In the 1944 Tom & Jerry short “The Zoot Cat”—only the thirteenth cartoon ever made starring that famous duo—Tom’s would-be girlfriend lays it on him straight: “Boy, are you corny! You act like a square at the fair, a goon from Saskatoon. You come on like a broken arm. You’re a sad apple, a long hair, a cornhusker. In other words, you don’t send me!” The sad cat goes out and buys himself some new duds from Smiling Sam, the Zoot Suit Man, prompting his wide-eyed gal pal to do a one-eighty. “You’re really a sharp character! A mellow little fellow. Now you collar my jive!” Read A Cultural History of the Zoot Suit
