Ever since reading and watching "Brokeback Mountain," there's no way I can hear about something that happened in 1963 without thinking of Ennis and Jack going up and down that mountain. I see Ennis getting out of the semi and the words flashing up on the screen:
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h269/merylmarie/BBMLinesVisualized/BrokieBrunch/Brokeback/1963_zpsfbf611dd.jpg) (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/merylmarie/media/BBMLinesVisualized/BrokieBrunch/Brokeback/1963_zpsfbf611dd.jpg.html)
Phillip started a thread 7 years ago for people to write about what their lives were like then: The Question of Time: What Was Life Like in 1963? (http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,78.0/all.html)
But this one is different in that it's more about times that 1963 jumps out at you and makes you think of Brokeback, e.g., a cornerstone on a building, someone's birth date, a cashier's receipt, a license plate, or an historical reference.
This is the place to put any references to 1963 you might notice cropping up in daily life.
The event that made me want to start this thread happened May 1 and May 22, 1963, when the first Americans made it to the top of Mount Everest. I've been reading a book written by one of the climbers:
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h269/merylmarie/Catchall%202/EverestTheWestRidgebook_zps4ff72c53.jpg) (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/merylmarie/media/Catchall%202/EverestTheWestRidgebook_zps4ff72c53.jpg.html)
See the two tiny figures at the bottom of the picture? That's Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld heading up the West Ridge, the first climbers ever to try that route to the summit. They made it, too, and though Jim Whittaker will be remembered as the first American to reach the top of Everest (he came with 3 others up the tried-and-true South Col route), the pioneering of the West Ridge is equally if not more important in mountaineering history.
Here's a brief account of the climb, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Of the six men to summit, only two are still living, Tom Hornbein and Jim Whittaker.
http://www.eddiebauer.com/EB/MP/Everest/index.cat
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1YaIOH1Sbk[/youtube]
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RmJ25VBKTLI[/youtube]
Here's a page full of photojournalism from 1963 (it says "the world in 1963," but the POV is pretty US-centric, I'm afraid). It should dispel any notions anyone has (not here, but I've heard this kind of thing expressed elsewhere) that the early '60s were idyllic and peaceful.
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/02/50-years-ago-the-world-in-1963/100460/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/02/50-years-ago-the-world-in-1963/100460/)
I just scrolled through these pictures, and there are some really great ones among them. Thanks, Katherine. I'd forgotten just how much was going on that year. My favorite is the picture of men on the NY subway, still dressing in suits, trench coats and hats!
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h269/merylmarie/Catchall%202/Subwayriders1963_zpscc57a958.jpg) (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/merylmarie/media/Catchall%202/Subwayriders1963_zpscc57a958.jpg.html)
Here's the preface:
A half century ago, much of the news in the United States was dominated by the actions of civil rights activists and those who opposed them. Our role in Vietnam was steadily growing, along with the costs of that involvement. It was the year Beatlemania began, and the year President John F. Kennedy visited West Berlin and delivered his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. Push-button telephones were introduced, 1st class postage cost 5 cents, and the population of the world was 3.2 billion, less than half of what it is today. The final months of 1963 were punctuated by one of the most tragic events in American history, the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas, Texas.