We had our basic subjects: English Literature and English Composition, History, Algebra, Geometry and Trigonometry, Health and Physical Education and a number of options including French, Latin, Home Economics, Typing, Geology, Art and Manual Training. I still have the apron I made in my Home Economics class but it was not a subject I particularly enjoyed so transferred out of it in Grade 10 and took typing instead. In Home Economics we had sewing for half the year and cooking for the other half. Sounds good until you realize that we wasted whole classes on such things as making oatmeal porridge. For the sake of sports competitions, we were divided into schools A, B, C and D. I was in 1A in grade 9, 2A in grade 10 and so on. We stayed with the same classmates throughout our high school years.
Dress code was very strict - no slacks or other unsuitable clothing for school. Because of the bitterly cold winters and our long walk to school, we all wore slacks under our skirts and took the slacks off when we got to school so we were properly dressed in our skirts and blouses. Pleated plaid skirts were popular. Even outside of school, our dress was quite regimented, no one would ever wear anything the slightest bit different. Even the length of our skirts was dictated by fashion and we would carefully measure the distance from the bottom of the skirt to the floor and do alterations if necessary. In the late 1940s after the war, penny loafers became the thing to have and when you got a new pair of these shoes you immediately inserted a penny into the slot at the front of each shoe. Later the must haves were saddle shoes, white shoes with laces and a dark band across the middle. They remained popular for many, many years. The running shoes of that era were cheaply made and not attractive. Boys' runners were higher up to the ankle and a little more substantial but not much. Also in that time period were ladies' high heeled shoes which started out being round toed (called baby dolls) and then a decade later pointy toes became the shoe of choice. Leg coverings were also a challenge. Elderly women (in other words, grandmothers) wore lisle stockings but as teenagers we said no, we wanted nylons. In high school panty hose had not yet been invented so we wore nylons held up by garter belts. Many girls used elastic bands to keep their stockings up and were always being warned that this would cut off the circulation in one's legs. We rolled our blue jeans up to mid calf and completed the ensemble with white bobby sox and saddle shoes. No one had pierced ears unless they were foreign born and had their ears pierced as babies. The rest of us just tolerated the pain of screw-on ear rings. Even bras were a subject of discussion, especially after a new uplifting and pointy bra had been invented in the States. Someone who was pedalling these new bras held house parties to show them off so of course all the teenage girls went to see them. When we were changing for gym class our bra type was noticed and commented on by our female classmates. Pointy bras make a comeback as sales of 'Marilyn Monroe' underwear enjoy an uplift | Daily Mail Online
Although bloomers which were baggy black underwear with elastic around the legs had gone out of style for anyone under 50, it was still required as part of the Girl Guide uniform. We also had to wear long black stockings held up by the garter belt. We hated that.
The school and our church young peoples organization had a lot of activities including school dance at least once a month during the winter. The girls would sit on one side of the auditorium and the boys on the other, lights were dimmed and old 78 records were put on. Everyone learned to jive and the evening would be made up of a mixture of slow dances and jiving. Even today, 60 and 70 year olds will often be spotted on the dance floor when a jazz tune comes up. At the end of the evening there would be the home waltz and the boy you danced with would want to walk you home. A favourite of mine was Louis Armstrong/s Blueberry Hill and the big singers of the day included such people as Johnny Rae, Dinah Shore, The Inkspots, The Four Aces, Frankie Laine and others. Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra were more popular with my parents' age group and Elvis Presley had not yet arrived on the scene.
Anyway, this is just another peek into the early 1950s. When a girl was going steady, the boy would give her his class ring to wear on a chain around her neck. I used to wear Bob Moore's ring on a chain around my neck.
