Stuck In The '60's

Yep, that's me smoking up the yard, warming up Ol' Blue. Dressed in my new Fishtail Parka and aviator goggles, I've almost got the look of the '60's Mod down. I don't think that I will push it too far by adding mirrors and spotlights to the scoot though.

After a short warm-up, I'm off. Since it's Mother's Day, I kept my personal playtime to a minimum. But I did have a nice ride around the west side of town, and saw a new scooter in a driveway that I hadn't seen before. Just like the weeds in my yard, they're popping up everywhere.

Now, before I babble on too much, I want to say congratulations to Gary Charpentier on the purchase of his brand new Vespa. The "Rush Hour Rambler" joins the Vespisti of the world, and I look forward to following his blog posts with his adventures in scootering.

Now...back to babbling. The parka has become a bit of a conversation piece around my little circle of cronies. I end up trying to tell the story of how the Fishtail parka wound up becoming a signature article of clothing among the scooter riding youth known as the Mod's back in the 1960's in England. Since the story is colorful, but a bit long, I end up handing the coat over to my bored listener to try on. I then give a verbal tour of all of the bells and whistles, and benefits of this "extreme cold weather" vintage U.S. Army issue parka. I encourage you to look up www.fishtailparka.com to read the well documented story, and check out some cool photo's.

I was finding that the prices on these vintage gems ran over $200.00 on some web sites. I ended finding a cool place that had the 1980's issue, that is constructed better that the early "true collectors" edition for under $48.00. I had passed this hot tip to my old pal Jeff, and he scored one within the same week. After seeing how he looked astride his Vino, decked out in ol' skool cool, I called my wife from work and asked that she order one "right away"! I've been wearing it everyday since.

With our sunny days starting out at around 40 degrees, I feel that the parka passes the test so far. The true test will come this winter, but I don't mind waiting for that. But the parka is warm, and if you tie up the mid waist draw string, you won't catch any wind blowing up under the "skirt" as I found out on the first ride. You also have the option of tying off at the legs to better secure the jacket from wind lift.

In all, it's a lot of fun looking back to the past and researching scooter culture, and following some of the paths that others have blazed on little two stroke smokin' steeds. There is a ton of history surrounding the scooter lifestyle, and I'm only touching the tip of the iceberg. But with my parka, at least I'm dressed for it.

Have fun,

Bill