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Greasers are ayouth subculture that emerged in the 1950s and early 1960s from predominantlyworking class andlower-classteenagers andyoung adults in the United States and Canada. The subculture remained prominent into the mid-1960s and was particularly embraced by certain ethnic groups inurban areas, particularlyItalian Americans andHispanic Americans.
The etymology for the termgreaser is unknown.[1]: 109 By the time of theCivil War, the words "greaser" and "greaseball" were understood to carry racist andsegregationist meanings.[2]: 31 It is speculated that the word originated in the late 19th century in the United States as a derogatory label for poor laborers, specifically those of Italian, Greek or Mexican descent.[3][4] The similar term "greaseball" is a slur for individuals ofItalian orGreek descent,[4] though to a lesser extent it has also been used more generally to refer to allMediterranean,Latino, orHispanic people.[5][6][7]
Academic Jennifer Grayer Moore wrote in her bookStreet Style in America that the term was not used in writing to refer to the American subculture of the mid-20th century until the mid-1960s, though in this sense it still evoked a pejorative ethnic connotation and a relation to machine work.[3] George J. Leonard, who conceivedSha Na Na, coined the term "greaser" in 1967 after he heardGilbert Highet read the line "The glory that wasGreece" fromEdgar Allan Poe's poem "To Helen".[8] However,S. E. Hinton, author of the novelThe Outsiders, an influential portrayal of greasers, claimed to know the term from her youth in 1950sTulsa, Oklahoma.[9][10] The name was also applied to members of the subculture partly because of their characteristic greased-back hair.[11]
The dominant name for the subculture during the 1950s washoods, in reference to their upturned collars, with many also calling themJ.D.s (abbreviated fromjuvenile delinquents).[8] WithinGreater Baltimore during the 1950s and early 1960s, greasers were colloquially referred to asdrapes anddrapettes.[12][13][14]
The greaser subculture may have emerged in the post–World War II era among themotorcycle clubs andstreet gangs of the 1940s in the United States, though it was certainly established by the 1950s, when it was increasingly adopted by ethnic urban youth.[3][a] The original greasers (often coming from "ethnic" backgrounds) were aligned by a feeling of working class and lower classdisillusionment with American popular culture either through a lack of economic opportunity in spite of thepost-war boom or a marginalization enacted by the general domestic shift towards homogeneity in the 1950s.[15] Most were male, usually ethnic or white working-class outsiders, and were often interested inhotrod culture or motorcycling.[3] A handful of middle-class youth were drawn to the subculture for its rebellious attitude.[16]
The weak structural foundation of the greasers can be attributed to the subculture's origins in working-class youth possessing few economic resources with which to participate in Americanconsumerism.[17] Greasers, unlike motorcyclists, did not explicitly have their own interest clubs or publications. As such, there was no business marketing geared specifically towards the group.[18] Their choice in clothing was largely drawn from a common understanding of the empowering aesthetic of working-class attire, rather than a cohesive association with similarly dressed individuals.[18] Many greasers were in motorcycle clubs or in street gangs—and conversely, some gang members and bikers dressed like greasers—though such membership was not necessarily an inherent principle of the subculture.[19]
Ethnically, original greasers were composed mostly ofItalian Americans in theNortheast and Mexican AmericanChicanos in theSouthwest. Since both of these groups were mostlyolive skinned, the "greaser" label assumed a quasi-racial status that implied an urban, ethnic, lower-class masculinity and delinquency. This development led to an ambiguity in the racial distinction between poorItalian Americans andPuerto Ricans inNew York City during the 1950s and 1960s.[17] Greasers were also perceived as being predisposed to perpetratingsexual violence, evoking fear in middle-class males but also titillation in middle-class females.[20]
Though the television showAmerican Bandstand helped to "sanitize" the negative image of greasers in the 1960s and 1970s,sexual promiscuity was still seen as a key component of the modern character.[21] By the mid-1970s, the greaser image had become a quintessential part of 1950snostalgia and cultural revival.[22]
The most notable physical characteristic of greasers was the greased-back hairstyles they fashioned for themselves through use of hair products such aspomade orpetroleum jelly, which necessitated frequent combing and reshaping to maintain.[10] Males sported coiffures adopted from early rock 'n' roll androckabillyperformers such asElvis Presley, among them the Folsom,Pompadour, Elephant's trunk, andDuck's ass, while females commonlybackcombed, coiffed, or teased their hair.[23]
Male greasers typically wore loose work pants such as cottontwill trousers, common among the working class; dark slacks, or dark blueLevi'sjeans, widely popular among all American youth in the 1950s. The latter were often cuffed over black or brown leather boots,[10] includingsteel-toed boots,engineer orHarness boots,combat boots, work boots, and (especially in the Southwest)cowboy boots. Other footwear choices includedChuck Taylor All-Stars, pointed Italian dress shoes,brothel creepers, andwinklepickers.[24] Male shirts were typically solid black or white T-shirts, ringer T-shirts,[b] Italian knit collared shirts, unbuttoned shirts withsleeveless undershirts underneath, or sometimes justsleeveless undershirts ortank tops (which would have been retailed asunderwear). Choices of outerwear includeddenim orleather jackets (includingPerfecto motorcycle jackets). Female greaser dress included leather jackets and risque clothing, such as tight and croppedcapri pants andpedal pushers (broadly popular during the time period).[25]
In the early 1950s, there was significant greaser interest indoo-wop, a genre ofAfrican-American music from the industrial cities of the Northeast that had disseminated to mainstream American music through Italian American performers.[17] Greasers were heavily associated with the culture surroundingrock n' roll, a musical genre that had induced feelings of amoral panic among older middle-class generations during the mid-to-late 1950s, to whom greasers epitomized the connection between rock music andjuvenile delinquency professed by several important social and cultural observers of the time.[20]
