The years between 1960 and 1969 serve as the framework for the emergence of a new generation. After the Second World War many children were born in the Netherlands. Between 1946 and 1949, the population increased by almost one million people, a true baby boom.
Because of this population growth, but also because of further industrialisation and modernization of the Netherlands, education started to change. Young people were going to school longer and more often. This made teen years more important and the step to adulthood got postponed. Young people were getting more free time and demanded the freedom to make their own choices as individuals. The youth culture was emerging, in which pop music and physical appearances became increasingly important.
In this exhibition we show what happened in the world, what changed in the Netherlands and what Voorschoten was doing at the time.
Where did the contemporary youngsters move? What was in the papers and what was on TV - which got a place in more and more households. We also show what the fashion image was and what music was listened to.
Welcome to the Sixties!
Everything changed during the sixties; also what people wore to show who they were and how they wanted to live. Clothes became a part of the youth culture. At the start of the sixties the young men still wore a coat and tie and girls wore wide dresses with petticoats, knee-high socks and neat blouses. That was the street fashion up until the mid sixties. Fashion awareness increased in 1965 with the mini-dress and a coloured panty and polkadotted pullovers for men as well as jeans in all shapes and sizes - wide-legged, straight, low cut - and the Afghan hippie coat.
'Love-in' event in Voorschoten
On the MOC-site Saturday September 2, 1967 the first 'love-in' festival was held for Voorschoten hippies and other supporters of the new love doctrine. The bands Shart and High Life and the R&B group Quash, provided the music for this occasion, where they used modern ways to try and give shape to all forms of love. Girls and boys - some of them barefoot - distributed flowers or wore colourful carnation flowers in their hair.
The self-proclaimed hippies danced in the grass with the rhythmic sound of the music in the background. Performances by Shart, Eric Doorneweerd, the singer of Quash and the bassist of Nou & Dave Gottschalk, were brought to the audience. High-Life played the same song simultaneously which created a pleasant resonance.
The unfavourable weather conditions did not prevent these lovely celebrations from taking place. There was a lot of interest in this 'love-in' festival of Voorschoten. The event was handled by the youth society of Voorschoten.
Scooters were the way of transport in the sixties as very few could afford a moterbike. Between 1950 and 1960 the number of scooters rose from 5000 to 1 million. The number of cars were also catching up with these rising figures. By 1970 there were 2 million scooters on the streets of the Netherlands.
You had to show off with your scooter. The Solex was not cool - your mother had one of those - and the Mobylette was seen as girly. Berini was a Dutch brand with a typical ovoid petrol tank.
The Kreidler and the Zundapp were driven by guys with floppy quiffs, leather jackets, point-toe shoes and skinny jeans. High handlebars were found on the Puch and the cheaper Tomos were for the long-haired types - guys with wide-legged trousers and suede shoes.
The Sixties exhibition can be visited between 12.00-17.00 on Wednesday, Saturdays and Sundays.
More information on the website: http://website.museumvoorschoten.nl/?page_id=2064