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Mar
2020

1940s/1950s Teen Dating Fads & Expressions of Love

categories: 1940s, 1950's, vintage images

The other day my brother posted a Facebook post asking why his teenage son insisted on switching sweaters with his girlfriend. This made me giggle AND got me to thinking about how teenagers have been doing goofy things to show affection towards their partner for years and years. Today’s post is going to focus on that…Teen Dating Fads & Expressions of Love in the 1940s and 1950s.

Teenage couple eating hotdogs outside at refreshment stand table, circa 1950 H. Armstrong Roberts—Retrofile/Getty Images
Source: TIME. 1950s: Teenage couple eating hotdogs outside at refreshment stand table.

AND if I missed any examples (I know there is many), please share in the comments section below. I love hearing from my readers.

Teen Dating Fads & Expressions of Love in the 1940s & 1950s

Girl’s Hair-Do (aka bows in the hair) Reveals Love Life-1944

  • Bow on the top of the head: means that Ann Mitchell is “out to get herself a man.”
  • Bow worn in back: means that Betty is “not interested in men.”
  • Bow worn on the right side: indicates that Becky is deeply in love.
  • Bow worn at left: is a signal and challenge. It means Betty Chaney is “going steady.”
Girl's Hair-Do (aka bows in the hair) Reveals Love Life-1944.

Teenage girl tying a scarf around the neck of her boyfriend was a fad

Vintage Photo: Atlanta, GA, US October 1947.

Teenage girl tying a scarf around the neck of her boyfriend as a fad. Location: Atlanta, GA, US Date taken: October 1947

Dog Collar Anklet “puppy love” 1950s Fad

The fad hit the big time in 1953, and whether you wore your dog collar on the left or the right was an announcement to the world about whether you were single or whether you were going steady with someone, though which side meant what varied depending on location (Source).

1950s dating trend - dog collar ankle bracelets

Source: janellereston.com

Getting “Pinned”

Another tradition included a young lady receiving a pin from her special someone from a fraternity house. After the pinning, that young lady awaits in her room to hear her special fraternity serenading her below her window (Source).

raditions included a young lady receiving a pin from her special someone from a fraternity house. It’s a big moment when a fraternity man finds a girl special enough to wear his pin! After the pinning, that young lady awaits in her room to hear her special fraternity serenading her below her window.

Source: MSU Archives

Remember School Rings?

Teens would show that they were”going steady” with someone with these pieces of jewelry. The guy would give the girl his ring and she would typically wear it as a necklace.

Here is a scene from Grease when Danny gives Sandy his ring (video clip).

Letterman Jacket “gifting”

Giving a girl you liked your Letterman Jacket was a symbol of affection and to tell the world “that is my girl”, as seen on this pretty young lady in the 1940s.

“Sword Signals”, 1957. Pins Tell Teen Date Status

The article states:

“In San Diego enterprising teenagers have abandoned the unsubtle old system of advertising their dating status by wearing (or not wearing) fraternity pins on their sweaters. Instead they have developed an ingenious signal code with homemade sword pins which, at a glance, will tell anyone who knows the code all he needs to know.

It all started innocently a few months ago when some fund-raising Girl Scouts began making the swords purely for ornament, out of pins, colored beads and plastic cord hilts, as part of a hobby-craft program, and selling them for $0.15 each. Soon local junior high schoolers started making them on their own and putting them together in patterns fraught with romantic significance. The fad, spreading furiously throughout San Diego County, threatens to head north to Hollywood, after which there may be no stopping it.”

Teen Dating Fad 1957. Teenagers in the 1950s
Teen Dating Fad 1957. Teenagers in the 1950s

Source: Tumblr

Carving your initials in a tree

Carving your initials in a tree (Arborglyph) to show your love, has been going on for centuries. And yes this not necessarily just a teenager ritual but too cute to not add.

1950s Teenagers carving their initials into trees

Source: Tumblr

Now for a chuckle (because I think we could all use a bit of distraction right now), here is a video on Teen Dating Dos and Don’ts in the 1940s.

Hope you enjoyed learning about some quirky ways teens in the 1940s and 1950s showed their dating status. As per the above, share any I missed in the comment section below!

FURTHER READING:

Liz


Mar
2020

Blanche Calloway-1930s Jazz singer, bandleader, and Composer

categories: Women of the Big Band Era, Womens History

To kick off Women’s History Month, I want to introduce you to an artist you might not be super aware of…Blanche Calloway. Jazz singer, bandleader, and composer.

1930s Vintage Photo of Blanche Calloway 1930s Female Band leader

Blanche is recognized as the first black woman to successfully lead an all-male Jazz orchestra under her own name!

She also just happened to be the older sister of Cab Calloway, yes that Cab Calloway the famous big band leader (seen below). Cab Calloway often credited her with being the reason he got into show business (Source).

In fact… Cab Calloway borrowed key elements from his elder sister’s act — her bravura vocal style and Hi-de-Ho call and response routines.  His 1976 memoir acknowledges her influence, declaring Blanche….

Vivacious, lovely, personality plus and a hell of a singer and dancer,” an all-around entertainer who was “fabulous, happy and extroverted.”

(Source).
Vintage Photo of Cab Calloway

Blanche Calloway-1930s Jazz singer, bandleader, and Composer

About Blanche Calloway

Born in Baltimore, Maryland on February 9th, 1904. She was the oldest of what would be 4 siblings in total (Cab, Elmer & Bernice).

Music was a tradition in the Calloway home with Blanche in her early days studying piano and voice and even singing in her church choir.

After a brief stay at Morgan State College, Blanche Calloway began her professional career in Baltimore as a singer in local revues, stage shows, and nightclubs. She was very successful in Chicago during the early 1920s at the prestigious Sunset Café and even made a blues record accompanied by cornet player Louis Armstrong (Source).  

Blanche Calloway, late 1920s or early 1930s -Jazz Singer

Blanche Calloway, late 1920s or early ’30s. Source: Old Times Blues.net

Blanche Calloway and Her Joy Boys, and later Blanche Calloway and Her Orchestra

1930s vintage photo of Blanche Calloway and Her Joy Boys

Source: Discogs.com

In 1931, while performing at the Pearl Theatre in Philadelphia, Blanche was heard by bandleader Andy Kirk. Kirk asked her to sing with his outfit, the Clouds of Joy. While touring with the orchestra she quickly found herself the featured attraction. Watching her popularity soar she made an attempt to steal leadership of the group from Kirk. When Kirk figured out the plot he quickly dumped her (Source).

Still determined to have her own orchestra, Blanche found an ally in Kirk trumpet player Edgar ”Puddin Head” Battle, who helped her put together a group. Between 1931 and 1938, Calloway headed her own all-male band—Blanche Calloway and Her Joy Boys, and later Blanche Calloway and Her Orchestra—which included some of the top musicians of the day. Appearing at New York’s exclusive black theaters, the band played the Lafayette, the Harlem Opera House, and the Apollo. With their theme song “Growlin’ Dan,” they performed across the United States and recorded frequently for Victor. They disbanded in 1938 due to financial difficulties.

Blanche Calloway and her orchestra performs at the Apollo

In a survey conducted by the Pittsburgh Courier in 1931, Calloway’s band ranked 9th of 38, only 5 slots behind Louis Armstrong. A reviewer for the Courier called her “one of the most progressive performers in the profession.” (Source).

1920s Vintage Photo: early photo of Cab’s sister, Blanche Calloway, the jazz singer and bandleader, taken between 1925-29,

Source: Lelands.com

Check out Growlin Dan below and if you know Cab Calloway’s music then you can 100% hear where he got his signature sound from.

The Later Years

Though her last official orchestra disbanded in 1938, Calloway ran an all-woman band briefly during World War II.  By 1944, she had tired of life on the road and settled in Philadelphia, where she became active in community and political affairs. After moving to Florida in 1953, she became a disc jockey on radio station WMEM out of Miami. She later founded and served as president of Afram House, a company specializing in cosmetics and hair preparations for blacks. Continuing her activity in politics, in 1958 Calloway was the first black woman in Miami to vote (Source).

She died in 1973.

Blanche Calloway‘s Music

For a complete list of all of Blanche’s music, please visit HERE.

Here are some samples….

“Lazy Woman’s Blues”, 1925 with Louis Armstrong on Cornet (or maybe Trumpet, not sure). (Video Source)

“Catch On” Blanche Calloway and her Joy Boys Recorded 27th August 1934. Video Source

“I Gotta Swing”, Recorded 6th November 1935. (Video Source)

My final Thoughts:

Blanche while successful never achieved the same fame that her brother Cab achieved and this was most likely due to the time period she was alive. Who can say what would of happened to her music if she was born in our time? I like to think that she would of been as popular as her brother, maybe even more. Imagine the collaborations we would of seen?! Sadly we will never know, but I am very happy to have brought her name to all of you to read about today.

I know that before putting this blog post together that I have ZERO clue about her story and her music. Now that is not the case. Blanche Calloway lives on here at the Vintage Inn and I’m so glad she is here.

Thanks for reading friends!

FURTHER READING:


Liz