Hippies were seeking individual and group liberation of humans from the constrictions of 1950 Eisenhower rigid social norms. It even worried everyone’s grandfather Ike enough to warn of the coming Military-Industrial Complex that threatened American’s democracy and free way of life.
Every small town had a group of creative kids that, try as they might, could not take delight in praising the emporer’s new clothes.
In the media age of the 1960s they began to make contact with each other. Webs of contact grew between these small hippie scenes. At that time anyone who looked like a hippie truly was your brother or sister freak and would greet you as an old friend. Larger cities had whole communities, but every town had a place where “those hippie kids” gathered together.
In Atlanta it was The Strip on Peachtree and the area from there to around Piedmont Park. Map is circa 1966
Oh, these Places I Remember
The Catacombs
14Th Street
12th Gate Coffeehouse
Piedmont Park
The Strip
The Scattering of the Tribes
Community History
Sexy Sadie’s Hip, Inc. The Zoo on 8th The Dump on Peachtree The Fox Theatre The Morning Glory Seed Head Shop Onion Dome The French Embassy White Columns on 14th Merry-Go-Round Stein Club Funochios * Backstreet Twin Mansions on 14th The Bird House Community Center The Bowery
Great Southeast Music Hall Electric Ballroom
The Catacombs Mother’s Music The Bistro
Mother’s Tire Company
- Chattahoochee River Raft RaceRead more >>
- Dave Hoffman
Dave Hoffman writes-
The photo in Piedmont Park is me, Curtis Winfrey, Stoney Mae (Priscilla Star Hunnicutt) and I think thats Abe aka (Roger Wilson & Edward Brown), behind Curtis.Read more >>
- “…he not busy being born is busy dying…”
Read more >>The Great Speckled Bird 5/12/69 vol 2 #9 p11
“I will secretly accept you,
And together we’ll fly South.”
“Leave your stepping stones behind
There’s something that calls for you.
Forget the dead you left, they will ...
- Jimi Hendrix Blows Atlanta’s mind
Soft Machine, Amboy Dukes, Vanilla Fudge and Jimi Hendrix Experience’s two shows at Atlanta’s Municipal Auditorium blew away Atlanta’s collective mind on Saturday August 17, 1968. Have you ever been Experienced? Now we could answer in the ...
- Harry Demille
Harry Demille bridges from The Strip community where he worked at the 12th Gate to the Little Five Points community where he co-founded Wax and Facts.Read more >>
- Debbie Eason interview
Read more >>Debbie Eason is a Creative Loafer extraordinary.
Debbie Eason came up with the idea of a FREE newspaper about all the activities in Atlanta, paid for BY THE ADVERTISERS! ...
- Bongo Interview
Read more >>Bongo, Peter Jenkins, was Atlanta’s digger who fed the masses in Piedmont Park, ran crash pads for transient kids, and mediated between bikers and hippies.
He has some interesting tales.
All recordings copyright the strip project
Hello ...
- Joe Shifalo (Pig Iron) and Toni Shifalo (La Banana)
Joe Shifalo, aka Pig Iron, loved music and played guitar and harmonica. He was a lawyer and civil rights activist, and he retired as executive director of the Little Five Points Community Center. The unofficial ‘Mayor ...
- The Bird Reviews Cream at Chastain
After Jimi Hendrix we really felt excited about Cream coming to Chastain park. This was among the most memorable moments for many, and is still a touchstone for many memories today. My understanding mother brought a carload of folks for my going away to college concert. Hope you were lucky enough to have been there.
- Major Events in the community
Read more >>The Beatles came to Fulton County Stadium. For most of my generation this event put Atlanta on the map; we mattered down here in the sleepy South because The Beatles came here. And had their first experience with stage monitors thanks to an Atlantan.
When Jimi Hendrix played the chitlin circuit, he’d ...
- “…he not busy being born is busy dying…”