Beatnik

Beatniks were the counterculture phenomenon of the 1950's and early 1960's. In rebellion against the militaristic and conformist society that was the United States after World War II, beatniks were bohemians who sported goatees, drank wine, smoked a lot of cigarettes, wrote and recited poetry, played folk music, played the bongo drums and said stuff like "cool, man, cool", "go, man go" and called people "Daddyo" and "Cool Cat." Influenced by European, especially French, culture, and by African American culture, beatniks believed in free love and despised the 9 to 5 rat race. Jack Kerouac was the patron saint of all beatniks, and his best-selling novel "On the Road" was their bible. The beatniks evolved into hippes as the 1960's progressed.