180409 April 9, 2018

Looking Back at 1960

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

(Editor's Note: This is a reprieve of a story earlier published in Lee's Traveller)

    I will not say that 1960 was the best year of my life, but it was certainly a very good year and one that stands out fondly in my memories.  I finished the 8th grade in 1960.  At that time I was still going to Huntsville Junior High, and had no idea that by the year’s end, my world would change in a manner that would shape me into the person I am today.  So, what all was going on in 1960 you ask?

    The top five songs we were listening to were: 1. You Talk Too Much - Joe Jones; 2. Cathy's Clown - The Everly Brothers; 3. The Twist - Chubby Checker; 4. Save The Last Dance For Me - The Drifters; and 5. Running Bear - Johnny Preston.  Also in the top 10 were  Walk, Don't Run by The Ventures  and Stay by Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs. 

    We went to the Lyric or Grand Theater to see Psycho, The Alamo, G.I. Blues, Exodus, Spartacus, The Magnificent Seven, and a favorite of our generation, Where the Boys Are.  On TV we watched Gunsmoke; Wagon Train; Have Gun, Will Travel; The Andy Griffith Show; The Real McCoys; Rawhide; Candid Camera; The Untouchables; 77 Sunset Strip; Perry Mason; Bonanza; and The Flintstones.

    It was in 1960 that we saw headlines in the newspaper about Capt. Gary Powers U-2 Spy Plane Shot Down Over Russia; Khrushchev at U.N. Pounds Shoe In Anger. John F. Kennedy Wins Democratic Nomination and Nixon wins GOP but Kennedy Wins Presidency, and Two White Public Schools in New Orleans Are The First To Integrate. 

    New words that first became popular were anchorman, sit-in, cosmonaut, bluegrass, laser, and compact car. We also saw the first appearances of products such as Astroturf, Librium, felt-tip pen, and Rayon. Pittsburgh beat the NY Yankees in the World Series.  The Superbowl had not been dreamed up yet. And during Scouting's Golden Jubilee Year, thousands of boys earned the 50th Anniversary Achievement Award. Some 56,378 Scouts and leaders attended the Fifth National Jamboree at Colorado Springs, Colo., July 22-28.

    In May, at the end of the 1959-60 school year, I still lived on East Clinton, and as summer approached I found out that my family was moving away from East Clinton Street and all my friends.  We were moving to West Huntsville, and I would have to change schools.  I would attend West Huntsville Junior High in the 9th grade.

    I did not have time to worry about that too much, because I had been looking forward to summer so long because I knew that the summer would lead me on one of the most fantastic adventures that a boy could ever experience.  It was in July of 1960 that I attended the 5th National Jamboree of the Boy Scouts of America.  This was not just a Camporee, but a Jamboree where Scouts from all over the nation merged onto one big campground for an event that only took place every ten years.  It was a two-week bus trip (three bus loads of Scouts from Madison County) and an eye-opening experience for a poor boy from Huntsville like me. I did not have enough money for the trip, but the Kiwanis Club selected me to sponsor and paid my basic expenses.  My family had to come up with the $25 spending money I would need for the trip. We headed out early one morning from the Trailways Bus Station headed west.  We stopped in Memphis for lunch and I still remember that first visit to the city where I now live.  We were given about an hour for lunch while the buses were gassed up, and we wandered about the town.  I remember a magic shop that no longer exists today, but on that hot summer day, was like nothing I had ever seen before.  I also remember that the smell of diesel fuel was the smell that would always remind me of downtown Memphis.

    We ended up at a large ranch near Colorado Springs, Colorado, where we camped for a week and did all those Scout things.  We traded patches, had competitions, and had many campfires.  I wrote earlier that I got to see the Sons of the Pioneers there.  I also got to stand by the road and see and wave to none-other than “I Like Ike”, President Dwight David Eisenhower.  It was quite a privilege to see him.  On the final night’s campfire, I experience my first candle lighting ceremony where the first candle was lit at the front of the assembly and we each lit our candle from someone and then turned and lit the others behind us.  When done, 50,000 flickering flames made up one of the most inspirational moments of my young life.

    I returned to Huntsville and to my new home but dreading the school year that would eventually make me attend the high school that I hated the most in Huntsville, Butler, instead of Huntsville High where all my friends would head after they finished junior high.  Shortly before the start of the school year, I got my reprieve when my family made the second move of the summer, landing us on McCullough Avenue.  This move paved the way for me to start riding the school bus to Lee Junior High. I was unaware on that first day that I would eventually join my 9th grade classmates as the first graduating class of Lee High School. 

    On the first day of class I found that I had Mrs. Parks for my English class, and she was given the task of starting a school newspaper. I had worked on the paper at Huntsville Junior High, and so I quickly volunteered for service on the new paper.  Woody Beck came up with the name “Traveller” for Lee’s horse. I was given the title of Managing Editor, and given the opportunity to learn how to use the Guestetner mimeograph machine.  Early in my days at Lee Junior High, I was asked to give a speech to the Kiwanis Club about my Jamboree experience, which I did without a thought.  I never realized that I should be stage shy, and that speech was the foundation for my speaking abilities and an event that I attribute to leading me to earn a minor in Speech in college.  Mr. Fain was in the audience, and he made an announcement about it during the morning announcements over the P.A. system.

    Early friends at Lee were Barbara Seeley, Pam Grooms, Dianne Hughey, Carolyn McCutcheon, Kenneth Burkette, Sherry Adcox, Vance “Rusty” George, Mack Yates, and Gary Helms.  I remember Jerry Brewer in a class along with Jerry Schultz and Bob Walker (who was still going by Robert then).  I remember a girl named Gloria Matthews, who was a beautiful girl and was very well endowed, and usually wore low cut or open neck tops to bring home the point. I also remember that during that year, Mrs. Parks had us do a play in English Literature, and I was cast opposite of Linda Pell, who in my opinion was one of the most beautiful girls in Huntsville at the time.  The highlight of the acting career was that the script called for me to kiss Linda.

    Yeah, 1960 was a pretty good year.

Last Week's 

Failure to Communicate

Phrase Challenge

   We had two classmates who accepted last week's challenge  of explaining some slang (or common) phrases from our days at Lee.

    Barbara came in second place and Escoe got 10 out of 11 by the judges decisions.

Barb Biggs Knott

Class of ‘66

Not sure but I think I got a couple of them right.

X 1. Coffin Nail – the last straw

X 2. Glass Packs

X 3. A Slug (not the hitting action, or the slippery slimy thing, but the other one that can be held in your hand) - bullet

4. Duck Tail - hair style/cut usually worn by boys

5. Fruit Loop (not the cereal) – crazy person

X 6. Church Key – roller skate key used to tighten your wheels

X 7. Wet Willie

8. Charlie Horse – cramp in your leg

X 9. Indian Burn

10. A Suicide – my favorite drink! Got it all the time at Carter’s. All the sodas they had mixed together.

11.    A Hickey – Yep, something you tried to hide usually found on your neck

Escoe German Beatty

LHS '65

OK Tommy here goes the definitions as I remember…

1. Coffin nail was a cigarette…this proved to be quite an appropriate name.

2. Glass packs were the things you put in the exhaust system or on the carburetor of your car to make it ‘sound bad’.

X 3. Slug… mostly to me known as what crawled out of a snail shell… could also be the part of a bullet dug out of a victim.

(Editor's Note: Before the days of guns in schools, a slug was a round metal disc which would pass for a coin which could be used in a vending machine. The denomination I recall the best was the nickle, which some washers would pass as.)

4, Duck tail was a hair style… the back side resembled the tail end of a duck with hair combed in on each side and then sticking up.

5. Fruit loop was the little cord of fabric sewed under the yoke and on top of the center pleat on the back of an oxford or madras  shirt (these were quite often plucked off the shirt by anyone who wanted to aggravate the wearer or maybe flirt with them)

6. Church key… was a (beer) can opener… came in handy before pop tops on cans.

7. Wet Willie… gross…was what happened when someone stuck their tongue into another someones ear.  I do not know what would encourage this action but drinking and daring had to have been involved.

(Editor's Note: Wet willies where more often (in my memory) just wetting the knuckle of the index finger and sticking it in the victim’s ear.)

8. Charlie horse… unless it is what I call a muscle cramp I have no idea.

9. Indian burn… ouch!  Occurred when someone grabbed ones arm tightly with both hands and proceeded to twist their hands in opposite directions.

10. A suicide… two answers…A head first dive into water with your arms at your sides… my favorite a drink, made with equal parts of coke, orange and grape drinks over ice yumm!

11. Hickey…The result of ‘blood suckers’.  Sometimes called passion marks but more often than not administered just to cause embarrassment to the receiver or bragging rights to the giver.  This is why makeup was invented.

Have a fun day!