Silver Tongue

whythatsbullshit:

fatgirlopinions:

communistrefridgerator:

surdelfrontera:

nezua:

dreamgrl1998:

@ boys just so u kno 50s greaser is always a good look . white tee, jeans, hair slicked back , just go for it

FYI, “Greaser” was originally an insult for Mexican-American’s. And the aesthetic was taken from them, too.

🇲🇽^^^^^^

That’s so crazy to me. I was taught in all my classes that it was because hey used gel in their hair.

Just like they taught us flappers were rebellious original young women and made no mention of how they stole their style and dance moves from black women

These are both half-truths.


Yes, “greaser” was originally a derogatory term for a Mexican-American…in the 1850s. And almost exclusively in the U.S. southwest. The term fell out of the popular lexicon in the early 1900s. When the term was reinvented and used to describe the subculture, it did specifically refer to their hair.  Their look was created by rock-and-rollers and movie stars, most notably James Dean. Mexican-American pachuco culture was big in the 1950s and coexisted alongside greaser culture. They did, however, both like the same haircuts.


Flappers got their style from Coco Chanel and the film The Flapper. However, the jazz scene was very popular among flappers, and the 20s jazz scene was dominated by black artists. It is entirely possible that, as the 20s went on, the two cultures influenced one another.

  1. mydoghasamoustache reblogged this from judgeroughneck
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  3. jackwanchor said: I believe that there were quite a few staging countries where the slaves were “stored” ready to be sold on. Many were enslaved by other tribes, as well as North African people such as Arabic speaking people’s and I believe that the English used to go directly to Africa, probably because some slave ships were English owned. In other words everyone who was free was trading slaves. To this day there are slaves.
  4. jackwanchor said: I think that it’s possible that it depends on where you are. I heard the term only a few times while growing up in the UK in the 1960’s and I don’t even remember seeing a Mexican there, let alone using derogatory slang against them. Maybe it was copied from a US movie, without the significance of race being noticed. My impression was that it was all about Brylcreem, a hair grease that the Teddy Boys in particular used to maintain their Fonzie style hair do’s.
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