Pachuco

A pachuco was a Chicano youth in the mid-20th century who wore flashy clothes (such as a Zoot Suit). Some Hispanic-American gangs adopted the pachuco style, thus most whites assumed that anyone dressed in that style was a gang member. Originating in California or Texas, the pachuco style spread to the rest

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

of the American Southwest and to Mexico. (see also Zoot Suit Riots). According to Mexican author Octavio Paz in his essay, The Pachuco, the pachuco phenomenon paralleled the zazou subculture in World War II Paris in style of clothing, music favored (jazz, swing, and jump blues), and attitudes, although there was no known link between the two subcultures. According to another theory, the word pachuco is a derivation of Pachuca, the name of the city in the Mexican state of Hidalgo where Mickey Garcia, thought by some to be the style's originator, is supposed to have come before arriving in El Paso, Texas.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Germ?n Valdez, most known by his artistic nickname "Tin Tan," often displayed the pachuco dress and employed pachuco slang in many of his movies.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The pachuco subculture declined in the 1960s. In the early 1970s, due to recession and the increasingly violent nature of gang life resulting in an abandonment of anything that suggested dandyism, Mexican-American gangs adopted a uniform of T-shirts and khakis derived from prison uniforms, and the pachuco was truly dead.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pachucos spoke what is termed cal? (sometimes called "pachuquismo"), a unique argot that employed words and phrases creatively applying formal Spanish terminology, and imaginatively adapted English loan words. To a large extent cal? went mainstream and is the last surviving vestige of the Pachuco, often used in the lexicon of urban Latinos to this day.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chicano: A Chicano is a person of Mexican descent born in the United States. Chicana is the female form of the word; it often also has feminist connotations. The term Chicano is believed to be offensive by some assimilated Mexican-Americans, who prefer other terms such as Hispanic, or Latino or simply Mexic...

20th century: The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar. Common usage sometimes regards it as lasting from 1900 to 1999, but this is often considered incorrect due to the nonexistence of a "Year Zero" before AD 1. The 20th century is also sometimes known as the nineteen hundreds (1900s)...

Zoot Suit: A zoot suit is a man's suit with wide-legged, tight-cuffed, or "pegged," trousers (called tramas); and a long coat with wide lapels, and wide, padded shoulders (called the carlango). Often zoot suiters wear a felt hat with a long feather (called a tapa or tanda) and pointy, French-style shoes (calle...