# Did freshmen really used to wear those big coats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176 "2003-12-20T15:36:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/21 "2003-12-21T12:43:41Z")
BTW, the clothing item most associated with college freshmen from the 1890s through the 1920s was the freshman beanie cap. A frosh caught without one by upperclassmen was subject to hazing. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/22 "2003-12-21T12:50:11Z")
Do PETA people get apopletic about people wearing leather coats, shoes, belts, purses etc.? Where do they think those come from? You scrape the fur off a hide and you get leather. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/23 "2003-12-21T13:15:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*BTW, the clothing item most associated with college freshmen from the 1890s through the 1920s was the freshman beanie cap. A frosh caught without one by upperclassmen was subject to hazing. \*\* I believe the last year for required beanies at my school was 1966-67. That was also the last year for required ROTC for freshmen men. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/24 "2003-12-21T13:54:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*. . . Well, if we are going to get _really_ historically picky here, the term “flapper” had nothing to do with the 1920s or galoshes. It was used as early as 1900, referring to fluttery, butterfly-like society girls. \*\* A few of them appear to have made it to the 1920s. From Tom P. Morgan’s April 22, 1922 [A Wireless Warning](http://earlyradiohistory.us/1922warn.htm) > [@](#): > > Many high schools now have receiving stations. The radio is giving pleasure to patients in hospitals. The shut-in’s slow-passing hours are brightened by music, song and story coming out of the air. The broker receives the latest stock quotations. The farmer learns how produce is selling away over yonder. The pimply youth lounging in the drug store gets the sporting scores. The **flapper** hears the newest and silliest dance tunes. The housewife obtains the latest cooking recipes. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/25 "2003-12-21T14:57:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*[University of Wisconsin, ca. 1928-29.](http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=4074548&a=30450554&p=62149276&f=0) \*\* From a raccoon’s perspective, that’s a very disturbing photo. Now I know what happened to Uncle Fred. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/26 "2003-12-21T15:30:49Z")
Oh, they still called them flappers in the '20s–in fact, the phrase somehow “stuck” there. But many people think it was _invented_ then, because of the supposed open, flapping galoshes. It goes way further back. Great photo, **Walloon** –which one are you? (I tried doing a search on John Held, Jr., and Harold Teen, but couldn’t find any raccoon-coat images). ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/27 "2003-12-21T18:02:24Z")
I’ve never heard the term “flapper” in reference to flapping galoshes; only ever to young socialite girls. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/28 "2003-12-21T23:29:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*Do PETA people get apopletic about people wearing leather coats, shoes, belts, purses etc.? Where do they think those come from? You scrape the fur off a hide and you get leather. \*\* Yes, PETA people do seem to have a slight problem with leather. They also have problems with fur coats, eating meat, drinking dairy products or anything else that comes from animals. I guess you have never heard of them. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/29 "2003-12-21T23:48:00Z")
(Semi off-topic) This seems like a good excuse to link to [my favorite MAD Magazine cover](http://www.collectmad.com/madcoversite/mad139.html). I think Al’s wearing a raccoon suit there in the middle of a Vietnam war protest, holding a banner reading “Beat State!” Perfect example of his “What, me worry?” philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/30 "2003-12-21T23:53:25Z")
I’ve certainly heard of PETA, I’m asking why they’re so hung up on furs and they aren’t haranguing people at the supermarket meat counter. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/31 "2003-12-22T00:02:03Z")
I think mostly because it’s a bit more offensive to wear the animal as some sort of luxury item, rather than using it for food. Plus, rich people are easy targets. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/32 "2003-12-22T00:16:09Z")
PETA aside, some of the more specific anti-fur groups, who were not neccesarily anti-meat, or at least knew how to pick their battles, used to leave leather alone on the grounds that it was a byproduct of the meat packing industry. Ie, if you’re going to kill the cow or pig to eat it, you might as well use the hide, too. That reasoning works for your average leather jacket, but not for exotic leathers like iguana. I have a strong suspicion that some of them were afraid of winding up confronting some big ugly outlaw biker dude in leather. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/33 "2003-12-22T01:54:03Z")
Hate to tell ya, but most Iguanas harvested in Central and South America are in fact eaten, not just sent up north to be exotic pets for the Yanquis. Their hides are a by-product, just like beef leather. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/34 "2003-12-22T02:43:04Z")
OK, I didn’t know that. I’m sure there’s some critter we harvest primarily to use the skin for leather, though we might try to make use of the meat for something so as not to waste it. Come to that, what’s done with the carcasses of ranch minks? Pet food? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/35 "2003-12-22T05:35:58Z")
Right, the same PETA that is telling children that their [mothers murder animals](http://www.furisdead.com/mommykills300.pdf) really gives a shit if the animal used for leather was also eaten. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/36 "2003-12-22T05:45:18Z")
From [Buhl-Frye](http://www.buhlfrye.com/faq.htm#4) mink furriers: > [@](#): > > Question: What happens to the rest of the mink after the pelt is removed? > > Answer: We hear this question often and most people are surprised to learn that the entire animal is used. Many everyday products are made from mink such as cosmetics, soaps, perfumes, paint, tires, pet food, fertilizer and (of course) mink oil. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/37 "2003-12-22T16:29:18Z")
I associate a felt porkpie hat with the front of the brim cocked with the raccoon coat – not a straw boater. And in that linked photo, all the guys are wearing various kinds of felt hats. The one on the right looks like a derby/bowler/coke hat. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/38 "2003-12-22T16:34:26Z")
We had beanies when I was a freshman in … 1991. I think I still have my beanie somewhere. Yes, it came complete with upperclass hazing if you didn’t wear it. Honestly, it’s amazing I’m not even more screwed up than I am. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176/39 "2003-12-23T00:54:03Z")
I’m still trying to wrap my mind around mink tires. Must be for a Rolls Royce or something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-freshmen-really-used-to-wear-those-big-coats/220176.md?page=1)