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These vintage LIFE magazine issues have been known to be the hit of the party when people reminisce while seeing the fun classic advertisements and events of days gone by.

LIFE Magazine had a lot to cover in the 1960s. The political scene alone, with the space race, civil rights movement, feminist movement, anti-war movement, Cuban Missile Crisis, the Watts race riots and the assassinations of President Kennedy, Malcom X and Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been enough. But covering the cultural revolution - from The Beatles to communes to Woodstock - and the “computer” revolution kept LIFE Magazine reporters scrambling, successfully, for the stories that would make LIFE Magazine that much more important as a historical record.

One of the most important stories that LIFE Magazine would ever cover was the Vietnam War. From sending photographers to the trenches to covering the stories of draft dodgers and deserters, LIFE Magazines during the 1960s explored every aspect of the most highly televised conflict in history. LIFE Magazine would do it’s part to shape the story, as well. One of LIFE’s most memorable stories was from an issue published on June 27, 1969. Editor-in-chief Hedley Donovan approved a yearbook-like spread of photos of the 242 soldiers who died in Vietnam between May 28 and June 3. That feature did what the editor hoped - it burned into the American consciousness the young faces of the men who fought.

So many other pivotal moments in history occurred between 1960 and 1969 that it’s hard to document them here, but LIFE Magazine captured the opinions, words and images that defined an undefinable decade. A look through any one of the LIFE Magazines we carry from the 1960s will give you an up-close look at history being made.

The atomic bomb placed America at the forefront of scientific advancement. LIFE Magazine ran multi-issue features on the nature of the universe, the origins of man, the growth of civilization, and even new advancements in medicine. During a time when outer space captured the national imagination, LIFE ran stories about the legitimacy of flying saucer sightings (“Have We Visitors from Space?” from April 7, 1952) and America’s first astronauts (1959). Even after the USSR launched the first man-made satellite, Sputnik, before American scientists could launch their own, LIFE Magazine spent pages and pages extolling the virtues of America’s space program.

Movies we call classics today, including musicals like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Guys and Dolls” (which LIFE Magazine featured on the cover of the April 21, 1955 issue),  can be found in reviews and advertisements in LIFE Magazine issues throughout the 1950s. Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, both featured on LIFE Magazine covers throughout the decade, illustrate the two faces of sex appeal during the 1950s – the free, sensual bombshell and the demure, classic beauty. Even handsome, young politician John F. Kennedy and his beautiful wife would capture American imaginations from LIFE Magazine’s pages.

Other stories captured the essence of a nation coming to understand a new definition of morality, and LIFE Magazine had no problem exploring any controversy that arose. A heart-wrenching account of Anne Frank’s life after her capture was first given in the pages of LIFE Magazine in August of 1958, reminding the American public of the dangers of discrimination. The epic Brown vs. Board of Education decision on the desegregation of schools prompted a 5-issue series on segregation in America that highlighted both sides of the issue, ending with a poignant plea to end segregation on Biblical grounds authored by a young Billy Graham.

In 1959, America began its involvement in Vietnam, a move that would dictate the political and social climate of the country for decades to come. A whole generation of young people who learned to rebel with rock ‘n roll and civil rights marches were about to change the world in a very real and sometimes violent way, and LIFE Magazine would follow them into the turbulent 1960s.

By the end of the 1930s, America was still in the throes of the Great Depression and the rest of the world was going to war. By the end of the 1940s, nothing would be the same. Flipping through the pages of LIFE Magazines from 1940 to 1949 is like watching the world change before your eyes. Sections like “LIFE on the Newsfronts of the World” chronicled the weekly development of the war in Europe, and LIFE Magazine editors devoted ever greater numbers of pages to events leading up to America’s entrance into World War II. For years, Americans read of the conflict in the pages of LIFE Magazine as outsiders. Then came December 7, 1941 – “a date which will live in infamy.”

Beginning with the first issue of LIFE Magazine after the Pearl Harbor attack, you can see a shift in American culture. Cover photos, with few exceptions, feature strapping soldiers, American flags, or beautiful women. Even the advertisements went to war, with handsome men in uniform selling soap and encouraging the purchase of war bonds by the dozen. War-time issues of LIFE Magazine offer a unique look into domestic life in America during WWII. Instead of 24-hour news coverage, families read about battles well after they happened. A moment-by-moment, first-hand account of The Battle of the Bulge, complete with diagrams, is chronicled in the January 8th issue from 1945. Lighter moments, like the soldiers’ improvised “Spaghetti Bowl” football game and parade held in snowy northern Italy, are left out of most history books, but from the pages of LIFE Magazine they offer you a special look into life for soldiers in the 40s. From The beaches at Normandy to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, LIFE Magazine is a treasure trove of information and photographs for WWII enthusiasts.

War might have been the main event, but life as usual didn’t cease to exist for Americans. Movie reviews of classics like National Velvet and Citizen Kane; profiles of stars like Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck and Judy Garland; and biographies of baseball legends all give a peek into how Americans at home kept morale high. Walt Disney makes a surprising number of visits to LIFE’s pages during the forties, both for full-length features like Dumbo and for his series of war-themed short films. In the years after the war, LIFE Magazine and America settled in for a new time of prosperity, peace, and growth during the 1950s.

Beginning with the first issue of LIFE Magazine after the Pearl Harbor attack, you can see a shift in American culture. Cover photos, with few exceptions, feature strapping soldiers, American flags, or beautiful women. Even the advertisements went to war, with handsome men in uniform selling soap and encouraging the purchase of war bonds by the dozen. War-time issues of LIFE Magazine offer a unique look into domestic life in America during WWII. Instead of 24-hour news coverage, families read about battles well after they happened. A moment-by-moment, first-hand account of The Battle of the Bulge, complete with diagrams, is chronicled in the January 8th issue from 1945. Lighter moments, like the soldiers’ improvised “Spaghetti Bowl” football game and parade held in snowy northern Italy, are left out of most history books, but from the pages of LIFE Magazine they offer you a special look into life for soldiers in the 40s. From The beaches at Normandy to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, LIFE Magazine is a treasure trove of information and photographs for WWII enthusiasts.

War might have been the main event, but life as usual didn’t cease to exist for Americans. Movie reviews of classics like National Velvet and Citizen Kane; profiles of stars like Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck and Judy Garland; and biographies of baseball legends all give a peek into how Americans at home kept morale high. Walt Disney makes a surprising number of visits to LIFE’s pages during the forties, both for full-length features like Dumbo and for his series of war-themed short films. In the years after the war, LIFE Magazine and America settled in for a new time of prosperity, peace, and growth during the 1950s.

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