CHEERLEADERS IN THE 1960s : HERE COME THE SISTERS !

In 1960, cheerleading took another giant step. The prestigious National Football League opens its doors for the first time to professional cheerleaders. It is the Baltimore Colts who have the honor and the happiness to make this gesture which is both a recognition of the enviable status already achieved by cheerleading but which will also serve as a springboard for the evolution of this future sport.

The sixties were the battle of civil rights for black people in the United States. These times of uproar and confrontation will especially disrupt the lives of students on university campuses. In the American society, these are progressive places par excellence to feed the demands of blacks, who are more and more numerous in these institutions of higher education. 

In the south of the country, where they are still in greater numbers, blacks often protest against the fact that they are not sufficiently well represented in cheerleader teams. At certain hotspots in the United States, this will result in demonstrations, boycotts of classes and even riots.

The integration of the "blacks" in cheerleading will be done little by little but it will experience some difficulties due to the differences in styles. Because of their culture and genetic background, blacks are more adept at a rhythmic acrobatic style. Whites are more oriented towards figures or choreographies that focus more on the beauty and grace of gestures than on high-flying prowess. The marriage of the two styles will be very beneficial to cheerleading and it will later lead it to its peak.

In 1968, when this marriage began to bear fruit, another innovation helped to make the Pom Pom Girls show even more attractive: it was the vinyl pom pom created by Fred Gasthoff. Lawrence Herkimer, however, retains his rights (patent) to this sparkling object that so enhances and embellishes the "work" and the physique of the charming slap leaders.

In the photograph at the top of the article, we see a typical "home coming", a traditional welcoming ceremony made by the cheerleaders of the Baltimore Colts. This happened in 1959 when the Colts players returned after a game played abroad. In the photo montage below, you will be able to see in pictures the subjects I have just addressed. Also on a music of NFL movies, Times of Glory..

HISTORY OF THE BIKINI : BRIGITTE BARDOT AND THE PIN UP GIRLS OF THE 1950s

Brigitte Bardot

In 1946, two Frenchmen, engineer Louis Réard, and fashion designer Jacques Heim, were in a strange competition in Paris.

The challenge : make the smallest two-piece bathing suit for women...

But, given the mores of the time, an obstacle stands in this race with minimal dress : the navel !  In the 1940s, showing it was still considered obscene or forbidden.

In fact, many historians consider that Heim already won this race to the tiniest swimsuit in 1932, by creating his prototype called "The Atom" (pictured above).It was a two-piece somewhat similar to the model that will take the name "bikini" after World War II.

What inspired Louis Réard for his own version of the minimalist swimsuit was a phenomenon he had observed on the French beaches of that time.  He had noticed that, in order to get a better tan, some women rolled the edges of their two-pice bathing suit, surreptitiously discovering their "scandalous" navel !

In his engineering head, Réard (pictured above) understood that this need for women to shorten their own bathing suits by rolling the edges, should lead to an adjustment in the making of the garment.

After all, like many scientific inventions, this is how the bikini was born.  First, the observation of a problem, a need, a desire, or a questionable fact.  Then, the imagination gets to work to find a solution.  This solution then takes shape on the drawing board.  And it is carried out with material means and a skin-fine that proceeds by trial and error.

Thus, in 1946, with more or less accuracy, Réard developed the bikini we know today : a top covering most of the breasts; a stocking, with a triangle at the front to hide the inner part, and at the back enough fabrics to cover more or less half of the buttocks.

Once his invention was made, Louis Réard planned to sell it, as he was also a businessman operating his mother's lingerie shop near the Folies Bergères in Paris.  In order to attrack customers or buyers of his new product, the engineer had to show case it, market it and advertise it.

To do this, Réard was looking for a mannequin -an alive one- to make demonstrations in public.  But his bikini was so daring for the manners of the time, that no one wanted to wear it.

Running out of volunteers, Réard takes great measures.  To present his creation to the world, he hires a nude dancer from the Casino de Paris, Micheline Bernardini (pictured above).

On July 5, 1946, she caused a sensation by appearing, almost completely naked, at the Molitor Pool, in front of the public and photographers, in Réard's minimalist bathing suit !  An instant star, Bernardini has a multitude of admirers, especially among men.  In the days following her audacious presentation, she received no less than 50 000 letters !

But Louis Réard is too far ahead of his time.  His bikini is scandalous and he can't sell it.  Worse, his competitor, Jacques Heim, was more successful in selling a more conservative two-piece bathing suit (like the one pictured above), revealing less of the female anatomy.  However, the clientele remains quite marginal.  It is limited to a small number of wealthy and sophisticated Higher-class Europeans.

Esther Williams

For the bikini to return to store shelves, it will take a bang.  And it is a young woman, many considered the most beautiful in the world, who will give this momentum, so desired by Réard, to take off and boost the sales of his invention hitherto sullied by the ordinary people.

Indeed, at the Cannes Film Festival, in 1953, the blonde and very beautiful French actress Brigitte Bardot dazzled the world by posing in a very sexy bikini.  Bardot launched a fashion that then spread to the adjacent beaches of Saint-Tropez, a town on the French Riviera that quickly became the bikini capital of the world.

Ava Gardner

Other movie and show business stars and pin-up girls will emulate Bardot in the 1950s.  These resplendent and illustrious fans of the new bikini include : Esther Williams, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, Anita Ekberg and Sophia Loren.

Marilyn Monroe

But, in several American states, or European countries (such as Italy, Spain and Portugal, the bikini is banned.  Wearing it is illegal.  Violators can be fined.  The Pope also condemns the wearing of the bikini.

Sophia Loren

And if, as we approach the 1960s, some magazines or newspapers are showing people in bikinis, these pictures are retouched or censored so that readers can't look at this outrageous navel that no one should see !

Here are some photos of bikini models of the 1950s on a grestest hit of the year 1953 : «Look at that Girl», by Guy Mitchell !

CHEERLEADERS IN THE 1950s : OH HAPPY DAYS TOGETHER !

FSU  STUDENTS  IN  1954.

After the worst tragedy in mankind history, that was the Second World War, people were eager to forget these horrible years of death, suffering and sacrifices.  They were hungry for peace, love and kindness.  A cure to heal humanity.  They were still afraid of the possibility of an atomic war that could be even worst than World War II, but all they wanted was to be hopeful and happy at home.  And that's what happened !

And love there was !  A lot of it !  With all these young couples founding big families of four to seven children, at least !  This "baby boom" was coupled with a great period of prosperity in America.  In the most powerful country of the planet there was a feeling that the american dream could be fulfilled...

After such hard times of danger and troubles, people seemed to cherish life more than ever before.  And they understood that it was important to take care of each others.  Religious beliefs, sacred family values, a strong sense of unity in the community, and a joyous spirit, animated these young Americans of the 1950s.

Then, moms were still "home queens", they stayed in the family nest, and the happiness of their relatives were their number one priority.  They were dedicated and devoted almost exclusively to their love ones.  That was the key to their own happiness.

But, whit so many children in the family house, mothers often needed help to take care of everyone.  So, the older children would look after the younger ones.  Doing so would prepare themselves to become good parents a few years later.

Family ties were strong.  Divorce was not an option.  Maried couples managed to find solutions to their problems, for the well-being of the family.  Maybee these were the happiest days in the history of America.

A good family life enjoyed by a new comfort provided by modern machines, TV sets, appliances, beautiful furnishings, big cars, etc.

That was the american way of life.  At least for the white middle class families.  It has been illustrated in television series like HAPPY DAYS (see cast, two pictures above) and FATHER KNOWS BEST (Thanksgiving, 1954, picture above).

The dynamics of this joyful life in the Fifties are almost incomprehensible today, in a society where individualism and materialism are so dominant.  Now, divisions are so numerous and profound between races and social classes. 

Maybee it was the same thing, back in the 1950s, but there were a lot less medias to show it.  Actually, in some regions of the United States, households of one person are more common than ones with a family.

Back in the fifties, with all these joyous baby boomers attending school together, friendship was in the air !  There was a strong connection between the students and their "alma mater".  They were very proud to belong to their college or university.

And to show their pride, it happened that a new activity became the rage on the sports fields and gyms of all the american schools : cheerleading !  With uniforms representing their school, these strong boys and beautiful girls were there to direct the cheers to support the "home sport team".

At the same time, doing so was great to promote friendship among all the students of the school; this important and crucial place where you were educated and prepared to become good patriots and good american citizens.

In the fifties, cheerleaders, well...the essentially cheered !  Their routines were simple choreographies with yells to incite the spectators to support their sport team.  Stunting, jumps, dance, tumbling would be progressively integrated in these routines a little bit later.

And these more acrobatic moves would require some changes to the Pom Pom girls uniforms.  Or is it the other way around ?  Changes to the uniforms allowed the cheerleaders to do more acrobatic routines !  Who knows ?!  

One thing is for sure : from the second part of the 1940s (picture above) to the end of the fifties (picture below), the length of the cheerleader's skirt was cut by more than a half !  From just above the ankles, it went under the knees, up above them, and finally to mid-thigh.  A revolution !

Even if nothing is impossible today, it would be very surprising to see a teen student going to her classroom wearing a cheerleader outfit !  But it was not the case in the fifties.  Except for a few details, cheerleaders uniforms, at least for the first half of the 1950s, were almost identical to any girl's every day clothes.  Cheerleaders uniforms were still of wool material but slightly shorter.  They were tucked in blouses, or botton up and collared shirts, and cardigans, tackle twill with the school's letters and a megaphone.

The first "professional cheerleaders" appeared at the end of the decade, around 1959, with the Baltimore Colts, of the American Football League.  Some pictures show them with their pom poms, welcoming back the players after a game away form home.  A typical "home coming ceremony" in these times.  You don't see that nowadays.

Because, as I already said it, in the 1950s, people cared for each others.  To see the players back after a safe plane trip, in an another city, was a good reason to celebrate.  It was a proof of love...