What were Austin summers like in 1962? [VIDEO + PHOTOS]

2011 July 6

Man, this weekend I wrecked my body. During the days, I biked, swam, and yoga-d from sunup to sundown. My nights were spent partying, dancing and dining until the wee hours of the morning. Suffice to say, today my body is pretty much 175 lbs of tenderized and marinated tofu. But that’s just summer in Austin, right?

Did our quarter-life counterparts get equally buckwild 50 years ago? What did people in Austin do in the summers in the early 1960s? Thanks to the Texas Archive of the Moving Image, we know. Since they don’t allow embedding, we ripped half of the video for your enjoyment. Head over to Texas Archive of Moving Image to see the full video.

VIDEO: Austin Summer Fun in 1962

At 29 minutes, the video itself is kind of long. It uses that old school happy sorta Disney-like music. And since it seems to be a Chamber of Commerce-type propaganda film, it has a heavy ‘bring your factory to Austin’ promotional feel to it. To make it a little more digestible, here’s an overview of some of the cool things from the video.

Highlights from Austin Summer Fun in 1962

Barton Springs was a great place to “bathe in sun.” Plus, there used to be a high dive? I kinda feel gypped. Since 1962 was before the Beatles really made it big, wonder what the kids on the top of the hill played on acoustic guitars back then?

The kids loved to water ski. Kind of like wakeboarding today, looks like they loved to stunt as much as we do. These shots look like they were taken on Lake Austin near where Hula Hut is today.

There used to be horseback riding in Zilker Park! Apparently, there was a stable. Was this back behind the grills and stuff where the day camp is now?

Emma Long Metropolitan Park used to be the hang out. Now it’s a place for family reunions, but in the film, it looked like there were a lot of cool things goin on. And check out the boat named “Shorty.”