An Almost Magical Prom Night
By Maria Lanides
Everyone remembers their high school experience. I smile when I think of my high school years. I close my eyes and can remember listening to the daily announcements and lunch menu during home room, walking through the halls hurrying to class, the anticipation of dances in the gym at 9:15 am in the morning and, of course, the excitement of going to the Albany High vs. CBA football games at Hawkins Stadium in Menands, NY. Especially vivid are the memories of the events leading up to my high school prom. My high school prom was an almost magical prom night!
During the 1950s, in the city of Albany, NY where I lived, we didn’t have Shopping Malls as we know them today. The main shopping areas were located uptown on Central Avenue and downtown on South and North Pearl Streets. If you wanted to find someone – you knew where to look on Thursday night or Saturday afternoon. Central Avenue was uptown and high school students would walk down one side of the street and up the other side every Thursday night until 9pm. We always wore our nicest clothes whenever we went out shopping or just to walk back and forth on the Avenue. On Saturday afternoons, high school students would be downtown on Pearl Street – again walking up one side of the street and down the other – and again – dressed in their nicest clothes. If you had a bus token, you rode the bus to and from shopping.
Today, students don’t dress up as often as we did in the fifties but they certainly follow the same ritual of walking up one side and down the other side of their suburban enclosed malls! This walking up and down a street or mall by teenagers – has got to be a hormone thing!
As to taking a bus to and from the malls - most students drive or get rides from other students or their parents.
In the summer of my sophomore year, the last Saturday in June to be exact –my friends and I were going up one side of Pearl Street and down the other – just walking and talking. It was during this walk with my friends - almost seven months before our annual school prom - when I saw the most gorgeous formal gown in a store window. Right then and there, I knew I had to buy this gown for the Prom.
The Albany High School Blue Moon Prom was "the event" of the year – every year in February - at our high school!! The gown that I saw was in David’s Department store window and I just knew the gown was waiting for me to take “it” home. Actually, I knew right then that the gown was going to be mine, even though there were at least seven more months to go before the Blue Moon Prom.
The gown was yellow and was the most beautiful gown I had ever seen. The gown was on my mind all the time and I talked about it so much that I probably bored my friends. Every Saturday my friends and I would ride a bus downtown. Our first stop was David’s Department Store Window to make sure the gown was still in the store window. I’d stand in front of David’s store window and look at the gown. I would move to the left and to the right so that I could look at the gown from all angles. Sometimes I’d go inside the store and when I thought no one was watching - I’d reach inside the window and touch the gown. The skirt was as soft as cotton balls, long to the floor and very full. The skirt fabric was a very delicate thin pale yellow tulle. The material on the bodice was lace and the color was a little deeper yellow than the skirt. All my friends agreed that the strapless gown looked like a dream Cinderella gown.
I watched the gown for months on the mannequin in David's store front window on S. Pearl Street in downtown Albany, NY in 1956. I visited the window so much that when the sales people did see me they would joke and ask me if I wanted to put my name on the gown! For months, all I could think about was the gown in the window and hoped that no one else wanted the same gown!
At the end of September, I saw large poster sale signs on the store window advertising “Dollar Days” for the Saturday Columbus Day sale! My heart jumped! My friends heard that sometimes store sale prices are just a few dollars for a $100 item during Dollar Day Sales! When my dream gown went on sale I felt so excited and hoped that the sale price would be low enough so that I could afford to buy it. I had a little over two (2) weeks to try and get enough money together! I knew the gown cost was over $100 but I also knew the Special Dollar Days Columbus Day sale price could be just a few dollars. This was my only chance.
I woke up very early on Saturday morning – without even an alarm clock! I quickly washed and dressed. My brothers and sisters were all still sleeping. I tried to be quiet so that I wouldn’t wake up anyone in the house but I still made some noise as I bumped in to dressers and doors trying to get ready without turning on a light!
It was important to me that I be first in line for the Columbus Day Sale at David’s Department Store so that I could be sure to get the gown! It was 6:15 am and already I was standing and waiting at the bus stop. Once I got out to the bus stop and I looked at my Mickey Mouse watch, I wondered if buses came this early on a Saturday. Today I wonder what I ever did with my watch. All my friends had a Mickey Mouse watch. No one thought, way back then to save things – waiting for them to become priceless in the future!
Just as I got to the bus stop, it started to sprinkle. I took out the kerchief that was tucked in my raincoat pocket and tied it neatly on my head. In the fifties, grown up women, as well as young girls, all wore kerchiefs which actually complimented our hair. We either had bangs like June Allyson or a little wave above our forehead that stuck out of the kerchief. It was OK if the kerchief flattened the rest of our hair! In the fifties, we wore a kerchief to keep our heads warm and dry – and none of us thought we looked like old ladies. Today hardly anyone wears a kerchief when it rains or when it is very windy - because they know they would look like little old ladies!
While I was waiting what seemed to be a very long time for a bus to come that Saturday morning, I bent down and folded down my white socks in the accepted manner – not too low on the ankle. I saw that my loafers weren’t as clean as they should be! Every day while waiting for the bus that came at 8:10am and left us off right in front of our high school – I would look at the dip in the sidewalk and wondered why it was made that way. That Saturday morning, a small puddle had formed in that same corner of the sidewalk. I found a small white embroidered handkerchief in my purse. In the fifties, no one would go anywhere without a clean handkerchief tucked away in their purse. I knew I’d get in trouble for dirtying my handkerchief - but this was a special day - so I proceeded to wet it in the puddle and used the handerchief to wipe my loafers clean! When I returned home I planned to quickly throw the dirty handkerchief in the middle of the laundry pile and take a clean one from my Mom’s top drawer. I hoped no one would see me so that I wouldn’t get blamed for the dirty handkerchief. In my mind I rationalized and felt that as long as no one in my family saw me, or anyone else, with the dirty handkerchief – no one would get blamed!
A bus finally came to the corner at 7:30am and by the time the bus finally arrived down town across from David’s Department Store - it was nearly 8:00am. When I was in 2nd and 3rd grade –I tried to be first in line to get in to school. I would proudly and confidently stand at the front of the line knowing I got there before anyone else. That was indeed an exciting time!
This time, I was the first person in line at David’s Department Store but I wasn’t confident at all – in fact - I was very nervous. My gown was no longer in the front window and I knew I had to be first to get inside the store so that I could run and find my gown. No one else joined the line outside of David’s until 9:30am and then the bedlam started. I had heard talk on how people rushed and pushed to get ahead in line on a sale day and now I knew what they meant. It got to be a little scary especially when I could feel myself being pushed up against the door and couldn’t move! At that point, I wasn’t so sure I liked sale days.
Finally the door opened and I ran up to the register and told the sales lady I came to the sale today so that I could buy the yellow gown that used to be in the front window! I was almost in tears when I nervously asked her, “has my gown been sold?” She answered with a laugh…. “Don’t worry yourself about that gown” and in the next breath stated, “It was about time you got here”. All of a sudden, she quickly turned and disappeared into a back room. Now I was beside myself with worry. In just a few moments the sales lady returned with my gown in her hands. I remember seeing two of the other sales ladies that I talked to on my many, many trips to see the gown. They were peeking at me over the tall racks of sale dresses. As the one lady was handing me my gown………..the two other sales ladies were smiling ear to ear. I realized that they had already bagged my gown and had written my name on the front of the bag!
When the sales lady told me that the original asking price of $70 for the gown was brought down to a Special Columbus Day Sale price of only $7.00 - I screamed and started to cry. All three sales ladies hugged me and after I paid with seven one dollar bills....they told me to quickly get out of the store before someone takes the gown from me! One lady said, “People act crazy on big sale days - so hold the hanger tightly and don’t let go till you are home”! After I thanked the ladies, I immediately turned and left the store. The buses were all crowded but I was able to get a seat and hang my gown on to a window that was partially opened. As soon as I arrived home, I hung my yellow Cinderella gown in my closet – way in the back, so no one would touch it!
My two brothers, two sisters and myself shared a very large bedroom. The bedroom was large enough for two bunk beds, one single bed and five dressers. Our bedroom closet was on the left as we entered our bedroom. The closed was located under the staircase leading to the upstairs flat of our two family corner lot home. My brothers and sisters would all take turns dressing inside the closet. The mirrored door of the closet was perfect for checking how we looked after dressing every morning. One could walk in to the closet and have room to turn and walk three feet to the right in the first section of the closet. There was a long string attached to a single bulb light that lit up the whole closet. In addition to the three feet of closet as you walked in, there was more room directly under the light. This part of the closet was shaped like an upside down number seven and measured three foot wide by five and one half feet long which was enough room for me to lie down, curl my legs up and look at my new purchase.
When we were younger, my brothers and sisters and I felt that this deep closet/storage area was “the best” place to hide during our favorite game of “hide ‘n seek”. This closet also became the best get-away location for each of us. As we grew older – sometimes the closet was the only place to go that was away from everyone else!
After I bought my yellow Cinderella gown, most nights, after everyone was asleep, I’d open the mirrored closet door and sneak quietly in to the closet. I would go way in to the back and started to pull on the long light cord, turning the high bulb light on and off. Fairy tales were an important part of my growing up years. My library card up to 8th grade was filled with books on various fairy tales. I imagined how it would feel wearing my gown to the Blue Moon Prom! My imagination was very active and I pretended that my friends – once they saw me would all think that I looked like a Cinderella Princess.
A few weeks before the Prom, I gave the tickets to my date and asked him to arrive at my house at 6:30pm. I told him my gown was yellow hoping he would get flowers that would go well with my gown.
In the fifties, proms were held in school gyms. We held fund raisers all fall so that we could buy just about any type of decorations we wanted. By the time the students decorated the gym……no one could recognize the room as a gym……..
Also in the fifties, ticket cost for a prom was low so that most everyone in the class could afford to attend. It is most interesting to note that today, only a small percentage of students go to their school proms - because the ticket prices are very high! All proms in the fifties were held at schools.....but proms today are most always held in banquet halls or hotels. Prom ticket price per person is as much as a per person cost for a wedding reception at a fine banquet facility.
When it came to the day of my prom I couldn’t sit still! In the morning, I went to school with many of the other students to help finish the decorating. Almost the entire floor of our gym was filled with students sitting cross legged while gluing silver glitter on stars that had been painted earlier during the week. We hung netting and then pinned the glitter covered stars everywhere on to the netting. Where ever you looked - one saw bright silver stars against a dark sky! We placed a few electric fans here and there so that the netting moved ever so slightly so that the effect would be that the stars appeared to be twinkling! We had small spotlights placed in all the corners of the room that reflected on to the glitter - which made it appear as if the stars were also sparkling on and off as they moved.
Twenty years would go by before I knew what the words “blue moon” really meant. Without mentioning my question to anyone – I can still remember wondering why the paper moon someone made - that was placed high near the ceiling - wasn’t painted blue! Of course, with the final placement of the moon high in the sky – it was as if by magic - the school gym was transformed in to a lovely summer night.
The day of our prom…….my friends and I were all so excited and seemed to be walking on air. We went together to the hairdresser in the early afternoon and bought new stockings at Walgreen’s Drug Store that used to be on the corner of State and Pearl Street in downtown Albany.
All my preparation getting ready for the prom was done early and I was all dressed by 6pm. It was going to be a very special magical night! I waited patiently on our piano bench so that I could look out the windows of our sun porch - watching for my date to arrive. I had white gloves that came to my elbows. I spread out the skirt of my gown so you couldn’t see the piano bench. My hair was just perfect. I felt like a princess! I kept smoothing the gown with my gloved hands.
I looked out the sun porch window and waited. My mom took a few pictures of me sitting on the piano bench. It was very dark outside and I kept waiting. My mom came over to the piano bench and hugged me a few times. I waited some more. It was a Saturday night so my parents went to bed early because they had to be up early in the morning for church. Either my siblings were asleep or they pretended to be asleep because soon the whole house was very quiet.
About 11:00 pm - I got off the piano bench and felt the urge that I needed to hide somewhere where no one could find me. I felt very alone in a house full of people. I turned off the small lamp that was on the piano, stood up and walked away from the piano bench but then turned and went right back and sat down again. I know I got up, walked a few steps and sat back down a number of times. I ended up sitting on my knees on the floor in the middle of the living room.
I don’t know how long I sat on the floor but I finally got up and quietly went in to our dark bedroom and headed for the closet. I opened the mirrored door very slowly so it wouldn’t squeak, went in to the closet and quietly closed the door behind me. I walked way in to the back of our large walk in/storage closet - as I had done so many times.
I sat down on the floor and thought about - how I didn't get to see how my friends looked all dressed up in their prom attire and how no one got to see me in my yellow Cinderella gown and that I wouldn’t get a chance to dance under the sparkling stars that we hung earlier in the day. I kept pulling the long closet light string on and off, while still hoping my date would show up. Of course, I realized it was much too late and that he wasn’t coming. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t come to get me. I kept questioning over and over why he didn’t show up. I didn’t know how I could face my friends. I cried myself to sleep on the floor of our favorite hiding place and woke up the next morning with the light on. I got up - took my gown off, put it back in the original bag - and hung it way in the back of my closet. I didn’t look at my Cinderella gown for over a year.
That morning, I didn’t want to answer any questions from anyone. Neither did I want to talk about my prom night. I was so embarrassed. Even though I was terribly down, I acted like nothing bad had happened. When I washed my face I noticed how swollen my eyes looked. My family was very kind to me and
never mentioned my swollen eyes nor did they ask me any questions about my prom night.
A few days later, I mustered up enough courage to phone my date to ask why he didn’t show up. His answer was that he thought the prom was the following weekend and hadn’t looked at the date on the tickets!
Interesting that it took over 50 years - before I let myself think again - about my high school prom…my beautiful yellow gown, the hurt, the tears my sense of embarrassment ......and the almost magical prom night…… that I almost experienced.