Every night at the dance all the guys would line up down
one side of the dance floor and all the girls would line up down the
opposite side. Once the band kicked off with their music the guys
would make a dash across the floor for the prettiest girl and ask her to
dance. Most of the girls were in groups and there would be much
discussion between them as to whether she should accept the guys
invitation. Once the main rush had ceased the only people left
on either side of the dance floor would be would be the shy and or plain
boys and girls mostly from out of town.
So you can now picture the scene. The townies jiving to the Rock n
Roll and the Culchies stepping on each others toes trying to make their
way around the dancers in the middle.
Then there was the outfits, and again you could instantly
tell who came from the town and who came in from the country.
The Girls were in their Beehive hair styles with enough
Lacquer to sink half a dozed battle ships. 1960's was the decade
when hair took on a life of its own. From bobs to beehives, hair was
very big, exaggerated and even tortured. Back combing was an art form
and the bigger the hair do the more inspirational you were.
If the fellow asked you to go for a Mineral, during
the dance,
you knew the night just became more interesting.
*gr*
The next question was,
"can I walk you home?"
Such great times we had. The girls all lined up in the toilet, putting
on the perfume, lipstick, and the bee hive hairdos and the guys in
the Gents combing in their DA's and Quiff's and checking their Jackets with the
Velvet Collars.
The guys of course had
their DA hair styles full of Brylcreem, enough grease to service a fleet
of trucks, wearing their Winkle Picker shoes and their Drain Pipe
trousers. Then came the Flares and the Platforms.
The DA was adopted as an emblematic coiffure by
disaffected young males all over the English-speaking world and beyond
(particularly in France and Sweden) during the 1950s. In Britain as well
as Ireland it was part of the visual identity of Teddy Boys and Rockers,
along with the Quiff and the Elephant's Trunk.
There was no liqueur ('the hard stuff''), (sprits)
allowed inside the Ballroom. The strongest drink was Lemonade.
Very few people had cars and if you didn't have a bicycle you had to
walk.
Some people walked five miles or more miles, bopped from about 9
o'clock until 2 o'clock then walked home afterwards. And then on Sunday
morning you had to be up bright and early to walk or bike to Mass for 9
o'clock.
In those days everyone went everywhere on a bike but
nobody locked them up. You park it up against a wall somewhere and
it would still be there when you went back for it.
Oh the memories!
The Teddy Boy youth culture
first emerged in Britain during the early 1950s, and was strongly
associated with American rock and roll music of the period.
It was typified by male youths wearing a modified style
of Edwardian clothes. In Britain the name Edward was commonly (though
less so these days) shortened to Ted.
Clothing consisted of drape jackets with velvet collars,
narrow 'drainpipe' trousers, large crepe-soled shoes (sometimes
nicknamed 'brothel creepers'), and bootlace ties. Preferred hairstyles
included a quiff combed back to form a 'DA' (duck's arse) at the rear of
the head.
'Teddy girls' adopted
American fashions: toreador pants and voluminous circle skirts, wearing
their hair in ponytails.
As with some other youth culture movements, groups of 'Teds'
sometimes formed gangs and enjoyed notoriety following violent clashes
with rival gangs.
In the 1960s, many Teddy Boys
became 'Rockers'. During the 1970s,
rockabilly music enjoyed a brief period of popularity and saw a
resurgence of interest in 'Teddy boy'
fashions.
Your Stories of the 50's & 60's
London. England.
Well, the Galtimore in Cricklewood, London springs to mind. One Saturday
night in 1964, a fairly drunken Paddy, still in his navvy clobber asked
me to dance with him. When I refused, he replied, why didnt ya bring yar
------- knitten witcha.-charming,not!
From a Moran lady who once lived in Ballynagall, Co.Laois. (Emigrated to
Bedfordshire. England in 1958).
A Culchie: Usually found in rural areas apart from about once
a year when they venture into big towns and cities to find out what this
urbanisation thing is all about. They spend most their day in muddy fields
feeding their herds. The speak a unique language which can only be
understood by other culchie's.
