I present to you some of the fashions, slanguage, fads and other cultural phenomena from my teen age years.
Cute boys were not "hunks;" they were "fine"
Cute girls were called "foxes"
Cars were referred to as "my ride" or "my short"
Your parent's apartment was called "the pad"
You were lucky to have one TV and even luckier if it was a color TV!
Some of the more fortunate girls had their own Pink Princess Phone in their bedroom (not me; we only had that traditional black phone in the living room).
When you out grew toys, you probably wanted some "fly" new clothes or shoes for Christmas; maybe even ice-skates or roller skates. Perhaps a new bike.
You always wanted whatever "uniform" was in fashion at the time. I can't speak for guys but for girls, some of the items that were popular at the time were:
Stirrup pants, patch-sleeve sweaters, tan suede bucks with the pink, rubber soles, Clarkes from The Village in the Purple striped box; my favorites were called, "Bunnies;" wrap-a-round skirts, knee-socks to match your outfit and a "Greek Bag" also from The Village. Other desirables were: Chesterfield Coats,Rabbit Fur Coats, Leather or Suede Coats, Boy Coats, Pea Coats, All American Sweaters, fish net stockings in colors to match your outfit. The jeans of the day were tight, Levi's and were called dungarees.
Hairstyles varied; scarves and head bands were worn. French rolls, flips, bangs were popular. Boys who wore processes were considered cute, but "strange" or "different" from the rest. *Fights were with fists and girls always greased their faces with Vaseline so that scratching would be minimal; hair pulling and blouse pulling were a must! Earrings came off first of course!
You always repped your neighborhood wherever you went; traveling to another borough could be perilous unless you had cousins there, and if you invited other boys to your projects or neighborhood, they were often chased out by the boys that lived there.
Though not really a *fighter, I do remember three fights I had in particular. Now I have to say that when I lived in the Bronx prior to moving back to Harlem (East Harlem; Wagner Projects), I can't recall fighting. However, when I got to Wagner, I was provoked into fighting: one about a boy; one because a girl retaliated for her friend that I had beaten about the boy and one because I wrote something disparaging about a girl in a *"slang book." Remember "slang books?" Well, in my east Harlem neighborhood, girls and some guys would pass around a *notebook. Each page would be dedicated to a particular person. You were to write how you felt about that person on their page.(Some people do that now on Face book!) Guys were usually complimentary about girls: "she's a fox", etc. But, girls could be vicious! She's a scank! She can't dress! She thinks she's cute! I wrote that a particularly heavy set girl was a "fox without the f!" Did I know that she would see it? Of course! Did I think about the consequences...of course not!
She confronted me in the hallway of my building, on the seventh floor, as I exited the apartment of a mutual friend of ours (to this day, I think I was set-up to be confronted by this mutual friend)! Anyway, we fought and somehow ended up on the floor with her pinning me down. I remember wise cracking about being "hit by a truck!" I was trying to use humor I guess! I also remember biting her and declaring: "All is fair in love and war!" How corny was that?" I think that fight was a draw! Anyway, I gave up fighting and learned to be non-confrontational...I abhor physical violence and don't recommend it as a solution for anyone.
I am wearing a cream color patch sleeve sweater trimmed in olive green, and olive green stretch pants. The blouse was long sleeved, mint green with a Peter Pan collar. Suede green shoes completed the look. My hair was in a french roll, with my signature bangs...I never liked to show my forehead!
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