# Beatniks **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 28, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958 "2002-08-28T17:34:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![flabbygirlyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/45deac/32.png) [@flabbygirlyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flabbygirlyman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/1 "2002-08-28T17:34:54Z")
I’m too young to have understood the writings of the “Beat Generation” at the time they were written . But I do remember seeing people who called themselves “Beatniks” . They always wore berets ,shoe-lace neckties and had bearded chins ( the males ,that is ). Nowadays when beatniks are portrayed , they always still have those beards , berets and neckties. Recently, I did a little web research on the original Beats ,such as Jack Kerouac, William S Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg . Where photos were shown , there was not one single beret or shoe-lace tie to be seen ! And Ginsberg’s was the only beard ! What gives ? Did they only wear their berets when there were no photographers around ? Or is this whole beret and shoe-lace tie thing an example of mass hallucination , something that didn’t even exist in the real world ? Like, Far Out ,Man !! ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/2 "2002-08-28T18:05:30Z")
I think you might be able to trace it back to Maynard G. Krebs. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/3 "2002-08-28T18:09:41Z")
Well, it was a stereotype and a code. As you point out, the original “Beats,” Kerouac, Ginsberg, and co., didn’t look much like the stereotype. Here’s a little history of the “Beats” (a name coined in 1948 by Kerouac), and of “beatnik” (coined in 1958 by Herb Caen): [http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/~hayward/UnspeakableVisions/Introduction.html](http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/~hayward/UnspeakableVisions/Introduction.html) [http://poetry-magazine.com/poetry/poetry-006/07page.htm](http://poetry-magazine.com/poetry/poetry-006/07page.htm) [http://colinp1.home.mindspring.com/named.htm](http://colinp1.home.mindspring.com/named.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/4 "2002-08-28T18:11:00Z")
As near as I can tell, the beret-beard thing is a caricature created by magazine illustrators, and perpetuated by groupies. The components are borrowed from the Lost Generation (expatriates living a bohemian existence in Paris), hipsters (Black bohemians in US cities), and just plain poor folks. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/5 "2002-08-28T18:12:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ringo \* > \*\*I think you might be able to trace it back to Maynard G. Krebs. \*\* The stereotype existed well before Maynard. He was just an expression of it. ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/6 "2002-08-28T18:14:37Z")
My father was a beatnik and didn’t look anything like the stereotypical one according to the media. Basically from him he said that the beatnik culture was a precursor to the later hippy culture. He said he had long hair (it looked terribly short to me from those pictures) and he didn’t have any facial hair. From modern standards his clothing would be considered tame and/or conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/7 "2002-08-28T19:02:03Z")
Yeah, I couldn’t quickly find a picture of Maynard with a beret. I seem to remember stereotypicak beatniks appearing in Mad Magazine fairly often, also. [The birth of the beatnik](http://www.richmondreview.co.uk/features/campbe01.html) is a little reading that starts with: > [@](#): > > Q: What do you think of being King of the Beatniks? > > A: Well, you know I never was a beatnik, doncha? > > Q: How did the word evolve? > > A: Well, first it was Beat Generation… then Sputnik went up, remember? Then they called it beatnik. ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/8 "2002-08-28T19:37:05Z")
I remember beatniks and wanted to be one, but was just a little too young. Certainly black was the clothes color of choice, and angst, real or imagined, was the prevailing emotion. Minimalism in clothing was the thing because, after all, nothing really mattered - the world was a hopeless place. In Chicago, Old Town was the place to be. Too young to be a beatnik, too old to be a hippie. I missed all the fun. ---
**Author:** ![flabbygirlyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/45deac/32.png) [@flabbygirlyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flabbygirlyman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/9 "2002-08-28T20:44:59Z")
Me too, OldBroad, both too young and too old ! But after reading about the fates of Kerouac and Borroughs , I’d say that you and I are pretty lucky ! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/10 "2002-08-28T21:19:54Z")
Incidentally, I was living in Boulder, Colorado in the late 70s at the time when Alan Ginsberg was presiding over the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the Naropa Institute. Ginsberg invited many of his old colleagues to give public lectures and readings there, and I got to see quite a few of them, including Ginsberg himself and Burroughs. ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2002, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/11 "2002-08-28T22:52:02Z")
Just this week the Colorado Daily had a piece on the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. It’s still going strong. ---
**Author:** ![Ring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Ring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ring)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/12 "2002-08-29T03:47:59Z")
The biggest mistake I ever made was reading “Naked Lunch” ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/13 "2002-08-29T03:55:42Z")
A worse mistake would be to see the movie. Was Ginsberg the only City Lights era beat to join NAMBLA? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/14 "2002-08-29T04:30:35Z")
… And the beat goes on … La dee da dee dee La dee da dee da 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/15 "2002-08-29T04:39:55Z")
I read an article on Beats some years back, when the Seattle “Grunge” trend was still the “in” thing. It pointed out that, regardless of the black turtleneck & beret stereotypes, the usual Beat look was more likely to feature ripped blue jeans and old flannel lumberjack shirts. In other words, quite similar to the “Grunge” look of the early '90s. _Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose._ ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatniks/125958/16 "2002-08-29T04:46:23Z")
I read an article on Beats some years back, when the Seattle “Grunge” trend was still the “in” thing. It pointed out that, regardless of the black turtleneck & beret stereotypes, the usual Beat look was more likely to feature ripped blue jeans and old flannel lumberjack shirts. In other words, quite similar to the “Grunge” look of the early '90s. _Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose._