Random Notes.
I note Skip referred to a "Cloak Closet" in his school, in
Franklin School we called it something similar... "the
Cloak Room". In fact, other than its use in the phrase
"Cloak and Dagger" for spy stuff and in Franklin School
for where we put our coats, I have never heard anyone
use the word Cloak.
Noel points out his school had a dress code and the boys
swam in the nude. We had no dress code I was aware of
in amy of the public schools in Trenton I attended
(Franklin, Junior 4, Trenton High).. We did swam in the
nude too in my day, it was dopey, but we didnt swim
much. I liked it when we went outside at Junior 4 for
Gym class..baseball, soccer, jogging around the school
...and sneaking in a cigarette or 2...yes we kept the
pack in our socks :)
5 years ago
5 comments:
Close your eyes and time travel. You can still see Dave Dudek, whistle around his neck and he is twirling (about to snap) a wet towel and he is screaming .. EVERYBODY INNA' POOOOO.
There was no "L" in Dave's pool.
There was something about the sanitation and threads in the filtration system regarding nude swimming.
Same with the YMCA, that was all nude too. Many of you may not remember that. No hard feelings .. it's just Catholics were not allowed to join the Y in the 50's and a friend used to have to sneak us in. Fat guy who was balding and smoked a cigar would man the fort and we had to wait to sneak by him.
But once you were in, there was no better winter place to work the fat off? Basketball and that circular track.
TheSkipper
1964 as remembered by The Dave Clark Five's "Bits and Pieces", had the boys at Notre Dame all wearing jackets and ties. Some guys with the advent of the British Invasion would reverse there collars and a few even had real Beatle jackets with no collars by the time the year was out.
The next year found me at TCHS and the dress was casual but not sloppy.
I was more "conservative" with the button down or madras shirt and penny loafers.
I remember the Italian guys as being razor sharp. Really pressed white shirts and fancy shoes.
Jeans? I don't remember anyone wearing jeans. I don't think there was a formal code, I just don't think it was done.
TheSkipper
Hi Mac, This posting started out with swimming nude during pool sessions, and ended with school dress codes way back when.
I went to Franklin School and the closet for students coats, book bags, etc. was called the cloak room. i don't think we thought anything about that; it seemed naturally OK.
I don't remember swimming nude in any pool back in the fifties. Not at Junior Two or THS.
My homeroom teacher, Al Neuschaefer was the swimming coach at THS, and when he had other business to attend to, he locked us in the boy's pool, for as long as an hour. Couldn't you picture getting away with that in today's culture.
We weren't happy, so we would throw every loose piece of furniture, pool poles, and whatever else was around into the pool. He would yell and cuss at us, but not much more came out of it.
Here is the style of clothing we wore at Junior Two from 7th to 9th grade. This would have been 1952 to 1954.
Pants were worn on the hip and were pegged to 16" or 14" (14 was the more radical look). There was a double row of saddle stitching down the sides in a corresponding color. For example, Black with White stitching. One time, Cliff Swift was sent home for wearing Pink pants with Black stitching. Another style, pegged and saddle stitched, but in a high rise configuration. The belt loops were maybe six inches below the top of the pant. You wore a very narrow suede belt in a variety of colors. Sometimes you wore a chain from your watch pocket or belt loop to your right pant pocket.
Your shirt was a dress shirt with what was called a Billy Eckstine collar. The collar rolled out and under, with a very narrow tie. You could see some of the tie going around your neck under the roll of the collar. If you had a sport shirt, you might have the back of the collar stand up.
If you had a suit, you might have all of the above and a One Button Roll front. The front edge would roll out away from your body, with a cloth covered button on each side. A very cool look. Sometimes the suit would have gold or silver thread running through the material.
Your winter topcoat was a Six Button Benny, A heavy wool material was used, featuring three rows of two buttons, with a belt in back, featuring 2 more buttons. The buttons were large.
Shoes were plain front, mostly Black, with a very heavy 1/2 to 3/4" sole and heal. Shined to the max.
You had your hair swept back in to a duck tail in back and a cool wave in front. Sun glasses were good to complete the look.
This was how it was back when everything was good and we didn't have a care in the world. Rayfromvillapark
During the month of June there were the half days before school closed for the summer. The conservatives, as they called us, wore loafers and no socks. Very cool. Al Neuschaefer was the swim coach at Jr 2 as well in 64-66. He would check out our pool class as well. He must have liked my backstroke, cuz he asked me to try out for the swim team. I was on the team for a year or two. But only in Jr 2. I first learned to swim at the YMCA when I was in sixth grade. That was '62-63. We went to the Y, boys only, and were made to swim naked. I remember all of us freaking out at first, but after the first swim class we forgot about it. A different day and age to say the least.
At Jr.4 we all swam nude.
The look of the times in 1962 was long collars , high waisted pants, so the pants and the collar almost met. Black shined pointy toed shoes and mohair suits.
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