.
Sources: The Hippie Handbook
This style in general, thankfully, did not survive the 1970s (except in certain locations). Here’s how you do it:
Fill a bathtub with warm water.
Add 1 cup of bleach to the water.
Knot the legs of a pair of dark blue jeans several times.
Place the knotted jeans in the water.
Let them soak for 2 hours.
Remove the jeans, untie the knots, and place the pants in the sun.
Let dry.
When the jeans are dry, you will notice that they now have large, unpredictably shaped pale patches where the bleach settled, giving your jeans the appearance of a pinto pony. Why would you want your jeans to look like a pinto pony?
No idea.
Mark Beré Peterson: Hauntings, Urban Legends, History, Folklore, Mythology and Witchcraft 