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Jcole
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Username: Jcole

Post Number: 3300
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 2:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No, Robert Hall didn't do the girls uniforms at least at St. Jude. Their were private uniform companies that came out at the end of summer/beginning of the year to fit the girls for skirts and jumpers. I think Detroit Knitting Mills may have had something to do with it. Then we got to wear civvies for a couple weeks until the scratchy wool stuff came in. We usually got 2 or 3 blouses, a jumper or skirt and bolero depending on grade, and a couple bow ties. The uniforms were either wool or wool serge and had to be dry cleaned, not washed, so we had to be very careful, because we could only get them cleaned over vacations or on 2 long weekends when they allowed us to wear civvies again. And God help you if you grew too much in a given year, because your mom would have to drive you to the uniform co. to be refitted and spend more money on a new uni. and that didn't play too well.
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Richard_bak
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Username: Richard_bak

Post Number: 479
Registered: 04-2008
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 2:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I remember those clanging radiators hissing steam. (We were usually seated alphabetically, which meant my desk was right up against a chalkboard or next to the windows.)

One thing I did look forward to every year was spring. Those big old windows at Epiphany were thrown wide open, the cool, sweet smell of lilacs rushed in, you could hear birds in the nearby elms, and I could day-dream about some girl in a starched white blouse and marvel over her little fuzzy kneecaps. Great to be a kid. Everything, especially the inner workings of girls, is a mystery to be pondered.
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Dtctygrl
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Username: Dtctygrl

Post Number: 48
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 2:22 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Back-to-school sale at Sears (1969/70): Girls dresses 3 for $9.99, penny loafers from the shoe department (where they actually sized your foot and brought you several options to try on), stretch tights, anklet socks, and personal items rounded out the "ready for school" look. Now we're off to K-Mart to buy pencils, papers, glue/paste, etc. and if it's really good year - a new lunch box. :-)
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Chuckjav
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Username: Chuckjav

Post Number: 609
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 3:00 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Richard....I see that you attended Epiphany; did you move on to Mackenzie?
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Richard_bak
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Username: Richard_bak

Post Number: 482
Registered: 04-2008
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 3:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Chuck,

Are you from the neighborhood/parish? I went to St. Francis de Sales at Fenkell & Meyers for 9th grade. Then in Oct. 1969 we moved off Pinehurst (between W. Chicago & Orangelawn, right down the street from the church), a move that killed me. That was the only home I'd ever known. We moved to Warrendale neighborhood (though nobody called it that then) at Ashton & Warren. The nearest affordable Catholic HS was St. Alphonsus in Dearborn, and that's where I served out the rest of my sentence.

Did you go to Mackenzie? That's where everybody I knew took their swimming lessons. When my brother was at Salesian HS in the early '60s we used to go watch him play football there; that was their home field.

Remember Joe "The Brow" Diroff, the wild and wacky cheerleader at Tiger Stadium and The Joe? He was a math teacher at Mackenzie (of course, you probably already know that).
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Chuckjav
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Username: Chuckjav

Post Number: 610
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 3:28 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Richard...Yes, my friend - I grew up in a house at the corner of Ward & Foley (1969-1976).
I attended Parker Elementary, Charles Drew JH, George Ford JH, Brooks JH, Cass Tech....and my beloved Mackenzie.

I had friends that attended St. Alphonsus and I used to walk from our house on Foley to the Jewish Community Center on Meyers and Curtis.

Mr. Diroff must have already retired from Mackenzie by the time I got there.

I lifeguarded at Mackenzie and attended a football game (or two) at good old Hammerberg Field.

Small World!
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Richard_bak
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Username: Richard_bak

Post Number: 485
Registered: 04-2008
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 3:39 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Like most Epiphany kids, I went to kindergarten at Parker. As a kid I spent many a summer day playing ball on that gravel at Parker. Actually, we tended to play softball at Parker and hardball at Iris (whatever that park's name was) across the street.

Mackenzie was a beautiful school. I remember the tile work.

Also remember the JCC on Meyers. Don't think I was ever inside it, though. Just one of those places you rode your bike past a thousand times w/o thinking about.

Small world.
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Dtowncitylover
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Username: Dtowncitylover

Post Number: 268
Registered: 02-2008
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 3:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Blueidone, I went to Shrine Schools all my life...in the 1990s and 2000s, but Coughlin is still a big folklore in our schools. During my last two years of school we hired two Jewish teachers, which only angered the ghost of Fr. Coughlin. He is known worldwide.
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Chuckjav
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Username: Chuckjav

Post Number: 611
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 3:55 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Richard...

I'll preface the post by remaining on-topic.

3.i also heard that teachers used to be quite brutal, when did that come to an end in schools.when did rules change to make teachers not beat the children.

I would say that the "rules" changed when the students began brutalizing their teachers and - believe it or not - Detroit Police Officers.
True story....a group of thugs actually beat up a DPD scooter cop; put him in the hospital. In this instance, I am referencing the disturbances that took place at Charles Drew JH - February, 1970.

Anyhoo.....

Back in '72, Bob Lanier (Detroit Pistons) left a pair of socks in the locker room at the JCC - I took them home as a souvenir. Those socks were dang near three feet in length!
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Richard_bak
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Username: Richard_bak

Post Number: 486
Registered: 04-2008
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 4:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Glad to hear it wasn't his jockstrap.


I think teachers in general became a bit more genteel as students and parents started filing lawsuits in the '70s. I'm of two minds about it---discipline is good, brutality is not. Too often corporal punishment crosses the line, hence the lawsuits. The original suits may have had some merit, but soon the number snowballed, causing cash-strapped school systems to start employing a hands-off policy toward recalcitrant students. Not enough money to pay all those lawyers! Better to just keep moving them from grade to grade or from school to school until they finally graduate. They won't know a damn thing but at least now they're society's problem.
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Chuckjav
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Username: Chuckjav

Post Number: 614
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 4:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Richard....True and oh-so true.
More recently, the events at Columbine High School further "refined" policy with regard to troublesome students - for the Love of God....don't do anything to piss 'em off.

On a related note....

I'll never forget the words of our Principal - my boss - the day following the Colorado massacre; "I expect that every teacher in our district would take a bullet for our students".

Sounds good in-theory; so long as we all have a two-million dollar life insurance policy.
(At that time...it was $25,000)
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Luckycar
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Username: Luckycar

Post Number: 99
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 5:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Just remembered another deep dark moment.5th grade,1967.Was somewhat of a talker in class.Had my mouth taped shut with masking tape and my desk moved to the middle of the room for the last 2 hours of class.Greata or Nancy Grace would have this on for a week!All my mother said was,"good for the teacher,now shut up,behave and learn."
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Jcole
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Username: Jcole

Post Number: 3305
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 5:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Lucky, did you go to St. Jude school and have a nun named Sr. Ellen Richard? I had the same treatment numerous times, except I stood in front of the classroom. Also, she wrote 'TALKER' on the masking tape in Magic Marker.
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Sec106
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Username: Sec106

Post Number: 33
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 5:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

12 years of nuns 1961 to 1973. St. Cecilia's, St. Luke's and Immaculata High. Everybody got slapped with rulers, pinched, set in the hall, paddled and sometimes humiliated. In 7th grade old bagel face (a nun) made me stand in front of the blackboard for the entire period because I couldn't figure out a math problem. It still makes me feel terrible and small when I think of it. But we didn't talk back to adults and we learned how to act around people. None of this boo hoo the teacher yelled at me crapola. Or kids cussing out teachers.
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12468_laing
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Username: 12468_laing

Post Number: 117
Registered: 07-2008
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 6:45 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

i grad st jude in 71, and I remember the word "talker" written on the black board and a list of names under. if you kept talking, you got a check mark after your name. totally inhumane treatment.
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Ggores
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Username: Ggores

Post Number: 302
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 7:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I don't know how many times I was relocated to a distant, remote corner of the classroom for "talking". Bla bla bla bla BLA! Also a notorious "note-passer" (kind of like primitive internet). And I loved getting those writing punishments, where ya'd have to write something like "I will not forget my gym shorts" a thousand times. I'm talking the 70's here folks, so I do qualify for being older, eh? And I was paddled once because one of my infamous binders was absconded by someone who didn't like me, and it was turned into the principal, Mister Hubert, of Temple Baptist Church. Well, we had a little chat and my binder was used as evidence. Clear-cut evidence, attesting to my absolute guilt, and absolute "heading straight to Hell if'n I didn't change my evil ways of thinking". The paddle hung on his wall, and had those small holes in it for aerodynamics. I think he hit me five times. Youch! No worry's though, at least he didn't try anything sexual on me, and I deserved the paddling anyways - for being quite mean in my doodles. Told my folks, heh, and they reasoned that I deserved the paddling as well. Shit, my fondest memories of those days are listening to "Brick House", "Car Wash", and "Play That Funky Music" being played in constant rotation in the car that picked me up from school. Then I switched to Catholic schools to round out my education from 8th grade thru High School because you were allowed to wear bell-bottom, blue corduroys, along with a button-up shirt, and grow your hair out below the collar.

The Catholic Schools, yeah, okay, I've mentioned this before, it had a smoking lounge for the students. My History Teacher was hot, I think she did about five of the football team, that we knew of. The Nuns were in constant chagrins with the civilian teachers, and I'm sure that the High School would've been much more disciplined had the Nuns had the majority say. But... it was all about the money, basically, and of gaining non-parishoner attendee's. Lo and behold - I graduated!

Nice stories here, especially from the older's. very interesting.
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Blueidone
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Username: Blueidone

Post Number: 307
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 7:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Dtown: In my mind's eye, I still see Fr. Coughlin at the upper level podium preaching and politicizing as he pounded his fist. For a young 2nd and 3rd grader, it was terrifying. I was always scared to death of him.

Best part was...rumor had it he had a girlfriend who lived on our street. He visited regularly on "church business". Considering recent scandals in the church, I guess it's at least nice to know he was not interested in little boys.
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Ravine
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Username: Ravine

Post Number: 2572
Registered: 01-2006
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 8:35 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Cripes! This thread of Ladia's certainly elicited a grab-bag of detailed responses from the Catholic school crowd.
I don't have much to add; it seems as though pretty much everything has been covered. What I will say, regarding dress codes & their value, is that I attended a fairly well-reputed "college prep" high school which, at the time of my entrance into 9th grade, followed a rather strict dress code. I didn't know anybody, a small pack of sophomores had chosen to torment me, and I was, generally speaking, damned uncomfortable. At the end of 9th grade, my GPA was 1.76 (as you can see, the embarrassment was great enough to cause the exact number to brand itself into my mind.)
Well, to my great surprise and enthusiastic delight, during the course of that summer, the school took what was, at that time, a very bold move, one which indeed proved that my school-- never mind my discomfort in it-- was a very progressive, forward-thinking institution: they almost totally abolished the dress code, reasoning that the students' learning potential would be raised by letting them dress in whatever way they were comfortable. (This move would have been more hazardous if the school was co-ed; it was not.)
I immediately went to my usual garb: T-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers. I also stopped getting my hair cut.
My grades, gradually ("grades, gradually"-- har!,) went up, I felt much better about being there, and my graduation photo shows about twelve pounds of hair surrounding my glowering face.
I acknowledge that, in high school, there are all kinds of cause-effect things going on and bumping up against each other, but I'm just sayin'...
Besides, I've been quiet, lately, and I thought it might be time for another long-winded, essentially boring story from Ravine.
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Jcole
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Username: Jcole

Post Number: 3307
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 9:28 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Well, if nothing else, we Catholic school kids have turned out to be quite literate.
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Mbshan
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Username: Mbshan

Post Number: 41
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 9:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I was fortunate enough that my folks pulled me out of catholic school after the first grade. When Sister Mary Roland would grab my lower lip and shake the hell out of it, not to mention the ear pulling I think my folks said no way is my kid going to go though what I went through. Also every Friday we would have to go to mass. And, girls would have to wear a hat. If you forgot your hat the nuns would pin a kleenex into your hair. geez!
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56packman
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Username: 56packman

Post Number: 2418
Registered: 12-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 9:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I went to public school, Holcomb elementary on Bentler bet. 6 & 7 mile, 1964-'69. Our art teacher, Mrs. Lee had a paddle and would hand out an ass-whacking to anyone who got out of line. Teachers and school officials didn't put up with the "self expression" seen today.
But then the parents always sided with the teacher, there was no "my son wouldn't do that".
If the teacher was mad enough to contact your parents you were toast.
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Jgavrile
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Username: Jgavrile

Post Number: 188
Registered: 09-2005
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 10:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sure glad I went to public school back in the 50's. When you screwed up ,you either got sent to the principal's office, or to the gym teacher's office for a paddling. He was the school disciplinarian. No gym shoes outside of gym. You would be laughed at. I won't wear them to this day. I think most of them look like shit. Plus, not having a heal, they are hard to walk in.
Give me a good set of "points" from Cancellation's or a pair of "Flag Flyers" with double white stitches. Dress shoes came from Florsheims.Pants were gaberdine, sometimes "pegged" and or with double stitches down the pant leg. The greatest fad in shirts back then, was when button down shits came out with buttons on the collar ends and also one at the back. Dobbie Gillis style. Guys that thought they were cool or hoods, would turn up the back of their collars, along with duck tail hair at the back. Also thin belts that the buckles were worn off to the side.

I'll tell you the dumbest thing that was going on in schools where there was swimming. The boys always had to swim naked??? The girls didn't??
They would tell us this was for health reasons , that the State made them do this?? I never got a straight answer about this from anyone. Seemed pretty dumb to me. It was also in place at the YMCA. Of course, not on co-swim nights.
The girls always had a peep hole though and would watch. us boys swim naked. Its a wonder all the guys didn't turn gay?
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Parkguy
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Username: Parkguy

Post Number: 320
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Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 10:23 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm a teacher, and I graduated from a suburban public school in 1969.

Boys: no jeans, shirts had to have collars. One button unbuttoned at most. If your pants had loops, you had to have a belt. Shirts had to be tucked in. Street shoes only, and you had to wear socks. No writing allowed on shirts unless it was school-related. In P.E. gym shoes were mandatory, with white crew socks and a school P.E. uniform. We supplied our own swimsuits. Hair couldn't touch your collar or ears. You'd either be sent home or given a haircut by the principal.

Girls
Basically the same rules except for hair, plus no slacks or shorts, including "culottes," but some schools allowed those, I think. Skirt length varied by school. At our school the minimum was the top of the knee, but this was deep into the miniskirt era. Socks or nylons were required.

It is illegal to use corporal punishment in Michigan, and has been so for years. A teacher can use physical restraint on a student who is hurting another person or himself, or if he is committing a crime, or if they refuse a lawful order under some circumstances (emergencies, etc.) I've had to do that three times in 30+ years of teaching. I have no interest in smacking a kid. The extreme punishments we all experienced in school (I got my share) came from lack of knowledge of human development, plus bad role modeling from parents and teachers who thought it was WISE to whack students. (Personally, I take the Bible passage about "spare the rod and spoil the child" to be an INSTRUCTION rather than a warning!)

As for Catholic schools: we heard stories, and we were very afraid, and only talked about it in hushed tones.
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Terryh
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Username: Terryh

Post Number: 905
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 11:11 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Bringing back paddling wouldnt be so good for the teachers. Minor corporal punishment would ignite already volatile situations. We live in a different world now, circumstances and situations are different than the 1950's Ray.
Corporal punishment, however minor, would most likely be percieved as the satisfying of the school administrators anger, or revenge for some slight. Bias is another concern. Which broken rules would warrant corporal punishment? Would you spank a child for attention deficit disorder? In other words, maybe a young student drifts off into space because of a chemical imbalance or some other medical condition.
Instilling fear of the humiliating effects of corporal punishment would breed hatred and resentment among a section of the student population.
In the 3rd grade an outraged old fashioned bag of a school teacher yanked me out of my chair and spanked my bottom hard for not paying attention; a visiting nature park attendant brought his fist down on my head for not looking at him as he talked. Both situations I was too angry to absorb what was being taught. I was humiliated! Im glad that kind of brutish behaviour is no longer tolerated by our society.
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Reddog289
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Username: Reddog289

Post Number: 537
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 1:17 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I went to lutheran school for 8 yrs, the dress code wasn,t too bad [didn,t know of one] yet it was still legal to paddle us and i might hold a record for that.I now work in two k-5 schools, the kids dress okay, yet there are times when the teachers wanna grab the paddle. there are also the days when i wish there was a holding cell or padded room for some of the kids.
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Grumpyoldlady
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Username: Grumpyoldlady

Post Number: 203
Registered: 06-2005
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 1:30 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I graduated from a public Detroit high school in '67 (NOOOO NOT 1867 you smart A**es). Throughout my entire elementary school years it was dresses or skirt/blouse/sweater for girls. "Gym" shoes were just that...for gym class and were stored in a little locker in the gym. In high school, girls couldn't wear pants or jeans. I really don't remember about the shoes, but I know I never wore anything but loafers to school then.

Regarding discipline. In elementary school, we had a social studies teacher whose classroom was right across from the water fountain. If Mrs. Knoll was sitting in the front of the room near the door, and she saw someone bend over to get a drink, she'd throw a blackboard eraser at them. She was a crack shot! Couldn't get caught sleeping in class either. More times than once I watched as an eraser zoomed past my head to hit the boy sitting behind me. She was GOOD! She also had a long bull whip that she would stand in the hallway and swing when classes were changing. That was in the days when we walked in lines from class to class. Everyone was scared to death of her, but loved her at the same time. Another teacher stuffed more than one misbehaving child in the waste basket for the duration of the class.
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Gazhekwe
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Username: Gazhekwe

Post Number: 2488
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 8:59 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

About the girls' swimming attire. We had to bring our own bathing cap, but the suits were school issue, a different color for each size. Some of us were unlucky enough to wear the flesh-colored see-through size. Talk about embarrassing. At my school in the UP, there was a door from the girls' locker room side and one from the boys'. On our side, there was a window and it was accessible to the boys, who we could see leering at us.
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Chuckjav
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Username: Chuckjav

Post Number: 615
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 10:16 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gaz...I thought you were a Mackite?
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Gazhekwe
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Username: Gazhekwe

Post Number: 2489
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 10:20 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I did go to Mack in my senior year, but I didn't have to take swimming that year. And I did get called to the counselor's office (Mr. Catherman) for wearing ankle boots. He attributed my lack of taste to being a Yooper. :-)
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Chuckjav
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Username: Chuckjav

Post Number: 616
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Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 10:27 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gaz....Cool; we have something else in common - Culture Shock!

You from the UP to Detroit, me from Mount Pleasant to Lower Eastside Motown (1965).

Whereabouts in the UP did you come from?
(My first wife's folks were from Trenary & Negaunee.)
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Gazhekwe
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Username: Gazhekwe

Post Number: 2490
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 10:51 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I was raised in the Soo. Culture shock would definitely describe the experience.
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Msamslex
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Username: Msamslex

Post Number: 60
Registered: 06-2007
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 1:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

When I was in elementary school in the 60's girls always wore dresses or skirts. Started to wear pants in the 70's in junior high school but not often, I still wore dresses most of the time. I wore pants in the winter and when I got to high school I wore pants all the time with a nice blouse. No T-shirts.

In elementary school when someone came into the room to talk to the teacher, we shut up. No disrespect there no matter who it was and if it was the principal you could hear a pin drop.

During report card marking in elementary school the teacher had our records in a binder. The pages were yellow and needless to say we kept quiet the whole day because the teachers were figuring out the grades. Our report cards were yellow card stock paper too. You had to bring your report card home and have your parent sign it and bring it back the next day. I was always thrilled to get different colored stars by my "good grades" Now with the way things are today, report cards would never make it home if they weren't mailed. I'm proud to say I have all my report cards from K-12, yellow card stock to computer print out scraps of paper!
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Ladia
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Username: Ladia

Post Number: 71
Registered: 05-2008
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 4:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

the schools that i attended were parker elementary, custer elementary, brooks middle school,and cody high school.


if the drug scene was big as people say it was in the 60's and 70's, were alot of kids born drug addicted.it seems the slightest substance abuse can have an affect on your baby in modern times,so how did so many people were born without problems if the drug use was as bad as it was said to be with people experimenting,etc. how come those issues didn't exist then or maybe they just weren't talked about.
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Ladia
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Username: Ladia

Post Number: 72
Registered: 05-2008
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 4:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I agree with luckycar that back in the old days their seemed to be no such thing as A D D, or hyperactive kids, the kids didn't get medicated,they got a spanking,and it cured all.lol

during my school time kids weren't paddled anymore,but some of the teachers would pull out the paddles from the old days,and show us how they looked.for some reason the schools still kept all the old paddles,maybe the schools are hoping the laws will change.lol the paddles were called 'the board of education' and some had circular holes in them,they look like torture devices.lol
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Chuckjav
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Username: Chuckjav

Post Number: 618
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 5:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ladia....Parker and Brooks for me too; what years for you (if you don't mind divulging)?
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Eriedearie
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Username: Eriedearie

Post Number: 2805
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 5:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Drugs were not a problem when I was growing up. It was a much simpler time. If drugs were around, me and my friends had no clue.

The thing we did was drink cheap beer, it was all we could afford.
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Ray1936
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Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 3525
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 6:00 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"there was a window and it was accessible to the boys, who we could see leering at us."

We weren't leering.

We were....ah...well...we were....that is....um.........

Well, okay. We WERE leering.
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Ladia
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Username: Ladia

Post Number: 74
Registered: 05-2008
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 7:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

hi chuckjav,parker for me in the late 80's.i only went to parker one year,very young,spent most of my childhood at custer/thurgood marshall.i only went parker one year,and brooks all 3 years of junior high school.
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Ladia
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Username: Ladia

Post Number: 75
Registered: 05-2008
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 7:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

eeriedearie, if people didn't use drugs and alchohol alot back then why is it always described as a time of free sex, freedom of trying new drugs,orgies,hippies,etc.usual ly when i talk to someone or read about someone back in the 60's and 70's they usually say they at least tried marijuanqa.i thought the 60's and 70's were a time when drugs first got big in america,while the 50's and earlier years were more wholesome.
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Chuckjav
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Username: Chuckjav

Post Number: 621
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 8:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ladia....I see you went to Cody; I life guarded at their pool, winter and spring of 1975-76.
I attended Mackenzie; swam, ran track, golfed & played football versus Cody - many friends were Comets.

Go Green & Gray!
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Pffft
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Username: Pffft

Post Number: 1676
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 8:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

LaDia,
TV and films often portray the '60s as one long orgy of sex, drugs and such, when in fact it was the late '60s into the early '70s when that was going on. The early to mid-'60s were pretty strait-laced for most people (most, understand), and not everybody was tuning in and turning on even in the late '60s.
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Eriedearie
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Username: Eriedearie

Post Number: 2809
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 8:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Well Ladia, the people I hung out with were probably a bit more timid than some free thinking others. Our parents kept their eyes on us. We all went to Sunday School and Church and had activities with our church group and such.

I graduated in 1965 and I don't think the hippie/drug scene really came into play till the later 60s. By that time, we all were holding down full time jobs and had responsibilities of car payments. Yep, we lived at home till we were married. We dated and cruised the drive-inns and went to dances and parties. Didn't have time to really think about getting into trouble with drugs. I actually didn't know how to pronounce marijuana till I was about 23 years old! I saw the word in print and called it "mary jawanna" - only to myself, never out loud, cause I wasn't even sure what it was! Really.

Let me tell you girls and boys a true story...when The Village People came on the scene - they performed at Cobo Hall; must have been in the early 80s or thereabouts. I got tickets for my 2 sisters and our mother and me. We loved their upbeat music. Anyway, we had terrific seats. I was in my mid 30s and married with 3 sons. Now, we're sitting there waiting for the concert to start and these people come walking by and these guys have other guys on black leather leashes that have silver studs on their collar and no shirts on. They have spiked hair, they are wearing make-up. There’s even girls holding hands. I had never seen anything like it. I looked at my sister and I must have had a puzzled look on my face, cause she leaned over and said to me “They’re gay” - and I said, in total shock - “WHAT! That can’t be. I didn’t know gay people lived in Detroit! I thought gay people lived in California!”

As for all the free sex and stuff like that, I was convinced all that only happened out in California! I know, I know - head in the sand or what! But it's true in my case.

I don’t want any flack for my above story. I believe in live and let live. Whatever floats your boat. Not that there’s anything wrong with all that…yadda yadda yadda. I’m just telling you what a sheltered life I had. (Not that there's anything wrong with that, whatever!) True stuff.
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Lpg
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Username: Lpg

Post Number: 59
Registered: 02-2008
Posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008 - 3:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I attended Hoover Elementary in Lincoln Park, starting in the mid 50's. On Mondays, my sister and I went across the street to Christ the Good Shepard Catholic church and school for religious instruction. After a full day of teaching the good boys and girls that could afford to go there, the nuns got to teach the heathens from across the street. They were tired and it showed. Some were very nice, others we were terrified of. I quit going after confirmation.
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Ray1936
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Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 3546
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008 - 10:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

All that sex and drugs and stuff like that started with that young Elvis fellow. What ever happened to him, anyway?
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Mackenzie68
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Username: Mackenzie68

Post Number: 27
Registered: 03-2008
Posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008 - 11:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Remember, the sixties didn't get to Detroit until the seventies. Most of us only saw those goings on in the pages of Life Magazine.

BTW Mackenzie allowed girls to wear slacks starting in the fall of 68.

And there was no peephole to see the boys side of the pool. We searched for it repeatedly.

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