Dirty Corduroys And Curly Hair. . . .

Hi-de-ho' to all of you 'Hep Cats',

"What's buzzin, cousin?"

I wanted to post a little trivia about the dirty corduroys worn by
David and Ronnie in the picture accompanying my story, "What
Are You Doing Here?"

The late 1940s were an exciting time to be alive, especially if you
were a high school student full of adventure and enthusiasm.
The fads in clothing were the 'Cat's Pajamas' and 'Slangish' was a
language that belonged to us and was a 'solid' part of our lives.

The boys of Lincoln County High School soon discovered that
corduroy pants were a comfortable and welcome addition to levis
in their wardrobe and they became the 'threads' of choice. They
found themselves saving all of the 'dead presidents' (money) they
could in order to purchase a pair. Cream or light beige were the
colors of choice because they more easily showed the dirt.

I say, a pair, because one pair could last for most of a school year.
They never washed them. If Mother even looked like she was
going to include them in the weekly laundry, they would 'flip
their wig'! The dirtier they were, the more 'cool' it was. The
campus was 'buzzin' with boys 'gammin' (showing off) their dirty
cords.

David's were some of the dirtier cords on campus. He was
'dynamite', the 'cat's meow' and was 'flapping his lips' about
it to anyone who would listen, and those who didn't want to.
We had a joke at home that they were so stiff he just stepped
out of them at night and stood them in the corner until he
was ready to jump into them in the morning. I swear that
I have gone into his room and seen those cords standing in
the corner on their own. That was when they moved from
being ordinary to 'killer-diller' (good stuff).

Another fad that took the boys of Lincoln County High School by
storm was curly hair like David and Ronnie flaunted, in order for
them to appear very 'cool'. Much to the delight of the merchants,
the Home Perms jumped off the shelves faster than they could
stock them. Homes throughout the county had that distinctive
odor as dozens of cury haired boys boys vied with each other
to be designated as the 'grooviest dude' on campus.

When David was a senior, the Lincoln County Lynx basketball
team all sported curly hair. I am rather proud of the way David's
curly hair looks in that picture, as it was I, who gave him the perm.
I have to admit that he looked 'swell' when I was finished.

Check out that picture again and pay particular attention to those
dirty cords and curly hair, they are indeed, the 'bee's knees'!

To help you be 'gone' (knowledgeable) about the Slangish in this
story, I have marked it thusly ' '. I hope you 'dig' it. I'm going to
'fade' now, 'see you later alligator'!