When We Were Your Age, Madison...We Went To Prom!

When We Were Your Age, Madison! 

George and Shirley...Junior Prom April 21, 1972

"A Time For Us"

Here we are...your grandparents...when we were juniors at American Fork High School.  This was only our second date.  I don't know how we ended up together...he was the most annoying boy in my English class.  One day at school I was in a really, really bad mood.  My so-called boyfriend in Spanish Fork had just broken up with me...said his wrestling coach told him to.  Lame!  In Mrs. Gordon's class, George kept doing little things to get my attention and I kept ignoring him.  Finally he reached over and yanked down one of my knee socks.  Without thinking I punched him in the face!  Mrs. Gordon calmly separated us and told us to behave...she was such a nice lady.

The next day...Saturday...I was walking down Main Street to the library, when I saw him coming out of the boot repair shop.  He was getting his clunky boots repaired.  I felt prompted to go over to him and apologize for popping him one in class.  He was pretty cool about it and we stood there talking for awhile.  I found myself enjoying his company!  He asked if I would like to go for a ride in the old Plymouth he shared with his brother, Daryle.  We drove from one side of the valley to the other...Pleasant Grove to Cedar Fort.  I hardly noticed the drive, we were talking a mile a minute.  

Back in school, George was his usual obnoxious self.  Why do boys do that...act like they don't care?  He asked me, "Do you want to see the Godfather movie?"  I said I did.  "Then you better find someone to take you, then," he smirked.  I almost punched him again!  But he did take me to see that movie...we took our own popcorn and pretended to be BYU students so we could get into an R-rated movie.  Not the most wholesome of first dates...right?  I hated the movie, but I was starting to like George.  When he asked me to Prom...I said yes!

Madison and Date...2015 Sweetheart Dance 

About Madison

Madison is the oldest of my 8 granddaughters.  She is a junior at Skyline High School in Idaho Falls and is a photographer on the yearbook staff.  It seems like only yesterday that she was my first grandchild.  I can hardly believe how fast the years have passed by.  Madison is beautiful and quirky...and I can't wait to see what she does with her life.  Now she is enoying her high school years and going to dances.  I thought it would be fun to tell her and my other granddaughters what dances were like when George and I were in high  school. 

Treasures From the Cedar Chest

My corsage from Prom 1973.
 

I hardly ever look in the bottom drawer of my cedar chest...it's in Sascha's room.  My parents bought the chest for me for graduation.  It was the custom in those days for a young lady to use the chest to store keepsakes and items collected for her wedding "Trousseau."  I keep my wedding dress in there, protected from dust and insects by the cedar lining.  It's quite large...I wanted it to look like a stereo cabinet, so I could have a nice piece of furniture for my future living room.

My bedroom showing the cedar chest.

Dance photo from Military Ball at BYU dates this to 1975.

Recently I looked in the bottom drawer of the cedar chest and found a florist box containing a corsage, our dance pictures and three dance programs.  The corsage was made of dried flowers...George's idea.  He thought it would last for years and be something to remember him by.  Ever practical, he insisted that our wedding bouquets also be dried flowers.  He has always had a cheap economical heart. 

Dance programs from Junior Prom, Pep Club Formal, and Senior Hop.

All are from my senior year. 



At some point during our senior year, along with our friends from Drama Club, we decided to rebel against some of the dance customs.  Prom in the 70's wasn't the all-day affair filled with games, activities and formal dinners hosted by someone's parents.  There were no contests to see who could issue the most creative invitation...Pinterest hadn't been invented yet. 

For the Senior Hop we decided not to buy new dresses or rent tuxes.  Flowers and boutonnieres would be simple.  We found out that it was just as much fun and not nearly as expensive.  I couldn't afford the Gunne Sax dresses that were popular, so I made my own.  When we followed the rebel plan for some of the other dances, I wore a couple of dresses more than once. And George wore that same blue polyester suit and tie I helped him pick out.   Polyester...what was the fashion world thinking?

Senior Hop November 17, 1972

"Love"

Senior Hop was the dance where we first "rebelled." I wore my dress from the first Junior Prom.  It was a lot less stressful not having to go to a salon to put my hair up and, because George didn't rent a tux, we could actually afford to go out to a nice restaurant with our friends.

Pep Club Formal December 2, 1972

"One Love"

We took a break from the "rebellion" for Pep Club Formal.  I was on the committee and had painted a mural for the entrance.  Everything had to be just right.  I made a new dress and did my own hair.  George wore a tux for the last time until our wedding.  To be fair, he looked very handsome in his ROTC uniform at the Military Ball during our college years.

Pep Club Formal Committee...I'm the second one on the back row. 

Junior Prom April 20, 1973

"Pieces of April"

Finally, back to where it all started...Prom.  For Christmas I had made George a bank that looked just like a giant Tootsie Roll...and filled it full of miniature Tootsie Rolls.  He promised that we could go to Prom in April if we could save enough money for the dance, dinner and pictures.  It was fun to count our change every few weeks to see how much we had.  I didn't contribute too much...I hardly ever had spending money left over from my allowance.  But we managed to have enough by the time April rolled around. This is just another example of George's frugal economically wise ways...he was always the man with the "five year plan!"

Mural for 1972 Junior Prom.

I painted the rocks on the rock wall...such talent!

The theme for our 1972 Junior Prom was "A Time For Us," the love theme from the 1968 movie "Romeo and Juliet."  That movie was a big deal for us...the most romantic movie of our teenage years.  The movie's star, Olivia Hussey, influenced even the style of many of our Prom dresses...long-sleeved and high-waisted.  Dresses were much more modest then.  We would have been scandalized if someone showed up in a dress with spaghetti straps!  It was rumored that some girl had...but I didn't see her.

Seventeen from May of 1973...Prom Issue

Are high school girls still inspired by this magazine?

That was us, Madison, back in the days of the cavemen...actually we were the American Fork Cavemen!  Times, customs and fashions may have changed, but more than forty years later I would still go to Prom with George, my high school sweetheart!  Maybe we can be chaperones at your Prom!

Love,

Grandma Shirley

High School Years...Homecoming 1972!

Homecoming 1972...
Anyone who has watched such shows as “Glee” and “High School Musical” will know that Drama Club is often ignored, while Football and Cheer Leading programs get most of the attention.  American Fork High School was …for the most part…no exception.   But since our school was full of very nice kids, “class warfare” wasn't as intense as it might have been.  There were the usual tensions between “Jocks” and “Cowboys.”   Pot smoking “Hippies” kept to the shadows.  If they were there, I wasn't too aware of them.  To any former “Cavemen” reading this, these are my memories of American Fork High School…you may remember things differently.  But that’s okay…we all look at life through different lenses.

"Andy Williams is my favorite singer" said no teenage girl ever. 

When I was still in junior high, I remember an afternoon spent looking at yearbooks with my friend Kathleen.   This is not important to the story…but I just had to share this bit about Kathleen.  She was a wonderful, sweet, intelligent girl.  But she had a fatal flaw.  While most of the other girls in our neighborhood were crazy about The Monkees or The Partridge Family…she was Andy Williams’ most devoted fan.  Huh!?  Her closet door was plastered with his pictures and his music was the sound track to games of Twister.  “Moon River” and right hand red!  

The hit of "parent chaperoned" boy/girl parties.

 Anyhoo...as Kathleen and I looked at all the pictures of kids having fun in sports, clubs and activities at AF High, I made a vow that I would make the most of my high school years.   My children would find me in lots of yearbook pictures!  I never was one of the “popular” crowd but I was an enthusiastic Caveman supporter.

Drama Club...

My favorite picture.  George and I are both on the front row.

I am the girl on the far left ...George is on the far right.

We were probably fighting that day...lol!

Since I fully intended to be a famous Broadway actress someday, I knew that Drama Club was the “place to be.”   Learning scenes and pantomimes for competitions was a lot of work.  But I knew that if I ever wanted to star in the school play I would have to pay my dues.   Drama Club kids were the most fun kids in the school. ..just what this shy girl needed.   At any moment a group of us could spontaneously break out in song.  I have fond memories of a lunch-time musical number…complete with choreography…of a Kellogg’s Raisin Bran commercial…it was brilliant!  Another time my friend Randy brought the house down with “We represent the Lollipop Guild” from the Wizard of Oz.  Being tall for a Munchkin…he was hilarious!

Actual Yearbook Photo...not!

We were a pretty close-knit bunch of kids who thought ourselves very clever, but I’m sure we got more than our fair share of strange looks in the hallways.   I will write more another time about the plays we were in.  This story is about Homecoming.   I have my husband to thank for bringing back these fun memories.  A few days ago, George came across some old negatives that I didn't know existed.   It was like unearthing lost treasure...our Drama Club Homecoming float!

“Happiness is…” Homecoming 1972

Our drama teacher and club adviser was Mr. Gardner.   Such a nice guy and so handsome…we girls would just stare at him dreamily.  Half the time we never heard a word he said.  But when he announced that this year Drama Club would create an entry for the Homecoming Parade…we were all ears!   He warned us not to get too excited…we probably wouldn't win the prize.  He believed that “politics favoring the football team and cheerleaders” would prevail.   But he did encourage us to prove him wrong.  

Happiness is...

The theme was “Happiness Is…”   Snoopy as “Joe Cool” and “Happiness is a Warm Puppy” were everywhere that year.   What kind of float would we build?  Since we were playing the Springville Red Devils we chose “Happiness is Deviled Eggs.”  We envisioned a football field where “Mighty Cavemen” clobbered giant devil eggs with clubs.  How cool is that?

The finished product...

Building the float was so much fun!   I have no idea how we came up with the paper mache eggs.  But they were works of art in our estimation.

Watching other people work is exhausting!

My cute friend Marilee getting ready for the parade.

Those evil "Deviled Eggs" must be cracked for good!

After the parade some of us took our show on the road.  George and Randy...and a few others whose names I wish I could remember...thought it would be fun to wear the eggs in the middle of a busy Main Street intersection and "withdraw into their shells."  We thought the honking cars were hilarious.  Then for some reason we took the eggs to Lehi and proceeded to annoy the citizens of that community.  We had to celebrate somehow...we won Best Float in the parade!   It just goes to show...politics aside...Drama Club was the best!

Dear old AF High

Yes, we will love you 'til we die.

Your colors bright,

Of red and white,

Will be a beacon in the night.

Dramatic Arts,

And Ball and Track,

We always bring the honors back.

We'll sing your praises to the sky

We'll always fight for AF High!

Rah! Rah! Rah!

If you haven't noticed...Drama is mentioned first in the school song...so take that, Football!

I'm sure it was my performance at Half Time that won the game.

The Cavemen pounded the Red Devils for a 44-27 victory!

Best Homecoming ever!

Madison...enjoy your high school days!

Note:  I was having trouble remembering the correct words to the song.  Thanks to an article written by Ruby Buhler called "Origin of the American Fork High School Song" I was able to get it right!  Sadly, Ruby passed away a few weeks ago.  She was quite the local historian and a lovely person.