Rack Mug

This is a bit of regional English that just might be confined in time and place to Berea, Ohio, 1960s; everywhere else they were called greasers. The boys had slicked back hair, wore a black leather jacket, a white dress shirt, often starched, and tight, tight, fairly high waisted black pants. The shoes were inevitably Regals, pointy-toed dress oxfords with patent leather just at the toe tip. Girls ratted their hair, which was often bleached, wore white lipstick, lots of eyeliner, sometimes with blue eye shadow. A popular blouse was purple satin with horizontal ribbing ("coffin silk"), worn with a tight knee-length or just above black skirt. Sheer nylons were de rigeur. Sometimes white canvas tennis shoes completed the look, often kitten heels did. They smoked. The guys worked on hot rods. A lot of them came from a wroking class neighborhood near the railroad tracks and off of Front Street. Other groups were "Collegiates" (pronounced "C'llegiate") and "Surfers". There were nascent hippie and artsy cadres, but they didn't have a specific name I can remember.