Raccoon coat

Last updated
W. C. Fields in a raccoon coat with a bowler hat (likely 1930s). Wcfields36682u cropped 02.jpg
W. C. Fields in a raccoon coat with a bowler hat (likely 1930s).
The Saturday Evening Post, November 16, 1929 The Saturday Evening Post, November 16, 1929.jpg
The Saturday Evening Post , November 16, 1929

A raccoon coat is a full-length fur coat made of raccoon pelts, which became a fashion fad in the United States during the 1920s. Such coats were particularly popular with male college students in the middle and later years of the decade. [1]

Contents

Many automobiles in the 1920's still had open tops or were made of wood and canvas, and had poor heaters or no heaters at all, and the speed of these automobiles was increasing where winter drives without heat became very uncomfortable. [2] Purportedly fur coats became popular due to this, and due to the stories of Davy Crockett and popular artist James Van Der Zee. [3] George Olsen and His Music released a recording highlighting the fad in 1928, titled "Doin' the Raccoon", with the lyrics:

From every college campus comes the cheer: oy-yoy!
The season for the raccoon coat is here, my boy!
Rough guys, tough guys, men of dignity,
Join the raccoon coat fraternity, soon,
To do the raccoon!

A few months after Olsen's recording hit the air, the November 16, 1929, issue of The Saturday Evening Post featured an Alan Foster illustration of several college men wearing raccoon coats. [4] The raccoon coat (many times accompanied with a straw boater, wingtip spectator oxfords, and either a saxophone or a ukulele) has been referenced numerous times in movies and television, both as a symbol of the Jazz Age and as a cliché motif of collegiate enthusiasm.

The fad saw a resurgence during the mid-1950s, specifically vintage coats from the 1920s. [5] [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1920s</span> Decade of the Gregorian calendar (1920–1929)

The 1920s was a decade that began on January 1, 1920, and ended on December 31, 1929. In America, it is frequently referred to as the "Roaring Twenties" or the "Jazz Age", while in Europe the period is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Twenties" because of the economic boom following World War I (1914–1918). French speakers refer to the period as the "Années folles", emphasizing the era's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Roberts (author)</span> American writer (1885–1957)

Kenneth Lewis Roberts was an American writer of historical novels. He worked first as a journalist, becoming nationally known for his work with the Saturday Evening Post from 1919 to 1928, and then as a popular novelist. Born in Kennebunk, Maine, Roberts specialized in regionalist historical fiction, often writing about his native state and its terrain and also about other upper New England states and scenes. For example, the main characters in Arundel and Rabble in Arms are from Kennebunkport, the main character in Northwest Passage is from Kittery, Maine and has friends in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and the main character in Oliver Wiswell is from Milton, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vintage car</span> Cars made between 1919 and 1925 or 1930

A vintage car is, in the most general sense, an old automobile, and in the narrower senses of car enthusiasts and collectors, it is a car from the period of 1919 to 1930. Such enthusiasts have categorization schemes for ages of cars that enforce distinctions between antique cars, vintage cars, classic cars, and so on. The classification criteria vary, but consensus within any country is often maintained by major car clubs, for example the Vintage Sports-Car Club (VSCC) in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roaring Twenties</span> 1920s period of sustained economic prosperity in Western Europe and North America

The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the United States and Europe, particularly in major cities such as Berlin, Buenos Aires, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York City, Paris, and Sydney. In France, the decade was known as the années folles, emphasizing the era's social, artistic and cultural dynamism. Jazz blossomed, the flapper redefined the modern look for British and American women, and Art Deco peaked.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Top hat</span> Tall, flat-crowned formal hat

A top hat is a tall, flat-crowned hat traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally made of black silk or sometimes grey, the top hat emerged in Western fashion by the end of the 18th century. Although it declined by the time of the counterculture of the 1960s, it remains a formal fashion accessory. A collapsible variant of a top hat, developed in the 19th century, is known as an opera hat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sammy Davis (racing driver)</span> British racing driver (1887–1981)

Sydney Charles Houghton "Sammy" Davis was a British racing motorist, journalist, graphic artist and clubman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. C. Leyendecker</span> German-American illustrator

Joseph Christian Leyendecker was one of the most prominent and financially successful freelance commercial artists in the U.S. He was active between 1895 and 1951 producing drawings and paintings for hundreds of posters, books, advertisements, and magazine covers and stories. He is best known for his 80 covers for Collier's Weekly, 322 covers for The Saturday Evening Post, and advertising illustrations for B. Kuppenheimer men's clothing and Arrow brand shirts and detachable collars. He was one of the few known gay artists working in the early-twentieth century U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Frederick Coots</span> Musical artist

John Frederick Coots was an American songwriter. He composed over 700 popular songs and over a dozen Broadway shows. In 1934, Coots wrote the melody with his then chief collaborator, lyricist Haven Gillespie, for the biggest hit of either man's career, "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." The song became one of the biggest sellers in American history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Patterson</span> American cartoonist

Russell Patterson was an American cartoonist, illustrator and scenic designer. Patterson's art deco magazine illustrations helped develop and promote the idea of the 1920s and 1930s fashion style known as the flapper.

<i>A Damsel in Distress</i> (novel) 1919 novel by P. G. Wodehouse

A Damsel in Distress is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 4 October 1919 by George H. Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins, London, on 15 October 1919. It had previously been serialised in The Saturday Evening Post, between May and June of that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1920s in Western fashion</span> Clothing in the 1920s

Western fashion in the 1920s underwent a modernization. For women, fashion had continued to change away from the extravagant and restrictive styles of the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and towards looser clothing which revealed more of the arms and legs, that had begun at least a decade prior with the rising of hemlines to the ankle and the movement from the S-bend corset to the columnar silhouette of the 1910s. Men also began to wear less formal daily attire and athletic clothing or 'Sportswear' became a part of mainstream fashion for the first time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1900s in Western fashion</span> Costume and fashion in the decade 1900–1909

Fashion in the period 1900–1909 in the Western world continued the severe, long and elegant lines of the late 1890s. Tall, stiff collars characterize the period, as do women's broad hats and full "Gibson Girl" hairstyles. A new, columnar silhouette introduced by the couturiers of Paris late in the decade signaled the approaching abandonment of the corset as an indispensable garment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1910s in Western fashion</span> Costume and fashion in the 1910s

Fashion from 1910 to 1919 in the Western world was characterized by a rich and exotic opulence in the first half of the decade in contrast with the somber practicality of garments worn during the Great War. Men's trousers were worn cuffed to ankle-length and creased. Skirts rose from floor length to well above the ankle, women began to bob their hair, and the stage was set for the radical new fashions associated with the Jazz Age of the 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Chéruit</span> French fashion designer

Louise Chéruit, also known as Madame Chéruit and often erroneously called Madeleine Chéruit, was a French fashion designer. She was among the foremost couturiers of her generation, and one of the first women to control a major French fashion house. Her salon operated at Place Vendôme in Paris under the name Chéruit from 1906 to 1935. She is best remembered today as the subject of a number of portraits by Paul César Helleu and for the appearance of her name in two celebrated works of literature, Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past (1910) and Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies (1930). Her name is also frequently associated with the fashion photography of Edward Steichen, whose favorite model, Marion Morehouse, often wore gowns from the house of Chéruit for Vogue magazine in the 1920s. One particular Steichen image has become iconic – Morehouse in a jet-beaded black net Chéruit dress, first published in 1927.

Richard V. Culter was an American artist who gained fame as an illustrator known primarily for his detailed drawings of people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Thompson (writer)</span> English writer, best known as a librettist (1884–1949)

Frederick A. Thompson, usually credited as Fred Thompson was an English writer, best known as a librettist for about fifty British and American musical comedies in the first half of the 20th century. Among the writers with whom he collaborated were George Grossmith Jr., P. G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton and Ira Gershwin. Composers with whom he worked included Lionel Monckton, Ivor Novello and George Gershwin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Draped turban</span> Type of headwear

A draped turban or turban hat is a millinery design in which fabric is draped to create headwear closely moulded to the head. Sometimes it may be stiffened or padded, although simpler versions may just comprise wound fabric that is knotted or stitched. It may include a peak, feather or other details to add height. It generally covers most or all of the hair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Car coat</span> Outer garment for automobilists

A car coat is an outer garment originally made to be worn by automobile drivers and passengers. First designed to provide maximum warmth and coverage, over time it became a much shorter garment. Today it describes a coat that typically ends at mid thigh. It is worn by both men and women.

<i>Années folles</i> Socio-economic period of French history

The Années folles was the decade of the 1920s in France. It was coined to describe the social, artistic, and cultural collaborations of the period. The same period is also referred to as the Roaring Twenties or the Jazz Age in the United States. In Germany, it is sometimes referred to as the Golden Twenties because of the economic boom that followed World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hal G. Evarts</span> American novelist

Hal G. Evarts was an American short story writer and novelist. Born in Kansas, he explored the West extensively soaking up everything about the natural world. Hal eventually wrote about his experiences and knowledge in his best-selling Western novels and magazine short stories. Several of his books were adapted to film.

References

  1. Wilcox, R. Turner (2010). The Mode in Furs: A Historical Survey with 680 Illustrations. Courier Corporation. ISBN   978-0-486-47872-2.
  2. http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/fashion_costume_culture/Modern-World-1919-1929/Raccoon-Coat.html
  3. Fashion Encyclopedia: Modern World 1919–1929. Entry for Raccoon Coat
  4. The Saturday Evening Post - Alan Foster Gallery
  5. "Raccoon Swoon in New Flurry", LIFE Magazine , pp. 83–86, September 9, 1957, retrieved August 16, 2017
  6. Le Zotte, Jennifer (February 8, 2017), "The Invention of Vintage Clothing", Smithsonian , Washington, D.C., retrieved August 16, 2017