Bop in Mad Comics 1954

[Baker, John]

A word of warning for those with no interest in antedatings and the like:  This message is long and is devoted exclusively to 1950s slang.
 
Before it was a magazine, Mad was a comic book.  Russ Cochran reprinted its 23 issues in four bound volumes in 1986, the source of the following.
 
Mad published a one-page Bop Dictionary in issue no. 9 (Feb. - Mar. 1954), to give its readers background on a five-page "story" that is accurately entitled Bop Jokes.  The Bop Jokes story really is just an illustrated selection of bop jokes that were popular at the time.  Every character in Bop Jokes and the illustrated Bop Dictionary is Caucasian.  Here's the Bop Dictionary, with my comments in [brackets].  Ellipses are original.  In spite of Mad's characterization, some of this slang does not appear to be particularly bop-related.
 
 
<<CRAZY - odd! . . . a MAD reader is a crazy mixed-up kid!
 
COOL - real nice! . . . much like gone, gassed and groovy!  [HDAS does not have this meaning of "gassed," but does have "gasser," meaning something or someone that afford great excitement, amusement, or delight.]
 
CUBE - a 3-D square!  [HDAS has 1957 for this meaning of cube.]
 
DIG - to be hep . . . to understand!
 
FLICKS - movies!
 
FLIP - to react enthusiastically!  [HDAS notes that Life gave this same definition in 1952.]
 
HOLLYWOOD-EYES - cute girls!  [not in HDAS]
 
HUB-CAP - a Kat who thinks he's a big wheel!  [not in HDAS]
 
JELLY-TOT - a very young cat who is a hub-cap!  [not in HDAS]
 
KAT - latest version of hep-cat and hipster!  [Mad consistently uses the Kat spelling.]
 
KICK - thrill . . . as in:  he disguised his head like a football just for kicks!
 
MAN - exclamation when addressing Kat!  [The bopster in the illustration is addressing a young woman.]
 
NOWHERE - condition of a cube!
 
OUTEST - a-way out . . . the best!
 
PIN - to look at . . . as in:  pin them crazy diapers!  [The bopster is looking at an attractive young woman in a bikini.  "Diapers" is not in HDAS.]
 
STONED - joyous state of mind, crazy, cool, flipping and kicks rolled into one!>>
 
 
Although there were no further bop jokes stories, both the stories and the definitions resonated with correspondents.  In the letters column ("Mad Mumblings") published in issue no. 12 (June 1954 - the comic was now a monthly), the following was included:
 
 
<<. . . Below, find my Hepster's Dictionary, up to date and cool.
 
CRIB - house
 
WHEELS - car
 
RANK - stupid
 
STRUGGLE - dance
 
CUTOUT - leave
 
LAY DEAD - wait [not in HDAS]
 
SCARF - eat
 
CUT - make fun of [HDAS has 1965]
 
LATER - so long [slight antedating of HDAS, which has Nov. 8, 1954]
 
BREAD - money
 
NOD - sleep 
 
THE SPLASH - rain
 
BRIGHT - day [HDAS defines this as "morning"]
 
BLOOD - wine [HDAS has 1959]
 
--Jack the Maniac--Redwood City, California>>
 
 
Another letter appeared in Mad Mumblings in issue no. 13 (July 1954), focusing on money and now putting the term to be defined after the definition:
 
 
<<. . . Bop Dictionary . . .
 
penny - BROWN ABE
 
nickel - SILVER JEFF
 
dime - THIN ONE
 
quarter - BIG GEORGE [not in HDAS]
 
half dollar - SILVER WING
 
dollar - CHLOROPHYLL GEORGE [not in HDAS]
 
2 dollar bill - DUCE [not in HDAS]
 
5 dollar bill - ABE'S CABE (Abe's cabbage patch) [not in HDAS]
 
--Two Kool Kats from the Mint - Philadelphia, Pa.>>
 
 
Two more letters were published in Mad Mumblings in issue no. 16 (Oct. 1954):
 
 
<<. . . Hipster's revised dictionary:
 
house - RANCH
 
eat - GREASE
 
car - STROLLER
 
key - TWISTER
 
sit down - SQUAT
 
money - ENDS [HDAS has 1960]
 
let's go - LET'S QUIT IT
 
door - SLAMMER
 
radio commercial - SONNET
 
heckler - JONAH [not in HDAS]
 
broke - WASTED
 
bop records - JAMS
 
Stan Kenton - THE MAN
 
hundred dollars - A YARD  [Probably no connection with "whole nine yards," but who knows?]
 
pal - MY MAN
 
shoes - SANDALS, STOMPERS, KICKS
 
popular fellow - PLAYER
 
--D. (for Down) McAllister--Baltimore, Md.
 
. . . Some more words for the Bop Dictionary:
 
a few minutes - A FEW TICKS
 
I'll see you - LATER [duplicating Jack the Maniac's earlier contribution]
 
real nice - TOO MUCH
 
Bop records - TUNES, SIDES
 
bad - SCROUNGY
 
friends - HENCHMEN [HDAS has 1958]
 
to go - BLAZE, SPLIT [HDAS has 1983 for "blaze"]
 
house - CRIB [another duplication of Jack the Maniac]
 
square - TURKEY
 
eye glasses - CHEATERS
 
nice - WILD
 
the 1st Sgt. - SIMON LEGREE
 
--Personnel of 8th R.S.M.--Brooks A.F.B., Tex.>>
 
 
Mad also ran a master Bop dictionary in issue no. 20 (Feb. 1955), but this just reprinted definitions from the above.
 
 
John Baker
 
 
 
 

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