Sealed With a Kiss

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

Most of you don’t know, but besides editing the weekly Lee’s Traveller, I also am editor of the quarterly newsletter for the B-52 Stratofortress Association. While all of the issues of the Traveller are done online and delivered digitally, that is not so for the BUFF Bulletin. Many of the members of the association are a lot older than we are. They don’t use computers and have to have their newsletter printed and mailed to them. The assembly process reminds me of the early days of the assembly line process we used for getting the Traveller put together back at Lee High School. I collect the stories, put them all together using Microsoft’s Publisher software, send it off to get printed, fold them in half when they are returned, address and insert the newsletters into envelopes, stamp them and take them to the post office.

When I was putting them together this last week I had an odd memory flash back in my brain. While I was putting the stamps on the envelopes, I accidentally put a stamp on upside down, and that was when I flashed back to the old days. I wonder if any of you remember putting a stamp upside down on an envelope on purpose, and why you did so. With so many people only using email these days, sending stamped letters through the U.S. mail has almost faded into history like the telephone booths and pay phones we utilized back then.

I am sure some of you still have a few old letters tucked away safely in a drawer or box. Though I don’t have any love letters from my high school days, when my grandmother passed away I found a stack of letters my father had written to her when he was stationed in England awaiting the D-Day invasion. I also have some V-Mail letters from WWII days. I wrote a lot of letters to my ex-wife back during the Vietnam War, but we eventually switched to sending cassette tapes back and forth and to save money would just re-record over them when they were used to reply. A lot of history was lost there.

So, back to the upside-down stamp issue. What does an upside down-stamp on a personal letter mean? I found this on a website: “Ever notice how some envelopes arrive with the stamp upside down. This is not an accident, it’s an antiquated but still-living little language in the placement of a stamp. An upside-down stamp on a letter means “I love you.”

One of the last girlfriends with which I traded letters would always insure the stamp on my letter was upside down. Since people don’t seem to write much these days, it will someday lose that meaning. I guess the equivalent today is to put a heart emoji or smiley on emails. According to the internet, “The Red Heart emoji is used for expressions of love and romance.”

There were other forms of expression we used. I think the classic “S.W.A.K.” written on the back flap of an envelope was probably the most used. Sometimes the sender even elected to actually seal the envelope with a kiss – a bright red lip print also applied to the envelope flap. The old “Sealed With A Kiss” concept was used a lot and even was the inspiration for Brian Hyland’s hit record. Hyland's single began its run on June 9, 1962, and became a top 3 hit, reaching No. 3 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart.

Did you ever write S.W.A.K. on a letter or leave a lipstick kiss on the back? Do any of you have any additional memories of things we did to our mail to convey secret messages? How about some memories of special letters you might still have. Use the response form to let us know. If you wish, you do not have to put your name on your submission and you can remain anonymous.

The earlier readers of last week's issue probably noted an error I made. When I was writing about David France's girlfriend I gave her name as Camilla. Camilla was not David's girlfriend, she was his sister. I corrected the error before many of you got the chance to see it, but I need to set the record straight. 

Also, I got a question from my cousin Merideth Susan Simms, which I need to share with you for an answer. She asks, "Do you remember “Impossible Dream” (from Man of La Mancha) being performed at a student assembly at LHS? I’ve been thinking about this for a few days now . . . and thought you might be able to help me STOP thinking about it!!"

I do not remember it being performed before I graduated in 1964, so it might have happened later. Can anyone confirm the answer?

Comments on Last Week's Issue

Dennis Overcash, LHS '66,  "Not really a Lee memory but a Huntsville incident after Graduation in summer of '67 or '68. In response to your camera prop to get into the prom. I was involved in photography during my HS and college years. I had many cameras and experimented taking similar photos with each. A 35mm Pentax SLR was my go to but I also carried a Yashika 620 twin lens, and a pony 828 with me plus a bag for film etc.  I went to the Madison County Fair and was in line. A gate attendant spotted me came over and escorted me through another gate and just said that the news media did not have to pay.  I was just in my casual clothes and was wearing nothing that would cause them to believe I was media except for 3 cameras around my neck and a shoulder camera bag. I thanked him and proceeded to visit the fair and take photos.

Darla Steinberg, LHS '66, "I met my dearest friends at Lee:  Lynn Bozeman Vanpelt, Linda Collinsworth Provost, Kathy Harris Jones, and Susie Wohlschlaeger Schlette.  We shared so many good times. We have shared so much through the years - marriages, jobs, moves, children, divorces, grandchildren, good times and bad times. To this day we communicate at least weekly by email, text, and phone. We live in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Missouri but we plan frequent get togethers and even travel together. It is true…”old” friends are the best friends!"

Lewis Brewer, LHS "66, "I enjoyed your article about getting around. Those were some good times."

Sally Stroud, LHS  '65, "I cruised the parkway the most  with Toni Ivey in her 1950’s (1953, I think) Chevy. I met her when we became cheerleaders and we became fast friends."

Elbert Balch, LHS '65, " I like the new format. As usual thanks! We wore the Parkway out between Shoney’s and Jerry’s.  Too much to tell.. just good times."

Beverly K Parker Hillis, LHS '66, "Sharon McCallum‘s father had a Volkswagen and Beverly Taylor and I rode around all night with Sharon. All we had to do was fill up the gas tank before I went home Volkswagens don’t take much gasThose were the fun times Jerry’s and Shoney’s."

Slow Song Selections

I Love How You Love Me - The Paris Sisters

"I Love How You Love Me" is a song written by Barry Mann and Larry Kolber. It was a 1961 Top Five hit for the pop girl group The Paris Sisters, which inaugurated a string of elaborately produced classic hits by Phil Spector. Bobby Vinton had a Top Ten hit in 1968 with a cover version. The group consisted of lead singer Priscilla Paris (January 4, 1941 – March 5, 2004); her older sister Albeth Carole Paris; and their middle sister Sherrell Paris. They reached the peak of their success in October 1961 with the hit single "I Love How You Love Me", which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, and sold over one million copies.

In case this is not the right version, here is Bobby Vinton's version.Vinton took his cover of "I Love How You Love Me" to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart.