1957–1965 · Sweden
Raggare gangs are terrorising small towns!
The raggare
Panic meter
The verdict
Young people in big American cars, playing rock music, were seen as a threat to society. Today they are part of Swedish cultural history.
Reality meter
What was said?
In the late 1950s, young Swedes began cruising around in second-hand American cars, listening to rock and roll and gathering in town squares. The newspapers wrote about booze, brawls and girls in the back seat.
When raggare (Swedish greasers) and police clashed in Kristianstad in July 1959, it made big headlines and prompted a government inquiry. The same year saw the release of the film Raggare!.
The verdict: what happened next?
Scuffles did happen, but the raggare were for the most part young working men who spent their free time on cars. The first clubs to be singled out had already disappeared by the early 1960s.
The culture lives on: Power Big Meet in Lidköping is counted among the world's largest gatherings of American cars.
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