Hello Toads! Today I am talking gangs, and in particular
the 1950’s British gang, the Teddy Girls. They were working class young women who dressed in
neo-Edwardian fashions. The Teddy Girls were the first British female youth
subculture and have remained historically almost invisible.
They styled themselves after the Teddy Boys of that era,
but little has been written about them. The only known photographs were taken
by Ken Russell and were gathered in a series he titled, The Last of the Teddy Girls.
Today the challenge is simple. View the photographs and
let them speak to you. What do you see in their faces, their eyes, their
demeanor? Put yourself in their shoes, clothing, attitude, music, post war 1950’s
Britain and come back to the garden with a new poem inspired by their images.