Raccoon coat

Raccoon coats, full-length fur coats made of raccoon hide, were a 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] They became popular due to the stories of Davy Crockett and popular artist James Van Der Zee.[2] 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!

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

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.[3] 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.[4][5]

See also
  •  1920s portal

References
  1. Wilcox, R. Turner (2010). The Mode in Furs: A Historical Survey with 680 Illustrations. Courier Corporation. ISBN 0-486-47872-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Fashion Encyclopedia: Modern World 1919–1929. Entry for Raccoon Coat
  3. The Saturday Evening Post - Alan Foster Gallery
  4. "Raccoon Swoon in New Flurry", LIFE Magazine, pp. 83–86, September 9, 1957, retrieved August 16, 2017
  5. Le Zotte, Jennifer (February 8, 2017), "The Invention of Vintage Clothing", Smithsonian, Washington, D.C., retrieved August 16, 2017


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