What makes Eugene Eugene?

 

Tie Dye & Tofu: How Mainstream Eugene Became a Counterculture Haven

May 8, 2010 – March 31, 2011

(Tie Dye and Tofu is closed during the Quilt Show,
April 6-18, 2011.)

Visitor at Opening. Photo by George Filgate

The Lane County Historical Museum presents a counterculture experience. Listen to Wheatfield and other music popular in coffee houses and other alternative venues during this transitional period. To listen to Wheatfield’s music on myspace, click here. Original Hippie clothing including wedding dresses, alternative newspapers, and other artifacts and memorabilia from alternative lifestyles and endeavors are part of this exhibit.

Learn about the origins of Toby’s Tofu, White Bird, The Oregon Country Fair and the Springfield Creamery.

“The Bay Area has  become just a little too heavy.  Haight Ashbury is a bad place, motorcycle jockeys, addicts, prostitutes have taken it over. Sausalito was nice, but it was discovered too quickly.  The same is true of Mill Valley.  And if you haven’t noticed there is nothing really north of Mill Valley until you get to Eugene.”    – Bullfrog Magazine c 1972

Child at Butler Green Commune c1970.

A Tie Dye Update!

Thank you to everyone in the community who has contributed to Tie Dye & Tofu.  Lane County Historical Museum is proud to present this exhibition that reflects on our unique community!

Description of Tie Dye & Tofu

“What makes Eugene, Eugene?”

The Lane County Historical Museum ‘s major exhibition “Tie Dye and Tofu: How Mainstream Eugene Became a Counterculture Haven” runs through March 31, 2011.  The exhibit addresses the change in Eugene occurring 1965 through the mid 70s. This transitional era was important not only nationally, but to the development and identity of our community. This exhibit asks: What attracted the counterculture movement that changed Eugene to the city it is today? Who were/are the people and business that helped shape this movement?

Exhibit Components: Visitors to this multifaceted exhibit will experience the Eugene of 1965 to 1975. Counterculture endeavors and entrepreneurships, some of which continue today, are featured. Political and topical issues and activist groups of that period, as well as fashion, music, and communal living are all included. A 1970s mainstream interactive kitchen interior, a hippie pad interior, and an interactive exhibit of a coffee house all help to describe life during that period of time.

Complementary events and programs provide an opportunity to support the exhibit. Among the proposed events are a showing of an independent film about “Vortex I”, the only state-sponsored rock festival that occurred right here in Oregon.  A fashion show of one-of-a-kind period clothing and original creations by local artists inspired by the period is another proposed event.

Why now?: The timing of this exhibition is perfect.  Those who lived through Viet Nam, Woodstock and other pivotal cultural events of forty years ago are now reflecting on their significance.  Those too young to have experienced those years have inherited the results.

The news of this exhibit has generated widespread community interest and involvement.  The museum has received community support in the form of personal stories, photographs and objects. Within the first few months of this exhibit we have broken previous attendance records.  Tie Dye and Tofu is the museum’s most successful exhibition to date.

Come visit us!