Contrary to popular belief, Beatniks were not black beret,
black turtleneck, dark sunglasses, goatee wearing
kids who hung-out in dark cafes reading poetry. Allegedly, the word was coined by a reporter who combined the words
beat—tired, worn out—
short for Beat Generation, and nik,
short for Sputnik, the World’
s first space satellite, implying members of the Beat Generation (my
parents’ generation, who were children in the 1940s and in their twenties in the 1950s) were Communists—and some of them were. There were real Beatniks though—what we in the States called Hippies (little Hipsters), the
British called Beatniks. In virtually every way, they were one in the same. Beginning in the late ‘50s, the stereotype “Beatnik” we think of today was created as a marketing ploy to create a new subculture in order to sell anything from berets and sunglasses to cheap bongos. Hollywood contributed to the stereotype, but also portrayed Beatniks for what they really were, at times. A very realistic TV “Beatnik” was Maynard, played by Bob Denver, in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959).
When someone of the Beat Generation was asked “How are you,” the reply was inevitably— “Ah, you know me. I’m just
beat.”
When a Beatnik was asked the same, he might have replied—“Hey
Dad, don’t put me on a bummer with all that phony L7 stuff! Have another Martini and just slide me some skin, unless you really wanna
rap!”
