Happy Hippies (A picture tour to their origin)

In the 1960’s and 1970’s, a group women who were discontent with society and men who, upon returning form the Vietnam War, were unwelcome guests in their own country, decided to do something about their dissatisfaction. It probably sounds familiar: lots of college students and no good jobs, no equal rights in society, and raging segregation and inequality.


These problems birthed the hippie movement, and along with that movement came communes. Communes were basically living spaces and villages where like-minded people lived a more agrarian lifestyle away from the madness that was the United States of America. They were able to explore their minds and their souls. As University of Kansas professor Timothy Miller put it, “reason had run its course; now it was time to return to the mystical and intuitional…the hippies rejected the industrial for the agrarian, the plastic for the natural, the synthetic for the organic.”


Each commune was different. Some were extremely religious, others secular and more involved with the Earth. There was some drug use while others were strictly sober. Each commune had its own culture. One of the strangest communes was the Source Family. The Source Family was founded by spiritual leader Ed Baker, better known as Father Yod. The family was entrepreneurial. They opened the first vegetarian restaurant in Los Angeles. They became known for their unusual living style, long hair, and bears. Father Yod died in 1977 in a hand-gliding accident. The Source Family fell apart soon after.


These are some of the amazing photos of hippie communes and the Source Family.

“If I could go back, I would go back this second,” said David Pearson, a surfer who moved to Taylor Camp in 1972. He's 67 now, and a retired school teacher. “I can’t imagine anything more pristine and beautiful than the life I had there. It was the single most defining experience of my life.” Source: Messy Nessy Chic

Photography by John Olsen. Source: Fans In A Flashbulb

Clothing was highly optional at Taylor Camp. 
Source: Messy Nessy Chic

Taylor Camp had few amenities and no electricity. 
Source: Messy Nessy Chic

Photography by John Olsen. Source: Fans In A Flashbulb

Tent-dwelling hippie Family of the Mystic Arts commune Bray family reading bedtime stories, with father Ron (former bank computer programmer) mother Nancy (Radcliffe grad) and 4 kids. Sunny Valley, Oregon 1969. (Photographer: John Olson)

Hippies on a school bus. 
Source: My Web

Photography by Sara Davidson

With the rise of Hawaii's tourism industry, the government cracked down on Taylor camp. In 1977 the land was seized by the government, the village was burned to the ground, and the entire area was turned into Na Pali State Park. 
Source: Messy Nessy Chic

The Farm still exists today with about 170 members. 
Source: The Atlantic

In the early days of the commune, Farm members took serious vows of poverty. They owned few possessions, use no artificial birth control, alcohol, tobacco, animal products, or--and this was unusual for communes--no man-made psychotropics (LSD). Source: Steven War Ran

They built their beach front tree houses out of anything they could find: bamboo, scrap lumber, and salvaged materials. Source: Messy Nessy Chic

They lived off of the land (and food stamps). 
Source: Messy Nessy Chic

The commune was founded by 13 hippies who, tired of the Vietnam war and constant police brutality of the mainland, fled to this island paradise. Source: Messy Nessy Chic

Taylor Camp was a sanctuary for Vietnam veterans who wanted to escape the stresses of ever day life. 
Source: Messy Nessy Chic

Taylor Camp was a tropical ocean-front utopia in Hawaii without rules, politics, or bills to pay. 
Source: Messy Nessy Chic

One of the most interesting (and strangest) communes to come out of the 70s was the Source Family. 
Source: Messy Nessy Chic

The Source Family was the brainchild WWII  martial arts expert turned Hollywood restauranteur turned spiritual leader, Ed Baker, or Father Yod, as he preferred to be called. 
Source: Messy Nessy Chic

Father Yod was not a young man, and he had 13 youthful, beautiful wives. His pervy behavior drew some serious criticism. Source: Messy Nessy Chic

The women of the Source Family outside their Hollywood Hills home. Source: Messy Nessy Chic

Since he had 13 wives, Father Yod also had many children. 
Source: Messy Nessy Chic

The Source Family Band practiced every morning at 3AM. Together they recorded more than 60 limited-pressing records of psychedelic rock chants and prayers. Source: Messy Nessy Chic

Father Yod died in a freak hand-gliding accident in 1977 in Hawaii. The Source Family fell apart soon after his death. Source: Messy Nessy Chic

Original letter - 'Eye Opening Images Of One Of America’s Hippy Communes'
Other Sources - Meet The New Aquarians : Society’s Dropouts
                          48 Eye-Opening Photos Of America’s 1970s Hippie Communes