| Original caption: “‘Zoot’ gangsters, are portrayed by actors in a movie being made at Universal Studios. The War Production Board had banned the sale of zoot suits because they required the use of more material than the average suit, but an exception was made for the film.” Cast members from “Follow the Band,” released by Universal Studios in April 1943. In the film, villain Alphonse, played by Paul Dubov (October 10, 1918 – September 20, 1979), who is not pictured, and his gang attempt to fight Skinnay Ennis and his Groove Boys Band at the Rendezvous, owned by the Uncle of Dolly O’Brien, played by actress Mary Elizabeth Hughes (November 13, 1919 – August 27, 1995). Trombonist Marvin Howe, played by Eddie Quillan (March 31, 1907 – July 19, 1990) punches out Alphonse, becoming a local hero. Ennis and his Groove Boys defeat the Zoot Suit Gangsters. In March 1942, the War Production Board (WPB) regulated the manufacture of men’s suits and all clothing that contained wool. To achieve a 26 percent cutback in the use of fabrics, the WPB issued regulations for the manufacture of what Esquire magazine called “streamlined suits by Uncle Sam.” The regulations effectively forbade the manufacture of the wide-cut zoot suits and full women’s skirts or dresses. Most legitimate tailoring companies ceased manufacturing or advertising suits that fell outside the War Production Board’s guidelines. But the demand for zoot suits did not decline; a network of bootleg tailors based in Los Angeles and New York City continued to produce the garments. Youths also continued to wear clothes that they already owned. Popular among young Mexican American and Filipino American men in California during the early war years, the flamboyant zoot suit was more than a fashion statement. It was part of an identity that signaled a youthful masculinity and pride in belonging to a pachuco culture that embraced style and swagger—statements that challenged discriminatory “Juan Crow” laws and practices that often limited the rights of Mexican American men. But a jacket and a pair of pants marked them as criminals for white servicemembers and civilians searching for someone to blame for the city’s inability to keep up with its growing population. In a nationally syndicated article, the Newark Advocate reported on January 11, 1943, about “‘Zoot Suit’ Gangsters – The Los Angeles Police are wondering if ‘Zoot’ suits just naturally drive wearers to become criminals or whether the suits are merely an expression of the criminality already in them. In any event. They have already made ten arrests in breaking up a formidable band of young ‘Zoot Suit’ gangsters.” The Oakland Post Enquirer dispensed with even the pretense of criminality. On March 14, 1943, as Universal released this promotional still, they called for the incarceration of Zoot Suiters and the destruction of their property. “Jails for Zoot Suiters? The forthright city of Phoenix, Arizona, has been suffering from an invasion of zoot suit addicts, and it proposes to take effective action. Apparently, Phoenix is just an old-fashioned American hick town that is not hep to the sophistication and symbolism of the zoot suiters, and just doesn’t like them. So the Phoenix police say that the long chains festooning the zoot suiters are going on the scrap metal pile. The extra yards of cloth in the queer coats are going to the Salvation Army salvage depot. The zoot suiters themselves are going to jail as fast as they appear in the public streets. Well, some people might suggest a mental clinic instead of jail for the zoot suiters. But the Phoenix zoot suit program will probably be okay as it stands with most Americans.” In Los Angeles, tensions between the masses of soldiers, sailors, and airmen shipping out for the Pacific and the Mexican American community were exacerbated by suspicions that Zoot Suiters were dodging the draft, but many were less than 15 years old. From January 1943, confrontations between Zoot Suiters and servicemen occurred regularly, sending people to the hospital. When Seaman 2nd Class Joe Dacy Coleman (April 13, 1924 – July 15, 1971) was beaten and his jaw broken on May 31, 1942, sailors formed vigilante groups that beat Zoot Suiters and stripped them. “Searching parties of soldiers, sailors, and Marines hunted them out and drove them into the open like bird dogs flushing quail,” author Selden Cowles Menefee (June 3, 1909 – September 9, 1992) reported. “Zoot Suits smoldered in the ashes of street bonfires where they had been tossed by grimly methodical tank forces of service men.” Despite entreaties, the Los Angeles Police Department refused to step in. Mexican Americans, even those not wearing Zoot Suits, were beaten and stripped. Hospitals filled up. By June 7, the white servicemen had moved into East Los Angeles and began targeting African American Zoot Suiters and others. Women were not spared; a Mexican American mother, begging for the safety of her 15-year-old son, was hit across the face. Mexican American women were arrested in droves. For 10 days, servicemen, armed with billy clubs, patrolled Los Angeles. Some of them were injured, but arrests and injuries were predominantly of Mexican and African Americans. Over 600 Mexican Americans were arrested, many after they were beaten up, for disturbing the peace. Finally, on June 8, Los Angeles was declared off limits to servicemen, and military police arrested stragglers disobeying the order. Zoot Suits were publicly banned. Delinquent Mexican American youth were blamed for the riots. Axis spies and Communist agents seeking to disrupt the war effort were suspected by the California Senate Fact Finding Subcommittee on Un-American Activities. But 1st Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) and others pointed out the obvious racism of the riots. The Omaha Guide, a Black newspaper in Nebraska, noted that the “outburst against zoot suiters, which has been shown to be directed exclusively against persons with dark skin,” as merely 1 instance in a “tragic growth of mob violence that threatens to become nationwide…and seriously hamper successful prosecution of the war.” On May 16, 2023, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors officially condemned the Zoot Suit Riots. “Follow the Band” earned 300,000 for Universal, over 10,000,000 in today’s dollars. Despite positive reviews from critics, the “road show” presentation, which involved a limited number of prints traveling from city to city, impacted the film’s ability to remain in theaters long enough to build interest. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0950.jpg |
| Image Size | 461.35 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1200 x 807 |
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| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | March 4, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | Los Angeles |
| State or Province | California |
| Country | United States |
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| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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