Bobby soxer is a 1940s sociologic coinage denoting the over zealous, usually teenage and young adult girls from about 12 to 25, fans of singer Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

, the first singing teen idol

Teen idol

A teen idol is a celebrity who is widely idolized by teenagers; he or she is often young but not necessarily teenaged. Often teen idols are actors or pop singers, but some sports figures have an appeal to teenagers. Some teen idols began their careers as child actors...

. Fashionable adolescent girls wore poodle skirt

Poodle skirt

A poodle skirt is a wide swing felt skirt of a solid bold color displaying a design appliquéd or transferred to the fabric. The design was often a coiffed French poodle. Later substitutes for the poodle patch included flamingos, flowers, and hot rod cars...

s and rolled down their sock

Sock

A sock is an item of clothing worn on the feet. The foot is among the heaviest producers of sweat in the body, as it is able to produce over of perspiration per day. Socks help to absorb this sweat and draw it to areas where air can evaporate the perspiration. In cold environments, socks decrease...

s to the ankle. In high schools and colleges, the gym

Gym

The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...

nasium often was used as a dance floor

Dance floor

Dance floor may refer to:* Sprung floor, a floor to enhance performance and reduce injuries* Performance surface or marley floor, flooring suitable for dance or sport* Dance pad, a flat electronic game controller used for input in dance games...

; however, since street shoes and street detritus might damage the polished wood floors, the students were required to remove their shoes and dance in their bobby sock

Bobby sock

A bobby sock is a type of sock that was especially fashionable in the 1940s and 1950s. Bobby socks had thick uppers that were turned down to form sort of a thick cuff at ankle height. They were sometimes worn by girls as part of a school uniform...

s--thus the phrase 'sock hop

Sock Hop

The sock hop was an informal sponsored dance at American high schools, typically held in the high school's own gym or cafeteria. The term sock hop came about because dancers were required to remove their shoes to protect the varnished floor of the gymnasium. These hops were a cultural feature of...

'.

The adolescent actress Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...

 portrayed said type of impressionable adolescent girl in the film, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a 1947 American screwball comedy film directed by Irving Reis. The screenplay was written by Sidney Sheldon. The film stars Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Shirley Temple in a story about a teenager's crush on an older man. The film was a critical success...

(1947).