For all of you 70 or a bit older...

[llmart]

Anybody else watch the PBS special on American Experience "Woodstock"? I thought it was a very thorough report with a lot of original footage I'd never seen. What I couldn't help thinking about was the way it was portrayed back then in the media and the actual reality of it. I remember getting the impression that it was an absolute nightmare when in reality it was very peaceful and just a bunch of kids having fun in their own way and finding like-minded people to hang with.

Heck, maybe even some of you were there. I do know that lots of people now claim to have been there even if they weren't.

Another big 50th anniversary coming up. We did come of age in interesting times. Can't help but be nostalgic about those years when you're a bit long in the tooth.

[GeorgeGist]

1. From one septuagenarian to another ...

[llmart]

2. Oh, that's a great video and so true.

[WheelWalker]

3. Damn straight !

[Nay]

5. I was coming here to post exactly that. The hippies WERE right, and we're in a

pickle now because most people didn't believe them.

[Glorfindel]

4. I haven't watched the PBS special. I remember hearing about Woodstock

but didn't really think much about it at the time...too much else going on. I had been out of the Army for a bit over a year, back from Vietnam about a year and a half. My grandfather had died, and I was trying to help my mother settle his estate, including 100 acres of Appalachian mountain property, a couple of houses, etc. Meantime, back to college was beckoning, other stuff to worry about, I bought a new VW Bug, and yes, they were MOST interesting times, from the low points of the assassinations of MLK and RFK and the election of Nixon to the high point of the Apollo 11 moon landing, it seemed that the "excitement" would never end. I knew a girl who was at Woodstock and had the pictures to prove it. She had a blast and loved to talk about it. Alas, she became a rePuke a few years back and we lost touch. c'est la vie!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. As Glorfindel said.

I was living in the DC area, working at National Airport as a ticket agent, and didn't pay a lot of attention to Woodstock. I'm not sure it was very much in the news, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention. I did have a small b&w TV (watched the Moon walk on it) I rarely watched the network news. That might have been one of the times I had a subscription to the Post. I rather doubt they had a lot of coverage of Woodstock, but I might very well be wrong here.

Oh, and I haven't watched the PBS thing. Over the years I've seen various stuff about Woodstock, and honestly, I find it all a bit of a bore.

[secondwind]

7. I was all set to go to Woodstock with my 4 month old,

we were all packed etc ( what was I thinking?!?), and then we saw the cars on the Long Island Expressway, bumper to bumper for miles on end. We decided to stay home

It was not as peaceful as you think, three people died there that weekend, and I think 2 or 3 came into the world as well. It rained quite a bit, it got very muddy, and once you were in there you couldn’t get out. So glad we didn’t go. I’m sure there were many magical moments as well, but it wasn’t paradise. Long lines for the port-a-potties, a few scuffles etc, and I think good and water became scarce as well.

[Hoyt]

8. Didn't go, but I sure wore out a copy of the 3 record album, have WS poster on wall too.

Will definitely watch, on your recommendation.

[Arkansas Granny]

9. I was married and pregnant with my second child and I wanted very badly to be there.

Who knows. If I hadn't married right out of high school I'm pretty sure I would have wound up in a commune or Haight-Ashbury.

[LeftInTX]

10. I'm only 62, but I feel the PBS special super sugar coated it.

It was cool to hear about the booths and how some of the town's residents helped out. But 400,000 people crammed into a primitive camping type thing just ain't my thing!

I did watch footage on the news. I think I got up and flicked on the TV and said, "What on earth is this?" I couldn't look away from it...LOL

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/woodstock-it-was-like-balling-for-the-first-time-229092/

[napi21]

11. I wish I could have gone, but I was married had two kids, 4 & 1.

And we didn't have enough $$ to take time off from work to drive from PA. I watched the SPECIAL, and I know taking babies to that would have been crazy. My hubby would have hated it because of the traffic, the crowd, and I would have hated the mud! We camped for a week once in Cumberland MD. for a Street Rod party. It started raining the day we sarrived, just after we got out camper setup, and didn't stop for 5 days! I sure know what it's like camping and partying in the rain. Our whole group went out into town and bought every plastic rain poncho they had. Our amper was full of mud as were our clothes, and our kids. nAt Woodstock, they didn't even have the option of going out to buy ponchos.

I'm glad in a way that we weren't there, but I enjoyed the PBS special, and miss the days of the hippies and flower children.

[llmart]

18. I had only been married for about three weeks at the time...

so it wasn't even on my radar to go to something like that. Like you, we had no money and I couldn't have taken time off from work either. Heck, I didn't even get any time off for a honeymoon, though we couldn't afford that either. But I was aware that it was going on and read about it in the papers and Life or Look magazine.

In watching the program, I couldn't believe that some people brought babies and their dogs! Maybe they didn't think it would be very crowded. Boy, were they ever wrong. I was really impressed though by the owners of the farm who were admittedly conservative and had no problem letting them use his property.

[jimlup]

12. I'm a youngster at 61 but I remember it well ...

Yes, the media at the time portrayed it as a disaster but it wasn't as we all later learned from the movie.
As young kids on the threshold of being teenagers those were the kids we looked up to and emulated. We wanted desperately to go...

My wife and I actually thought we might head for the 50th anniversary event before it ended up being canceled.

[customerserviceguy]

13. If you have the chance

check out the Woodstock museum in New York, it will really take you back to that time. It's at the Bethel Woods concert site, on days where they have a concert, admission is half-price for a few hours before the concert, so if you find someone you like playing there, the trip is a two-fer.

[Raven]

14. I was there...don't remember a thing about it. :-)

[mitch96]

15. It was a tossup for me to go or not go... I opted to stay home thinking it was gonna be a cluster..

F**k.. My friends went but never made it b/c the traffic on the NYState thruway was totally stopped. Took them three days to get home and diidn’t make it to the concert.. They had tickets too!!! I opted to work overtime at my pharmacy job doing inventory...
One for me and one for them, repeat.
M

[Crabby Appleton]

16. I was in the USArmy in Vietnam

Where I had been since Aug68 so couldn't go to rock concerts.

[llmart]

19. Sorry about that...

But did you get to see Bob Hope and his entourage???

[Crabby Appleton]

20. I did get to see the 68 Christmas Bob Hope show at Long Binh RVN

Last edited Mon Aug 12, 2019, 10:21 AM - Edit history (1)

I appreciated the entertainers coming to visit us.

[llmart]

21. I have to give Bob Hope a lot of credit for doing those shows.

My sister was in DaNang with the Red Cross and she always says that the guys were so appreciative of everything that they did for them in the way of trying to bring them a little piece of home in a war zone.

[MiniMe]

17. 62 but remember it well. Had a cousin that went

Remember her saying that they "lost" the car, and couldn't find it until everybody left