Editor’s note: This is another column in Bill Boyd’s new series, “The Way It Was,” about growing up in Marysville. Bill continues to work with the Union County Historical Society to obtain information for his stories.
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On a warm spring day some time ago, we got a visit from a couple of neighbor ladies. They stopped by to take a look at some of the flowers in our garden, and to chat with my wife. Both of the ladies had a daughter who was getting ready for her high school prom, and they told us all about it.
Their dates had arranged for a limousine to pick them all up and take them to a Columbus restaurant. The group, along with some of their classmates, had reserved one of the restaurant’s dining rooms for a seafood dinner. After eating, the limo would take them to a country club in Columbus, where the dance would be held.
As I listened to the women, it reminded me of my first prom in 1948. Things were different then. There were no limousines involved, but I had recently gotten my driver’s license, and my dad let me use our family car, a 1937 Ford that was in the twilight of its life. I started preparing for the prom the day before, when I gave that old car a good cleaning, inside and out.
On the night of the prom, I picked up my date, Janet Hardman, around 6 p.m. She was wearing a dark blue dress, and I can tell you that she looked very nice. I pinned a corsage on her dress, and then we were off to dinner. It wasn’t held in a restaurant. It was in the basement of the high school on West Sixth Street.
We parked in the gravel lot behind the building, and when we entered, we went right to the basement. I don’t think I ever saw that room look so festive. There were white table cloths on all the tables. The lights were turned down low, and there was a candle on every table. I can’t remember what the main course was, but we had apple pie for dessert.
When dinner was over, we didn’t need a limo to take us to the dance. We just walked through the school building and into the gymnasium. The band had set up right under the basket at the south end of the gym floor. The backboard above was decorated with red and blue crêpe paper.
There was a “Southern Plantation” theme to all the decorations. On the west wall was a giant painting of a Southern mansion. I think it was painted by John Strickler’s art class.
We danced to almost all the slow music, but we sat out a lot of the fast tunes. I wasn’t much of a jitterbugger. The dancing continued until some time around midnight. Then we all knew that the dance was almost over, because the band played s song called “Good Night, Sweetheart.” Over the years, I went to many dances in that gymnasium, and the last song played at every one of them was “Good Night, Sweetheart.”
That’s the way the MHS prom was in 1948. Instead of a restaurant, we ate in the high school basement. Instead of a limousine, we used our rusty 1937 Ford. Instead of crème brûlée, we ate apple pie for dessert. But it was great, and if I had a chance to do it again tonight, I would do it in a heartbeat.
Those wishing to contact Bill Boyd can e-mail him at williamboyd514@gmail.com