In the mid-1940s , one shining star among the configuration of contemporary crooners burned a hole through teenage girls ' ears and right into their younghearts . Frank Sinatra ’s legato vocal cords could coiffe offriotsin those days , and when he played at New York ’s Paramount Theater in October 1944 , century of police officers had to quench the 30,000 ravenous teen fans waiting to hear " The Voice " [ source : The Paley Center ] . The girls going gaga over Frankie were conjointly called " bobby - soxers " in reference to the blank , folded - over ankle wind sock they wore . Although stereotyped in contemporary media as vapid fangirls , bobby - soxers set the tone for American teenage culture , consummate with celebrity - worship , trend conformity and detachment from adults .
The September 1944 launch of Seventeen magazine served as prescribed recognition that teenaged girls had became their own consumer group – and a valuable one at that . World War II industrial production had reinvigorated the U.S. saving , shaking loose the cobweb of the Great Depression and cast more money in everyone ’s air hole . teenager gain from the roaring as well , receiving adjustment that they spent at the movies , in soda workshop and going to concert to see their favorite bandleader and Isaac Merrit Singer of the day . recognize the spending and trend - set up power that this newly recognized group wielded , Seventeen magazine and its advertisers rig out to simultaneously empathise this fledgeling demographic and work its tastes .
Shirley Temple served as a great model when she starred as the consummate bobby - soxer in the 1947 bang " The Bachelor and the Bobby - Soxer . " Outfitted in bobby wind cone , bicycle seat shoes and poodle dog skirt and pitter-patter out slang of the fourth dimension , such as " jeepers , " Temple epitomized the headstrong adolescence of mid - C teenagers . conk for leading human race Cary Grant as turbulently and fervently as a 15 - class - old girl at the Paramount Theater might have respond to Sinatra , Temple ’s role pop the question a slenderly satirized view of the upper center class humanity of the bobby - soxer , who had money in her pocket to spend where she pleased and new advertising and mass medium chaperon to supervise her develop consumer choices . For as much as the history of bobby - soxers is about the animation of teen girl in World War II - geological era America , it ’s also a story of how popular culture and advertising permeated that peer group for the first time .
Frank Sinatra and Bobby-soxers
The 1940s music that floated through theairwavesand into the minds of teen bobby - soxers was that of big bands , such as the Glen Miller and Tommy Dorsey Orchestras . It was also the era of the heartthrob male person crooners , who often transition from the degree to the screen , where fan could see their crushed leather in natural process . Bing Crosby , Mickey Rooney and Van Johnson were a few of these leading " croon cats , " but they paled in comparison to the power of the crooners , " The Voice " himself : Frank Sinatra [ root : Fitzpatrick ] . Sinatra started out with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra , then left to engage a solo career . By 1943 , Sinatra had become the apple of seemingly every bobby - soxer ’s eye , peach to a swooning crowd of 10,000 at the Hollywood Bowl [ source : Kidder and Oppenheim ] . Not amazingly , in 1944 – the year of his riot - inducing Paramount Theater performances – the prescribed Bobby Soxers of America organisation voted Frankie their " Man of the Year " [ source : Woloch ] .
Predecessors to the hoards of hollo , fainting Beatles lover that would satisfy concert halls and stadiums a genesis later , bobby - soxers became known for swooning over Frank Sinatra and other manlike celebrities . Swooning was a public display of infatuation that involved girl groaning and dramatically lam their munition before localise their hands on their foreheads or cheeks and at long last falling to the ground , overwhelmed . One former bobby - soxer recalled to the Paley Center for Media how she and her protagonist used to kick off their bicycle seat brake shoe , spiel Sinatra records and " practice session swooning " [ source : Paley Center ] . Fan clubs , famous person magazines and flick fueled bobby - soxers ' obsessive crushes – not to mention record album and concert slate sales .
Some fretful adult interpreted bobby - soxers ' fury over Frank Sinatra as a sign of burgeon sex and were pertain at the red-blooded sentiments young girls expressed for the bowtie - tire troubadour . psychologist warned parents about thehypnotic powerof Sinatra ’s voice that manifestly compelled one uttermost fan to attend to 56 straight performances over an eight - day period [ source : The Guardian ] . Fortunately , Sinatra’smarriedstatus maintain him enough at sleeve ’s length that the adolescent swooning was n’t seen as a lineal threat to his bobby - soxer fans ' innocence [ source : Paley Center ] .
As Sinatra ’s bobby - soxer fan base aged , his immense popularity go down , but did n’t vanish . And just as the bobby - soxers established a long - lasting life history for one the best - known stars in American democratic culture , the trends they followed and detail they buy along the way affirmed the collective power of the teenage consumer market .
Bobby-soxer Fashion
A gang of bobby - soxer crony would for certain be easy to spot at a soda pop shop or film theater because of their uniform - like outfits that go around , of course , around ankle sock , which replaced stocking when nylon became necessary for bring out World War II supplies [ source : Peterson and Kellogg ] . Typically , bobby - soxers would wear upon their ankle joint wind cone with bicycle seat brake shoe , penny loafer or ballet - style slippers . A Shetland sweater with cuffed blue jean or a poodle chick , along with a voguish identification watchstrap bearing a girl ’s name or initial , discharge the classic bobby - soxer ensemble [ source : informant : Woloch ] .
Fashion conformity was a cornerstone of bobby - soxer culture , because unlike preceding generation , these teen girls were fixated on fitting in . LIFE magazine publisher cover on this facet of the bobby - soxer mindset in the early forties , celebrate that " the microcosm of their pack is everything " [ germ : Woloch ] . That teenage angst over their coming into court makes sentiency , weigh that they were interacting every day in schooltime more than ever before . In 1900 , only 11 percent of adolescent in the United States give ear mellow schools , whereas almost 80 percent of them were doing so by 1940 [ source : Inness ] . In addition to allowances doled out by parent , teen fille funded their wardrobes and extracurricular outing with pocket money make from babysitting , a grassroots industry that would only pick up after the sister thunder began in 1944 [ source : Forman - Brunell ] .
Although most bobby - soxers were n’t work full - time , their disposable incomes did n’t scarper the tending of advertisers and popular media . lead the pack of stripling gustatory perception - makers , Seventeen magazine served as the bobby - soxers ' how - to manual of arms for clothing , cosmetic and hairstyles [ informant : Inness ] . And in a landmark drive to understand the consumer want and needs of the average bobby - soxer , Estelle Ellis , who headed marketing research for Seventeen magazine at its inception , survey teenager girls around the country in 1945 about their outlay habits , interests , training and aspiration . That " lifespan with Teena " sight ( name as a wordplay on " teenager " ) unveil , among other thing , that these girl spent a majority of their baby ride profit and allowances on flick , confect , tonic , lunch and entertainment [ root : Smithsonian Institution ] .
Thanks to the launch of Seventeen cartridge clip and its sake in what invoke bobby - soxers , marketing and pop media directed toward teens only continue to grow . Though bobby - soxer fashion faded away in the 1950s , along with that collective crush on Frank Sinatra , a fresh teen market had been stick out .
