In 1964-65, shuttling between San Francisco rooming houses and a Virginia City, Nevada saloon, a handful of would-be hipsters too late for the beatnik scene created their own subculture, formulating most of the public and private rituals of those who would soon be called “hippies” (appropriating, ironically, a derogatory term used by veteran hipsters toward new ones). They coalesced into several evanescent but influential groups, among them the Pine Street rooming house people, the Red Dog Saloon gang, and the Family Dog commune. While other groups like Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters got more press coverage, these proto-hippies were the key formulators of hippie dance, poster, costume, and oral tradition.
