Mod to Suedehead

[Man-of-Mystery]

Those parkas were known as ‘snorkels’ in England - usually navy blue - and no self respecting Mod in our set would be caught dead in one. I had one when I was 13 and wore it on the milk round, it may have slightly overlapped the earliest of my own Mod days but was worn purely for function in the brutal winters of 78 and 79 and never saw the light of day when I was ‘dressed up’.

The snorkel parka was the favourite garb of the train spotter. Incorrectly identified, it gave rise to the term 'anorak' when used as a term for a fanatic hobbyist (as in, for example, "He's a vintage motorbike anorak," or "She's a comic book anorak.")

Train spotters were notoriously careless in the way they wore snorkel parkas. Invariably the hood was inside-out. In our family, when anyone is wearing a hoodie or a rain-jacket, and the hood is untidy, we say "You've got trainspotter's hump!"

 

[Botolph]

Those parkas were known as ‘snorkels’ in England - usually navy blue - and no self respecting Mod in our set would be caught dead in one. I had one when I was 13 and wore it on the milk round, it may have slightly overlapped the earliest of my own Mod days but was worn purely for function in the brutal winters of 78 and 79 and never saw the light of day when I was ‘dressed up’.

Agreed that it’s certainly not fashionable. However it is great for keeping warm while attending a Bruins/Canadiens Winter Classic at an open air stadium in Massachusetts on New Year’s Day. Bonus points for the voluminous hood for smuggling beers into the game.
In that case, function beats out form by a county mile.

 

[The Saint]

Agreed that it’s certainly not fashionable. However it is great for keeping warm while attending a Bruins/Canadiens Winter Classic at an open air stadium in Massachusetts on New Year’s Day. Bonus points for the voluminous hood for smuggling beers into the game.
In that case, function beats out form by a county mile.

The point now is that , no one wears the blue snorkel parka anymore and if yours is green as l believe, then you will look fine mate. .

The reason the blue snorkel parka was so omnipresent back in the 7ts was probably due to the good weather protection it afforded . .

 

[Botolph]

The point now is that , no one wears the blue snorkel parka anymore and if yours is green as l believe, then you will look fine mate. .

The reason the blue snorkel parka was so omnipresent back in the 7ts was probably due to the good weather protection it afforded . .

Oh I ain’t worried... however the discussion reminds me: I did have a blue snorkel parka during the blizzard of ‘78 here in Massachusetts. But that was Mom and Dad’s purchase

I guess my point is that the green snorkel parka only comes out in extreme conditions when weather permits. Otherwise I’d sweat to death. Not a look I’d sport out for a drink or at the game normally.

 

[The Saint]

Haven't seen this one before , looks like early 6ts. .

 

[Thin White Duke]

Agreed that it’s certainly not fashionable. However it is great for keeping warm while attending a Bruins/Canadiens Winter Classic at an open air stadium in Massachusetts on New Year’s Day. Bonus points for the voluminous hood for smuggling beers into the game.
In that case, function beats out form by a county mile.

Around 1978 I went on a school trip to the Lake District for a week of outdoor activities. There was deep snow so we did a lot of ice climbing etc. One lad reckoned his dad was Canadian and had a green snorkel style parka from his Dad who had been in the Canadian Army. It had all the ‘official’ tags inside that showed the minimum temperature that it could be used etc. He reckoned the hood trim was real coyote fur. Strangely the outside wasn’t waterproof nylon but a canvas-like cotton as it wasn’t meant for rain but for snow (may have been treated with some kind of scotch guard repellent.)

What most obviously set it apart from anything you could get at your local shop was a large buttonned flap on the centre of the back. The lad reckoned that was to keep your rifle in place when it was slung diagonally across your back.

@Botolph you may have seen these around, I’ve never seen one before or since. I have a friend who lives in Fort MacMurray Alberta. I bet they’re common there. She’s from Trinidad, I have no clue what the hell shes doing up there!

 

[Thin White Duke]

Haven't seen this one before , looks like early 6ts. .

That’s a great pic and provides evidence for my claim that original Mods would have been cool with classic style trainers like Adidas Gazelles. They look like possible Adidas.

 

[Botolph]

Around 1978 I went on a school trip to the Lake District for a week of outdoor activities. There was deep snow so we did a lot of ice climbing etc. One lad reckoned his dad was Canadian and had a green snorkel style parka from his Dad who had been in the Canadian Army. It had all the ‘official’ tags inside that showed the minimum temperature that it could be used etc. He reckoned the hood trim was real coyote fur. Strangely the outside wasn’t waterproof nylon but a canvas-like cotton as it wasn’t meant for rain but for snow (may have been treated with some kind of scotch guard repellent.)

What most obviously set it apart from anything you could get at your local shop was a large buttonned flap on the centre of the back. The lad reckoned that was to keep your rifle in place when it was slung diagonally across your back.

@Botolph you may have seen these around, I’ve never seen one before or since. I have a friend who lives in Fort MacMurray Alberta. I bet they’re common there. She’s from Trinidad, I have no clue what the hell shes doing up there!

Never seen those, even at the army and navy shop in Edmonton, Alberta. They sound like just the right thing in the Canadian Rockies though! It gets to -50°C up there. Your poor lady friend from Trinidad— what a climactic adjustment she’d have to endure.
In places like that(and for a couple months here in Botolph’s Town), one of those parkas is the best thing if one wants to live through the winter. Function over fashion is a mode of survival!

 

[Paint House Gang]

Snorkels are discussed as mid-70s football lad gear in some of those football casual books. Probably because they were the generic coat of British boyhood.

Then apparently came back into fashion with casuals in the 80s with the whole outdoorsy/M&S jumper look that was a reaction to the conspicuous branding of sportswear.



Michael Bradley from the Undertones discusses in his autobiography how they liked their Lord Anthony snorkels as part of the Derry boot boy look and how Feargal Sharkley was the only one who wasn't cold during the photo shoot for the first album because he was wearing his snorkel

But definitely a symbol of nerdy-ness in the Adrian Mole TV show, although there is an episode where Adrian Mole becomes a skinhead

 

[The Saint]

That’s a great pic and provides evidence for my claim that original Mods would have been cool with classic style trainers like Adidas Gazelles. They look like possible Adidas.

Yes Rod , they do look like early Adidas . Of course the pic also provides evidence that Mods also drove scooters , even with one side panel off . .in the early days. .

 

[Mr Knightley]

According to the alamy website the picture is from 1965. I thought we had discussed it before but it may well have been on another site.

The other footwear shown would seem to be Hush Puppies suede derby style shoes, which in my area were very popular with Mods from around 1964 - 66 IIRC. Unlike other Mod shoes, apart from a revival courtesy of the Britpop guys, they do not seem to have stayed the course.

Any fans here?

 

[pressuredrop]

Around 1978 I went on a school trip to the Lake District for a week of outdoor activities. There was deep snow so we did a lot of ice climbing etc. One lad reckoned his dad was Canadian and had a green snorkel style parka from his Dad who had been in the Canadian Army. It had all the ‘official’ tags inside that showed the minimum temperature that it could be used etc. He reckoned the hood trim was real coyote fur. Strangely the outside wasn’t waterproof nylon but a canvas-like cotton as it wasn’t meant for rain but for snow (may have been treated with some kind of scotch guard repellent.)

What most obviously set it apart from anything you could get at your local shop was a large buttonned flap on the centre of the back. The lad reckoned that was to keep your rifle in place when it was slung diagonally across your back.

@Botolph you may have seen these around, I’ve never seen one before or since. I have a friend who lives in Fort MacMurray Alberta. I bet they’re common there. She’s from Trinidad, I have no clue what the hell shes doing up there!

The Canadian forces were issued a different, definitely unfashionable but infinitely more practical, parka than the US forces. Reason for the large buttons is that Canadians wore mitts, not gloves like the USAF, so the larger buttons were required to open & close it (and those slanted ammo pockets on the chest).

That's also what the button flap between the shoulder blades on the back of the ECW was for:

Hold a cord that the over-mitts (a leather & nylon covering for your mitts...) were connected to.

It prevented you dropping & losing them in the snow when you were fumbling around with whatever you needed to use your fingers for.

Most Canadian kids would have our mums attach our gloves & mitts on a cord and run though the arms so they hung off the cuffs a couple inches when we were little.

Illustrated in this drawing I did decades ago:

I loved those parkas because, like Thin White Duke said, they were a canvas shell with a liner, not nylon, so they were much quieter to walk around in than the Adrian Mole/trainspotter snorkels.

The other thing was those large buttons on the Korean War era parkas were said to be "survival buttons", which could be boiled down to some kind nourishing soup!

 

[Inkss]

This clip must be the peak of 70s-kids parkaism.

 

[pressuredrop]

This clip must be the peak of 70s-kids parkaism.

That is a large parka contingent!

Was Britain particularly warm or cold in the late 60s, early 70s?

 

[The Saint]

That is a large parka contingent!

Was Britain particularly warm or cold in the late 60s, early 70s?

I don't remember it being particularly extreme then . We had more snow in the 7ts but not as bad as we got this year , it is only really the occasional year that we get it bad. .