The Teddy Boy: A Witness' Account

Jan Land was born in 1951 and she can remember first hand what the Teddy boys were like.

 

Can you describe a specific scenario in which you remember the Teddy Boys?

Jan: The teddy boys I saw in the 50's used to meet together and walk along the seafront in Scarborough. To a young girl they seemed frightening. There were a great number of them and they used to take over the pavements and mess about as young men do! Their clothes made them stand out among the general throng of holidaymakers. Dad used to moan about them being rowdy too!

Do you remember ever seeing the Teddy Boys in the media?

Jan: I didn’t take much notice of them in the media, but if there was any trouble on the foreshore I imagine I would have seen it on the TV. We had a TV from the early 50's.

Did you live in a largely White British community?

Jan: Yes the community was totally white. I remember that the first coloured family Moved into Seamer in 1964.

Were all the Teddy Boys you remember seeing White British?

Jan: Nope, the whole community was white.

Did you hear about the Notting Hill race riots?

Jan: There was coverage on TV and that may have contributed to my fear of teddy boys. I was a nervous child and I thought the people who attacked black (and white) people in London in 1958 were walking round the streets of Scarborough in the summer of 1959. Who knows what they may do? I didn't really understand the racial bit, thought they just attacked any one they pleased. My family had no problems with immigrants to my knowledge and I never heard any racial criticism from them, just criticism of the teddy boys.

 

What can you remember seeing the Teddy Boys wearing?

Jan: There seemed to be a lot of them in blue or beige jackets with black collars and the distinctive hairstyle. Lots of ordinary lads wore the thick soled shoes and did their hair like that like my cousin who was 16, but I think you needed quite a bit of money to buy the jackets.

Do you remember seeing any Teddy Girls?

Jan: I don't remember teddy girls, though I suppose they were there, just remember the gangs of lads.

Did you ever wear any clothes that were adopted by the Teddy Boys/Girls? Why or why not?

Jan: The fear coloured my judgement about the fashion and it never appealed to me even in the seventies and eighties when there was a revival. Think it only appealed to a certain type of person.

Did the look eventually become quite mainstream?

Jan: It never really became mainstream after the fifties when it was at its height among young men in their teens and twenties.

Do you remember the 1970's revival of the Teddy Boys?

Jan: Yes I sort of remember it, though it was not as widespread as in the fifties. Think it appealed to a smaller group of people in the seventies.

 

What sort of person took part in the revivals?

 

Jan: In the 50's it was the main way to challenge the accepted dress code of the mainstream man in the street. Young people wanted to be different from their parents, more edgy and distinctive and had more money than ever before. By the 70's we had had a variety of youth revolts (the swinging 60's) and there were a number of options for young people to pursue to make their mark. It probably appealed to the young working class type person who had some money though I don't know for certain.

Did they dress the same?

Jan: Think the clothes had a softer look to them perhaps slightly more romanticised and were taken up by some pop stars, but there were a lot of different styles of music by then and a lot of different ways to dress.