Where does our brand name come from? Why do we call ourselves Bobbey?
The name Bobbey is inspired by American sock culture from the 1940s and 50s. During the 40s and 50s in America, there was a term coined “bobby soxers”. Bobby soxers were teenage girls who wore saddle shoes with white socks peeking out while attending almost every pop music concert, in particular Frank Sinatra.
Bobby soxers lived during the era of the “sock hop”.
Sock hops were dance events for teenagers where dancers would remove the hard soles of their shoes to protect the varnished floor of the gymnasium. Not only did bobby soxers show off crew cut socks, but they went the extra mile to achieve this look. Rumor has it, these teenage girls were so dedicated to the look they would use clear nail polish to keep their socks from falling down. Aren’t we glad sock knitting technology has advanced since then?
American teens in the 1940s pioneered their own culture of music, dance, fashion and cars.
These kids would evolve into the carefree teen society of the 1950s which Life Magazine dubbed “The Luckiest Generation”. Coincidentally, the same youth dubbed the Luckiest Generation were also the children at birth called the “Depression Babies”. We love a good underdog story.
We felt inspired to take a slice of that history and use it as inspiration for our women’s sock brand. There are many good things from past generations that should be kept alive and the carefree entrepreneurial mentality of the 40’s and 50’s is one of them.