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My life on Canvey 1948 to 1970
by Eddie Terry "The fifties was the era
of the Teddy Boys in which the dress was single-breasted fingertip
length suit, velvet collar, drainpipe trousers, fancy shirt, bootlace
tie, brightly coloured socks, and very thick soled brothel creeper
shoes." "Now we didn’t wear these clothes so we
could gang up and kick somebody’s head in but just to stand out
from the crowd and look flamboyant, looking back in retrospect we
must have looked right prats, but then again the style here now is
to wear big baggy ¾ length shorts or trousers which I call
"Victor Sylvester" trousers, (plenty of ball-room) with
the crutch four inches below where it should be, that look as if they
have been purchased from the Salvation Army jumble sale and couldn’t
find the right size, or full length jeans the bottoms of the trousers
dragging along the ground where they become frayed and in wet weather
they get soaking wet and wearing a baseball cap turned back to front
so they all look like Jerry Lewis clones." "We might have looked prats but at least we were
smart looking ones. One thing I will say and that is us Canvey boys
were always smartly dressed, The group I went with all bought our
suits from Maxie Cohen “Bespoke tailor” who’s shop
was beside the trolleybus terminus at Algate (by the underground station)
this involved two or three fittings before you picked up the suit
so we always made a day out, staying to have a few beers in that area." "When we first went to Maxie and told him what
we wanted i.e. single breasted, one button, velvet collar, fingertip
length and drainpipe trousers he must have thought we were barmy but
our money was good and we got on well with him also buying our Crombie
overcoats from him too. I also think we must have been egotists because
whenever we took out overcoats or jackets off we always folded them
so the large Maxie Cohen label was on the outside." |
