Life in the Beach Retro (aka: Before you were born)
Beach Retro- Post Nuclear Wonder Years
1946-1966 were a trying twenty years for our culture in general. ‘Life is a Beach’ attitude of Southern California had its test. No one could be oblivious any longer to the grind of the Cold War. Threats of mutual nuclear destruction hovered over us upon a madman’s whim, and the innocence of the era was colored by imaginary clouds of radioactive angst that a generation harbored in their minds – but carried on with a measure of blithe. This series attempts to re-create those wonder years Utopia meets Dystopia.
1961 in particular brought a chilling realization that life as we know it may be forever altered during the Cuban Missile Crisis, that pitted American vs Soviet resolve. After many days, it came down to ‘Who Blinked’ Really? A sordid contest of wills? How stupid and reckless our leaders – to imperil the planet when most just wanted to go to the beach.
Fortunately, no nuclear summer occurred, and humanity got a grip on just how precious the planet is. Practice Joy not Angst. And we went back to working on Coca Butter tans , not state of the art Bomb Shelters.
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John@studiovistadelmar.com
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