Do-Rag (1966)

[Jonathan Lighter]

Does Major "trace it back to the 1940's," or just make an assertion ?

JL

Margaret Lee <mlee303 at YAHOO.COM> wrote:
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Subject: Re: Do-Rag (1966)
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Traditionally, do-rags were worn only by black males to keep processed hair in place/ to maintain the 'do. Clarence Major's Juba to Jive traces it back to the 1940's. It's not just a "scrap of material" but a scarf or handkerchief or stocking cap.

Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:William Safire had never heard of a "do rag" before? Earliest use is in the New York Times?

I'll never get credit for this (as usual), but here goes.


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/06/magazine/06ONLANGUAGE.html
I visited a high school in Virginia recently that had this sign on the door: ''Please remove bandannas, skullcaps and do-rags'' or any other clothing that violated the district's dress policy.

''For the uninitiated,'' writes Carrie Mason-Draffen in Newsday, ''do-rag is essentially a bandanna that African-American women or men like to don . . . eminently practical, eminently dress-down . . . but some young African-American men are masters at transforming the scarves, or some offshoots, into fashion statements.'' She notes that ''the symbol of World War II working women, Rosie the Riveter, was depicted in posters with her locks peeking out of a do-rag.''

Earliest use was in an April 1968 Times article from Saigon by Thomas Johnson quoting a marine recalling indigent blacks in San Francisco ''with slicked-down hair and 'do-rags.''' What's the metaphoric root? What does a do-rag do, other than upset school officials from France to Virginia? My speculation: a rag is a piece of cloth, often discarded or used for cleaning and dusting; garment-industry people often mock their business as the rag trade. The do comes from hairdo, with the do meaning ''style.'' Thus: a scrap of material worn atop the hairdo is a do-rag. If proved mistaken, I will wear one to the office for a week, accompanied by a paronomastic singer-lyricist who calls himself Rapunzel.


(JSTOR)
Take Care of Business
Marvin X
The Drama Review: TDR > Vol. 12, No. 4, Black Theatre (Summer, 1968), pp. 85-92
Pg. 85:
WES is dressed in the style of a "do rag" nationalist; JOE as a typical college student.


(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
17 August 1966, Newark (Ohio) Advocate, pg. 39, col. 2:
Young called himself the "do-rag" man, referring to a bandana, or do-rag, worn around the head after applying a hair preparation.



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