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| The Lakeview Park beach that I remember from the 1960s |
Later, Lakeview Park became a less desirable place for families, due to a lot of hippies and riff-raff, so Mom & Dad didn't take us there too much.
But by the time I was driving in the mid-1970s, cruising through Lakeview was still the cool thing to do. I remember driving through there with my high school buddies (many of whom were a year younger than me), keeping our cans of 3.2 beers low. (I wonder if the statute of limitations ran out on that particular crime?)
Anyways, to close out the week here on the blog, here's a nice page of photographs by the great Norm Bergsma that ran in the Journal on July 24, 1964. The collection of photos captures an innocent time, showing teenagers and families enjoying a carefree day of fun at Lakeview beach.
8 comments:
As filthy as Lake Erie water was in the Sixties, I 'd go play in it. In later years (the Seventies) I was one of the "hippies and riffraff" that haunted the park, along with a certain vivacious redhead who shall remain nameless.
Those dadgum hippies and associated riffraff!
We had the same problems over in Pennsyltucky.
Wonder if any of those folks pictured are still around?
I was one of those hippie riffraff in the Seventies, along with a certain vivacious redhead who shall remain nameless.
I'm the same age as the young people pictured and I'm still around. (I think.) Those photos very much remind me of that time.
I often swam in Lake Erie back then. It had a briny quality that was a little gross.
It's cool seeing the ore unloader thingamabob in the background.A reminder of how Lorain was a miniature version of Cleveland with all of its factories and good paying jobs.The industrial jobs are all gone now and the only thing that remains is the beach which will still be here after we are all gone.Including you hippies too.
To be clear, I wasn't talking about mere long-haired kids hanging out at Lakeview when I used the term 'hippies and riff-raff.' I'm talking about the rough element who would challenge or otherwise intimidate a family with young kids from freely using the park by staring them down or otherwise blocking access to sidewalks, etc. and in effect taking over the park. It was reflective of the times, of challenging authority, etc.
This post provides a summer of 1970 perspective of the problem:
https://danielebrady.blogspot.com/2020/09/lakeview-park-new-teen-hangout-august.html
I remember reading that article that you posted Dan.Those people referred to themselves as "Freaks" not hippies.
It's kind of funny to me that I seemed to have hit a nerve with my comment about 'hippies and riff-raff.' I did not use those terms as some sort of expression of disdain or hatred or prejudice. Back then, we called anybody with unusually long hair and generally sloppy looking a hippie. And as for "riff-raff," I was referring to generally threatening looking types. "Freaks" isn't a term I was using back then or now.
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