Sudetenland Tales by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Sudetenland Tales

Page 222

Cosh Brothers. I’m sure that they need no introduction, but it might be helpful to some to put them in their historical context. ...... No? ........ Whatever. It’s my show and you will sit through this.

A mainly British phenomenon, the Teddy Boy subculture started among teenagers in London in the early 1950s, and rapidly spread across the UK, becoming strongly associated with American rock and roll music. After World War II, male youths in gangs who had adopted Edwardian era fashion were first known as Cosh Boys, or Edwardians. The name Teddy Boy was coined when a September 23rd, 1953 ‘Daily Express’ newspaper report headline shortened Edwardian to Teddy.

In post-war Britain, rationing continued to affect the fashion industry and men's tailors in central London. They devised a style based on Edwardian clothing hoping to sell to young officers being demobilized from the services. However, the style, featuring tapered trousers, long jackets similar to post-war American zoot suits, and fancy waistcoats, was not popular with its target market, leaving tailors with piles of unsold clothing which, to recoup losses, were sold cheaply to menswear shops elsewhere in London. It was predominantly suburban working class youth who adopted and adapted the look.