Before people were 'woke' they were 'aware'...going back in time with underground newspapers from the 1960's & 1970's.

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

 

I got a somewhat diverse collection of underground newspapers from the 1960's & 1970's. It is interesting going back in time to that era. I was a teenager back then. Groovy was a word that was used a lot in the classified ads as well as 'aware.' People weren't 'woke' yet...they were AWARE!

 

Classified ad L.A. Star 1972

DDTJRAC

Classified ad L.A. Star 1972

DDTJRAC

I think 'hip' was used before aware, but I'm not sure. I was not too hip or aware back then. All these newspapers are oversize and have to be flatbed scanned with the large format scanner, so it takes time. Even if you got a large format sheet fed scanner you can't run newsprint through it or it crinkles the paper, and the scanner rollers get fouled with black ink. If it is a big center spread, it has to be done on the vacuum easel and copy stand.

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DDTJRAC

Back then we just threw away the papers. Some were .10, some were .25 and some were free. Now some of them go for $45 to $100 each on eBay.  The San Francisco Oracle is one of the most prized papers as well as anything with Robert Crumb cartoons in them.

Classified ad L.A. Star 1972

DDTJRAC

Very entertaining the things you find in the papers. This guy advertises for someone to play with his wife's long hair.

Classified ad L.A. Star 1972

DDTJRAC

Another ad shows a pretty gal straddling her big dog 'Wolfie' and selling 2 bestiality sex photos for $2 a pop. These ads here are just some of the tame ones. I'll leave the bestiality stuff in the 8mm archive for now. For some reason most of the bestiality porn was on 8mm and not 16mm.

I'm still trying to figure out if that stuff is fit for legal consumption or not or if some statute of limitations applies due to their age. Trying to find out the law in that area is not easy. For me as an archivist, I have no censorship hangups. (Another favorite word of that day) But that does not go too far if you run into legal issues. Back then, things were legal that are illegal now and vice versa. 

Edited January 5, 2022 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.