Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-02-05

~ 1ecI OH ~ ulSut.
They wear
Hsnry MeLssnors. 'zoot" suits, too,
That's right, FOOT" suits.
III do my very best to describe
"zoot" suit to you. The mals
"zoot" suit is made of gray and
white striped mattress ticking. From
about q mile away. it looks Ike this
stuff morning coats are made Of.
The cuff Of the trousers Is seven
inches wide. At the knee the pants
measure 80 inches. At the thigh
they are So inches around. Tho
pants keep going on up until they
threaten the wearer's Adams apple.
A coat goes with this. Quite q
coat, too. It has the length, the
cut, the drape. the piping and the
accessories Of coat that . colored
minister from Georgia would buy
for the funeral Of top member Of
his congregation. A chauffeur, say,
who always threw a buck In the
plate on Sunday morning.
H&&
There has been . song written
about "zoot" suits. Ray Gilbert
and Bob OBrien did 1t. When they
play this at the Trianon, and the
"zoot" suffers start swinging-well,
brothers. it's like Fourth Of July
in zoo with the lion and the tiger
as Joint master Of ceremonies.
The girls wear FOOT" suits, too.
Only they don't call them that.
They call them defense Grapes"
and defense capes." They are
made Of the same material and
allow full freedom for jitterbugging.
The idea OF going to . place like
the Trianon came to me through an
article in Life" magazine. It told
Of the new crop Of fun seekers from
defense plants.
followed this lead and asked Bob
Crosby, the band leader, about 1t.
He said he played at the Trianon.
He said the Trianon, q vast armory
Of q place, With acres Of hardwood
floor and miles Of beer concessions,
was the night and day rendezvous
Of the defense workers.
So went to the Trianon with
Bob. I got me q "zoot" suit and
cut loose.
I'm bit old for jitterbugging. ana
the creaking Of my bones could be
heard over the music Of the orches-
ira, but I stuck at 1t. I cut q rug
with q Lockheed gal. I twisted an
angle with q Douglas lassie. I
sashayed with . Vega lovely. I
stomped and jumped and hoped
and leaped with . Consolidated
honey and . Boeing beauty.
At 1880 an. was about dead,
but out Of devotion to my readers,
you lovely people who make It pos
sible for me to earn bread and
butter, kept a-jumping.
At 1881 Bandleader Crosby
hoisted his baton, waved 1t . few
times, and sent his band into the
Vultee swing.
The Vultee swing is q song written
by Crosby for the boys and girls who
work in the Vultee airplane plant
from 4 in the afternoon until mid
night. They have to have some time
to play, so they play at night.
In they came, riveters. layout men,
jigmakers, punch press operators,
drop hammer operators, rougher op-
orators, girls who inspected rivets,
girls who sorted, checkers.
There was Georgette de Moulins.
There was Ray Cameron. There
was Barney Jackson. There was
Rhys James. There was Irene
Loefner. Boys and girls. Working
on bombers. Working On pursuits.
Working on the things that finally
will win this war for us.
A new life for them. New hours.
New entertainment. A new crop Of
Americans. r. Scott FITZGERALD
could have taken them and brought
them to life on the printed page.
"zoot" suits. Swing bands at those
hours near dawn. No natural life.
Girls, boys, all thrown out of line by
Nation at war. But girls and
boys accepting that fact and making
the most Of it.
Nice boys with kicky feet. Sweet
girls with lovely smiles, although
just little bit tired. A dollar to
spend. A soft drink. A beer. A
little favor.
Some fuss about income tax. Oh,
gonna cost US lot Of money. Some
fuss about Inconvenience. No tires.
No silk. No this and no that.
Let Us fuss. Our fussing doesn't
matter. Back Of Us, without q dime,
with no luxuries to lose, no softness
to trade on, stands and walks the
youth Of this country. As always,
they'll fight our battle. And always,
they'll win it. And then--for their
reward-theyu be able to turn to
the youth that will follow them.
It's . vicious circle, yes, but Q
lovely one, too.
Distributed b. NcNausht Syndicate, ine)