Manure vaults were underground covered holes in alleys all over Chicago that "Manure Mongers" (street sweepers) would swept-up horse manure from the local area and empty it into the vault closing the lid. Later, the vault would be shoveled out, and the manure carted off.
A typical "Manure Vault" in a Chicago alley in 1918.
Workhorses were used for personal transportation, pulling streetcars for public transportation, and delivering materials and products to commercial and residences. These vaults were one way of keeping the streets clean of horse manure.
In the late 1890s, Chicago had about 83,000 horses living and working in the city. On average, one horse creates between 40 to 50 pounds of manure daily at 40 pounds per day, or 3,320,000 pounds, or 1,660 tons of horse manure to dispose of daily. Furthermore, each horse produced around 2 pints of urine per day. The sheer volume made what was a nuisance in small towns and a crisis in large metropolitan areas.
The manure was smelly, dirty, and attracted flies, spreading diseases to humans. When it dried up and became dust, the breeze would spread the manure for miles, polluting the air and sickening Chicagoans. Some of it was shipped to area farms for agricultural use, and some were mixed in with cement as a binder and used to pave streets. Still, there was too much manure to efficiently dispose of. With the upcoming World's Columbian Exposition scheduled to open in 1893, Chicago made the cleanup of manure a critical priority in 1892. It would be embarrassing for the city to have filthy streets when Chicago would be under worldwide scrutiny. One strategy to deal with all the manure was the underground manure vault to diminish the problem. Manure was bailed and transported out of the city, along with manure being incinerated. The ultimate solution to the manure problem was just beginning in the U.S. In 1893 Frank Duryea was reported to have made the first horseless carriage trip on U.S. roads in Springfield, Massachusetts. He traveled approximately 600 yards before engine problems forced him to stop and make repairs. America's First Automobile Race took place in Chicago, Illinois, in 1895. Winner, Frank Duryea, traveled 54 miles at an average of 7.5 mph in 10 hours and 23 minutes, including repair time, marking the first U.S. automobile race in which any entrants finished.
By 1900 there were only 377 automobiles registered with the Board of Examiners of Operators of Automobiles. The Comparative Wheel Tax Statement shows that in 1916 there were 46,662 horse-drawn vehicles and 65,651 automobiles. By 1940 there were fewer than 2,000 horse-drawn vehicles and over 600,000 cars. The fastest changes happened in the 1920s.
Today, horses are equipped with bags to collect their manure before it hits the Chicago streets.
Advertised as “the magazine of the screen," the Telenews Theater at 165 North State Street, Chicago, opened on December 23, 1939, as part of a chain that originated in San Francisco, California.
This small 606 seat theater was once the place where moviegoers could see a couple of cartoons, a newsreel, a comical short, and the famous “March of Time” news reports, all in a single hour. Newsreels featured world, national and local news, as well as weekly sports shorts. The Telenews Theater had seating provided in orchestra and balcony levels.
Keeping with its newsy theme, a United Press teletype machine clacked away in the lobby where an usher would continually spike the fresh news copy on the wall behind the machine.
The Telenews Theater opened showing World War II frontline footage and WWII news stories from 1939 through the end of the war in the mid 40s. With televisions in more homes, news broadcasts became a mainstay of viewers, and theaters like Telenews around the country closed or changed format.
Telenews Theater was renamed the Loop Theater on April 8, 1950 and began to show first-run feature films. In July of 1950, the newsreel policy was restored, as was the Telenews name. Then in August of 1953, the theater again switched to first-run films, and the name was changed, this time for good, back to the Loop Theater.
In the mid-to-late-1960’s, the theater began to show a lot of B-grade films as well as Russ Meyer-type adult films, in addition to continuing to screen first-run features. The theater thrived during this mixed-format programming. Other downtown movie houses closed in the 70s with dwindeling attendance, along with the Loop Theater which closed on April 2, 1978. For years, the former Loop Theater had housed retail stores, but had been vacant for some time. The building was demolished in November and December 2005 to make way for a mixed-use 31-story high rise originally called MoMo (for Modern Momentum), but now called the Joffrey Tower, for the Joffrey Ballet, which is now housed in the building. The tower also is home to the Residences at the Joffrey Tower condominiums and two floors of retail space. FROM THE JAN. 5, 1940 ISSUE OF THE FILM DAILY: LATEST IN EQUIPMENT IN CHICAGO’S TELENEWS THEATER Chicago — Latest advances in motion picture theater equipment are incorporated in the new Telenews Theater recently opened here by its owners and operators, Midwest News Reel Theaters, of which Herbert Scheftel of New York City is president. House has RCA sound, Simplex projectors, and American Seating Co.’s Bodiform chairs. Approximately 400 of the latter are installed on the main floor of the auditorium, and 200 in the balcony. A Westinghouse air conditioning system is used, Perey turnstiles, and Stanley Bigelow carpets supplied by Marshall Field Co. The theater has a unique front and marquee, White Way Co. lighting, plus clear cut screen effect and excellent acoustics. Marshall Field supplied the furnishings for the rest rooms. Equipment contract was executed by National theater Supply. Shaw, Naess, and Murphy were architects.
Movies played from 1964 until its closing in 1978. 01/03/1964 – WHO’S BEEN SLEEPING IN MY BED? 01/24/1964 – FANTASIA 03/06/1964 – TWO WOMEN plus THE SKY ABOVE, THE MUD BELOW 03/20/1964 – THE SILENCE 05/01/1964 – THE EMPTY CANVAS 05/15/1964 – WEEKEND 06/05/1964 – THE CHRISTINE KEELER STORY 06/19/1964 – HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM plus HOUSE OF FRIGHT 06/26/1964 – ZULU 07/24/1964 – YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW 09/25/1964 – ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO 10/16/1964 - SHOCK TREATMENT 10/23/1964 - MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH plus BLACK SABBATH 10/30/1964 - LOS TARANTOS 11/06/1964 – LILI 11/27/1964 - DIARY OF A BACHELOR 12/18/1964 - SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS plus SANTA’S MAGIC KINGDOM 12/25/1964 - GOODBYE CHARLIE 01/22/1965 – MARRIAGE – ITALIAN STYLE 03/19/1965 – ZORBA THE GREEK 07/02/1965 – THE PAWNBROKER 08/06/1965 – CASANOVA 70 10/08/1965 – DARLING 11/17/1965 - UNDER AGE? – THE VERDICT IS YOURS 11/26/1965 - PARIS SECRET 12/22/1965 - THE 1OTH VICTIM 02/11/1966 – THE SLENDER THREAD 03/10/1966 – DARLING 04/22/1966 – THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET 06/03/1966 – MALE COMPANION 06/24/1966 – AROUND THE WORLD, UNDER THE SEA 07/27/1966 – DEAR JOHN 08/17/1966 – THE WILD ANGELS 10/21/1966 - GIGI 11/18/1966 - HOTEL PARADISO 11/30/1966 - MATA HARI plus THE THIN MAN 12/07/1966 – NINOTCHKA plus MIN AND BILL 12/14/1966 - ANNA KARENINA plus GO WEST 12/21/1966 - CAMILLE plus THE BIG STORE 12/28/1966 - THE SOUND OF MUSIC 04/21/1967 – THE TAMING OF THE SHREW 09/27/1967 – ENTER LAUGHING 10/13/1967 - BLACKBOARD JUNGLE plus A PATCH OF BLUE 10/27/1967 - THE FLIM FLAM MAN 11/10/1967 - OUR MOTHER’S HOUSE 12/01/1967 – HOUSE OF 1000 DOLLS 12/22/1967 - THE GRADUATE 01/18/1968 – FAR FROM THE MADDENING CROWD 02/23/1968 – THE GRADUATE 06/14/1968 – BLUE 07/03/1968 – THE PRODUCERS 08/14/1968 – TARGETS 08/28/1968 – ANYONE CAN PLAY 09/18/1968 – THE PRODUCERS 10/04/1968 – THE YOUNG RUNAWAYS 10/25/1968 - THERESE AND ISABELLE 12/27/1968 - SKIDOO 01/10/1969 – LES BICHES 02/21/1969 – VIXEN 12/19/1969 - JOHN AND MARY 03/13/1970 – CHERRY, HARRY AND RAQUEL 08/26/1970 – WITHOUT A STITCH 12/16/1970 - EQUINOX 02/10/1971 – UNCLE TOM’S CABIN 03/19/1971 – THE STEWARDESSES 06/30/1971 – EVIL KNIEVEL 07/28/1971 – BILLY JACK 09/24/1971 – HONKY 11/05/1971 – THE ANIMALS 11/12/1971 - THE BUS IS COMING 11/19/1971 - HOUSE OF WAX (IN 3-D) 12/17/1971 - THE STEWARDESSES 12/25/1971 - DIRTY HARRY 04/21/1972 – BUCK AND THE PREACHER 07/28/1972 – FRITZ THE CAT 09/22/1972 – A GROUP MARRIAGE 10/13/1972 - IS THE FATHER BLACK ENOUGH? 10/27/1972 - PRIVATE PARTY 11/03/1972 – BUCK AND THE PREACHER plus COOL BREEZE 11/17/1972 - RAGE 12/01/1972 – SUPERFLY plus MELINDA 12/20/1972 - TRICK BABY 02/02/1973 – BLACK GIRL 02/23/1973 – SHAMUS 03/14/1973 – DELIVERANCE 03/23/1973 – WATTSTAX 04/13/1973 – SCHLOCK 04/22/1973 – DUEL OF THE IRON FIST 05/11/1973 – THE MACK 06/01/1973 – THE MAN FROM DEEP RIVER 06/15/1973 – KUNG FU: THE INVISIBLE FIST 06/29/1973 – EMPEROR OF THE NORTH 07/06/1973 – DUEL OF THE IRON FIST plus KUNG FU: THE INVISIBLE FIST 07/27/1973 – CAHILL – U.S. MARSHALL 08/10/1973 – THEY CALL ME TRINITY plus TRINITY IS STILL MY NAME 08/24/1973 – HEAVY TRAFFIC 10/05/1973 – LAST TANGO IN PARIS 11/16/1973 - DAY OF THE JACKAL plus PETE N TILLIE 11/22/1973 - BLACKBELT 11/30/1973 - BLACK GIRL plus ACROSS 110TH STREET 12/20/1973 - TROUBLE MAN plus HAMMER 12/25/1973 - THE STING 07/19/1974 – THE LORDS OF FLATBUSH 08/02/1974 – BUSTER AND BILLIE 08/16/1974 – THE CHINESE GODFATHER 09/04/1974 – BLAZING SADDLES plus BLUME IN LOVE 09/13/1974 – EXORCISM’S DAUGHTER 09/20/1974 – VIXEN/CHERRY, HARRY, RAQUEL/BEYOND VALLEY OF THE DOLLS 10/18/1974 - UPTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT plus THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE 10/25/1974 - LAW AND DISORDER 11/08/1974 – THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR/5 ON THE BLACK HAND SIDE 11/15/1974 - THE MANDARIN MAGICIAN 11/22/1974 - GOLD 12/06/1974 – LOVE UNDER 18 plus SENSUOUS YOUTH 12/20/1974 - THE FRONT PAGE 01/15/1975 – VOODOO BLACK EXORCIST 01/31/1975 – YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN 03/14/1975 – A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE 04/25/1975 – SUPERVIXENS 06/20/1975 – DOLEMITE 06/27/1975 – SHAMPOO 07/04/1975 – THE GROOVE TUBE plus FLESH GORDON 07/11/1975 – LOVE (IN 3-D) 08/08/1975 – ILSA – SHE WOLF OF THE SS 08/29/1975 – SUPERVIXENS/CHERRY,HARRY,RAQUEL/VIXEN/FINDERS KEEPERS LOVERS WEEPERS 10/03/1975 – THE MASTER GUNFIGHTER 10/31/1975 - LENNY plus LAST TANGO IN PARIS 11/21/1975 - BLACK ALLEYCATS plus THE BLACK BUNCH 12/19/1975 - VIXEN/CHERRY,HARRY,RAQUEL/FINDERS KEEPERS LOVERS WEEPERS 12/26/1975 - SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS 01/16/1976 – THE NAUGHTIEST SHOW IN TOWN plus HOT TIMES 01/23/1976 – THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR 01/30/1976 – THE ADVENTURES OF FRONTIER FREEMONT 02/11/1976 – NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN 02/27/1976 – BLACK HOOKER plus COME BACK, CHARLESTON BLUE 03/12/1976 – MAN FRIDAY 03/19/1976 – BRUCE LEE – ALIVE OR DEAD? 04/16/1976 – DEEP JAWS 05/07/1976 – TAXI DRIVER 05/28/1976 – JACKSON COUNTY JAIL plus MEAN FRANK AND CRAZY TONY 06/18/1976 – VIGILANTE FORCE 06/15/1976 – PETER PAN 07/09/1976 – A SMALL TOWN IN TEXAS 07/16/1976 – THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES 08/06/1976 – INFRA-MAN plus WONDER WOMEN 08/27/1976 – THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR 10/01/1976 – APE (IN 3-D) 10/15/1976 - ADIOS AMIGO plus THE KILLER ELITE 10/20/1976 - THE POM POM GIRLS plus SWINGING STEWARDESSES 10/29/1976 - WOODSTOCK 11/05/1975 – RUSS MEYER’S UP 12/24/1976 - MARATHON MAN 01/14/1977 – TRICK BABY plus BLACKBELT JONES 01/28/1977 – IN SEARCH OF NOAH’S ARK 02/18/1977 – THE ENFORCER 03/04/1977 – MANDINGO plus DRUM 03/11/1977 – ANDY WARHOL’S FRANKENSTEIN 04/22/1977 – FANTASTIC INVASION OF PLANET EARTH (IN 3-D) 05/06/1977 – THE STEWARDESSES (IN 3-D) 05/20/1977 – FRITZ THE CAT plus HEAVY TRAFFIC 06/03/1977 – CINDERELLA (X-rated) 10/14/1977 - SHORT EYES 12/21/1977 - OH, GOD! plus AMAZING GRACE 12/30/1977 - CINDERELLA plus ALICE IN WONDERLAND (X-rated) 01/27/1978 – THE ADVENTURES OF THE WILDERNESS FAMILY 02/03/1978 – LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR plus LIPSTICK 02/10/1978 – EMMANUELLE IN BANGKOCK 02/24/1978 – WHICH WAY IS UP? plus THE BLACK BIRD 03/17/1978 – STRAIGHT TIME CLOSED AFTER PERFORMANCES SUNDAY APRIL 2, 1978
In historical writing and analysis, PRESENTISM introduces present-day ideas and perspectives into depictions or interpretations of the past. Presentism is a form of cultural bias that creates a distorted understanding of the subject matter. Reading modern notions of morality into the past is committing the error of presentism. Historical accounts are written by people and can be slanted, so I strive to present fact-based and well-researched articles.
Facts don't require one's approval or acceptance.
I present [PG-13] articles without regard to race, color, political party, or religious beliefs, including Atheism, national origin, citizenship status, gender, LGBTQ+ status, disability, military status, or educational level. What I present are facts — NOT Alternative Facts— about the subject. You won't find articles or readers' comments that spread rumors, lies, hateful statements, or people instigating arguments or fights.
FOR HISTORICAL CLARITY
When I write about the INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, I follow this historical terminology:
The use of old, commonly used terms that are disrespectful today, such as REDMAN or REDMEN, SAVAGES, and HALF-BREED, is explained in this article.
Writing about AFRICAN-AMERICAN history, I follow these race terms:
"NEGRO"was the term used until the mid-1960s.
"BLACK"started being used in the mid-1960s.
"AFRICAN-AMERICAN" [Afro-American] began usage in the late 1980s.
— PLEASE PRACTICE HISTORICISM —
THE INTERPRETATION OF THE PAST IN ITS OWN CONTEXT.
As a child, Harold C. Fox had studied to be a violinist. He got a job with a string group in a Chicago restaurant. When the Century of Progress World's Fair opened in 1933, the restaurant manager decided to change the sweet sound of Fox's combo to something brasher and brassier. Violins were out; trumpets were in. Fox had never played the trumpet before, but this was the Depression, and one could not afford to let a good job slip away. "Somehow, I learned enough to fake my way through the season," Fox said. "I could only play in one key, A-flat, because that was the key that required the least amount of fingering. I could play loud, and I could play hot, but I was never a great musician." When the fair closed, Fox got an offer to play with another combo in New York. But by the time he arrived with his wife, Marie, and daughter, the deal had fallen through. Eventually, Fox managed to hitch up with a group called the Chick Winters Band. That opened some more doors, and Fox was invited to play his trumpet over New York`s WNEW radio station.
All the while, Fox was staying in touch with his father, who owned a woolen wholesaling house back in Chicago. His father would send him sample bolts of cloth, and Fox would design wild suits and band uniforms for his musician friends. Fox got the idea for the Zoot suit in New York but didn't put it into production until 1939, when he moved back to Chicago to take over the family business with his brother, Aaron. The Zoot suit is the most innovative men’s garment of the twentieth century. Its knee-length jacket featured exaggerated padded shoulders, and the voluminous, high-waisted pants narrowed to a pegged ankle.
Harold C. Fox
When the Zoot suit emerged, it was a radical departure from typical men’s suits which had changed little in nearly a century. Fox sold the first Zoot suit in Chicago in 1939. Fox came up with the name "Zoot Suit" by borrowing from the distinctive street jargon of the day. "It was cool in those days to talk in rhymes," Fox said. "In those days, the highest compliment you could pay someone or something was to say it was 'the end to end all ends.' I needed a word to rhyme with the word 'Suit,' so I used the letter of the alphabet that is the end to end all ends - 'Z' - and came up with ZOOT." Fox even invented the most distinctive accessory to the Zoot suit, the long, looping watch chain worn dangled from a trouser pocket. "Our clothing store, Fox Brothers, had a commode you flushed by pulling on a chain," Fox recalled. "One day, I flushed the toilet, and the chain came off in my hand. For some reason, I took the chain with me when I went out into the showroom to phone a plumber." A commodious chain.
SIDEBAR Chicago, 1942.
A young cat struts down State Street in a freshly tailored Zoot Suit—draped in gabardine, chain swaying like a metronome. He turns to flash a grin, steps too wide, and—bam!—The suit that made him a legend also made him a cautionary tale. He tripped on his Zoot Suit crotch and chain. He fell and broke his jaw. Fashion That Fought Back!
"Some cat was getting fitted for a Zoot suit, and he asked me if I had any accessories to go with the suit. Just on impulse, I hooked one end of the chain to his pants and put the other in his pocket. Bingo! He thought it was terrific, and pretty soon, everybody who came in for a Zoot suit had to have a chain."The Zoot suit was one of the Fox Brothers' first designs, and almost instantly the clothing house found itself among the avant-garde of American fashion.
Fox came up with endless variations to the Zoot suit, then branched out. He takes credit for popularizing padded shoulders, polka-dot shirts, be-bop berets (adorned with an upright toothpick), the cape-back Casablanca-style trench coat, and something he calls the double-single-breasted jacket. Word spread and Harold Fox was soon the clothier of the stars. Dizzy Gillespie shopped there, and so did Charlie "Bird" Parker. Woody Herman and Stan Kenton were regulars. So were Sarah Vaughan, Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Nat "King" Cole, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Earl Hines, and Scatman Crothers.
Fox was the leader of the Jimmy Dale Orchestra when he took over his family’s tailoring business in 1941. He reputedly traded suits for musical arrangements made by the popular jazz musicians who frequently played in Chicago and sported the extreme style. In addition to jazz musicians, urban blacks and Latinos were the primary wearers of the style.
Fox Brothers were also the clothier of choice for Chicago's leading mobsters and panderers.
Joel Daley, Bill Frink, and John Coleman at the Balaban and Katz "B&K" Uptown Theater, Chicago.
A Zoot Suit with a Reet Pleat [1942]
Dorothy Dandridge & Paul White
The Zoot suit was regarded as fashionable by some and as rebellious and unpatriotic by others. Its popularity coincided with World War II. Rationing during the war led to clothing restrictions for U.S. citizens. To some people, the copious amounts of fabric required to construct a Zoot suit constituted open defiance of the American war effort.
THE STORY OF THE ZOOT SUIT RIOTS
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of violent clashes during which mobs of
U.S. servicemen, off-duty police officers and civilians brawled with young
Latinos and other minorities in Los Angeles. The June 1943 riots took their
name from the baggy suits worn by many minority youths during that era, but
the violence was more about racial tension than fashion. The Zoot suit
garnered a racist reputation. In California, Latino, known as “pachucos”
(male members of a counterculture associated with Zoot suit fashion, jazz
and swing music), often wore flashy, brightly colored Zoot suits, porkpie
hats and long dangling watch chains, were increasingly viewed by affluent
whites as menacing street thugs, gang members and rebellious juvenile
delinquents.
Pork Pie Hat
Wartime patriotism didn’t help matters: After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941, and the U.S. entry into World War II, wool and other
textiles were subject to strict rationing. The U.S. War Production Board
regulated the production of civilian clothing containing silk, wool and
other essential fabrics. Despite these wartime restrictions, many bootleg
tailors in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and elsewhere continued to make
the popular Zoot suits, which used profligate amounts of fabric. Servicemen
and many other people, however, saw the oversized suits a flagrant and
unpatriotic waste of resources.
The local media was only too happy to fan the flames of racism and moral
outrage: On June 2, 1943, the Los Angeles Times reported: “Fresh in the
memory of Los Angeles is last year’s surge of gang violence that made the
‘Zoot suit’ a badge of delinquency. Public indignation seethed as warfare
among organized bands of marauders, prowling the streets at night, brought a
wave of assaults, and finally murders.”
In the summer of 1943, tensions ran high between Zoot-suiters and the large
contingent of white sailors, soldiers and Marines stationed in and around
Los Angeles. Mexican Americans were serving in the military in high numbers,
but many servicemen viewed the Zoot-suit wearers as World War II draft
dodgers (though many were in fact too young to serve in the military).
On May 31, a clash between uniformed servicemen and Mexican American youths
resulted in the beating of a U.S. sailor. Partly in retaliation, on the
evening of June 3, about 50 sailors from the local U.S. Naval Reserve Armory
marched through downtown Los Angeles carrying clubs and other crude weapons,
attacking anyone seen wearing a Zoot suit or other racially identified
clothing.
In the days that followed, the racially charged atmosphere in Los Angeles
exploded in a number of full-scale riots. Mobs of U.S. servicemen took to
the streets and began attacking Latinos and stripping them of their suits,
leaving them bloodied and half-naked on the sidewalk. Local police officers
often watched from the sidelines, then arrested the victims of the beatings.
Zoot suiters lined up outside Los Angeles jail en route to court after a feud with sailors in 1943.
Thousands more servicemen, off-duty police officers and civilians joined the
fray over the next several days, marching into cafes and movie theaters and
beating anyone wearing Zoot-suit clothing or hairstyles (duck-tail haircuts
were a favorite target and were often cut off). Negroes and Filipinos — even
those not clad in Zoot suits — were also attacked.
By June 7, the rioting had spread outside downtown Los Angeles to Watts,
East Los Angeles and other neighborhoods. Taxi drivers offered free rides to
servicemen to rioting areas, and thousands of military personnel and
civilians from San Diego and other parts of Southern California converged on
Los Angeles to join the mayhem.
Leaders of the Mexican American community implored state and local officials
to intervene — The Council for Latin American Youth even sent a telegram to
President Franklin D. Roosevelt — but their pleas met with little action.
One eyewitness, writer Carey McWilliams, painted a terrifying picture:
“On Monday evening, June seventh, thousands of Angelenos turned out for a
mass lynching. Marching through the streets of downtown Los Angeles, a mob
of several thousand soldiers, sailors, and civilians, proceeded to beat up
every Zoot-suiter they could find. Street cars were halted while Mexicans,
and some Filipinos and Negroes, were jerked out of their seats, pushed into
the streets, and beaten with sadistic frenzy.”
Some of the most disturbing violence was clearly racist in nature: According
to several reports, a black defense plant worker — still wearing his
defense-plant identification badge — was yanked off a streetcar, after which
one of his eyes was gouged out with a knife.
Local papers framed the racial attacks as a vigilante response to an
immigrant crime wave, and police generally restricted their arrests to the
Latinos who fought back. The riots didn’t die down until June 8, when U.S.
military personnel were finally barred from leaving their barracks.
The Los Angeles City Council issued a ban on Zoot suits the following day.
Amazingly, no one was killed during the weeklong riot, but it wasn’t the
last outburst of Zoot suit-related racial violence. Similar incidents took
place that same year in cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit.
A Citizens’ Committee appointed by California Governor Earl Warren to
investigate the Zoot Suit Riots convened in the weeks after the riot. The
committee’s report found that, “In undertaking to deal with the cause of
these outbreaks, the existence of race prejudice cannot be ignored.”
Additionally, the committee described the problem of juvenile delinquency
youth as “one of American youth, not confined to any racial group. The
wearers of Zoot suits are not necessarily persons of Mexican descent,
criminals or juveniles.
Cherry Poppin' Daddies
"Zoot Suit Riot" (original video 1997)
"It was okay with me," Fox said of the end of the fad. "I was sick of Zoots by that time anyway." Merriam-Webster [Dictionary] Company accepted Mr. Fox's claim to the name "Zoot Suit." The initial fad of Zoot suits was short-lived, but the 1990s witnessed a resurgence in the popularity of swing dancing and the Zoot suit. In an effort to embody the spirit of the 1940s, many dancers dressed in vintage clothing, which helped bring back the Zoot suit. Soon, the fad expanded to dressier occasions such as high school proms. Several tailors throughout the country began offering custom-made Zoot suits. Fox, who died in 1996, continued wearing the fashion throughout his life and was buried in a lavender Zoot Suit. The Fox Brothers Custom Tailors at 556 West Roosevelt Road, Chicago, Illinois, is still open for business. Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.
