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The People’s Ball, Fiesta in America’s preliminary episode and an elegantly schemed prelude to the two-day exposition and cultural indoor event, has consistently been a most-awaited and hugely attended summer social gathering this side of the east coast primarily due to its diversely themed fête and ambitiously conceptualized programming.
If last year’s well appreciated theme, the timelessly romantic Roaring 20s, was an all-time hit, easily then this year’s center-of-interest is indubitably another runaway winner if not totally an ostentatiously nostalgic knock-out.
Imagine reliving the era of the 60s… isn’t that exciting enough? Well, my friends, since the 60s generation was utterly deemed as the “melting epoch” of the century and the focal point where the next generations’ lifestyle and pop culture originated, won’t that be undeniably adequate to heave inquisitiveness, elicit curiosity, and stimulate interest to attend and experience real-to-goodness social festivity?
Envision these: The 1960s fashion was unmistakably flamboyant, premeditating, and futuristic …the music was upbeat… nightlife scene was highly influenced by nightclubs and discotheques… and life seemed easy, cool, and uncomplicated.
Glamorous screen icons, fashion models and celebrities like Twiggy, Mary Quant, Jackie Onassis, Audrey Hepburn, Ursula Andres, Marilyn Monroe, greatly influenced the 60s trends and styles.
The 60s fashion was basically composed of colorful and multi-hued gowns, palazzo and bell bottom pants, ostentatious wigs and headdresses, stiletto shoes and knee-high boots with vibrant fishnets stockings, double-lined eye shadows and thick false eyelashes, razor-sharp doe-eyes, puffed sleeved and huge collared tops, safari prints and bold lines, culottes skirts, tent cut dresses, haltered sleeves, trapeze cut hemline, etc… faultlessly matched with cabbage roses, strings of pearls, ribbons and bows, metal studded hipster belts, huge geometric dangling earrings, peak-a-boo vests, oversized fancy watches and rings, wide colorful headbands, and fancy-looking accessories.
Interesting fabrics flooded the textile markets with the likes of polyester nylon, rayon, twill, double knit, cotton silk, corded and Chantilly laces, gabardine, corduroy, Oxford cotton, tetoron, half sack, chambray, faded denims, and many others.
A great league of performing artists came into existence who successfully sustained their careers farther way beyond the 60s: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles, The Everly Brothers, Tom Jones,
The Rolling Stones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Herman’s Hermits, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, The Jackson Five, The Ventures, The Doors, Credence Clear Water Revival, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Paul Anka, Teddy Randazzo, Patsy Cline, Neil Sedaka, Simon & Garfunkel, Jimi Hendrix, The Beach Boys, Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Mamas & The Papas, Dave Clark Five, Louis Armstrong, The Archies, The Fifth Dimension, The Turtles, The Doors, The Monkees, The Byrds, Lesley Gore, Etta James, Ray Peterson, Debbie Reynolds, Patti Page, Connie Francis, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Roy Orbison, Cher, Anita Bryant, Brenda Lee, Dionne Warwick, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, The Zombies, The Bee Gees, The Four Tops, Neil Diamond, Bobby Darin, etc…
The entertainment world provided the viewing public with memorable films such as To Kill A Mockingbird (1962), Psycho (1960), The Haunting (1963), Through A Glass Darkly (1961), The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly (1966), The Graduate (1967), Night of the Living Dead (1968), Easy Rider (1969), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Spartacus (1963), The Wild Bunch (1969), They Shoot Horses Don’t They? (1969), Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (1969), The Dirty Dozen (1965), Wait Until Dark (1967), West Side Story (1961), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961), Oliver! (1968), The Magnificent Seven (1960), To Sir With Love (1967), Romeo & Juliet (1968), The Great Escape (1963), Bonnie & Clyde (1967), Cleopatra (1963), Mary Poppins (1964), The Pink Panther (1963), Planet of the Apes (1968), Lolita (1962), Midnight Cowboy (1969), A Man for All Seasons (1966), etc…
Market headliners of the 60s were impressive. Chevrolet Corvette by General Motors Jaguar E Type was tagged with $ 5,990 price; Dodge Charger RT Austin Mini Cooper was only for $ 1,950;
Volkswagen Beetle was sold for $ 1,769 while a Ford Mustang could be bought for merely $ 2,368.
The 1960s era also introduced to the world a number of inventions and many firsts: Laser (1960) (USA) by Teodore Maiman; Heart Pacemaker (1960) (USA) by Wilson Greatbatch; Halogen Lamp (1961); 1st Audio Cassette (1962); LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) (1962) (USA); 1st “Space Wars” Computer Game (1962); Tape Cassette (1963) Netherlands; Computer Mouse (1964) by Douglas Engelbert; First Contact Lens (1965) by Astroturf; Kevlar (a synthetic material used in Bullet Proof vests) (1965) by Stephanie Louise Kwolek; First Compact Disc (1965) by James Russel; Optical Disc (now known as CD / Compact Disc) (1965) (USA); Fibre Optics (1966) (England) by Charles Keo & George Hockham; Portable Calculator (1967) (USA); Barcode Scanner (1969); and ATM (1969).
Historical events were distinctively part of the prosperous generation and the following are the most significant ones:
1960: John F. Kennedy won the US Presidential Election, France liberated Senegal, Togo, Mauritania, and the Central African Republic.
In 1961 the Vietnam War hit the headlines, there was the construction of the Berlin Wall (to separate East & West Berlin), the rise of the Civil Rights Protest, Peace Corps was created, Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the 1s person in space followed by US Alan Sheppard after a month.
1962: The Beatles released 1st single: “Love, Love Me Do,” Sam Walton opened 1st Walmart in Arkansas, and comic book “Spider Man” made its debut.
1963: The assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy (by Lee Harvey Oswald) Friday, Nov. 22 in Dealy Plaza, Dallas, Texas; the US started using Zip Codes; USSR sent Valentina Tereshkova as the 1st woman in space.
1964: NASA’s Mariner IV took images of Mars; Sidney Poitier won Best Actor (1st black man to win); Ford Motors started production and selling Mustang; and US Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
1965: Mary Quant designed and popularized the mini-skirt; Soft Contact lens was invented: NutraSweet (artificial sugar) was invented; Health Warnings appeared in cigarette packets; The Voting Rights Act became law (African-Americans were allowed to vote); TV’s “Days of Our Lives” debuted on air; Miss Philippines Gemma Cruz won Miss International.
1966: Star Trek’s 1st TV episode was aired; Indira Gandhi became prime Minister of India; Botswana and Lesotho gained independence from France.
1967: Rolling Stone Magazine published its first edition; African doctor Christian Barnard completed the 1st heart transplant operation; The 25th Amendment to the US constitution was ratified; and Thurgood Marshall became the 1st African-American appointed to the US Supreme Court.
1968: Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray; Richard Nixon won the US Presidential Election; Apollo 7 was launched by NASA as the 1st manned spacecraft to orbit the earth; and 1st Boeing 747 (Jumbo Jet) was introduced.
1969: Neil Armstrong and Buss Aldrin became the first men to land on the moon via Apollo 11; Miss Philippines Gloria Aspillera Diaz was crowned Miss Universe; Children’s TV show “Sesame Street” was launched; United Kingdom abolished Death Penalty; The Woodstock Music Fest took place in NY; and the ATM (Automated Teller Machine) was invented.
Children also benefited from the 60s innovations with the introduction of new toys: Barbie Dolls,
G.I. Joe, Flinstones figurines, attractive puzzles, board games, plastic balloons, and baseball game stuffs.
Summing it up and looking back at the 1960s period, it was unquestionably the paramount and most dominant age of the twentieth century considering that almost everything we’re currently enjoying are but bits and pieces from that remarkable generation.
Come and join us celebrate and relive the grandeur of the 60s era on Friday, August 11, 2017 at the aristocratic ballroom of Hilton Meadowlands Hotel at #2 Meadowlands Plaza, East Rutherford, NJ 07073 and experience the fun, excitement, and the high spirited ambience.
For reservations or more information please call 212-682-6610 or 201-300-5234 or visit us at www.fiestainamerica.com. You can also contact the People’s Ball Honorary Chairs: Jocelyn Aligarbes @ 646-515-5234 ([email protected]); Maria Pilar Monje @ 017-378-3030 ([email protected]); & Atty. Nick Caraquel @ 859-398-8999 ([email protected]).
For comments and suggestions, please email to: [email protected].
