A Brief History of Sailor Mas
“Many writers have acknowledged seeing costumed sailor characters on the streets as early as 1834, 1850 and 1859.
Although the character of the Sailor in mas was around for some time, it was not until the mid twentieth century that the Sailor as a specific character was developed. There were four competitive sailor bands on Duncan Street... The ‘SS Hit the Deck’ which came from St. Paul Street, behind the bridge and was a very disciplined military sailor Band... The ‘USS Texas’ was another disciplined sailor band. They were also a superb military organization that won many prizes for their presentational abilities….”
There was another sailor band called ‘SS Bad Behaviour’
‘Bad Behaviour’ was every young boy’s dream of a sailor band as it displayed the free spirit to which all youth gravitate. This band came out of 102 Charlotte Street, commonly known as Hell Yard, a place notorious for its barrack rooms and ‘jamettes’.
Although these sailor bands began in the 30’s, by the end of the war of 1939/45, all uniforms and behaviours were patterned after the U.S. sailors. One can imagine 2,000 sailors and firemen acting out the role of drunken, badly behaved U.S. sailors from the moment they hit the street on a Masquerade Monday...Bag of coal dust were collected... then thrown in designated places on the street. Water was added and these men dressed in lily-white sailor suits, then rolled and gamboled in the wet coal dust. This was a fascinating sight first thing in the morning, watching these loose-limbed, raucous young men act like children in a sandbox. Later we would here them chipping away and singing loudly, as they drifted along aimlessly.
Sometimes in the middle of the day, off in the distance, one could see hundreds of sailors “rocking the ship”. As they travelled, one line rolled towards the east while the other rolled towards the west. Back and forth they alternated. This was a beautiful sight from a distance as the bodies moved in harmony from side to side simulating the surf, rolling in the ocean…. There was no music, just deep bass voices, expressing unity, joy and abandon…
During and after the War of 1939/45 when American sailors landed after long stints at sea, they were raring to go.... Thus when on shore leave, drinking the readily available inexpensive Caribbean alcohol significantly loosened up American sailors and firemen. They could not contain themselves and began acting as tourist rather than military. Soused as they were, they behaved as though there was no tomorrow. They became free spenders.. they loved to gamble; they carried around their own dice and would roll the dice on the city sidewalks and challenge anybody to a game. This was quite an event for the downtown locals, white men behaving badly was quite an interesting sight. Furthermore they consumed more alcohol than they could sustain, and publicly pursued prostitutes in broad daylight. ...and vulgarly tried to dance the calypso in the streets to the blaring sounds coming from rum shops and parlours. The American sailors sometimes publicly cut a comic figure and became buffoons, especially when the tried to dance the calypso, as they could never get the beat right. A drunken state, made bad matters worse…
On the streets of Port Of Spain in the 1950s, there was a clash of cultures, first through music, then through dance. The local youth, in the true spirit of the Masquerade, parodied the U.S. Sailors, all in good humour…
The sailors undertook to score the valiant seamen’s attempt to dance the calypso. Somehow, very subtly, a shift occurred and what began as parody changed in form and content. The young men got caught up in their own creative machinations of the masquerade culture and moved away from the source of the inspiration. The new movements eventually took on a life of their own... In such a freewheeling creative and artistic environment, the Sailor Mas form flowed and flourished.”