In the present day, using body-mass index (BMI) measurements, the medical profession distinguishes between classifying human bodies which are described as ‘fat’ in everyday speech as technically – in ascending order – as ‘overweight’ > ‘obese’ > ‘morbidly obese’. In 1962, only 13% of Americans were obese, by 2016 that figure had increased to over […]
The Golden Era
1956 ‘My Teenage Daughter’
Opening in May 1956, the British film ‘My Teenage Daughter’ was Britain’s answer to ‘Rebel without a Cause’. It was considered a hit at the time but is a much tamer affair and has less to say about teenage culture in general than its. Director and producer Herbert Wilcox whose wife Anna Neagle) would also […]
1958 Tail-end teds
The classic ted was characterised by his hairstyle and the long drape jacket with velvet trimmings. By the late 1950s, there was a growing fashion for hair not to be greased or combed back which was to predominate at the time of the mods and the Beatles about 1963. In the intervening period, between 1958 […]
1963 Rockers in the mod era
The provenance of the following video from film-cans from the Pinewood stock is unknown. It is dated by British Pathé to 1963. This 24-hour jiving marathon with £20 prize money took place in Barry, near Cardiff, in 1960 (ITV Wales archive). Note some out-and-out teds in the audience. The film gives us a glimpse of […]
1961 Ted to Mod transition 1 – Rob Nicholls (1944-)
The transition from ted to mod is recorded in some detail by Rob Nicholls of London. Early 1963: Photo at Royal Dance Palace with unidentified friend. My hair is soft with a brushed over fringe. I’m wearing my grey double-breasted suit, a white shirt with a high winged-tip collar, and a tiny knot in my […]
