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"Greasers" is a slur but in the 50s it pertained to guys with way too much grease on their hair.
As for the ethnic slur, it comes from the fact that when we were still in the wagon train stage of westward movement the Mexicans worked as "greasers." They greased the wheels of the wagons. I believe the ethnic term came about in Colorado where there was a heavy influx of folks from Mexico. Every town had a blacksmith and a greaser.
It's kind of like the Italians who came from the old country. One particular ship from Italy hit a major storm at sea and a lot of the paperwork was washed overboard or smeared beyond being readable. The ship stopped at Ellis Island and unloaded. The Italians had no papers. They were allowed in but were given a paper to pin to their clothes. It stated in big letters "WOP" and it meant "without papers."
I have enjoyed reading this thread, wish I could of been there but many of your posts really help set the scene of that time, great writing. I was born in the mid 60's and missed all the critical events, especially 63 and 68. Your input brings back alot of memories from the 70's, but in a way, missing the 60's is like missing the boat on history, being there and old enough to see it, live it and remember what it was like in America at the peak of it's strength, while at the same time in such turmoil. Alot of people think the 60s and 70s were the same but the 70's were all downhill and the optimism wasn't there.
However, 70's TV was so much better when the networks started addressing social issues and dropped most of the fantasy goof ball shows of the 60's. 70's music was better too, because of advances with instruments, electronics and synthesizers, till it went over the top with disco later on in the 70's. You don't see the creativity with music anymore like in the 60's and 70's. Wish I still had some of my 45's from the 70's.
"Greasers" is a slur but in the 50s it pertained to guys with way too much grease on their hair.
As for the ethnic slur, it comes from the fact that when we were still in the wagon train stage of westward movement the Mexicans worked as "greasers." They greased the wheels of the wagons. I believe the ethnic term came about in Colorado where there was a heavy influx of folks from Mexico. Every town had a blacksmith and a greaser.
It's kind of like the Italians who came from the old country. One particular ship from Italy hit a major storm at sea and a lot of the paperwork was washed overboard or smeared beyond being readable. The ship stopped at Ellis Island and unloaded. The Italians had no papers. They were allowed in but were given a paper to pin to their clothes. It stated in big letters "WOP" and it meant "without papers."
Slang is interesting stuff.
That's an interesting one! Didn't know that.
There used to be an Italian men's club in NJ called "The Boat-Jumpers Club", so named because that's how some of their ancestors got into the country. They didn't have the appropriate paperwork to get through Ellis Island so once their ship was chugging into the harbor, they would jump off and swim to Jersey.
Shampoo, "creme rinse" and other toiletries came in glass bottles, not plastic. Occasionally one would slip and shatter into shards at the bottom of the tub and you'd cut yourself.
Garbage cans were galvanized steel, not plastic. There were no plastic garbage bags--you used the brown paper bags that you brought your groceries home in.
Tonka trucks were made out of metal.
There were no blow-dryers, except at the most modern of hair salons.
Disposable diapers were not yet invented or at least not in general use.
"Pasta" was not a word that was used in most households. You had spaghetti, or macaroni, or noodles. Pasta came along in the late 1970's or early 80's to make it sound fancier and give restaurants a reason to jack up the prices.
I still feel guilty over using certain "modern" products that in my mind mean laziness because a real woman made food from scratch. Canned frosting, for instance, or pre-made pie crusts. And to this day I would never, ever, ever, be caught dead using fake mashed potatoes.
I am still not happy about fake siding on houses, although it looks as if it's not going to go anywhere, but now they have plastic fencing, too....I can't stand it!
Ah, "The Wonder Years". Born in 1961, perfect childhood in suburbia outside Washington, D.C., walked to kindergarten alone without fear, all the Moms at home while Dads were are work, coming home after school in the second grade just in time to watch "The Monkees", Christmas with our tree covered with those big colored christmas lights, silver tinsel everywhere and Andy Williams Christmas songs, ...America at it's best perhaps.
Ahhh! The 60's. We were happy with 1000 sq. ft. houses & 1 bathroom. We girls were all secretly in love with the slick- haired "hoods" who wore black boots with taps on the heels & pegged jeans. We hung out at Big Boy drive-in where everyone circled and circled. Which Beatle was the cutest was the question of the day. We had to lay down on the bed to be able to zip up our skin-tight jeans. We all remember exactly where we were when we heard the news of JFK's assassination. Just when we were getting over that, '68 hit with MLK & Bobby Kennedy. In college, we had sit-ins & marches against the war. We hemmed our skirts shorter and shorter and shorter. The bras we had fought to wear at the turn of the decade were now banned. Outdoor rock concerts were the thing and yes you could smell the wacky weed. College campuses were full of psychedelics. The end of the '60s was marked for us by the Kent State shootings.
Shampoo, "creme rinse" and other toiletries came in glass bottles, not plastic. Occasionally one would slip and shatter into shards at the bottom of the tub and you'd cut yourself.
Garbage cans were galvanized steel, not plastic. There were no plastic garbage bags--you used the brown paper bags that you brought your groceries home in.
Tonka trucks were made out of metal.
There were no blow-dryers, except at the most modern of hair salons.
Disposable diapers were not yet invented or at least not in general use.
"Pasta" was not a word that was used in most households. You had spaghetti, or macaroni, or noodles. Pasta came along in the late 1970's or early 80's to make it sound fancier and give restaurants a reason to jack up the prices.
I still feel guilty over using certain "modern" products that in my mind mean laziness because a real woman made food from scratch. Canned frosting, for instance, or pre-made pie crusts. And to this day I would never, ever, ever, be caught dead using fake mashed potatoes.
I am still not happy about fake siding on houses, although it looks as if it's not going to go anywhere, but now they have plastic fencing, too....I can't stand it!
I'll say this about the sixties: Percolated coffee sucked, compared to the various ways we extract the brew these days.
That is all.
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