late 1950s/early 1960s slang in America (west coast)

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Neither my husband (who worked at Juvenal Hall for a brief but miserable period in the mid-'70s) nor I can dredge up any such terms...and although I hung out with the intelligentsia, I also attended some tough schools and chatted with people of all stations and races. So, we're not sure there was any slang for such people or that system.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I think we'd have said "hopeful" or "aspirant." A homecoming queen hopeful. A rock star aspirant. But both of those (especially aspirant) indicate the person had some hope of becoming what they wanted to be, whereas wannabe doesn't always. I'll ruminate on other possible terms.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

My husband suggested "groupie," which was current then. That only works if your person hangs out with what they wannabe. Also, it can have sexual connotations.

I was an opera star wannabe in that time period. I'm guessing people said, "She's an opera nut. Who knows maybe we'll see her at the Met." So, "nut" is another possibility.

Hope some of this helps.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Not quite the same, but in some contexts, how about 'Thinks they're a ...'? "Look at him and his pretend microphone! Thinks he's a rock star!"
"She bought that ballgown - does she think she's a prom queen?"

I remember the late fifties and the sixties, though not west coast.

Daddyo, neat, keen, keeno, neato, swell, jeepers, square (making the transition from a positive to a negative attribute), cool (making its appearance). Fink and Rat Fink (the anti mickey mouse), baby,

By the mid sixties you started to hear hip, groovy, rockin', square (negative), boss, keep on truckin', bad (for good), bod, bug (for annoy), funky, fuzz (for cops).

For wannabes I recall terms like posers (70s).

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"-- a Sikh greeting)

"Black" was the word of choice in the mid-late '60s. "Colored" was old-fashioned, but used, especially by older Southerners who wished to be respectful. (My Missourah grandmother who was living in San Diego at the time being a case in point.) "Negro" was neutral, and perhaps more formal, and IIRC, the one preferred by Civil Rights activists, when they weren't using the word "Black."

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Most 1950's white folk referred to blacks as "colored" to be polite, "Negro" as a definition and the infamous "N" word that will get me blackballed if I write it here. "Black" and "African-American" came into more general use in the early to mid-1960's, though West Coast in the major cities or anywhere in the Northeast tended to adopt terms earlier and deeper South kept their terminology until about 4:30 yesterday afternoon.

Jeff

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Yes, African-American was current in your time period also.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal, who graduated from San Diego High in 1970 with a class 20% Black, 40% Chicano (preferred term then), 40% white, with a smattering of mostly Chinese-American Asians

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Since Jeff mentioned the "N" word, I think I should tell you that that polite circumlocution to refer to a word one doesn't want to say was not current in that period. (The word itself unfortunately was.)

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal