BUREAU OF LOST CULTURE – Teddy Boys: Britain’s First Youth Subculture (01/02/2025)

The Teddy Boys emerged in Britain in the early 1950s, becoming the country’s first distinct youth subculture.
Born in the aftermath of World War II, these working-class teenagers rejected post-war.
The Teddy Boys became notorious, associated with violence, for clashes with rival gangs and for their alleged involvement in the 1958 Notting Hill riots. But was that really the case? They certainly were the foundation for future youth movements, proving that teenagers could form their own cultural identity, shaping Britain’s rock and roll scene and inspiring later subcultures like the Mods and Rockers.

Musican and writer Max Decharne, author ‘Teddy Boys: Post-War Britain and the First Youth Revolution’, came to the Bureau to talk about the Teddys – and about Mods,Punk, the masssive influence of Rock Around the Clock and of working class fashion.