Coolness from 1929/30

Cool like James Dean or Marlon Brando became known in the 1950 years, the rebellious attitude was widespread mostly by movies like 'The Wild One', USA 1953; 'On the Waterfront', USA 1954 or 'East of Eden', USA 1942.

„Cool is an oppositional attitude adopted by individuals or small groups to express defiance to authority – whether that of the parent, the teacher, the police, the boss or the prison warden. Put more succinctly, we see Cool as a permanent state of private rebellion. Permanent because Cool is not just some ‘phase that you go through’, something that you ‘grow out of’, but rather something that if once attained remains for life; private because Cool is not a collective political response but a stance of individual defiance, which does not announce itself in strident slogans but conceals rebellion behind a mask of ironic impassivity.” (Pountain, Dick; Robbins, David: Cool Rules. Anatomy of an attitude. London: Reaktion Books 2000, S. 19)

The motorcycle seems to be a fine racing Norton CS1 from about 1929/30 with typical Brooklands muffler. This photo is an original postcard photo, which I got from Great Britain. The number plate on the front mudgard looks English too, this style with there letters and up to three numbers was used from 1931 to 1963. 

The Norton rider definitely looks cool, 20 years before the term was known.

 

Further reading:


Minkin, Christa: James Dean & Marlon Brando Prototypen der Coolness. Diplomarbeit am Institut für Theater-, Film- und Medienwissenschaft der Universität Wien, Wien 2011

http://blog.wheels-and-waves.com/2008/10/norton-1927-cs1.html