The Teddy boys

 The Teddy boys

The teddy boys or the Edwardian boys first appeared on the streets of south and west London in the 1950s. The gang were known for its extravagant dress code and defiant pose which made them popular subjects in the ever expanding media of magazines and television in the 1950s. Similar to the Spivs during world war II, the Teddy Boys became a media folk devil, however the same media also exposed numerous people to the Teddy Boy look and caused the spread of the gang until the Teddy boy became a nation wide style in the teen subculture as as well as being he first post-war teenage subculture.

 As inner city working class youth The group  would wear expensive Edwardian 'ted' suits designed for wealthy city gents in the early 50's or the 'drape' jackets favored by a number growing American rock 'n' roll artists.

They were once described as 'teenage terrorists' in a newspaper headline in may 1954.

The Teddy boy image was one which brought a powerful message. The acquisition of upper class dress by the working class was a defiant act. The media would constantly ridicule their exaggerated style, once even illustrating a typical teddy boy as a 'monkey in drape'.

In a 1954 article titled 'Get rid of them' a resident of brighton described them as "silly little self-advertising nincompoops" another resident went on to agree with this statement and add they are
"very nauseating specimens of English youth." and  "They are an awful disgrace to Brighton."