Raccoon coat

W. C. Fields in a raccoon coat with a bowler hat (likely 1930s).

The Saturday Evening Post, November 16, 1929

"Doin' the Raccoon"

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Sample of the song which captured the fad at its height, recorded by George Olsen & His Music in 1928

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A raccoon coat is a full-length fur coat made of raccoon pelts, which became a fashion 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]

Purportedly 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!

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]

References[]

^ Wilcox, R. Turner (2010). The Mode in Furs: A Historical Survey with 680 Illustrations. Courier Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-47872-2.
^ Fashion Encyclopedia: Modern World 1919–1929. Entry for Raccoon Coat
^ The Saturday Evening Post - Alan Foster Gallery
^ "Raccoon Swoon in New Flurry", LIFE Magazine, pp. 83–86, September 9, 1957, retrieved August 16, 2017
^ Le Zotte, Jennifer (February 8, 2017), "The Invention of Vintage Clothing", Smithsonian, Washington, D.C., retrieved August 16, 2017

External links[]

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[1] Wilcox, R. Turner (2010). The Mode in Furs: A Historical Survey with 680 Illustrations. Courier Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-47872-2.

[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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Raccoon coat

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