Remembering the ‘Teddy Boys’
It was around 1951, and I was a young lad of nine or so living in Stourport-on-Severn in England. I’m not sure, even now, how I ever became aware of the term “Teddy Boys”, or how I understood what the word represented. I do recall that I was told, in some way or other, that they were a group of young people that dressed in rather fancy Edwardian clothes and would beat you up and steal your candy, or take the penny or two your mother might have given you for a ‘lady finger’, without provocation. Avoid them at all costs, I think I was told, even if you might one day become one of them.
One day I decided to go downtown for some reason, perhaps to visit my grandmother’s confectionery, but to get there I would have to run the gauntlet of what I thought were the “Teddy Boys” who hung out at the amusement park. Yes, I do recall passing a few rather specious and intimidating ‘Clockwork Orange’ type young lads leaning against whatever they could find to support themselves, but other than what I considered a definite scowl, I passed unhindered.
What can I say?
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