Steel Teepee
Category: Culture
Little Francis Albert
In truth, the eldest son holding both parents’ hands is not Frank Sinatra strolling the streets of Hoboken. It’s a portrait of post-war life, in the biggest Veterans’ Village in the United States, fresh out of the 1947 Oklahoma and Agricultural & Mechanical College yearbook. So if this man looks a bit too old for the university, it’s because he sacrificed part of his youth to serve in WWII, and now it was time to get his learnin’ on.
With the Baby Boom in full effect, veteran students needed houses for their growing families, located near campus. This is where the family lived.
Pigskin With Fries
And To The Republic, For Which It Stands
Braniff Airways Special
What a lucky group of students, off to fly the friendly skies in 1951.
But what’s going on here? Such eye-catching colors, he can’t help but be distracted.
Braniff had some great non-sexist ads as well. Check out the colors and the artwork on these!
Aren’t those fun? I could look at travel posters for hours. Maybe I will.
Sepia Smokers
Yearbook photographers may never receive any accolades (if they even get a mention in the yearbook at all), but boy howdy, have they snapped some fabulous images of day-to-day life.
Being With You, Being With You
Sharp-suited Sgt Franklin Williams enjoyed being on leave (and sharing a treat) with his best girl, Ellen Hardin, in Baltimore, 1942.
Johnny Got A Guitar
You have to pronounce it with emphasis on the first syllable: GUI-tar. That’s how it’s said.
So here’s what confuses me on this (my I Don’t Get It moment). This looks like a 50s rock ‘n’ roll impromptu set in the commons, some ragtag gathering of rebellious devil music. But if this Texas yearbook is a 1951 edition, then the schoolyear was only ’50-’51, and the first legit rock hit wasn’t until 1955 with Bill Haley and the Comets’ (see the Comet connection?) hit “Rock Around The Clock.” It wasn’t even written until 1952.
Elvis was only 16 in 1951. Ritchie Valens a mere 10. So what was this kid doing with his guitar? Surely not playing these top ten hits of 1951.
| 1 | Nat King Cole | Too Young |
| 2 | Tony Bennett | Because Of You |
| 3 | Les Paul and Mary Ford | How High The Moon |
| 4 | Rosemary Clooney | Come On-a My House |
| 5 | Mario Lanza | Be My Love |
| 6 | Weavers | On Top Of Old Smoky |
| 7 | Tony Bennett | Cold, Cold Heart |
| 8 | Perry Como | If |
| 9 | Mario Lanza | Loveliest Night Of The Year |
| 10 | Patti Page | Tennessee Waltz |
Now the interwebs tell me that classic rock and roll is “usually played with one or two electric guitars (one lead, one rhythm), a string bass or (after the mid-1950s) an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit.” And I’m sure Mark the Music Man will know more about this than I. It just seems a bit early to go taking your first real six-string (if that’s what it is; I am ignorant) to school to serenade your peers, especially to play lame old people music. On top of old smoky…♫ ♫ ♫
Secrets Of A Parson, Part II
Never catch a sister unawares: the first ministerial lesson to be learned. Perhaps most brothers were at office jobs while Dr. Briggs made his daily round of pastoral visits to (mostly female) parishioners. To prevent a surprise visit, he would park his sweet 1930s ride in front of each home and faux tinker with the car to give housekeepers time to tidy up. That’s a thoughtful, if not exhausted, parson. It’s the little things that make a difference.
And on a purely aesthetic note, isn’t this a gem of a literal window inside the life of a person in 1941? So warm and serene in the home, so placid and white with snow outside. How comforting it must have been to know someone thought enough of you to drive to see you each day. Even a kind word from a milk man or mailman must have made the day of someone confined to his home. I have read that as you age, you begin to feel invisible, and just a gesture of conversation could serve to validate your existence. I raise my coffee mug to each of you today, validating your worth and purpose in existence!
Saddle Oxford Squat
This straining adolescent is performing the Posin’ maneuver, as part of a new dance craze called The Big Apple. Nope, I’d never heard of it, either. But I bet Liz at The Vintage Inn has (she knows all about the Lindy and other swing dancing). In 1937, Time magazine attempted to describe it in words I can’t comprehend:
Repeal Of Prohibition December 1933
Set ’em up, Joe!
Midvale Steel December 1939
I Don't Get It 