For this week's Manic Monday,I will be doing some more time travel using The Way Back Machine, courtesy of Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman, and turning the dial to 1951. Now 1951 was one of those Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year's for a child as it was one of those years when all the adults around decide to indulge in delinquent behavior. As a result I went from Fresno, California to Los Angeles, California to Phoenix, Arizona, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and finally got dumped in an all girls school in Pasadena, California. To this day, I love the whole idea of private schools ... they may be institutional but when your parents and relatives belong in an institution, it's nice to have one of your own in which to hide.
San Marino Hall School For Girls no longer exists. It was one of those anachronisms in Los Angeles where the doyens of Pasadena tried to mimic the East Coast nabobs. It had houses and house mothers, the grandest of which was reserved for the Senior Class girls to ensure that they were "finished" and ready for society. There were lessons in posture, deportment, tea service, voice, and piano all of which were displayed at the annual Maypole dance in long gowns during their final year. The claim to fame: One of the first of Lawrence Welk's champagne ladies, Roberta Linn graduated from San Marino Hall. I recently googled the school and came up with only two citations: A Classmates listing of nine former graduates and an old newspaper article about the suicide of a former San Marino Hall girl.
So what does this have to do with Clouds? The year book for the 1951/1952 school year had a theme of popular hit songs for those years such as "Pack of Wild Horses" "Wheel of Fortune", "Unforgettable", "Wish You Were Here" ... and a pictorial of all the drama department productions including the talent show where the winner did an imitation of the one and only Johnnie Ray complete with the tearing off of coat and tie while falling to her knees in full scream. His hits included Walking My Baby Back Home, Please Mr. Sun, Cry, Just Walking In The Rain .... and for today's theme:
The Little White Cloud That Cried
For more Manic Monday info and participants, please click here.
10 comments:
Loved this post. Especially the last sentence of first paragraph.
Great!!
I loved watching Mr. Peabody and Sherman!! I think I actually learned some important stuff from him. I love your trips down nostalgia lane sooooooo much -- stories and songs!!!
On a darker note... both our posts mention suicide... wonder what gives there??
Of course I have no recollection of any of this since I was not born. So, thanks for taking me along for the ride down memory lane. :)
Happy manic Monday!!! My Clouds
I wasn't born yet either, but it's neat to read!
Happy MM :)
http://callmewhenyougetthere.blogspot.com/
Jamie, I went to an all girls school (Catholic) which doesn't exist any more either. I came and went from my home and so my story isn't that much like yours. But I just feel we were experiencing similar things during those years we were growing up and I feel a little sad. I remember very well Johnny Ray and the song. As you tell more and more of your story I feel that we are very much alike... and that makes me happy! :)
I went to a private Catholic school, too!!!
I haven't heard this song before in my life. "Have faith in all kinds of weather"...I just love that. :)
I went to regular old public school but I remember wishing I could go to a private school. Uniforms, especially, were appealing to me. :)
You always have such fascinating posts! I love it! And thanks for your complimentary comment on my cloud post!! :) I really appreciate it.
Cheers!
Gotta love the Way Back Machine!
Thanks for participating in Manic Mondays!
I've never heard that song. And that is truly odd because my mom loved Johnnie Ray.
I went to San Marino... from 50-51 & hated it. I was the only kid whose mother took her home every weekend. The rest were rich kids whose parents traveled the world & parked their kids there. Everyone hated me because they were jealous & when I won a costume prize they broke my lollipop. It was a great day when they tore it down & built a supermarket.
Post a Comment