Raggare


Raggare is a subculture found mostly in Sweden and parts of Norway and Finland, and to a lesser extent in Denmark, Germany, and Austria. Raggare are related to the greaser subculture and are known for their love of hot rod cars and 1950s American pop culture. Loosely translated into English, the term is roughly equivalent to the American "greaser", English "rocker", and Australian "Bodgie" and "Widgie" culture; all share a common passion for mid-20th-century American cars, rockabilly-based music and related fashion.
While the raggare movement has its roots in late 1950s youth counterculture, today it is associated mainly with middle-aged men who enjoy meeting and showing off their retro American cars. However, the subculture retains its rural and small-town roots as well as its blue collar and low brow feel. The original phenomenon unleashed moral panic but the contemporary raggare subculture tends to be met with amusement or mild disapproval by mainstream society.

Description

Influences

The Raggare subculture's influences are American popular culture of the 1950s, such as the movies Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean, and American Graffiti.

Cars

Cars are an important part of the subculture, especially V8-powered cars and other large cars from the United States. Statistically, the most common raggare car is the 1960s Pontiac Bonneville. They are plentiful, classic, relatively cheap, and have a huge backseat so the Raggare can pile in all of their friends. Raggare have been described as closely related to the hot rod culture, but while hotrodders in the US have to do extensive modifications to their cars to stand out, raggare can use stock US cars and still stand out compared to the more sober Swedish cars. Some raggare also drive European cars from the 1950s, 1960s and the 1970s.
Due to Raggare culture there are more restored 1950s American cars in Sweden than in the entire United States and although only two 1958 Cadillac convertibles were sold in Sweden there are now 200 of them in Sweden. Between 4000 and 5000 classic US cars are imported to Sweden each year.

Fashion

The clothes and hairstyle are that of 1950s rockabilly. Blue jeans, cowboy boots, white T-shirts, sometimes with print, leather or denim jacket. The hair is styled using Brylcreem or some other pomade.

Symbols

The confederate flag seem to be popular items in the subculture as they embrace the rebellious message of the flag.

History

Formation of the raggare culture was aided by Sweden staying neutral during World War II and untouched by the war. As a result, Sweden's infrastructure remained intact, the country was receiving aid from the Marshall Plan, and export economy boomed, which made it possible for the working-class Swedish youth to buy cars, in contrast to most of Europe, which needed to be rebuilt.
When raggare first appeared in the 1950s, they caused a moral panic with concerns about the use of alcohol, violence, high-speed driving, and having sex in the back seat. Raggare gangs were seen as a serious problem. The film Raggare! covered the issue in 1959.
Later, raggare often got into fights with hippies and punks, something described in the punk rock song "Raggare Is a Bunch of Motherfuckers" by Rude Kids. When The Sex Pistols played in Sweden on 28 July 1977, a group of raggare waited outside and cornered some young girls who came out from the show. The girls had safety pins through their cheeks, and the raggare ripped them out of their faces. The band was upstairs drinking beer when they heard about it. Sid Vicious wanted to go down and fight, and someone else suggested they should get the limousine and run them over. In the end, the gig promoter called the police.
The Hjo band Reklamation was forced to cancel a gig after threats from raggare. Also, Rude Kids was forced to cancel a sold-out gig as the police didn't have the manpower to offer protection against raggare. When Rude Kids played in Stockholm the police had to bring in seven police cars to stop the raggare. When The Stranglers played in Sweden, their followers were caught making Molotov cocktails, and the police intervened after a fight broke out.
In 1996 the Swedish post office issued a stamp featuring raggare.

Public image

Because of their mostly rural roots, retro-aesthetics and attitude towards sex, raggare are often depicted as poorly educated and financially unsuccessful. A famous example is the 1990s TV series, "Ronny and Ragge", a pair of stereotypical raggare who cruise around in a beat-up Ford Taunus. There are several periodic gatherings for raggare around Sweden. The Power Big Meet is the most famous, and is also one of the biggest American car meets in the world.

In the media and other popular culture