As defined by Wikipedia Greasers are “a working class youth subculture that was popularized in the late 1940s and 1950s by middle and lower class teenagers in the United States.” many of the people who they idolised where icons in the 40s to 50s era, people such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Vince Taylor, Marlon Brando and James Dean.
You can also find terms that relate to greasers by looking HERE, this gives you a synopsis of what their lives and ideals were composed of.
They were called “Greasers” because of the way their greased back hair styles. Many used lots of wax, hair gels, tonics, creams and pomades in order to get the effect that has made the greaser subculture look iconic.
Not only was the slick backed hair style a part of the Greaser image but also the clothing that they wore. Many times they wore all black highlighted with a black leather jacket, black jeans, ray bans and boots. This added to image of the Greaser as this macho tough man who took shit from nobody.
Greasers even though mainly comprised of young men were soon joined by women who also become a part of the subculture in the 60s. Even though they were quite popular in the major cities of the US: Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Detroit etc all had different ideals and different ways of acting yet all called themselves greasers. Also this subculture extends far beyond the reaches of the United states countries such as Belgium and Germany also adopted the subculture of Greasers.
This subculture thrived on the idea of being rebellious as seen by their celebrity idols Brando and Dean. Many emulated them and saw them as the prime representations of the Greaser look and overall concept.
Swinging back to the greasers in all parts of the United States, they all had different ways of speaking to each other just like how each greaser culture in each area was different so was thier vernacular with one another. “Slang” as many people called it, was different when it came into comparison of the new york greasers to the Detroit greasers and many more. Words such as Booping, Humbug, Burn and many more words are quite popular in the New York and Chicago Greaser Slang but not so popular in the other Greaser populations.
If you would like to become a Greaser you can go HERE and it will outline steps on how to become a part of this iconic subculture
Overall greasers were a huge part of what has now become the hipster movement some calling it the modern day Greaser. They paved the way for some very interesting and distinct subcultures as well as transcended media and other forms of entertainment to further their reach and solidify themselves as not only icons for an era but also as a subculture that was one on innovation, rebellion and creativity.
SUBCULTURES 