Meeting up with old acquaintences and friends on Facebook has certainly sparked some memories. Like sleeping dogs and babies, some things are better left alone, but there are other, long buried remembrances which are pleasantly rising to the surface.
As I came into contact with a former schoolmate, I thought of the school dances and they way they were done when I was a student. All of our dances were held in the gymnasium at school. A committee of students and a few teachers would form and plan the event. The gym would be decorated in the theme they'd chosen, and the fun would begin.
The girls wore short semi-formal dresses, better than church wear, not as long or as formal as the prom attire. The boys would wear jackets and ties. Proper attire was required, or there was no entry to the dance. The boys would buy corsages of flowers to be worn by their date, and the girls would buy boutonniers for their escorts. I enjoyed dressing in a way more 'glamorous' than usual, and I'm glad that we had dress codes during my school years.
Proms were for the Junior class, and the Senior class had a 'Ball'. Underclassmen had dances, too...the Sophomore Hop and the Freshman Frolic. These dances were open to other classes, and tickets were sold. I don't remember any trouble ever occuring at these events because of interaction between the different age groups. Music was provided by bands generally made up of our own local students. When we became Seniors, we had the Senior Ball in the gym, as well as a Banquet which was held at an off-school site. This event was only for Seniors and their dates and was somewhat more formal. Tickets were more pricey, as the venue, music and dinner had to be paid for.
There were no limosines rented in those days. Some students drove themselves in the family car, or parents would drive us to and fro. In my case, my high school boyfriend and I walked to the school dances and then walked home again, unless it rained, and then my Dad would be our chauffeur.
Things have certainly changed since my school days, when things were simple and far less expensive. There was no drinking, at least not in my circles, and there were curfews set by parents which all of us, but the very rebellious, met without question.
I'm happy to say that I prefer the way things were done when I was young to what happens these days. We had good fun, we dressed neatly, and we lived respectfully. Having the boundaries, rules and adult supervision kept us in line at school, at home and in life.
I find it so interesting that although there were only a few years separating us in high school our experiences in this are were so vastly different! By the time I was a freshman, we were deeply into the war in Viet Nam - it was 1965 that fall - and we were all very involved in the anti-war movement of the day. Although upper classmen were still celebrating with a prom, we decided there would be no freshman dance. How could we be so frivilous when people were dying? Ah - the idealism of youth! That would carry right through our senior year - we never had a class dance in my high school years. We did have a Senior Class Banquet, which we wore dressy clothes for but no formals. By then, formals had gone by the wayside and we wore minis! The year after I graduated the "granny dress" appeared.
ReplyDeleteI have often wondered what it would have been like to have those dances but I also realize they would have been lonely nights for me since I never had a date in my entire high school experience! I think I would have spent them alone at home...
But what a different world it was from the early 1960s to the late 1960s when life was changing forever. Quite a time to come of age.