Sock hop
Dance event
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A sock hop or sox hop, often also called a record hop[1]: 199 or just a hop, was an informal (but officially organized) dance event for teenagers in mid-20th-century North America, featuring popular music.
The term sock hop came about because dancers were required to remove their shoes to protect the varnished floor of the gymnasium.[1]: 200
History
In 1755, Samuel Johnson defined hop as "a place where meaner people dance."[2] In America by the 1800s it came to mean "a dance where there is less display and ceremony than at regular balls",[3] and later "a social event at which people mix together and dance in an informal way."[4]
Dances in the U.S. were publicized as "sock hops" as early as 1943.[5][6] Also, in 1943-44 "sock hops" were held by the American Junior Red Cross to raise funds during World War II.[7][8] By 1944-45 some high-schoolers’ dances were being publicized specifically as “sock hops” across the U.S.[9][10][11] [12][13] A national magazine cited the fad among Oklahoma City teenagers in 1948.[14] Sock hops were commonly held at high schools and other educational institutions, often in the school gymnasium or cafeteria.
The music at a sock hop was usually played from vinyl records, sometimes presented by a disc jockey.[1]: 200 Occasionally there were live bands. In later years, "hops" became strongly associated with the 1950s and early rock and roll.[1]: 200 "At the Hop", a song by Danny & the Juniors that debuted in 1957, names many popular and novelty dances and otherwise documented what occurred at a hop.[1]: 199–200
In subsequent decades, with the widespread popularity of sneakers and other types of indoors-only footwear, the practice of removing shoes was dropped. The term then came to be applied more generally to any informal dance for teenagers.[15]
Revival
The term caught on in England in the late 1970s during a British rockabilly revival, led by groups like The Stray Cats. "Life Begins at the Hop", a song celebrating sock hops, became the first charting single for XTC.[16]
See also
- Sokkie - a similar idea in South Africa
- School dance - modern incarnation of sock hops, shoes typically being mandatory for safety purposes (to avoid slipping and falling, shoe theft, etc.)
- Prom - formal school dance in North American high schools, usually held for seniors (and sometimes juniors in a 'junior prom') at the end of the school year
- Social dance
- Bobby soxer
