Remmick-Hubert Special Page - Lodi Union High School, Class of 1960-Newsletter

Vol. 3:  22  Jan. 2001: Page Two

Remember When?

1956

"Elmer The Love Bug"

This play was created and produced to earn money to see a stage play in San Francisco.

An Afternoon In San Francisco - 1956

by Judy A. Remmick-Hubert

If I remember correctly, we created this play, Almer The Love Bug, to earn money so we could go to San Francisco to see a real stage play with super stars in the lead. I don't recall the play which we saw.  I do remember that in a theater next to the one we had gone, was a play with Forrest Tucker.  I remember being dared to see if I could get in the stage rear door to see Tucker.  We did get back stage and all of us taken as far as his dressing room. Tucker said very loudly, "Only one." Somehow I was pushed into the room and found Forrest Tucker seated at his dressing table in his boxer shorts and a make-up towel around his bare shoulders. He was the only man I had ever seen in his underwear in my first fourteen years of life.  He asked me my name but I don't recall telling him because I  stood wide eyed and too embarrassed.  He signed a  piece of paper, handed it to me and with a alcoholic breath said, "You have it so go."  I took the piece of paper and walked out of his dressing room.  The other girls bounced around me with excitement and took the paper from my hands. The other girls bubbled  with continued excitment as we left the theatre.  All I could think about was the uncouth matter Forrest Tucker the movie star had treated a teenager.  I let one of the other girls have his signature and to this day, when I see Tucker in an old movie I remember him as a man sitting in boxer shorts.  

Afterwards we went to the theatre where  the woman who had been in "Our Miss Brooks" was staring. She was very nice, I recall.

Another memory was lunch. I think there was about seven of us girls marching along Market Street looking for a place to eat. We chose a nice restaurant and went inside. We sat down and were given the menu. That is when we discovered we couldn't afford the prices. We told the waiter we needed more time to make a decision on what we wanted. One by one we visited the powder room and then slipped out the front door leaving a table with crumbled napkins and partially empty water goblets. We were girls from a small town, acting like girls from a small town.. I can imagine the irritation the restaurant people held for us, as we laughed and giggled while walking away  to find a place that served food we could afford.  

Clyde Ehrhardt's Photograph

Left to right: Betteann Bettger, Beverlee Christensen,  Linda Burgstahler, and Janice Carrigan  

The year is probably 1959/60.

Betteann and Mary Lou and Superstitions of the Theater

by Judy A. Remmick-Hubert

One can only imagine the girls in a huge empty and dark theatre armed with several flashlights must have endured.  The slightest sounds must have caused them a great deal of anxiety....  Since I don't recall this part of the story, we'll have to hear from Betteann and Mary Lou.  I do recall being worried about them but they were alive and well with huge smiles when we found them the following morning coming out of the darken shadows of the back stage....

Now, there children are old enough to hear about their adventures in the year 1957. The kind of adventures our grandchildren may never be able to have since this world isn't as mild and innocent in the new century.... .

Beverlee Christensen Breaking Through Gender Line

by Judy A. Remmick-Hubert

I don't know if Bev continued with her radio career, however, it should, be, again, noted that some of us females in the class of 1960, like Bev, were already breaking the "yoke of suppression" which had been holding back the females in what was considered "a man's world".

I just received the following, and enjoyed it so much I had to pass it along. I'm sure many of these Memories of the Good Old Days will brighten your day as much as they have mine. -Dale

REMEMBERING  WAY BACK

By

Author Unknown At This Time

Let's go back . . .

Close your eyes . . . And go back . . .

Before the Internet or the MAC,

Before semi automatics and crack

Before chronic and indo

Before SEGA or Super Nintendo

Way back . . .

I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk.

Sittin' on the porch, Hot bread and butter.

The ice cream man, Simon Says, Kick the Can, Red light, Green light.

Lunch Boxes with a Thermos . . . that broke,

Chocolate milk, Lunch tickets,

Penny candy from the corner store,

Hopscotch, butterscotch, skates with keys,

Jacks, kickball, dodgeball,

Dixie peach and Bonnie Doon socks,

Mother May I? Hula Hoops and Sunflower seeds,

Whist and Old Maid and Crazy Eights

Wax lips and mustaches, Mary Janes, saddle shoes

and Coke bottles with the names of cities on the bottom,

Running through the sprinkler, circle pins, bobby pins,

Mickey Mouse Club, Crusader Rabbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle,

Fran & Ollie, Spin & Marty . . . all in black & white.

Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar, Playin slingshot

When around the corner seemed far away,

And going downtown seemed like going somewhere.

Bedtime, climbing trees, making forts . . .

Coaster made from orange crates and an old skate,

Backyard Shows, Lemonade stands, Cops and Robbers,

Cowboys and Indians, Sittin' on the curb,

Staring at clouds, Jumpin' down the steps, Jumping on the bed.

Pillow fights, "company," Ribbon candy,

angel hair on the Christmas tree,

Mary Martin as "Peter Pan,"

Jackie Gleason as "the poor soul," White gloves,

walking to church, walking to the library

Being tickled to death

Running till you were out of breath

Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt

Being tired from playin' . . . Remember that?

Not steppin' on a crack . . . or you'll break your mother's back . . .

paper chains at Christmas, silhouettes of Lincoln and Washington . .

the smell of paste, buck bags and Evening in Paris ...

Crowding around in a circle for the 'after school fight,'

then running when the teacher came.

What about the girl that had the big bubbley

handwriting . . . who dotted her "i's" with hearts??

Bop parties, slam books, The Stroll, popcorn balls,

sock hops & hay rides.

Remember when . . . When there were two types of

sneakers for girls and boys (Keds & PF Flyer) and

the only time you wore them at school, was for "gym". . . with those

great grey or white gym uniforms.

When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up.

When nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got home from

school.

When nobody owned a purebred dog.

When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter a huge

bonus.

When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.

When girls neither dated nor kissed until early high school, if then.

When your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces.

When all of your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had

their hair done everyday, and wore high heels.

When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped,

without asking, for free, every time.

And, you didn't pay for air. And, you got trading stamps to boot!

When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden

inside the box.

When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use him to

carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.

When pizza wasn't delivered . . . and chicken was . . .

When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at

a real restaurant with your parents.

When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed . . .

and did!

When the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in the

bathrooms, flunk a test or chew gum.

And the prom was in the gym and you danced to an orchestra, and all

the girls wore pastel gowns and the boys wore dinner jackets and paid for

dinner.

When a '57 Chevy was everyone's dream car . . . to cruise the strip,

peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady and

girls wore a class ring with an inch of wrapped dental floss coated

with pastel frost nail polish so it would fit her finger.

And no one ever asked where the car keys were 'cause they were always

in the car, in the ignition and the doors were never locked.

And you got in big trouble if you accidentally locked the doors at

home.

No one ever had a key.

And lying on your back on the grass with your friends and saying

things like "That cloud looks like a . . ."

And playing baseball on the empty corner lot with no adults to help

kids with the rules of the game.

Then . . . baseball was not a psychological group learning experience,

it was a game.

Remember when stuff from the market came without safety caps and

hermetic seals 'cause no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger.

And . . . with all our progress . . . don't you just wish . . . just

once. . . you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace . . .

and share it with the children of the 80's and 90's . . .

So send this on to someone who can still remember

Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden,

Laurel & Hardy, Howdy Doody and The Peanut Gallery ...

The Lone Ranger, The Shadow knows . . ., Nellie Belle, Roy and Dale,

Trigger and Buttermilk . . . as well as the sound of a rotary mower on

Saturday morning, and summers filled with bike rides, treasure hunts,

baseball games, bowling and visits to the local public pool . . .

Eating Kool-aid powder with sugar.

When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the

fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.

Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of

drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.

Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!

But we all survived because their love was greater than the threat.

Lloyd Moos

Note from Clyde Erhardt: <I also believe that Lloyd Moos has passed away. He was married to my cousin Peggy Hanchu>. See  Llyod, also,  in Senior Council  photogrpah

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