60 Years Ago This Week

Tommy Towery

LHS '65

Did you know something important happened this week 60 years ago? Once again I remind you that many of the names were changed since I did not seek permission to include them in my writings. I take you back to this week in 1964 and some of the thoughts about those days.

Written in my journal in 1964:

Friday, April 17, 1964

108th Day - 258 days to follow

Clear

Had a pop-test in geometry and an open book test in economics today.  Went to M's, then home.  Paul and I went up to the Ford place and looked at the new Ford Mustangs.  They're great.  Came home then.

Watched "Double Dynamite" on T.V. then took a nap.  Got dressed and Paul picked me up at 6:45 P.M. and took me to school where I was supposed to usher a play, but didn't.  Three one-act plays were put on: "The Happy Journey," "Sorry, Wrong Number," and "The Still Alarm."  Got out at 8:45 P.M. and Paul and I went uptown.  We were going to see "Tom Jones" but the line was too long.  Rode around a while then sneaked into 72 Drive In and watched the last half of "Some Came Running" and all of "Green Mansions."  Got out at 12:45 A.M. and came home.

It's 1:00 A.M. now and I must get to bed.  Tired am I.

Reflected thoughts 25 years later, in 1989, in my book "A Million Tomorrows...Memories of the Class of '64":

I don't remember how it was done but the word was out all over town that a new line of cars was going to be unveiled in Huntsville on that day.  That was highly unusual and quite effective, for usually new cars were shown for the first time in the fall.  All the new cars had always come out in the fall.  Why would the Ford people be showing a new car in April?  Questions like that were enough to draw the inquisitive minds of my friends and me to find out.  I didn't have far to go because the new Ford dealer was just up the street from my neighborhood.  When we arrived at Woody Anderson Ford there they were, sitting in the bright new showroom.  They were the first Ford Mustangs.  What cars!

The Mustang was hyped as the next Thunderbird, and although it didn't appear to be at first glance, it was only about two inches longer than the classic '57 Thunderbird.  The engineers and marketing professionals at Ford had pushed the port-holed T-Bird away from the cute little sports car of the Fifties into a luxury car of the Sixties.  Ford didn't have any sports car models left.  Chevrolet still had the Corvette, but Ford had nothing.  Therefore, the Mustang was born.  It became an instant success with those who were looking for a smaller classy car but didn't have the money to buy a Corvette.  Sitting right there in the showroom was a new '64 1/2 Ford Mustang convertible.  It was a beauty to behold.  The initial reaction to the car was love at first sight.  It was quite clear why the convertible became the most popular choice of the crowd that day, and all the seniors at Lee wanted a new Mustang for graduation.

We took the trip to look at them many times.  Somedays after school it seemed like the whole school went over to Woody Anderson's and looked at the cars:  the red ones, the pale blue ones, the black ones.  Each member of the class had his or her own favorite color, but none of us would have turned down any of them.  In the crowd echoed the usual brags of "I'm going to get one of those when I graduate and get a job."  Brenda made that claim.  The Mustang was the type of car that could easily be celebrated in legend and song:

I bought you a brand new Mustang

A nineteen-sixty-five

Now you come around signifying a woman

You don't wanna let me ride

Mustang Sally now baby, oh Lord

Guess you better slow that Mustang down huh, oh Lord

You been running all over the town

Oh! I'll have to put your flat feet on the ground huh

What I said now

Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally" was just a sample of the legend that would grow with the car.

I wasn't sure that I was actually looking at a classic in the making on that day, but I knew I loved the car and wanted one.  For the majority of us, the Mustang would not become a part of our lives.  By the time we had enough money to buy a brand new one, the draw of the "new" Mustang was gone and other cars filled our dreams.

As one classic was being born, another was being ignored.  "Tom Jones," due to its Academy Award for best picture, was getting quite a reception at the downtown theater.  The lines in front of the ticket window made it difficult to get inside.  A week before the Oscars, you could have had almost any seat in the theater, and now you couldn't even get in.  We knew there were still theaters in town where you could get in without having to stand in line, and in the oldest traditions of teenagers, if you were gutsy enough you could get in without paying.  That was the drive-in movies.  As long as there are drive-in theaters and cars with trunks, then there will be teenagers who will sneak in.

Even the clean-cut, all-American Boy Scout that I claimed to be was not immune to that bit of mischief.  As with many things, it was done more for the challenge than in an attempt to try to cheat anyone out of money.  It was the old "let's see if we can do it."  That line has been the temptation of so many and has led so many to trouble.  Huntsville teenagers had two main ways of doing that.  The first type of "sneaking in" was for the whole carload of people to try to get in by turning out the lights on the car and driving in through the exit.  This was quickly followed by a move to merge in with the other cars already in the straight rows.  That was the most dangerous way and the easiest way to get caught.  It was also the most challenging so we had to try it sometimes.

The other type of "sneak" was a little easier, and usually more effective.  That way did cost some money.  You simply stopped the car about a mile from the drive-in, opened the trunk and deposited as many as you could inside it, and then the driver bought his own ticket.  A little later, after he found a parking place and pulled the speaker inside, then the people started emerging from the trunk like butterflies from cocoons.  If you were lucky, you were in a car in which the back seat folded down, and you could just crawl up into the rear seat.  On some cars, the only way out was the way you went in - through the trunk.  That made it a little more of a challenge because you had to time it so you could ease the trunk lid up and sneak out without anyone seeing you.  If you were really unlucky, then the people behind you got great delight out of turning on their lights and honking their horns just as you got the lid up and started out.  Many times that was done.  More than once, it resulted in not only the "sneakee" but also the "sneaker" being ejected from the theater and the loss of his admission fee too.  The worst possible punishment that could happen to you was to get kicked out of the show.  The police were never called.  It was almost like the owners or managers of the theaters took the attempts as part of their jobs.

On that night, our sneak went undetected, and Paul and I sat and watched the movies without interruption.  When the movies were over, and the great white lights came on illuminating the rows of cars, it was time to go home.  It was not a great way to spend a Friday, in the theater with another boy, but it was cheap.  With thoughts of new Ford Mustangs racing around my head, I called it a night and returned home.  I went home to where my '53 Customline Ford sat dead in the gutter in front of the house.

The Wayback Machine

"Mustang Sally" is a rhythm and blues (R&B) song written and first recorded by Mack Rice in 1965. It was released on the Blue Rock label (4014) in May 1965 with "Sir Mack Rice" as the artist. 

It gained greater popularity when Wilson Pickett covered it the following year on a single, a version that was also released on the 1966 album The Wicked Pickett.  Pickett's version climbed to No. 6 on the R&B charts and No. 23 on the Pop charts in 1966. In 2000, the Wilson Pickett version of "Mustang Sally' on Atlantic Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Wilson Pickett's recording of the song at No. 434 on a list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

It took me until 1993, 28 years after viewing the original Mustang, before I finally owned one. I got a black 1990 model and was upset because it did not have the Mustang emblem on the grill. So...I went to the Ford dealer and ordered one for a 1989 model and installed it myself. You might say it was my mid-life crisis car, since I bought it right before my divorce was settled. Still, I loved driving it. I loaned it to a friend one Saturday morning, with him promising to return it by noon. Well, noon came and went, as did one and two o'clock, and still he had not returned it. About three o'clock I got a phone call saying he had been in a wreck and was in the emergency room at the hospital. A semi-truck loaded with 55,000 pounds of soybeans had run through a red light and T-boned him. He survived, but my black Mustang did not. I did not get a photo of the results of the wreck. I did salvage the emblem.

My plan was to replace the 1990 Mustang with a newer model, but I was unable to find one that appealed to me and I could afford. Instead, a 1989 white Mustang convertible caught my eye.  Although it was one year older - it was a convertible! My goal was to drive around at least once each month with the top down, and I reached that goal. That was what owning a Mustang was all about, riding around and being cool. 

Sue and I were returning from the Memphis in May event late one night when they were doing some work on the Interstate. One entrance had a stop sign where cars normally speeded up to merge into the traffic. Well, as we were passing that intersection a car sped up to merge, without paying attention to the stop sign. The car in front of him stopped and he swerved to the left to avoid hitting the stopped car. This action caused him to hit us squarely in our passenger’s side and before I knew it we were spinning down the interstate. It felt like an airplane hit with a surface-to-air missile. We came to a stop on the edge of the interstate. I jumped out to see if anyone was injured and while checking on the others a truck driver came running up to me apologizing for hitting me. I told him I was hit on the passenger’s side and he said well look at the driver’s side. I had been pushed into his semi-truck and he had stripped almost half my driver’s side away. I later found we were lucky because on the internet I found that because convertibles did not have tops, they had extra protection on the sides. Sue lost her glasses and I sprang my wrist. The car, of course, took much more damage. I had owned two Mustangs and both had been totaled in collisions with semi-trucks. I decided I would not risk “the third time’s the charm” theory and would not get another Mustang, but I still love them. 

 SAVE THE DATE!

 LEE LUNCH BUNCH

CLASSES OF ’64, ’65, ‘66

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024

11:00 A.M.

LOGAN’S ROADHOUSE

4249 BALMORAL DR. SW

HUNTSVILLE, AL 35801

(256) 881-0584

Please save the date for our next lunch gathering in April. We will be meeting back at our old place, Logan’s Roadhouse. We all enjoyed the change of location last year to Carrabba’s, but they were getting a bit difficult to work with. There are just precious few restaurants that are willing to let a sizable group reserve a private space, if they have one, without paying a large fee. As long as we have an acceptable number of lunch guests, Logan’s will not charge us that fee. So, it is necessary for you to let me know if you plan to come so I can keep up with the number. As always, I will need to call the restaurant by noon the day before to let them know an accurate number of guests. We cannot go over that allowed number. We have always been well received at Logan’s, and they have a menu that appeals to most everyone.

Hope to see all of our regulars plus any of our group that has not been able to come before. Thanks and looking forward to seeing you soon!

Patsy Hughes Oldroyd ‘65

keithandpatsy@att.net

H (256) 232-7583

C (256) 431-3396   or on Facebook

Last Week's Questions, Answers, 

And Comments

Janet Holland, LHS ‘67, "Thank you to Craig for his remembrances of St. Marks.  As their Cantor (music director, organist) for the 90's on, I knew about the Germans history with the church; they knew me before I knew them because of my Dad. Mr. Angele put together a large harpsichord from a kit for me; the Tietke's expanded the pipe organ and Imme played flute with me; many sang in the choir;  and being high church as I was, they supported the music program further with a grand piano for the sanctuary, Orff instruments for the children, yearly music conferences, and an enlarged choir loft. Truly the Germans were the best part of St. Marks for me while I was there. I have always been grateful for their support and the religious experience they continued to embrace. As always, I love reading Tommy's memories, too."

Barb Biggs Knott, LHS ‘66, "Absolutely laughed out loud at your 'The Dog' article. Boy, did that bring back memories. I remember the Dirty Dog very well. You know, my Grannypa who was a dairy farmer used to dance the Monkey with my girlfriend and me when we were teenagers. It was so much fun but I can only imagine what he would have thought of me dancing the Dog. Keep up the great work Tommy!"

Linda Kinkle Cianci, LHS ‘66, "Nostalgia, historical, just have to do it one more time. That's what we did in Huntsville today with a long line of people, which kept growing and growing. Strangers became friends as we laughed and reminisced our childhood years, explaining the hype to younger generations & transplants to the area who had only heard about it and had to come and experience it themselves. Sharing memories of the now historic Five Points, pointing out what always was and what is new, what it was like "back then".  Hubby Mike, having never experienced it yet hearing about it many times over the years from all my family, was willing to wait that 1 1/4 hours in line just to see if what everyone bragged about was true.  Several from my extended family showed up.  It didn't disappoint, except as one woman pointed out, it just wouldn't be the same without that sweet lady leaning out the walk-up window saying, "Here you go, sweetie."  Anyone know what "it" is?"