SLICKVILLE.COM - Brylkeen Defines His Slick Hair Preference

I Adore the Cub Scout Look!
An interactive discussion on the internet about what defines the "Cub Scout" look.

"The boys version of the Dapper Dan. This has been a standard boys haircut since the 40's and is still very popular in many barber shops. The hair is left as long as possible on the top and sides, but is thinned out. The hair is tapered short on the back of the head. The sides go up to the ears, but never touch the ears and an outline is usually very visible around the ears and nape of the neck. The hair is plastered down with a large amount of hair cream or tonic and has a very greasy appearance. The hair is parted severely (usually on the left or right side of the head) and all the hair that is long in front and would normally cover the forehead, is combed up, off the forehead into a quiff. This haircut has always been popular with parents for getting their children's pictures taken or going back to school. Good examples of this haircut are: The Osmund Brothers circa The Andy Williams Show in the 60's, actors in the movie Bugsy Malone, and early Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens)."

In response to this statement, Brylkeen posted the following message to Yahoo Groups' ,Greaser's Lair. Messages were edited for clarity and new material added.)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/greaserslair

This is the style that I grew up ogling. In fact, I believe that my strong slick-style fetish was established as a result of my impressionable age, coupled with my underdeveloped sexuality and my having been blessed to have an abundance of examples of this style at all turns in my early life (i.e., on television, in school and at church as an altar boy). I remember back as early as age six and seven going to elementary school with Caucasian boys (I'm African-American) who sported this alluring style with great regularity. I often wondered just what combinations and concoctions of oils and cremes did people use to get the extreme brilliance from the reflected light ... the sunlight being the absolute best.

In those days there was also a popular TV commercial plugging the Brylcreem product; it's jingle went like this:

Brylcreem ... a lil' dab'l do ya.
Brylcreem ... y'll look so debonair.
Brylcreem ... th' gals'l all pursue yaaaaaaaaa ...
They'll love ta get their fingers in your haaair!

Growing up in the Fifties as an African-American I never experienced the pleasure of touching and stroking the wonderfully sleeked and tamed locks of my Caucasian classmates. Thus, as you might imagine, my curiosity about what the tactile sensation must be like is overwhelmingly proportional to the extent of my deprivation. Just seeing the beautiful and brilliant sheen (I'm being redundant here on purpose) is a joy to me ... to say the least!

I decided to use the screen-name "Brylkeen", because I'm surely "KEEN" on the "BRYL"-CREEM look!

(You may specifically view this "Cub Scout" style in "The Parts Part" and "Dapper Dan Do" sections of The Brylkeen Clllection. Go there) While I tend to focus upon the super-shiny top of the head, called the "Crown," over which the greater portion of the hair is smoothly combed, it is the "severe" part which also allures me. I liken it to the parting of the Red Sea in the Biblical story depicting Moses' escape from Egypt. When the hair is slick-wet, and parted, the effect (for me) is that of water having been redirected -- on either side of the part -- in opposite directions. The best effects, in my opinion, are achieved on darker shades of hair. Two of my favorite examples are shown below.

Not that blond hair cannot achieve some great dynamic effects (See the photo below), it's just that the darker shades of hair contrast more to the light reflections and lighter hair shows less contrast to the light reflections.

Some other good examples, on video tape, are from the film "Bugsy Malone" where there is a scene featuring a young violinist. It is a classic study of the style with an incredibly ecstatic twist. As you'll see, the actor is very young, and thus you'd readily classify the hairstyle as a "Cub-Scout." But on close consideration of how the film has "matured" the characters, I expect you'd have to classify it as a "Dapper-Dan." At any rate, it's wonderful! Another very, very accurate (meaning "purrrfect!") example can be seen in the old Lucille Ball film, "Best Foot Forward." The young leading actor's "Cub-Scout" style is sooo glossy-sleek as to literally mimic glass! For me, it is a delight to behold!

Obviously, I am talking about light and it's overall effect in relation to darkness. The greater the contrast, the more dynamic the effect. As you can observe, our most excellent webmaster/curator, Jim Brown, has chosen the clearest shots from my "growing" two foot high stack of mostly magazine photos which best illustrate this effect. I am not sure whether the individual photographers of these most excellent photos, themselves, had this effect in mind -- since most of these shots were taken for the purpose of illustrating men's clothing fashions. However, we fellow slick hair fetishers are left here with the wonderful results of their efforts. Truly, they too are to be commended for their artistry and mastery of light.

"hrh1934" wrote back with this message:

I appreciated your detailed reply to the question about this classic boy's haircut style ... maybe you should organize an album of Cub Scout cuts from your collection for the photo board. What a good idea.

Brylkeen replies...

I have many very, very good photographs that I collect from such men's fashion magazines as LUOMO, VOGUE (Hommes), ARENA and MANNER, to name a few, however, I am well aware that I have neither the permission from the publishers of these magazines, nor from the models themselves to place them on display anywhere and in anyway (Zounds)!

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we created such an atmosphere that to be seen on this site [referring to The Greaser's Lair] sporting one of these classically sleek hairstyles would be a sought after honor such that magazine publishers, photographers and models themselves would solicit our permission for a monthly "viewing" of their best efforts. I make this statement because the one factor that is very depressing is that the otter-slicked, buttered-down top, which is the very part that excites me the most, is unfortunately lost on sooo very many Caucasian males after they reach the age of 30! Thus, I therefore invite anyone who has early photos of themselves sporting any of these styles to submit them to our webmaster/curator, Jim Brown, for display here on this collection.

From the collection of...