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American soldiers laughing at a performance by comedian Joe E Brown at an army camp in New South Wales 18 March 1943

Image courtesy of the
State Library of Victoria
[H2000.200/972]

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Americans Bodgies and African American Influences in Sydney Culture and customs
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Americans Armed forces Men Theatre World War II

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State Library of Victoria

The State Library of Victoria is contributing items from its multimedia collection

Culture and customs

Sydney's pre-industrial culture was comprehensive and public, and most European inhabitants were players, performers or spectators. After 1850, distinct but overlapping cultures emerged, imported and adapted from Europe and America. New forms of cultural transmission after World War I enabled the elaboration of new cultures based on ethnicity, age and gender, which have combined to produce Sydney's cultural diversity.

Americans

Americans and Australians have been partners and allies for over two centuries now. Americans have been visitors, investors, entertainers, allies, residents and citizens with varying degrees of influence and notoriety.

Bodgies and African American Influences in Sydney

The bodgie movement was a feature of street life in Sydney in the post-war period. This article, based on oral history interviews, reveals how bodgies modelled their dress and movement on African Americans, including black GIs stationed in Sydney during World War II. Part of the first generation recognised as 'teenagers', bodgies embraced fun, sensuality and spectacle as a rebellion against the dull years of depression and war and the conformism of the dominant Anglo-Irish culture, and their parents' generation.

Americans

Theatre

Men

World War II

Armed forces