If you want to know the latest trends, you’re at the wrong place.
Today we’re looking back at some fleeting fads from the past. Dog collars, foot falsies, fuzzy dice, candy corsages … why were these popular?
If Summit County residents weren’t busy following national trends, they seemed to be trying to start new ones.
Here’s a brief chronology of some short-lived crazes from the 1940s and 1950s. It’s funny what used to be “hep,” isn’t it?
• Thweppity thweppity thweppity. The well-cultured lads of Western Reserve Academy in Hudson were bouncing off the walls during a paddle-ball craze. (September 1942)
• Witty socialites sported old campaign buttons such as “Vote for McKinley” and “Coolidge for Vice President” as lapel pins at cocktail parties. (July 1944)
• For years, young women wore the jackets of boyfriends who marched off to World War II. A new trend was to make skirts out of the trousers the men left behind. Hopefully, the boys didn’t need them to march home. (March 1945)
• Akron kids painted eyeglasses with red nail polish and black enamel to give them an eye-popping effect. (May 1945)
• A new style from Paris was gaining favor among “the fairer sex.” Girls began bleaching their hair the colors of the rainbow. As one columnist noted: “It is daffy enough to click.” (July 1945)
• “You know how to whistle don’t you? Just put your lips together and blow.” A popular line from the Humphrey Bogart-Lauren Bacall movie To Have and Have Not inspired hep chicks to buy dime-store whistles and attach them as lapel pins. (September 1945).
• There’s more than one way to lure a guy. Girls raided their fathers’ tackle boxes and wore fish flies on their lapels. Apparently, lapels were the erogenous zone of the 1940s. (November 1945)
• North High School girls liked to wear their boyfriends’ wristwatches as ankle bracelets. If someone asked for the time, it could be scandalous. (November 1947).
• Summit County children raided candy stores to buy oversized wax lips. The garish, goofy expressions made adults do double takes. When the shock was over, the kids chewed on the wax. (May 1948)
• Clinton girls inexplicably began wearing white moccasins. When that didn’t catch on, they started wearing yellow ribbons around their necks — from the John Wayne movie of the same name. (July 1949)
• Akron South High School boys returned to fall classes wearing dainty beards. (September 1949)
• For unknown reasons, the ukulele made a brief resurgence among the younger generation. Fortunately, rock ’n’ roll was just around the corner. (September 1949)
• Akron East High School freshman girls always chimed in when they wore bells on their shoes. You certainly knew when they were approaching. (December 1949)
• Greensburg girls stepped into the 1950s by painting the edges of their soles with bright red nail polish. (February 1950)
• Barberton girls were busy knitting or crocheting angora tops for their socks. Sometimes they matched the socks. Sometimes they matched the sweaters. (January 1951)
• Long before Carl Perkins recorded the hit song in 1955, West High School boys were walking around in blue suede shoes. (February 1951)
• Dating couples in Ellet schools displayed matching corduroy shirts. It got awkward if someone else wore the same shade to class. (January 1952)
• Mogadore girls wore pink-tinted tennis shoes to blend in with their regulation blue gym suits. Remember those? (March 1952).
• West High School girls began showing up to school with silver-paint highlights in their hair. Coincidentally, some of those girls have silver in their hair today. (September 1952)
• “Hey, kids! Genuine raccoon coonskin cap!” Only $1.59 at Walgreens. (November 1952)
• Akron girls wore dog collars around their ankles to signify that they were going steady. If a girl took it off, the boy was in the doghouse. (January 1953)
• It had to start somewhere. Ducktail hairdos were in vogue in Greensburg. Girls wore them before boys. The slicked-back style also was known as the “D.A.” but we won’t explain why. (March 1953)
• Cuyahoga Falls girls dyed their white bucks with food coloring to match their sweaters. (April 1953)
• Akron girls began stuffing themselves, wearing cylinders of thick sponge rubber inside rolled-down socks to create “foot falsies.” As the Beacon Journal noted, “Their purpose, if any, is not clear.” (November 1953)
• Kids around the East school district brought half pints of chocolate milk to parties. (December 1953)
• Polsky’s advertised poodle skirts for sale for $5.98. “The swingy felt poodle skirts with fuzzy dogs frolicking across the front are just as easy to clean as the most expensive wools,” the Akron store noted. (July 1956)
• Models at the Grace Downs School in Akron displayed multicolored eyelashes. A rainbow for each eye! (November 1957)
• Summit County auto stores couldn’t keep fuzzy dice in stock. The dashboard accessories were popular among hot rodders who gambled every time they hit the streets. (May 1958)
• Candy corsages were the bouquet of choice at teen dances. Cellophane-wrapped peppermints substituted for posies and were worn around the wrist. (September 1958)
• What comes around goes around. Hips gyrated as Hula-Hoops invaded playgrounds everywhere. Chiropractors warned adults over age 40 to avoid the exercise because it was too risky. (September 1958)
Copy editor Mark J. Price is the author of the book Lost Akron from The History Press. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.