Potápky
Potápky ("The Grebes") or bedly ("The Parasol Mushrooms") were a Czech urban youth subculture primarily defined by the interest in American culture, primarily in swing music. It corresponded to the subcultures of Swingjugend (literally "Swing Youth", commonly translated as "Swing Kids") in Nazi Germany and zazou in France at the same time period. Potápky were distinguished by their eccentric fashion ("zoot suit", deformed hat, colored socks), long hair, body postures, and slang. As with many youth subcultures it was characterized by the rebellion against the older generation, and during the Nazi occupation (Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia), by rebellion against the Nazis. See also Czech bluegrass Czech tramping Mánička Stilyagi, a similar subculture in the Soviet Union of 1960s References Swing music History of subcultures Musical subcultures Czech youth culture Americana in the Czech Republic World War II resistance movements