Willie Goat, is this a serious question, or is it more rhetorical in nature?
I feel compelled to answer this...
.
Many years ago, in the mid 1990s, I was a high school student. I drove around in a piece of **** Toyota Corolla. I remember in my high school (we were all the tail-end of Generation-X), that there was a very diverse group of "cultures" of people. In my high school (graduating class of 1996), we had the following groups:
Jocks / Sports: These were the kids who excelled greatly in sports. Many were on the road to sports scholarships, and went to all the games. I was vaguely part of this group, as I was one of the school's top track athletes. But it was the only sport I played in high school.
Orc Dorks / Band Geeks: These are the kids who were part of Orchestra, and / or part of Band. I was also part of this, I played the violin since 5.
Goths: These were the kids (of literally all shapes and sizes) that were the "non-conformists" who all conformed to a stereo-typical "goth" look, wearing all black clothes and white face paint. Their favorite movie was "The Crow" and their favorite singer was "Marilyn Manson."
Jerry's Kids: Not what you think... these were kids who were HUUUGE fans of Jerry Garcia (I had no idea who he was at the time). They wore massive Mexican parkas, wore open-toed sandles, had beanies on (like from Jamaica), and wore blue jeans that were flared (bell bottoms) at the bottom.
Straight-Edge (aka sXe, pronounced "Sexy"): These were the kids who, for not identifying with any other particular group, took it upon themselves to become celibate in everything they could. They were against food that wasn't good for you, against alcohol, against drugs, and against smoking. Good on them. It didn't necessarily mean their grades were good, but they found commonality in restraint.
Magic the Gathering: Dear God... the most underserved among all the groups of young impressionable self-hating white people. I can't remember exactly when this happened, but I guess Magic the Gathering must have come about at some point in 1995 or some such, as I don't really remember this my first two years of high school. Largely consistent of people from the Orc Dorks and the Band Geeks, these are people who would run and hide under the stairwells in-between classes and during break, where they'd play the card game "Magic the Gathering."
The Achievers: These are the academics... the kids who generally put their head in the books and focused on their studies. I was part of this group my first two years, but quickly fell out as I started to slack. Most of these kids were in drafting class, or one of our two programming classes (Basic, and Pascal). They dressed fairly normal, and didn't really identify with any of the other groups.
Grunge Kids: This is where I mostly fell in, we were the kids who were big into Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, etc. We maybe fit in some of the other categories, and all pretty much dressed alike. Stone-washed jeans, Converse All*Stars ("Chucks"), a plaid long-sleeved shirt with a white concert t-shirt on top.
Over the next decade or so (long after I graduated) the Goths split off into Emo (emotional / depressed) and Scene kids (who liked to dress up, still had emotional problems though not always depressed, and liked bright colors). The Jerry's Kids all turned into the "Eco" kids, and are the main protagonists for legalization of marijuana. The Straight-Edge kids ended up turning into what became the hipsters, which is important for this discussion...
The straight-edge kids, some of whom were closet LGBT (a term not yet created at the time), made up the foundation of what became the "Hipsters" in the next generation. The hipsters, frustrated about not having any particular style of their own, with no particular identifying qualities, sought to define their identity and uniqueness. They sought to create their own style, independent of each other. The fascinating thing about cultural phenomenon is when you get 1000+ like-minded people, each trying to be independently unique, they all end up doing the exact same thing in the name of uniqueness. A trend that many of us might remember is the affordable Japanese mid-size sedan craze that happened in the mid to late 90s. All the kids who were given hand-me-down 1991 Honda Civic DX sedans, took them and "riced them out." Every person sought to customize their Honda Civic DX to make it unique by installing a large exhaust tip, racing stripes, rubber-band wheels, metallic flake, and lucite automatic shift knobs. To the dismay of many, every car ended up the same.
Like the ricers before them, many of the hipsters took this to the extreme. For example, this began the "Golden Era," nay, the "Renaissance Period," for thrift stores. During this period of time, Goodwill and Salvation Army saw their largest periods of growth than at any time in history. The Hipsters would go in looking for anything "vintage," but there was no particular style or period they were going for. You might have one kid bring an Atari 2600 to a "LAN PARTY" when in fact he'd never seen one before it popped up on eBay. Or a kid might take his CP/M KayPro 2 "luggable" to the library to show how hip he was to his friends who came with their laptops. They were always looking to be edgy. This meant they would mix generational styles too... mind you, they'd take a pair of clown rainbow socks, mix them with open-toed sandals, wear them with dress slacks, a Hawaiian (Aloha) shirt, suspenders, and a cowboy hat. Whatever they could cobble together that showed how much they refused to conform to society because they understood a "better way." Eventually, like all non-conforming groups, they embraced the fact that they've been conforming to each other from the beginning.
Fast-forward a few years... the war in Afghanistan and Iraq was on-going, and many of the first wave of (now Veterans) were returning from war. Having to shave every day, these veterans took the opportunity to grow a beard which they couldn't grow before. Many of them quickly returned as defense contractors, seeing the vast potential money opportunity. As the DFAC food is heavy on protein, these beards grew quickly. As these "Gen-Xers" returned from war to their younger Millennial brothers, the Millennials, many of whom were against the war, still appreciated what they felt was "manly." Non-serving Millennials quickly embraced what became known as the Afghan Beard (aka, "Millennial Beard"). Additionally, these Millennials desperately wanted to show their support for the LGBT community, which they believed was their 1964 Civil Rights Act of their time. In solidarity for their community, many of them started wearing "skinny jeans" and tying their hair in buns in support of gender neutrality (known as "man buns.").
At some point, the white liberal progressive middle-class Millennials started to realize the perception they were giving was not working towards their favor. They then sought to give the image of success and refinement. As with their past actions, they looked to emulate the styles of the past to generate their own "unique" and independent style that they could all follow. They took up pipe smoking, mechanical watches came back in style (I know because as a side-hobby, I restore Swiss watches and they sell like crazy to Millennials). They've also taken up things like bringing back older styles that gave the image of money, like wing-tipped dress shoes, and... driving caps, as you've so duly identified above.
[This message has been edited by 82-T/A [At Work] (edited 01-26-2020).]
Willie Goat, is this a serious question, or is it more rhetorical in nature?
Actually, I just thought the hats looked like shoes.
I enjoyed your essay on cultural trends of the last few decades. I have long been a fan of popular American culture, but always focused on the early to mid twentieth century. I never really looked at such recent trends. Thank you.
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]: Willie Goat, is this a serious question, or is it more rhetorical in nature?
I feel compelled to answer this...
.
Many years ago, in the mid 1990s, I was a high school student. I drove around in a piece of **** Toyota Corolla. I remember in my high school (we were all the tail-end of Generation-X), that there was a very diverse group of "cultures" of people. In my high school (graduating class of 1996), we had the following groups:
Jocks / Sports: These were the kids who excelled greatly in sports. Many were on the road to sports scholarships, and went to all the games. I was vaguely part of this group, as I was one of the school's top track athletes. But it was the only sport I played in high school.
Orc Dorks / Band Geeks: These are the kids who were part of Orchestra, and / or part of Band. I was also part of this, I played the violin since 5.
Goths: These were the kids (of literally all shapes and sizes) that were the "non-conformists" who all conformed to a stereo-typical "goth" look, wearing all black clothes and white face paint. Their favorite movie was "The Crow" and their favorite singer was "Marilyn Manson."
Jerry's Kids: Not what you think... these were kids who were HUUUGE fans of Jerry Garcia (I had no idea who he was at the time). They wore massive Mexican parkas, wore open-toed sandles, had beanies on (like from Jamaica), and wore blue jeans that were flared (bell bottoms) at the bottom.
Straight-Edge (aka sXe, pronounced "Sexy"): These were the kids who, for not identifying with any other particular group, took it upon themselves to become celibate in everything they could. They were against food that wasn't good for you, against alcohol, against drugs, and against smoking. Good on them. It didn't necessarily mean their grades were good, but they found commonality in restraint.
Magic the Gathering: Dear God... the most underserved among all the groups of young impressionable self-hating white people. I can't remember exactly when this happened, but I guess Magic the Gathering must have come about at some point in 1995 or some such, as I don't really remember this my first two years of high school. Largely consistent of people from the Orc Dorks and the Band Geeks, these are people who would run and hide under the stairwells in-between classes and during break, where they'd play the card game "Magic the Gathering."
The Achievers: These are the academics... the kids who generally put their head in the books and focused on their studies. I was part of this group my first two years, but quickly fell out as I started to slack. Most of these kids were in drafting class, or one of our two programming classes (Basic, and Pascal). They dressed fairly normal, and didn't really identify with any of the other groups.
Grunge Kids: This is where I mostly fell in, we were the kids who were big into Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, etc. We maybe fit in some of the other categories, and all pretty much dressed alike. Stone-washed jeans, Converse All*Stars ("Chucks"), a plaid long-sleeved shirt with a white concert t-shirt on top.
Over the next decade or so (long after I graduated) the Goths split off into Emo (emotional / depressed) and Scene kids (who liked to dress up, still had emotional problems though not always depressed, and liked bright colors). The Jerry's Kids all turned into the "Eco" kids, and are the main protagonists for legalization of marijuana. The Straight-Edge kids ended up turning into what became the hipsters, which is important for this discussion...
The straight-edge kids, some of whom were closet LGBT (a term not yet created at the time), made up the foundation of what became the "Hipsters" in the next generation. The hipsters, frustrated about not having any particular style of their own, with no particular identifying qualities, sought to define their identity and uniqueness. They sought to create their own style, independent of each other. The fascinating thing about cultural phenomenon is when you get 1000+ like-minded people, each trying to be independently unique, they all end up doing the exact same thing in the name of uniqueness. A trend that many of us might remember is the affordable Japanese mid-size sedan craze that happened in the mid to late 90s. All the kids who were given hand-me-down 1991 Honda Civic DX sedans, took them and "riced them out." Every person sought to customize their Honda Civic DX to make it unique by installing a large exhaust tip, racing stripes, rubber-band wheels, metallic flake, and lucite automatic shift knobs. To the dismay of many, every car ended up the same.
Like the ricers before them, many of the hipsters took this to the extreme. For example, this began the "Golden Era," nay, the "Renaissance Period," for thrift stores. During this period of time, Goodwill and Salvation Army saw their largest periods of growth than at any time in history. The Hipsters would go in looking for anything "vintage," but there was no particular style or period they were going for. You might have one kid bring an Atari 2600 to a "LAN PARTY" when in fact he'd never seen one before it popped up on eBay. Or a kid might take his CP/M KayPro 2 "luggable" to the library to show how hip he was to his friends who came with their laptops. They were always looking to be edgy. This meant they would mix generational styles too... mind you, they'd take a pair of clown rainbow socks, mix them with open-toed sandals, wear them with dress slacks, a Hawaiian (Aloha) shirt, suspenders, and a cowboy hat. Whatever they could cobble together that showed how much they refused to conform to society because they understood a "better way." Eventually, like all non-conforming groups, they embraced the fact that they've been conforming to each other from the beginning.
Fast-forward a few years... the war in Afghanistan and Iraq was on-going, and many of the first wave of (now Veterans) were returning from war. Having to shave every day, these veterans took the opportunity to grow a beard which they couldn't grow before. Many of them quickly returned as defense contractors, seeing the vast potential money opportunity. As the DFAC food is heavy on protein, these beards grew quickly. As these "Gen-Xers" returned from war to their younger Millennial brothers, the Millennials, many of whom were against the war, still appreciated what they felt was "manly." Non-serving Millennials quickly embraced what became known as the Afghan Beard (aka, "Millennial Beard"). Additionally, these Millennials desperately wanted to show their support for the LGBT community, which they believed was their 1964 Civil Rights Act of their time. In solidarity for their community, many of them started wearing "skinny jeans" and tying their hair in buns in support of gender neutrality (known as "man buns.").
At some point, the white liberal progressive middle-class Millennials started to realize the perception they were giving was not working towards their favor. They then sought to give the image of success and refinement. As with their past actions, they looked to emulate the styles of the past to generate their own "unique" and independent style that they could all follow. They took up pipe smoking, mechanical watches came back in style (I know because as a side-hobby, I restore Swiss watches and they sell like crazy to Millennials). They've also taken up things like bringing back older styles that gave the image of money, like wing-tipped dress shoes, and... driving caps, as you've so duly identified above.
We in my area. last 70's to late 80's basicly had ---------------the prepp's polo shirts. most times 2 with collars up. fancy jeans or slacks. or a turtle neck and then a polo shirt with collar up. ------------- the regular kid Jeans and a tee shirt . if it was cool/cold out a plaid button up shirt over the tee. long before grundge
----------- the hard rock /metal head Jeans, a band tee shirt, a leather vest and/or jacket, or a gean jacket with either band pins/patches and/or band album art on the back. long hair
--------- newwave punkish hair styles and the prepps type jeans and shirts, just not layered. ------------ punks same as metal heads only instead of long hair, it was the punk/nuwwage hair styles . -----nerds basicly all of the above. Many of the technology nerds you'd never know they were nerds. sure there was the ones like the 80's movies of nerds. but not as much as they make it out as. -----JOCKS sweat pants and a sports shirt. ------ What you called goth Black jeans, and black tee shirt or collared shirt. trench coat. was into darker new wave / and alice cooper and such and big into d&d. ---- the throwbacks. dressed like it was still the hippy 60's. Most got along with everyone. no matter what they looked like or was into.
[This message has been edited by E.Furgal (edited 01-27-2020).]
Even if I did have a chicken, why would I want to buy it a balance beam? Do they also sell chicken teeter-totters and swing sets?
Besides, it's a chicken, not a roadrunner. Why would someone drop an anvil on its head? Is this company owned by coyotes?
You don't know much about poultry...Chickens are very susceptible to getting frostbite on their feet and toes since there are no feathers down there on the most commonly raised American breeds...especially true with the current FREE RANGE! rage See the little pigtail on the far right of the 'balance beam? It's an electric cord. The item is a heated roost perch. .
Chickens are very susceptible to getting frostbite on their feet and toes since there are no feathers down there on the most commonly raised American breeds...
No..chickens aren't the smartest of animals but they aren't dumb enough to just stay perched on a hot beam. (some chickens can whip your butt at tic-tac-toe)
