MEMORIES:

Taking a cue from traditional Native Americans, boys in the 50s took a fair amount of fashion risk and embraced the hairstyle of the Apache tribe. Luckily, most were young enough that the importance of appealing to the opposite sex had not yet occurred to them.

 

The Apache hairstyle was basically an inverted Mohawk. The sides were closely cropped and accentuated by a shaved stripe down the center. Looking almost as if they had been scalped, little boys delighted a style that, if nothing else, was a tad less boring than a plain old buzz cut.

 

While popular during the stifling heat of summer, the Apache haircut was nevertheless a style that faded almost as quickly as it arrived. But for its short-lived history, it allowed boys a fun opportunity to stand out from the crowd as they embraced a hairstyle that looked, for all intensive purposes, like a landing strip on their head. And for that reason, it is unlikely that the Apache hairstyle will ever enjoy the same resurgence in popularity that other fads have managed. It lives only in the memory of former little boys that, for a short time, shared some style with their native brethren.