Rockabilly subculture

[Young fogey]

Well, what do you know? I'm part of a subculture. At least related to it.

The People Still Living Like 1951: Captivating Portraits Look Inside America's Rockabilly Community. The headline's wrong of course. '51 wasn't rockabilly; it was the end of the '40s, a fine time too, like the early '60s were the '50s.

The Rockabillies.

 

[buelligan]

Very nice, love the look of some of the homes in those pictures and especially love the dresser with the big mirror in the background of the picture of the girl sitting on the bed. After spending a couple of days wondering around a couple of antique stores here locally I have to say that some of those people must have some serious money to afford all of that beautiful vintage stuff.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm more of a Roosebilly than a rockabilly, but it's nice to see a piece which doesn't focus on the whole "OMG THESE PEOPLE ARE DELUSIONAL FANATICS LIVNG IN THE PAST LOL LOL LOL" angle. (I'm not even going to bother reading the comment section.)

Although I hope, for her own safety, that the gal in the pink dress actually has 7-Up in that beer can.

 

[Treetopflyer]

I love it! I would love to live that lifestyle. However, my wife would not be as into as I am.

 

[buelligan]

I know what you mean Treetopflyer I too could live that lifestyle but my wife on the other hand. Here in Ohio at the Ohio historical society museum they have a complete Lustron home (http://www.lustronpreservation.org/) all fixed up like you were back in the 50's complete with a little boys room with a drawer full of baseball cards. A couple of weeks ago I took my 4 year old son on a day that we were supposed to have a really bad snowstorm, consequently we were 2 of something like 12 people in the whole museum. He loves playing in the Lustron house so I just let him play in the little boys room while I sat in the living room watching the 50's TV shows and reading the book on the bookshelf. We pretty much had the whole house to ourselves and it was great.

 

[dh66]

This is an awesome book, although it's horribly depressing for me to look at. I still live in a vintage home but most of what's left of my vintage furnishings are stored out in the garage, since the day my son was 2 and drew on the boomerang shaped coffee table with a sharpie. My old Ford sits idly in the driveway, awaiting the day the braces are paid for and there's no more ballet or karate lessons standing between it and a new master cylinder.

But the kids will be grown and gone one day, and as the warm tones of an old tube record player swirl around me as I peacefully sip a highball on my mohair sofa I'll probably get nostalgic for my overstuffed chocolate and spaghetti stained microfiber couch and the sounds of the nintendo.


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[Foxer55]

This thread is fantastic!

 

[dhermann1]

Great article, and a NICE article. I'd put the center of gravity a lot closer to 1957, tho.

 

[DecoDame]

buelligan, thanks for that tip on the Lustron exhibit in Columbus! Will definitely drive over and check that out soon! Especially nice that it's "interactive" and they encourage being in the space, as it's always hard for me "not to touch" anyway, and there it's actually sanctioned!

 

[3fingers]

A bit OT, but there are I believe 8 Lustron homes in our little city. I've been told more per capita than anywhere else, though I have no proof of that.
A good number of them are original, but unfortunately a few have been remuddled or added on to.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Great article! There are only afew people like that left here in Sydney. Back in the 80s it was huge - every second kid living east of Ashfield was going out to see the Bel Airs, Danny and the Seniors or the Treble Clefs in their prime, driving old Holdens (Aussie GM) and Ford Victorias and having a ball. melbounre and Brisbane still have strong, vibrant Rockabilly scenes, but sadly it just died out here over the years.

 

[buelligan]

buelligan, thanks for that tip on the Lustron exhibit in Columbus! Will definitely drive over and check that out soon! Especially nice that it's "interactive" and they encourage being in the space, as it's always hard for me "not to touch" anyway, and there it's actually sanctioned!

I've visited it at leas 3 times so far and it never gets old, and you are right they encourage you to touch things, put a record on the record player, listen to the conversation on the phone. They even have a backyard set up with the entrance to a bomb shelter and some common yard toys of the day. Including yard darts although you are not allowed to touch those. lol

 

[sheeplady]

So there is this odd house in my neighborhood... it has always been curious to me because it looks very early 1950s and has never been updated- it looks like it is probably sporting the same color it was originally. Thanks to this thread I learned it is a Lustron- and apparently it is all nearly original according to the registry. Now I wonder what would happen if I knocked on the front door and asked about it...

And I just learned that they are actually late 1940s... I would have thought they were later than that. Must be ahead of their time.

 

[Edward]

I'm more of a Roosebilly than a rockabilly, but it's nice to see a piece which doesn't focus on the whole "OMG THESE PEOPLE ARE DELUSIONAL FANATICS LIVNG IN THE PAST LOL LOL LOL" angle. (I'm not even going to bother reading the comment section.)

Although I hope, for her own safety, that the gal in the pink dress actually has 7-Up in that beer can.

Yeah, don't bother with the reader comments in the Mail. Avoid the text of the article too - their journalistic standards are very low indeed. The photos, on the other hand, are lovely. I like too how these people aren't in denial about the present day - there's aDVd player in a couple of the photos. That's my ideal: retain the best of the past, but don't needlessly inconvenience yourself by rejecting something newer that is good.

 

[DecoDame]

Including yard darts although you are not allowed to touch those.

Hey, I'm a veteran of Yard Darts/Jarts! And I managed to survive with all original parts intact. And usually won. Maybe I can get Special Dispensation to play with them. Once they realize my yard cred...

More OnT: My best friend's wife is still very much a Rockabilly gal. Not my preferred period of time, but 50s still had their own original aesthetic that I admire and appreciate very much (when design still mattered from clothes iron to car and still made with quality). So I fully support the subculture and understand its allure.

I imagine its also close enough to our own time period and had that familiar "rebel" element in look and also more casual than Golden Age, that it feels more familiar to anyone attracted to an "alternative" look/lifestyle - wanting to be different than the current herd, yet relatively easier to attain? (Besides that innate attraction we understand too well)

 

[Edward]

The big thing about rockabilly is the music. Most folks in that subculture come to it from being fans of the sounds first and foremost - it's as music-centric a thing as punk rock or heavy metal. On this side of the Atlantic, scratch most any rockabilly over the age of twenty-five and you'll find an old psychobilly, goth, or punk underneath (that's true for a very significant proportion of the more general vintage community here too, of course). I hear tell that's also common in the US. For punks and psychobillies alike, the journey of discovery typicallyvbegins with tracing the roots and influences of the music you love already...

Of course, for the male of the human species, it doesn't hurt that rockabilly, at least the more casual leather and denim end, is much easier to 'do' in terms of available wardrobe than a lot of vintage looks, especially for the more generously proportioned.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Some Sydney Rockabilly photos, some from a magazine article:







And yours truly performing in Brisbane a few years back:

 

[dh66]

Way Cool Benny H.

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[Gregg Axley]

And for some reason, I need a drink with a little umbrella in it.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Way Cool Benny H.

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Thanks man! We've had a lot of fun over the years, that's for sure.

Gregg both those ladies are lovely but the blond, Pia, is a total knockout!
Very nice people to hang out with who are very passionate about the music, cars, threads etc.