[1] Most bodgies rode motorbikes but some had cars, many of which were embellished with accessories such as mag wheels and hot dog mufflers.
On 1 February 1951, the Sydney Morning Herald wrote on its front page:[3] What with "bodgies" growing their hair long and getting around in satin shirts, and "wedgies" cutting their hair short and wearing jeans, confusion seems to be arising about the sex of some Australian adolescents.In New Zealand, the Mazengarb Report (Report of the Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents) of 1954 was partly a response to the emergence of the bodgie & widgie subculture.
Citing a Sydney Morning Herald article from 21 January 1956, Professor Keith Moore wrote in 2004:[4] The first bodgies were World War 2 Australian seamen who as well as impersonating Americans were black marketers and the first bodgie gang was the 'Woolloomooloo Yanks' who congregated in Cathedral Street Woolloomooloo.
For bodgies, almost all of whom were working class, emulating the high status Americans who had so recently occupied Australia as military personnel was easier than achieving upward social mobility.There was a Victorian Police (Australia) Bodgies and Widgies Squad formed – plain clothed.
[citation needed] In 1983, the Melbourne Age interviewing Joh Hewett for his upcoming theses suggested:[5] the term "bodgie" arose around the Darlinghurst area in Sydney.
It was just after the end of World War II and rationing had caused a flourishing black market in American-made cloth.
They mostly liked hard rock and heavy metal music, by bands such as AC/DC, The Angels, Midnight Oil, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple.
Rockers who did not own those brands generally had modified Australian cars, such as early model Holdens, Fords or Valiants.
A more exaggerated version of the character was revived as the "last living bodgie" in the 1985 comedy series News Free Zone.