The EHHS Social Order - 7 – 7th Grade & More (Gasp!) Puberty

After one final summer of Little League baseball, a final summer of collecting the baseball cards of Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, among many other greats of that day, no boy/girl stuff, bike explorations into the deep mysteries of the wilderness east of Richland Hills, tadpoles, crawdad fishing, and a bunch of similar pleasant distractions, 7^th grade and their bouts with puberty awaited the boys at Junior High.

The girls had been dealing with their own pubescent bewilderment for about a year or so by now.  Elvis topped the pop charts and so did Pat Boone.  And the girls tended to flock together to learn and dance to the new Rock ‘n Roll music that was filling the radio waves.  Starting near the end of 6^th grade, a number of parents hosted fairly large house parties, inviting both boys and girls, where most everyone started learning to dance.  If you didn’t dance….you were “square” and most likely not invited to the parties.

For a few of the elementary years, some of the kids had been gathering together for small birthday parties and swim parties at local pools.  Private pools may have existed this early (1956-57), but they were rare—most of us were just getting acquainted with real air conditioning about this time and a few of our families were just getting their second car.  Ft. Worth was blessed with a number of privately owned public pools such as Burger’s Lake, Barbrook, Lucas, and the Meadowbrook CC pool on Jenson.

Another active venue for boys and girls to gather were the neighborhood movie theaters and nearby eateries.  On the East Side, it was the Gateway theater; in Richland Hills it was the Haltom theater and occasionally, the Tower at 5-Points (or, is it 6-Points?).  A lot of us had been going to the Saturday matinees since the early grades.  During all those years we were content to goof around with friends, throw pop corn off the balcony, and eat plenty of junk food.  About the start of 7^th grade, we started noticing our opposites…girls and boys.

Junior High.  I suspect that our first days at Junior High were about the same no matter which school we attended.  9^th graders were a lot larger than we 7^th graders and the 8^th graders were also a little larger.  For a 7^th grade boy, that meant that for the first time in his life, he had to face other boys that posed a threat….bullies.  

Since I attended 7^th and 8^th grades at different schools, I had the opportunity to observe and deal with bullies in both schools…they were about the same in each place.  They were generally a little larger, not too bright, some of them perpetually menacing, some happy-go-lucky, but all shared a common trait.  They were ready and able to fight at the drop of a hat whenever someone angered them…which wasn’t at all difficult to do.  Since I hadn’t been trained to fight, lacked size, and valued the integrity of my teeth, eyes and nose, I gave these guys a wide berth.  However, they were never far away, especially in the PE classes. 

Bullies were also prolific sources of new vocabulary words I was sure I couldn’t repeat in any company I was likely to keep.  One of Meadowbrook bullies told me that he had gotten, “a 25¢ piece” over the weekend.  Piece of what, I wondered.  When he or someone else explained, I still had little clue what he meant.  In retrospect, I suppose it was one of those many subtle eureka moments during the march through puberty.  By 9^th grade, most of our adolescent thugs were gone…somewhere and we didn’t see them at EHHS.

Lots of new kids.  At Junior High, our 2 or 3 sixth grade classes from our 3 or 4 former elementary schools were joined with one another forming a much larger student population about 3-4 times larger than we had been in school with all those elementary years.  That meant more pretty girls, more sports competition, more academic competition, and losing the strong ties with our earlier friends as new ones came forward.

My girlfriend situation that year was a mixed bag.  Gone after just that one 6^th grade year, was the beautiful Kay Sturkie who had broken my heart over that 6 grade picnic deal; but, rejoining me after our having been separated since 3^rd grade was the beautiful Donna who had been my love interest in the “old days.”  Now 12, she hadn’t aged too well but, she was as affectionate as ever (back in 3^rd grade !) and pasted herself to me all that year.  However, a young man’s eye does tend to wander, even at that tender age and mine certainly did. 

Cheerleaders.  Besides all the various coveys of girls intently focused on girl stuff, Rock ‘n Roll, and dancing, there was the new and exciting prospect of a new group of very visible young gals…the Cheerleaders !  We had had them in elementary school but, those were different since we had known them since the early grades.  From a 7^th grader’s perspective, these new Junior High cheerleaders were older women…all 5 of them either 8^th or 9^th graders.  Added to that wonderful new environment was the traditional all-school pep rally in the auditorium which would be a fall staple all the way through the rest of our schooling at EHHS. 

It was immediately clear to any observant 7^th grade boy that being close to one or more of those cheerleaders would put you in the most visible of all the school groups.  But, in 7^th grade, it was also clear to that same boy…he had no standing as a significant figure yet.  So, I suppose the pages in my 7^th grade yearbook was this adolescent’s closest pass at the cheerleader spotlight…they all signed my book…at my request.  Guess I had one of those innocent, wishful looks about me then.  But, as an experienced autograph collector by then, having already scored autographs from Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, and Rogers Hornsby, maybe there was a little more juice to the kid than I recall.

House Parties.  A fairly significant component of our early social sorting were the house parties given at various homes around the area.  This was a somewhat common event in both the Richland Hills and Meadowbrook neighborhoods where I attended both schools.  I believe these parties to have been more our parents’ creation than ours.  Of course, as kids we were more than happy to go along with the party idea since it provided additional venues for socializing between the boys and girls….and it was fun…well, it was for those who were invited.  And therein lay some problems.  Not all of us could participate because we weren’t invited.

Of course to throw a party, a family had to have a large enough house and yard.  Most of us didn’t. 

Adios

 

Barney Fife Lives....in Georgia ! & Iowa, & TX, & MA, & WI, & CA

I feel so much more secure knowing that officer Kelly is on the job...don't you? This is why Barney got only one bullet and he had to keep it in his shirt pocket.

Sept. 2013 update:

Hadn't had a look at this piece since putting it up a couple of years ago, I thought it might be interesting to see what became of officer Kelly.  Didn't find much about her, but there have been some substantial writers and publications weighing in since then.

FORBES 2011:  "The Inexplicable War on Lemonade Stands"

American Thinker 2012:   "Lemonade Freedom Day"


A lot of folks believe this issue is trending much larger than some kids' stands.


Adios

Gus Calls for a Shoutout

One of our more prominent ’63 Highlanders lives in the area of Colorado that has, since last Friday, been devastated by several days of flooding.  She is Susan Begley, who I’m sure most of us recall as a gentle and beautiful soul.  Her home is undamaged however, all but one highway leading in and out of the area has been washed out, power is off and likely will be out for an extended period, as will the lack of stable roadways.

Susan has been a silent and significant contributor to the blog over the period of some months.  She has adequate family and friend support nearby which should be enough to aid she and her husband weather the difficult time ahead.  Faithful to his Hippocratic Oath, her husband is out, helping others.

I want to try an act of Highlander “crowd sourcing” support and I am calling on all ex-Highlanders to write just a line or two of your best wishes and encouragement.  If you recall anything specific in your recollections of her back at EHHS, a short anecdote perhaps, I'm sure those would be particularly meaningful and uplifting.  

Please, use your own words and post them to the Facebook thread or email to me at ehhs1963@yahoo.  I plan to paste your words into a blog page that I know she can and will read when I let her know it’s there.  (Her Internet is also out so, she has to log in from somewhere else now and then--it's a 2-mile hike to the closest car)  Since the blog is open to the world, you tell me how to style your credit line….first name and class only, or both names.  It’s your choice.

Let’s see what we can muster from a bunch of older characters ….we got 80 to the 50^th in May.  Maybe we can do better than that here.  Older and younger classes who recall Susan are very welcome, too.  I’m sure she will appreciate your thoughts. 

 

Video:

Main Road to town

Go Highlanders !

1. As Highlanders we are all family and all seem to come together during times of need. Prayers for all who are in Colorado during these tragic times. May God keep everyone safe! Ginny Darnell - Class of 1977

2. Susan, I am so sorry to hear that you and yours have been so affected by those terrible floods. Hopes and prayers that you stay safe and that things get better as each day goes by.  Kellie Pelham Maisch  ‘62

3. Susan , I will keep you in my prayers!!  So sorry you you are affected by the terrible floods!!!  Stay safe!  Dianne Hardin Sztamenits

4. Sending thoughts and prayers to our classmate Susan Begley Anderson, EHHS '63, who, according to Gus, is unharmed but in the middle of this devastation. Be safe, Susan, and tell us how we can help.  Susan Craig Gregg ’65 (Bill Hunsaker’s lil’ sis)   

5. Oh, my! Susan, we're sending our good thoughts and prayers and are thankful that you are safe.  No one ever expects something like this to happen to them...take care! -- from Donna Seate, EHHS '64

6. Hope all is well and things get back to normal very soon, Susan.  Nick Loesch ‘65

7. My favorite memory of Susan Begley is her rendition of "There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly!" in the Big "E" Beauty pageant. I'll bet she is maintaining that same grace and poise in dealing with this crisis.  Susan Craig Gregg  ‘65

8. Susan, we're praying you and your family during this very difficult time in beautiful Colorado.  Carolyn Dake Eads ‘65

9. Susan....so sorry to hear the news about the flooding in your area but thankful your home is okay.  With the necessities of life being strained, it is our prayer things will ease soon.  We actually have family in CO but they have not been hit as your area has been.  May God's sweet embrace bring you comfort and peace as you walk out this journey at this difficult time.  Please know we are thinking of you and praying for relief and protection.  Love ya!  Carol Crowder (Dacy)

10. Susan & Gil: With the world news available anytime and at our fingertips on all of our electronic gadgets, we are constantly confronted with the good and the bad that happens in our global world. Even though we did not know her, in 1987 we worried all day about Baby Jessica who was trapped in a backyard well in Midland, Texas. 

The recent Colorado disaster was not just a flash flood or another another hint of global warming. When the pictures/videos became available it was insane and devastating. Sure there were Texas Thoughts such as: Why do they get all the rain and we are still in a drought?  and  Will the ski slopes be open this winter? 

But when you know good people that are affected by it, the situation requires more focus. Susan & Gil, we are glad that you are safe and will rebound. After all, someone recently wrote: Don't stop thinking about tomorrow . . . keep moving, growing, learning, seeking, traveling and Being.

I specifically remember one busy night in 1976 when I was working at Colonial Country Club. There was a dinner hosted by the Tarrant County Medical Society. I stopped by the room to make sure all was OK. I stayed to listen to the award presentation to Dr. Grant Begley. The Society had honored your father with the Gold-Headed Cane Award.  Later I learned that it was an old English custom where respected doctors donned white wigs and carried gold-headed canes. 

Your face was proudly beaming. Not only because your father's dedication, but maybe because you realized that you were also from good stock. As a father of three daughters, a beaming face is always better than an award cane.

It is that confidence that will guide you through the next few months and turn this  Rocky Mountain Low back to High.  From: EHHS Classmates - Danny McCoy 1963 & Linda Dorough McCoy 1964

11. Don’t know exactly what to ask for but I am praying that God will put his loving arms around you & let you know that you aren’t alone in this difficult time.  God knows who you are & what crisis that you may be experiencing.  There are times in all of our lives that things seem hopeless & you feel isolated, just know that others care.  God bless & may things start to look brighter soon.  Sincerely,  Susie W. ‘63

12. Susan, praying for you and your family!  Sharon Hubbard ‘63

13. Susan, We are all watching the news about the flooding in Colorado. So sorry you are caught up in this tragedy and wish you all the best. Nature seems to be testing us a lot these past years and that is when the comfort of friends and family are needed the most. We will hold you in our prayers. Take care.  Biff Flatt ‘62

14. Hi Susan . Hang in there . Hopefully you won't need an Ark ! I'm sorry you are too near this bad  flooding ! Hope you and yours stay dry  Keep your oars ready and be vigilant . It was nice to see you in May. Dona Blackstone Brandt ‘63

15. Susan, Through all the many years and life's challenges, large and small, we can all count on the support of our Lord and the encouragement of our classmates! Stay safe and strong,  Meg Garland ‘64

16. Susan, please know that all your Texas friends are hoping that you & all the other people of Colorado will soon see a "ray of sunshine" break through & that the rain & storms will stop.  Our prayers are with you all.  I have cousins in Boulder with a flooded basement, so was already aware of the hardships.  Take care & good luck!  Gail (DeVore) Longley

17. Susan, so thrilled to be reconnecting with you, but so sorry it's under these circumstances. I, too, still remember you as our EHHS Beauty Queen ~ as beautiful on the inside as you were on the outside. I'm so sad for what you are going through because of the devastating floods in Boulder--but so thankful you, your family and your home have been spared. I'm praying for God's continued protection, provision and for your strength and endurance in the coming days.
    With much affection,  Sherri Sledge Pulliam '64

18. Hi Susan, I was sorry to hear you were affected by the terrible Colorado floods. As the Chinese, who know a thing or two about natural – and manmade disasters – like to say, “che dao shan qian bi you lu.” When the cart reaches the mountain, a path through will appear.  In other words, Everything will eventually work out okay.  Best to you and your family,  Larry Guthrie

19. Susan, you were always easy to notice and pleasant.   Thanks, and thinking of you and family as you get your lives back in order.   Cheers,  Mel Fenn

20. Susan and Gil, it was so good to visit with you at the reunion.  Can't believe what has happened in CO!  And more disturbing,  that you guys are caught up in it.  I hear Gil is doing the doc thing which is wonderful.  Hope you have electricity soon.  Knowing how resourceful you guys are, I am sure lemonade is being made somehow from the lemon drops from the sky.  And I am sure you are both finding additional ways of assisting others.  Many thoughts and prayers are coming your way.  Take courage.  Vicki Held Burns

Susan checks in,

Hi Gus,  Thanks again for the heartfelt posts on your blog.  Thanks to each of you for your calls and emails.  As I have said in most of my messages, we are going hour to hour and day by day here.  As our flooded creek has receded, the road equipment that went across our front meadow has managed to complete a one lane dirt emergency access road and bridge across the creek.  Above us it is particularly muddy and slippery and dangerous, so the Road District has asked us to take our cars to the other side of the bridge and limit traffic.  Who knows about compliance, but we have taken both cars to the bottom of our hill.  

Since hiking is one of our favorite things to do, we will just add hiking with a backpack of groceries up our fairly steep hill -- interesting choices of food and weight to consider at Safeway -- powdered milk in my morning chai, of course!  (Gus note:  Susan was one of those EH gals who could send you to the dictionary having to look up a word that she used in casual conversation; chai = tea.  Gus still makes do with Maxwell House original grind....black !  She used "unobtrusive" on me back at EH...had to look it up...and never forgot it !).

Since we are in the "no flush" zone (our sewer connection was damaged in the flood), Gil has cleverly constructed a camping toilet in the garage -- also one for my studio!  Those orthopedic skills are coming in handy in retirement!

My sister was evacuated by helicopter and has no car, so we will get our car to her at the end of the month.  With no place in particular to go (our main access highways to the front range will take months or even a year to repair, so our 1 hour drive to see the grandchildren is now a mountainous 5-6 hour drive), Gil and I are sure we can make it through the winter with only one car.  We are so much more fortunate than most flood victims -- my sister has no way to get home and no idea of how long it will be till she can see her husband and her friends again.  And a good potter friend lost everything -- home, studio, kiln, and art gallery -- all swept away by West Creek, which is usually a tiny stream with wild raspberries along the path, tempting hikers and bears alike to nibble in the fall.  (We are hoping the road holds so Leah can share my studio this winter -- and so we can deliver our work to galleries.)

Rumors fly -- mandatory evacuation, National Guard rescue, FEMA funds to fix our road, phone and Internet restoration, and all sorts of dire threats of famine and pestilence.  But the best part have been the people, volunteering with shovels and Bobcats and ATVs (not my favorite part, for our meadow was the only access for the neighborhood and now sports mud wallows and track marks everywhere).  Still nature will heal the meadow much faster than other flood damage can be repaired and roads can be replaced.

It got down to 38 degrees last night, so we are grateful that our gas line is not damaged and concerned about our friends down the hill without heat or stoves.  There's new snow on Longs Peak, and the aspen are beginning to change, and the elk are gathering their harems  -- the natural world continues to delight and amaze us, leaving us awestruck in the face of such power.  My heartfelt thanks to every one of you, Susan

21. Dear Susan,  I'm sorry that you all are in the midst of the rains and flooding.  Please know that I'm praying for you and the others who are experiencing this tragedy.  May God give all of you healing and hope.    Sincerely,  Julie Hudson Beadle

 

Prone Position

This is an interesting 1942 picture of some Los Angeles high school girls practicing their marksmanship.  Wow !  Guns in schools…and no one was injured….they were taught by the R.O.T.C. Sgt. how to use the rifle ! 

EHHS had the same thing going on out in those wooden “temporary” buildings where the R.O.T.C. classes were held.  I’ve mentioned elsewhere that I wasn’t part of that activity but did have an interest in one or more of those R.O.T.C. sponsors.  Sorry to say, some of us weren’t too respectful of the boys, but I have to give it to them…their taste in lovely young ladies was exceptional !

As I’ve also mentioned elsewhere in the blog, getting a good opportunity to effectively appraise our young ladies’ figures was difficult in those days due to their wardrobe choices, which mostly mimicked their mothers’ 1940s garb.

So, one memorable afternoon after school, I had some (rare) free time to go out and meet one of the girls I was kind of sweet on…she and the others were on the range, I had to wait.  Now, I’ve always been a very impatient “waiter” but this afternoon was different.

I took a seat in back of them where I had an unobstructed view of the target range.  There, dressed in their R.O.T.C. shorts (or, maybe PE shorts…I forget) were several of our Class of 1963 loveliest, laying prone on the floor, armed, facing downrange, firing away at the targets.  Their shooting form was terrific and I didn’t mind the wait.

No clue if any of them hit the target.

Bang

The EHHS Social Order - 6 – 6th Grade & (Gasp!) Puberty

 

Well, the training wheels were just about to come off now.  A sixth grade teacher told us that the child we left with her in the fall will be a much different young person in the spring.  And she was so right.  We had had our little pal with us for 11-years at that point and for the most part she had changed little during those years.  At the end of the 6th grade year, we had a much more mature young lady just ready to embark on adolescence.  That trek wasn’t much different than what wife and I recalled from our own treks.

To my knowledge, we did not stand for class pictures beyond the 6th grade, so the pictures used above for illustration are typical classes from different sources...there are no familiar faces in them.  They are here just to illustrate the fine changes that occurred during those critical 6th - 8th grade years; changes about which we may have little memory and no photographic record.  Pictures like these were always arranged by the photographer and teacher to place the tall kids in the back, shorter ones in front.  Note the annual change in positions until the 8th grade when most of the girls were in front....the boys had caught up!

Biology dictates the adolescent years more than any form of reason ever could.  Girls got their admission tickets about 18-months before boys got theirs.  So, the 6^th grade was much more trauma for the girls than it was for the boys.  For the most part, a boy’s 6^th grade was just another 5^th…a continuation of play, baseball cards, bikes, and such.    But something was going on with the girls that we hadn’t seen before.  They tended to turn more serious and some of them shot up in height, where all the years before, they had been about the same size as the boys.

Almost overnight, at least two of the girls that I had known for nearly 4-years towered over me.  One of them had always had a bit of an edge to her, where the other was and remained very quiet.  I teased them both, as did the other boys and Rita always had an angry retort but Janet seemed kind of embarrassed and remained silent….probably hurt.

One of my EH correspondents told a similar story of her having been ostracized from the group of “popular” girls during that memorable 6^th grade year.  And it’s a hurt that still resides with her to this day, albeit securely tucked away from today’s curiosities.  Another EH correspondent told of her having been suddenly shunned in her 6^th grade year by a close friend of several early elementary years.  Reasons unknown, but both EH ladies got their growth spurts early and towered over their classmates for a year or so.

By some means I never knew, near the end of the year news was in the air that we were to have an end of the year party….and, we could take our dates.  Dates?  Well, that was a subject 6^th grade boys hadn’t given much thought.  We knew what a date was but, we hadn’t ever before, been confronted with having to “get” one !

Now, there was a nifty little girl, new to our 6^th grade Richland class named Kay Sturkie.  Kay was one of those front row pixies in the group pictures….petite, beautiful, and lively.  She was on the pep squad, cheering for us gridiron heroes that fall.  I was the star QB--this should be a snap. 

O.K., it’s spring and I need a date…Kay, of course !  Nope.  My best friend Stanley beat me to her…he asked Kay first and I was crushed.  Shot down first time out of the gate.  So, I didn’t go to that damned party (a picnic somewhere, IIRC), thus apparently starting a practice of not going anywhere without a date.  Hmm, wonder if that may explain why by the end of EH days, I had dated 9 or 10 different lovely Highlanders.

Meanwhile at Poly Elementary, McCoy was stuck with Guthrie as his 6th grade party date and at Meadowbrook Elementary, there was a full-blown formal production called the May Fete at the end of 6th grade.  Recent feedback has informed me that others of our early EHHS classes from other elementary schools just now getting their first look at the Meadowbrook shindig are blown away after seeing the images from this affair.  It made Life Magazine in 1958!

No clue what might have gone on at the Handley, Tandy, and Sagamore Hill elementary schools.  If anyone wants to fill in this unknown, be my guest.

Now, the stage was set for our developing Social Order.  It clearly involved boys and girls doing things together and for some odd reason, perhaps just contemporary fashion, for a few years it involved White or Ecru sports jackets and dance lessons.

In short, the 6th grade was defined thusly....

  
Adios

The EHHS Social Order – 5 – Foundations.2

 

A few more comments on the years leading up to our pivotal 6^th grade year come to mind.  If you grew up in a home consisting of a “standard” family….2 parents and maybe some siblings, count yourself lucky.  Not all of us did.  I’ve had a number of correspondences from those not so blessed and the stories they tell illuminate an otherwise overlooked truth; that being, a not inconsequential number of our classmates had to deal with personal struggles that most of us did not.  More to the point, we probably never gave such things a thought.

Some of us came from single parent homes where the father had passed away young, maybe killed in WWII, there were divorces, and some came from the Tarrant County Children’s Home located on Lancaster, just south of Tandy Elementary.  It was called the “Orphans’ Home” on the maps but not all the youngsters there were orphans.  Some of them were abandoned as a result of domestic disruptions between their parents—leaving neither wanting their children.  The TCCH kids were mostly sent to Tandy Elementary, then to William James Junior High, then Poly High School.  One former TCCH resident said you could always tell the TCCH boys…we always wore striped T-Shirts and long-leg jeans with the cuffs rolled way up.  (yes, that's Kay Humphrey standing just behind him to the left in a Tandy class picture).

Since our particular birth years, 1944-45, occurred during WWII, our inceptions could have easily been attributed to immature choices made by our parents in the emotion of their time.  Most of them weren’t so fortunate as our generation to experience the luxury of time and peace that provided us a smorgasbord of choices as we started our adult lives.  And it’s reasonable to assume that there was some measure of family stress within a number of our homes in those days.

Scouting and church youth activities continued to bring us together socially as we matured through the later elementary years and approached Junior High.  There were 2 Boy Scout troops and at least one Girl Scout troop.  All were quite active for a number of years.  A number of boys I knew well joined Mr. Hunsaker’s Troop 25 which met at his house on Oakland while boys I didn't know so well joined Troop 12 that met at Meadowbrook Methodist Church.  Troop 25 produced two Eagle Scouts, Bill Hunsaker & Jeff Nusbaum; Troop 12 produced several, Warren Koch, Bruce Butler's brother, & others.  Ultimately, the Girl Scout Troop that met at Mrs. Hofmann’s house produced 10 Curved Bar scouts.

Gus didn't participate in these scout activities but, did join a troop on the Northeast side for a short time.  That was about 6th or 7th grade and I found the troop too large and populated with some older boys who tended to be bullies.  A single venture into the Outback where the task was to read a magnetic compass and pace off so many steps in an assigned direction that was utterly ignored by the attending adults thoroughly flummoxed Gus, who then said, "to heck with this."  Never had much patience for busy work, a notion that clearly developed at an early age. 

There were other influences that shaped our early outlooks.  Most of us on the East Side attended older elementary schools dating to the 1922-1938 period where wood floors and old cabinetry was installed.  Not until arriving at Meadowbrook did we encounter a newer school built in the early to mid-fifties which tended to be brighter with lots of windows, green chalk boards, and linoleum flooring.  How that might have affected outlooks, I don’t know; it’s mentioned just as an observation.  Some of us who transferred in from newer neighborhoods attended new schools from the start of our trek through public schooling.

Gus note:  been distracted by beautiful weather and other activities so, there may be a few more words added here when focus returns.

The EHHS Social Order – 4 – Foundations

The next logical part of this series of reflections is the 6^th grade, the onset of puberty, and it’s profound impact on our developing social order.  However, first it’s probably worth a few preliminary comments about our dissimilar childhood experiences.

One of the interesting discoveries in doing this blog has been the inputs of others regarding their memories.  That’s what I had hoped might develop as time went by.  We were a lively bunch of kids that I knew could probably share some interesting perspectives on our shared past.  But, it hasn’t been so easy to draw people out.  It seems that life has transformed most of us into wily old farts….me, too.  Why else would I be Gus?

It’s clear that all of us had a different set of experiences with the same years and within the same hallways.  As a brief preamble to the next part of this series, I’ll relate the sequence of my family’s development through the 6^th grade.  Compare it to your own, if you wish.  It’s from my personal perspective.

Meadowbrook Junior High was my 6^th school.  After WWII, Dad attended college at Berkeley, worked his first job at Alice, TX with a power company, was recalled to the Air Force during the Korean War, returned to Dallas, then to Riverside, then to Richland Hills, and finally to Meadowbrook.  First grade was in Ohio, second was Dallas & Riverside, grades 3-7 in Richland Hills, and 8-12 on the East Side.

Dad purchased his first car when he was 27; a 1950 Oldsmobile 76.  It had neither a heater nor air conditioning.  Next was a ’53 Olds—no air conditioning, then a ’56 Olds with air, followed by 3 more Oldsmobiles in roughly 3-year increments.  They were all new cars that cost between $3000-$5000.

We rented 2 apartments and 3 houses before Dad bought his first house in 1953 when he was 30, 8-years after he was released from WWII service.  He used the GI Bill to finance it…no money down.  It was a 1560’ house on a 75 X 140 lot; three bedrooms, one bathroom, one garage, no air conditioning, an eat-in kitchen with no built-ins, and about 8,000’ of grass for me to mow all summer long.  Dad liked grass lawns and in retrospect, liked having a son available for the mowing.  The house cost $13,000.

Texas summers are hot as heck, as any Texan would attest.  And summer nights without air conditioning are tough.  We had fans, but all they did was move hot air…you still had to try and sleep in a bed wet with your sweat.  Dad’s first upgrade was a swamp cooler hung in a rear bedroom window which worked pretty well and provided a damp breeze that kept the mosquitoes from landing for their meals.  Unfortunately for me, Dad and Mom took over that room for themselves and I made do with the fan.

Our first “real” air conditioner was a window unit in the living room, followed pretty soon by another in Mom and Dad’s bedroom.  I moved up too, inheriting the swamp cooler…that was about 1956, or 5^th grade, age 11.  Parents were about 33 then.

Dad was doing well, working as a sales engineer for a Los Angeles aerospace contractor focused mostly on GD and LTV.  He had met those people while he was in the Air Force at Wright-Patterson during the Korean War otherwise, I'm sure he would have returned to an electric utility with his new BSEE.
 
Although he spent most of his time in the DFW area, he also traveled to the west coast now and then, as well as a few other places.  So, that gave me an early view of the travel atmosphere to far away places via his stories and from taking him to the airport and picking him up.  But we seldom traveled as a family other than 2 or 3 gargantuan driving vacations that I’ve described elsewhere in the blog. 

By 1957, with 2-cars (& one garage), my 35-year old parents decided they could afford a “move-up” home.  A false start on Fossil Creek where his chosen building lot went under water in the 1957 flood, led us to the East Side, the newly building Eastern Hills neighborhood, and 8^th grade with the future Highlander Class of 1963 at Meadowbrook Junior High, my 6^th school by that time.

So, it was at that point that I entered the EHHS social order a couple of years before enrolling at EH.  I knew nothing of any preceding social formations, of anything having to do with a “social order” and contending with my own version of fussing with developing puberty.  What a challenge!

I’ll deal with the influence our childhood housing had on our development and social structuring a couple of articles hence.  Where the Richland Hills housing stock was generally homogeneous, the East Side housing ran a wider range.  Our first and only East Side house was one of the “big” ones in the neighborhood north of EH which I’ve learned only recently was seen by a lot of others as being the homes of the local “rich.”  More on that later.

Suffice it to say that by 1958, through his hard work and accomplishments, over a 5-year period Dad had managed to take us from a smallish, no air conditioning,  frame rental house to a 2500’ used brick, 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom, central air, 2-car garage, mansion…mortgaged to the hilt.  He was 36.  I’m sure that most of the others in that neighborhood had similar stories.  That house cost $25,000; some fancier ones cost up to $35,000 in that neighborhood.

How this figures into the “EHHS Social Order” is up to others to determine for themselves, based on their own experience.  These articles are just my view.  And this article is intended to illustrate the basis for the views that follow.

Adios

The EHHS Social Order - 3 - Scouts & Little League

During the years 1945-1950, our parents were in their mid to late 20s, shaking off the effects of WWII and making a lot of babies thus, setting off the well documented Baby Boom.  As with most twenty-somethings, few of them had had time to really make much progress toward getting themselves established in their jobs, careers, or businesses. 

Perhaps somewhat typical of his particular age group, my father was occupied from 1945-48 with getting his degree using the GI Bill benefits he had earned plowing through the skies over Europe in 1943-45.  Then, after earning his BS degree he worked his first job a couple of years in south Texas, 1948-51.  And contributed a couple more years when recalled to the military service for another 18-month stint during the Korean War.  Finally, in 1952, he was clear of nearly 10-years of war service, age 30 and we future '63 Highlanders were in the 2^nd grade.      

The 1948 Levittown picture above is a good illustration of the building boom that within a couple of years would soon roar across the country everywhere.  For us, that Levittown picture pretty well depicts the 1953 scene in Richland Hills where we settled, as entire neighborhoods were being built on formerly open land east, along Hwy 183 toward the stop-light villages of Hurst and Euless.

Our early East Side neighborhoods were more of a hodge-podge of development encompassing both open land areas and much older neighborhoods, some of them dating to the 1920s.  Those of us who arrived new to the area in the early to mid 1950s generally moved into homes built in the strip of land between Lancaster and Meadowbrook Drive, roughly eastward from Oakland Blvd.  We also moved into new neighborhoods springing up in the Central Meadowbrook area between Oakland Blvd. and the Meadowbrook Golf Course.  Oakland Blvd. had been Ft. Worth's c.1920 eastern boundary before the line was moved further east to about Weiler Blvd. by 1937.

The building of the Meadowbrook Elementary school in 1936 reflected the need for additional classroom space by that date as well as the anticipation of future growth in that direction.  Until the new Meadowbrook Junior High was opened fall of 1954, both elementary and junior high grades were combined in the one building.  Until EHHS opened, all 9th grade graduates went to Polytechnic located to the SW, south of Lancaster.  After EHHS opened, perhaps as many as 80% of the MJH youngsters went there.

As we grew through our early elementary school years, our playmates tended to be those youngsters who lived within a few houses of our own.  For the most part, they were within a few years of our age, but mostly younger than we were.  Classes just behind ours had up to 50% more kids in them as a result of our parents enthusiastic responses to the end of WWII and their outlook as members of the conquering class was intensely optimistic.  Economic realities would set in later, but for those early years of the 1950s, it seemed that such leveling thoughts were not in the cards.

By the time we had reached our 3rd or 4th grade years, we had begun to develop better motor and mental skills.  With those developing skills, a lot of us were receptive to trying just about anything set before us.  Pretty suddenly, the little kids next door were no longer satisfying our need for more challenge and stimulation.  And as you may recall, in those days, a one-year difference in age was a huge gap.

School had begun to introduce us to sports.  Various special interest groupings such as scouts sprung from our associations with others in our classes.  We tended to gravitate to those we liked for a variety of reasons; ability, humor, and likeability, among them.  Those kinds of relationships couldn't be forced, not even by a parent's insistence. 

Girls' Sports.  Unless I'm mistaken, girls had little available to them in the way of sports beyond jump rope and ring around the rosie.  I think they did play softball and volleyball but only on all girls' teams.  For the most part, we boys paid them no mind until sometime later during 6th grade.

Boys' Sports.  Starting about 3rd grade, boys played all the sports we saw on TV and we paid strict attention to their seasons even though most any sport could be played at any time in the mild Texas climate.  Little League baseball started for us as 10-year olds at the end of our 4th grade year.  Few of us were any good at it at that point, but we put in a lot of time in sandlot games down at the school playground and in pretty short order some of us got pretty good.  A few got real good.

Organized football started at my Richland Hills schools in 6th grade when we started playing competitive touch football games against other elementary school teams; but, on the East Side and other parts of Fort Worth, kids started contact football a year or two earlier.  Those were the teams that Big Sam Scott put together along with help from Bill Hunsaker's dad and a few others.  To my knowledge, Meadowbrook Elementary did not sponsor touch football teams like the ones I encountered in Richland Hills.  In any event, those teams were a tremendous focal point for youngsters to start forming social attachments.  The kids spent a lot of time together after school learning how to play the sports.

Girl and Boy Scouts.  These "troops" tended to be formed within a single class, or perhaps others within the same grade.  To my knowledge, they didn't include kids from older or younger classes.  They formed about the same time as the first sports teams and provided a socializing activity for additional youngsters who may not have had an interest in or sufficient ability to play sports.  It wasn't unusual for some of the boys to be very active in both, sports and scouts.

Early year scouting activities tended to be formed and supervised by mothers.  When boys made the move to the older Boy Scout troops, those were supervised by fathers.

PTA. You can't overlook the influence on our childhood social interplay that our mothers introduced into the mix.  Those mothers who were free to be stay-at-home moms and were so inclined, would often involve themselves as Room Mothers and assistants.  Some of them served in those capacities all the way through our schooling.  No doubt their social interplay with one another produced a number of effects that almost certainly impacted our school lives as their children.

Although I've not found any listings of Room Mothers or of PTA members in my rummaging through old records, I do have some memory of who they were.  There is little doubt in my mind that their judgements and assessments of other kids' parents were shared amongst certain ones of them.  Gossip.  And there is little doubt in my mind that some elements of that gossip found its way into our later social life as we matured.

By the time we went into the 6th grade, we knew pretty well who we liked and who we didn't, but we may not have always known why.


Adios

So You Think You Want to be a F/A

  
(Gus note:  Picture credit to ABC, from a c.2011 TV show, I think.  The material that follows was found online in a former stew's page and so far as I know, is an accurate reflection of the real job.  As I've been doing some research for my own piece on this topic, I've been fortunate to find a wealth of information and recollections from the ladies who held the job.  One thing I can vouch for....a lot of these gals developed an incredibly keen sense of humor...enjoy.)

"Recently, I received email from two readers who thought flying sounded like an exotic career and asked me if I would do it all over again. So when I met two old flying cronies for lunch, I ask them the same question.

We put our heads together and came up with a training guide for anyone who is considering a career as a flight attendant and is looking for the adventure of air travel.

Here it is:

1. Go to a resale store and find an old, navy suit that an army sergeant might have worn, add a white shirt and a tie, and wear the same outfit for three consecutive days.

2. Go to an airport and watch airplanes take off for several hours. Pretend you are standing by for them and they are all full. Go home. Return to the airport the next day and do the same thing again.

3. Fill several large boxes with rocks, lift them over your head and place them on the top shelf of a closet. Slam the door shut until the boxes fit. Do this until you feel a disk slip in your back.

4. Turn on a radio. Be sure to set it between stations so there is plenty of static. Turn on the vacuum cleaner and garbage disposal. Run them all night.

5. Remove the covers from several TV entrees. Place them in a hot oven. Leave the food in the oven until it’s completely dried out. Remove the hot trays with your bare hands.  Serve to your family. Don’t include anything for yourself.

6. Serve your family a beverage one hour after they’ve received their meal. Make them remain in their seats during this time. Ask them to scream at you and complain about the service.

7. Scrounge uneaten rolls off the plates for you to eat two hours later when you’re really hungry.

8. Place a straight-backed chair in a closet facing a blank wall. Use a belt to strap yourself into it. Eat the rolls you saved from your family’s meal.

9. Ask your family to use the bathroom as frequently as possible. Tell them to make splashing water a game and see who can leave the most disgusting mess.

10. Make a narrow aisle between several dining room chairs and randomly scatter your husband’s wing-tips and loafers along the way. Turn off the lights and spend the night walking up and down the aisle while banging your shins against the chair legs and tripping over shoes. Drink several cups of cold coffee to keep yourself awake.

11. Gently wake your family in the morning and serve them a cold sweet roll. Don’t forget to smile and wish them a nice day when they leave for work and school.

12. After the family leaves, take a suitcase and go out in the yard. If it’s not raining, turn on the sprinkling system and stand in the cold for 30 minutes pretending like you’re waiting for the crew bus to pick you up.  Then go inside and wait by your bedroom door for another 30 minutes for an imaginary maid to make your room.

13. Change into street clothes and shop for five hours. Pick up carry-out food from a local deli. Go back home.  Sit on your bed and eat your meal. Set your alarm for 3 a.m. so you’ll be ready for your wake-up call.

14. Repeat the above schedule for three days in a row and you’ll be ready to work your first international trip.  Several years ago, on a flight out of Denver, my flying partner was half-buried in a cart trying to rescue the last few entrees from the meal cart. A passenger asked her what she was doing. Without removing her head from the carrier, she responded: “I’m looking for the glamour in this job.”  And yes, I would do it all over again. So would my flying partners. Go figure.

Credit:  Gail Todd, a free-lance writer, working as a flight attendant for more than 30-years.  Thanks to Susie Robertson for sharing this with us."

Adios

Send in the Class Clown

Send in the Class Clown 

by Danny McCoy

In March 1960, I appeared in my second Stars Over Meadowbrook. From the previous year it was obvious that I had limited talent. I was assigned a role as Co-Masters of Ceremonies.  Bob Larmer and I were Circus Barkers. Actually the only reason that I was allowed back-to-back performances was because my mom was a seamstress and had found enough extra money to buy the expensive reflective fluorescent fabric that glows in the special black lights. So I was available with a ready costume.

My striped jacket with a matching, bow tie and hat band would all glow in the dark along with all the sets that were painted in

day-glow paint. The PTA moms had spent a lot of money on the black lights. Every Act focused on blazing glowing costumes instead of the talents of the dancing girls. So for the most of the time the smiling benign faces of our adolescent thespians were lost in darkness except for my mugging in front of the curtain and apron floodlights

The role of the Barker was to warm up the audience; introduce each act; and to ad-lib when the stage crew needed more time for setting the scenery or in the event there was a costume malfunction.

In reflection of my adolescent memory and of course the black lights, I only excelled in adlibbing.  One of the filler jokes was to introduce the sponsors and special guests in the audience and asked them to stand.  If the Stage Manager needed more time, I would simply introduce more people which I made up on the fly. 

One night I felt compelled to introduce Henry Ford Jr.

We have a very special guest tonight, all the way from Detroit Michigan. Let’s give a warm welcome for Henry Ford Junior. The audience would turn their heads and look around. There would be scattered applause. The spotlight would sweep all sides of the auditorium. Barker Danny said: Mr. Ford, don’t be shy, so please stand up.  After several painful pauses Barker Danny said:     That's funny, I saw one of his cars parked outside!