Short hairstyle for men: the Duck’s Ass
The Duck’s Ass (or in the UK Duck’s Arse) is a haircut style that was popular during the 1950s. It is also called the Duck’s Tail, the Ducktail, or simply D.A.
The style required that the hair be combed back around the sides of the head. The teeth edge of a comb was then used to define a central parting running from the crown to the nape at the back of the head, resembling, to many, the rear end of a duck. The hair on the top front of the head was either deliberately disarrayed so that untidy strands hung down over the forehead, or combed up and then curled down into an ‘Elephants trunk’ which would hang down as far as the top of the nose.
A variant of the style, the Detroit, consisted of the long back and sides combined with a flattop.
The ducktail hair style contributed to the term greasers: to accomplish this look, lots of pomade (hair grease) was required to hold the hair in place. This was still the era of hair creams, so it only required an increase in the amount to make hair remain in the desired style. Brands of grease used include Black & White, Sweet Georgia Brown and Murrays.
To ensure that the hair was just so, the wearer often touched up the D.A. many times during the day by running his greased comb through it. The character “Kookie”, played by Edd Byrnes on the 1950s television drama show 77 Sunset Strip was constantly tending his hair, leading to Byrnes’s 1959 hit song with Connie Stevens, “Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb”.
