The All American Sneaker for Teens

Youth Culture has many different modes of expression with fashion or style being one of them. One of the easiest ways for a teen to express them self is the style of shoes they wear. Almost every day of your life, anywhere you go, and with any outfit, shoes are worn. When people pick out shoes, some may go for comfort while others may go for color, brand or price. A popular shoe for teens is the brand Converse. The Converse Rubber Shoe Company was created in 1908 and nine years later came out the with Converse’s star shoe, the All Star (Retroland 1). The All Star brand of Converse is also known as "Chuck Taylors" or "Chucks" for short. The earliest All Stars gave you the option of only two colors, black or white, and now come in a wide variety of colors and styles for both females and males (Retroland 1). It started off as the shoe for basketball players, and now is worn by anyone of any age but with the focus being towards teens. These shoes have appeared in many movies, T.V. shows and are worn by many bands which helps give its appeal towards the viewers or fans. The Converse All Star is the All American Sneaker.



For many teens having their own identity is key, making fashion an easy way for them to express who they are. Different scenes in Youth Culture wear different styles of clothing but the All Star Converse shoes are worn by many individuals in different youth culture scenes. One of the appeals of the shoes is the different styles it comes in such as the Chuck Taylor All Star hi cut, low cut and slip on shoe (Converse 1). Another appeal of the shoe is the wide variety of colors ranging from green all the way to the traditional black or from prints with bubbles or the British flag (Chucks Connect 1). It is one of the most popular shoe choice with 60% of Americans have owned or own at least one pair of these shoes (Chucks Connect 1). This classic fashion item is worn by many regular people of different occupations and interests along with celebrities. “For many people, chucks represent freedom: freedom from the world of work (although these days many people are fortunate enough to be able to wear them at work), freedom of expression, with many colors to choose from to express individuality, freedom from heavy boots and shoes that weigh your feet down, and the freedom associated with summers and vacations” (Chucks Connect 3). The All Star “Chuck Taylors” has been around for almost a century and still very fashionable.




The rubber sole with canvas that comes up to the ankle was designed and made popular here in the United States. Marquis M. Converse created the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in Massachusetts (Retroland 1). The shoe company decided to design the All Star for the growing sports market and became a legend when basketball player Chuck Taylor would never be caught playing basketball for the Akron Firestones without his All Star shoes one again (Retroland 1). This Shoe was the first mass produced basketball shoe in Northern America (Chucks Connect 1). Chuck Taylor believed in the shoe so much he decided to work for Converse in 1921 selling the shoes and later became a player/coach for the Converse All Stars which was the company’s industrial league basketball team (Chucks Connect 1). The white high top was designed for the Olympics in 1936 and later became the “Official” shoe the United States Armed Forces (Chucks Connects 1). It wasn’t until 1957 that the All Star low cut was introduced and became just as popular (Chucks Connects 1). The Converse shoes started being worn by many famous musicians and by the younger generations. In the 80s and 90s the ownership changed many times until 2001 when the company had to file for bankruptcy (Chucks Connect 2). Unfortunately the manufacturing is now being made in Asia and the Company has been bought out by its rival Nike (Chucks Connect 3). Over 750 million shoes have been sold in its 80 years of existence with probably more years and sales to come (Chucks Connect 1). Since mid 50s the Converse shoe has transformed, gone through rough times, and keeps reinventing itself.




This Converse phenomenon has been marketed towards the youth culture through many types of media such as the T.V., movies, and Magazines ads. The shoe has also been worn by many musicians on an everyday basis and for performances. Some of the T.V. shows that we grew up watching and watch now have actors wear the All Star shoes including Are You Afraid of The Dark?, The OC, Full House, Mythbusters, Heroes, and Seinfeld (Chucks Connect 7). They have been featured as ads in magazines such as Vogue and GQ (Chucks Connect 1). These converse shoes have also been appearing in films for decades. Some of the most popular films you can find them in are Grease, Footloose, West Side Story, Sandlot, American Pie, Happy Gilmore, The Pursuit of Happyness, and i Robot (Chucks Connect 8). The All Star has been worn by bands for decades also including but not limiting to Green Day, Phil Collins, Metallica, Poison, Jason Mraz, and The Early November (Chucks Connect 2). Even Otto Graham of the Cleveland Browns football team wears Converse (Chucks Connect 1). Many of you have probably watched these T.V. shows, Movies, or listen to these bands and never knew that they were related to Converses in a way. There are also many more bands, movies, T.V. shows and movies the Converses appear in. By these shoes being worn by someone’s favorite band or actor, it may make a fan decide “it’s cool” to wear those shoes and buy a pair them self. Converse has been very lucky over the years to have famous people who enjoy wearing the shoes because it acts as a way of marketing.


The Converse All Star is the teen shoe of choice because of comfort, fashion, popularity, and media. Teens can wear them when they are wearing jeans or playing sports and can match many outfits if they are just black or have a design on the canvas. One of the best features of the Converse “Chuck Taylor” All Star is its simplicity. There is no doubt when I say this shoe has been around for decades and will probably around for a couple more. It is obvious that there is a reason why the All Star has been so popular and been around for so long. Converse doesn’t need many marketing tools with all the appearances it has in the media. With the many different styles and wide selection of color there is a shoe that could probably be perfect for any teen wanting to express themselves.

“Chuck Taylor is smiling every time someone laces up a pair of his "Chuck Taylor" sneakers.” Chuck Connect











Works Cited:

" Converse (Chuck Taylor All-Star)." Retroland. 13 Apr. 2009 http://www.retroland.com/pages/retropedia/fashion/item/3229

The ChucksConnection. 2009. Hal Peterson Media Services. 13 Apr. 2009 http://chucksconnection.com

Converse - Chuck Taylor, Jack Purcell, Basketball Shoes, Design Your Own Converse Shoes. 13 Apr. 2009 http://www.converse.com

Images:

http://chucksconnection.com/celebritiesblackfilm/index.html

http://chucksconnection.com/musicians.html

http://chucksconnection.com/tv.html

http://www.kicksonfire.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/scott_patt.jpg

Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkW09BZcSoM&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxdFfcanmUM&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGFDPZ4c8Gs

An Elusive, Unique Psychedelic Trip

Did you ever have a dream where after you woke up you wish you could fall back asleep and continue the dream? Or the next night you thought about your dream before you went to bed so maybe you could dream it again? Taking acid is a lot like dreaming, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. Closing your eyes at night is just like slipping acid in your mouth- you don’t know if it will be fun and full of adventure or bad and in a stage of panic. Like dreams, each LSD trip differs from any previous trip and you never know how it will unfold. Dreams are a series of images, sounds, and feelings occurring in the mind during sleep and personal experiences are often incorporated in dreams (Wikipedia 1). The outcome of an LSD trip is usually determined by the person’s state of mind while taking the drug and the setting is the environment around the user at the time (Erowid 1). The Pranksters in The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test written by Tom Wolfe take acid many times throughout the duration of the novel. Wolfe describes some of the images, feelings and sounds the Pranksters have while they are tripping. The novel also tells the stories of the people who had bad trips and of the many different locations where the Pranksters took acid. The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test is proof that psychedelic trips on acid are as unique and varied as the minds of the people who experience them.

Ken Kesey, a young, talented novelist, and group of followers known as the Merry Pranksters participate in wild experiments with LSD at Kesey’s house in La Honda, California. He sets up hi-fi speakers on the roof of the house, hangs nutty mobiles from branches, nailed wild paintings to tree trunks, and set up all sorts of recording apparatuses inside the house (Wolfe 58). This creates a wild psychedelic experience when on LSD and is focused on experiments with light and noise. Sandy’s LSD trip turns particles captured by light into neon dust that you see in the atmosphere and now feel flowing up from the heart into the brain like an electric fountain (Wolfe 59). Some of the Perry Lane people would lie on the floor rapping back and forth while passing the tape-recorder microphone in the air so the voices cut in and out ending with interesting results (Wolfe 58). According to Marc Anderson, “probably the best way to use LSD would be in one’s home with several trusting supportive friends ”(Erowid 1). Kesey’s house back behind the woods with neighbors a mile away is a perfect getaway to have wild experiments in private.

The group of Pranksters got the idea to venture out and take a bus east to New York that they painted to say Furthur. On a test run in the bus, the Pranksters were zonked after taking acid orange juice, when a cop pulls them over and starts going through a traffic-safety inspection (Wolfe 69). Neal Cassady, one of the Pranksters, talks to the cop who only gives them a warning while the rest roll around in grass giggling (Wolfe 70). An experience that could have easily been bad causing a bad trip luckily turned out to be okay in the end. On the second day of the journey Paula Sundsten takes acid orange juice for the first time, runs towards a lake in the Arizona desert thinking the slimy kelp sparkles like a diamond (Wolfe 75). Babbs yells “Gretchin Fetchin the Slime Queen which later turns into Gretch making it Paula’s new nickname. Not all the acid trips while on the bus run smoothly. Hagen’s girl drinks the acid orange juice, sits in the back of the bus with nothing on, and becomes Stark Naked in their movie (Wolfe 83). The bus pulls up to Larry McMurty’s house, McMurty and his son come outside, and Stark Naked yells “Frankie” over and over (Wolfe 86). She runs off the bus, picks up this boy and hugs him thinking it’s her little boy, and gets picked up by the cops where she is taken to a psychiatric ward (Wolfe 87). Unfortunately for Stark Naked she could not stay “on the bus” both physically and spiritually while the others continued their journey.


After heading back to La Honda, the Pranksters continued to take LSD, however their cultural movement was beginning to rise and was drawing in many different crowds of people. They put up a huge sign at Kesey’s place to welcome the Hell’s Angels that was fifteen feet long, three feet high, and in red white and blue (Wolfe 169). The Angels drug of choice was beer so LSD was an unknown substance that made them very peaceful (Wolfe 172). The party went on for two days with everyone having a wonderful time and ended with a marvelous alliance between the two groups. Next was the Pranksters fantasy to go to the Beatles show and invite them back to La Honda with a sign out front welcoming the Beatles (Wolfe 198). The Pranksters take acid gas and hop on the bus to go to the show (Wolfe 201). There was barbed wire fences making it feel like a concentration camp, a crowd of girls are caught in a state of sheer poison mad cancer according to Kesey, and the group all get bad vibrations (Wolfe 207). Even though none of them had a bad trip, the setting was uncomfortable so the Merry Pranksters leave dispirited and not fulfilling their fantasy (Wolfe 209). Later when they start having huge parties of Acid Tests, a girl name Clair Brush freaks out on her first after taking acid spiked Kool-Aid for the first time (Wolfe 274). The Acid tests became a huge success and luckily for Clair she was okay after her trip ended.

Each time you go to bed or slip LSD into your mouth you hope that it’s better than the last dream/trip you had. Dreams unlike LSD, end when you wake up and no matter if it was good or bad and you continue to live your life. An acid trip ends when the effects start to ware off and when the trip ends badly, it can change your life forever. Bad reactions to LSD are almost always dependent on the user (Erowid 4). The psychological effects, or also known as the trip, also depend on previous experiences, state of mind, environment, dose strength, and they also vary from trip to trip (Wikepedia 5). Although there were a few unlucky ones, the Merry Pranksters enjoyed chasing after an elusive good trip on LSD in the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

Works Cited:

Anderson, Marc. "Psychoactive Vaults." Erowid. 10 Apr. 2009 .

"Dream -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 10 Apr. 2009 .

"Lysergic acid diethylamide -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 10 Apr. 2009 .

Wolfe, Tom. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. New York: Picador, 1968.

Images:

http://www.bruceeisner.com/photos/uncategorized/keseyfurthersmall_1.gif

http://lpaparelli.googlepages.com/electric_kool-aid_acid_test.jpg/electric_kool-aid_acid_test-full.jpg