And to think that I saw it on Peachtree Street…”
©Patrick Edmondson 2012
Friday July 3rd, 1970 I was working the morning traffic selling The Great Speckled Bird at 14th and Peachtree. There was going to be a Pop Festival that weekend in Byron, Ga near Macon. The first Pop Festival had been wonderful, but the normal hot for a Georgia 4th. We knew middle and South Georgia and knew the heat there was much worse. Most people who lived there spent much of the day somewhere shady or in water. This was to again be at a treeless stock car track outside Macon, currently mayored by “Machine Gun” Ronnie Thompson who had issued machine guns to police in fear of Negro uprising. “Machine Gun” Ronnie was a really unsane belligerent Cracker who really hated hippies, making his county the perfect place for a pop festival. We had been tempted by the stories told by friends from the Zoo. They had been down building the site and told us about the free stage set up way out in the woods down newly bulldozed trails. One of them had a homestead even further back in the woods where he had his dog and was sowing some seeds. We looked at the lineup and really wanted to go, but the tickets were too costly for poor student hippies
I had gotten up early to get to the Birdhouse to buy papers and drive up 14th over Peachtree and parked The Omnibus on the corner by Ga Linen where there was a grassy lawn and big tree. A great spot to work since people would come up and sprawl on the grass under the tree and talk to me.
I was the first hippie cars would encounter driving down Peachtree towards The Strip and I looked the part I had made a belt with silver conchos on a leather strip and leather strings hanging down my leg. I wore it low on my hips over embroidered jeans and engineer boots so the strings swung as I walked. I had made a duck hat, an engineer’s cap with the bill painted yellow. In the front I painted two big white cartoon eyes like Donald Duck. To complete the motif in winter I had a middy blouse from Navy surplus that zipped up tightly under the arm on one side. Some people knew me simply as that duckhat guy.
Being a bit ‘on stage’ brought more money, so I got into it. It was fun to watch the long strings swing as I walked, danced, clowned along the edge of Peachtree. It was a good corner and I made quite a bit of money each day. Driving around town I always kept a load of Birds in my bus and whenever traffic stalled, I’d pull over and work the traffic until it moved or a cop came to roust me. I devoted hours to selling Birds, but working 14th and Peachtree was the best. When traffic lulled I could go climb in the Omnibus, pull the curtains and smoke on a joint as traffic roared by outside. I was just a crazy hippie so many pretended I wasn’t there. It was work, but also fun as I walked along and amused myself in between lights. Somehow some people want to talk to a hippie. Buying a Bird gave them a reason to talk. It was fun to people watch as mini-dramas played out every so often.
I stood at the corner holding The Great Speckled Bird open so people could see the cover. Some cars would pull up and desperately thrust money at me for a paper as cars behind them played a cacophonous symphony. Otherwise I waited for the light then walked along the side of the road smiling. Kids almost always bought a Bird and usually gave me at least fifty cents for a 25-cent paper. Folks wanting you to think they were cool, but usually, and sadly obviously, were not, would either overpay and wave you off or demand exact change as traffic honked. Swingers and narcs tried to buddy talk and ask about obtaining sex and drugs. Closet hip folks would give you a dollar or other big bill and maybe a good joint or some hash for a paper, or as a tip. Girls and gay men flirted and society women were suggestive as they overpaid and were asked if they wanted change. One woman asked if I could get some “Chiba” to smoke then “fuck her like only a hippie could”. I was unsure what either meant and was in love with Gabi.
This Friday before the 4th there was a constant stream of hippies loaded into vehicles. They came from all over in some amazingly colorful and creative vehicles. And they all had the same destination, The Pop Festival. A band in a van full of equipment just going to play the free stage was very excited. Each car was headed to see favorites, whose music blared from tape decks. Each one made me feel more that Byron was going to be a scene for real and we needed to be there.
The final was a big cylindrical trash dumptruck from some unknown town. Totally normal looking except for the drivers were freaks. They laughed and said they were headed for Byron. I said it was a weird vehicle to travel in. They said I didn’t know the half of it and pushed a button. The back lifted up and away as to dump trash. Now I could see a living room set up inside behind a screen. There was a table and chairs by a pole lamp, a couch, a recliner, sleeping bags and supplies. A huge cloud had come out when the back had opened. Behind a screen, two guys sat rolling joints at the table and smoking. They said they were farmers from Indiana taking their wares to market at Byron. I laughed and they winked and lifted a tarp at the rear so I could see the pile of marijuana buds beneath. I exploded in surreal laughter- a dump dopetruck with its own living room, here on Peachtree.
They handed me a few joints and closed the truck before continuing down Peachtree towards The Strip. I now knew we had to at least go down and enjoy the people and the scene. We might even get to hear some music. Clearly Byron, Ga. was where to spend July 4th 1970.
Gabi worked as the manager of a uniform shop near Emory. She was very good at running the store. I was a student who sold Birds, did odd jobs and silk screening, etc. to make a bit of money. My other responsibility was to be sure we had good dope. I looked very out of place in the uniform store around the nurses, but began telling her what I had seen and that I was going for supplies because we had to go to the Pop festival. Soon she was excited and a young nurse was calling her boyfriend wanting to go also.