When You Give Up Booze For Lent But Then Your High School Sweetheart Comes To Town And You Hope God Can Forgive You
Category: 1950s
Proud To Be A Coalminer’s Imp
This mischievous little cutie really was a coalminer’s daughter in Yorkshire, England in 1952. Employment in coal mines fell from a peak of 1,191,000 in 1920 to 2,000 in 2015.
Add that to the list of sooty jobs I’d never want.
Have you ever heard of such a thing?
Raising The Tempo
Mixed Emotions
I got a new yearbook today, y’all. It’s a 1955 University of Miami. This shot was taken from UM’s 124 piece member band trip to El Salvador. It captures the response of El Salvadorans as the UM band helped celebrate the nation’s independence as “ambassadors of goodwill.”
This yearbook is RIPE, though, y’all. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if you can smell the stale cigarette smoke wafting off the pages of this thing. It made my pants reak, just touching my lap. I think she can smell it.
Residual Blood Pressure Cuff Pain
Twinkies
Or should I say “triplet-ies”?
Bert Nelson, Ramona Larson, and Rosella Lillehaug enjoyed a typical high school day in Hettinger, North Dakota in 1953, although methinks they’re dressed for bowling league night. Pedal pushers, saddle shoes, and white button-downs–could they be any cuter?
Sweet Treats
Summer 1953, Cates, Indiana. Sherrie and brother Danny Barkley eating watermelon with their limber aunt Rosie, while the grandparents look on.
Summer 1961. Ventura, California. Cousins cooling off with Popsicles before a dip in the plastic pool.
And if you’re not into so much sugar, you might prefer fresh fruit, like the melons shown below.
1936. Rosedale Park, Detroit, Michigan. Rosedale Fenkell Market. Brunette sisters.
Loafers & Bobby Socks
I bet the Quill and Scroll clubs died out about the same time as loafers and bobby socks. In this 1952 Midland High School portrait, it appears that only the teacher was allowed to wear strappy shoes. The girl on the far right seems to have bucked the trend and gone with saddle oxfords.
Among the many clubs at this high school was the Model Airplane Club. I doubt that one’s around anymore either.
Without a doubt, no one under 40 has ever heard the term “slide rule” or seen one in the wild.
You could use them for math questions before calculators were readily available.
Have you ever used a slide rule?
How about the Pan American Club? What did they do in there?
I see flags of many nations.
But by far the oddest thing about clubs in this yearbook was the illustration preceding them.
We didn’t have these kind of clubs in my high school. A saloon with dancing ladies?
Clever Senior Quips 1952
Some high schools allow seniors to come up with quotes for their yearbook. By that fourth year, teens are tired of learning, and they fancy silly sayings. But these Midland High School quotes are in a whole different realm.
By the way, geophagy is the practice of eating earth or soil-like substrates such as clay or chalk. A perruquier is a maker of wigs.
I like how Lil Slowpoke was already looking 40 years into the future!
Mid-Century Uber
ba·rouche
/bəˈro͞oSH
noun
a four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with a collapsible hood over the rear half, a seat in front for the driver, and seats facing each other for the passengers, used especially in the 19th century
Bend It Like Beckham
Before Mrs. Roper, There Was
I Don't Get It 