Your History is in Your
Yearbook-
Part II, The Cauldron
of 1959
We finish our
examination of Rockland High School/Rockland District High School’s yearbook,
the Cauldron from the years of 1927, my mother’s yearbook; and the Cauldron
from 1959, my yearbook. I see my own personal history at that time as seen
through the pages of my yearbook as well as the world at large at that time.
What did the teenagers of 1959, 32 years later than my mother’s graduating
class of 1927 care about? How was their world different? Where would they go,
what would they experience after graduation day?
The teenagers of 1927
were between wars. Although the Class of 1959 was not in high school during the
Korean conflict, we were certainly aware of it. It ended in 1953 and we entered
high school a mere three years later. The Vietnam conflict, or war, began in
1955 and ended in 1975, a space of 20 long years compared to the four years or
so of World War II. There were actually fathers and sons who participated in
that war. No wonder we got tired of it and expressed our opinions loudly about
wanting out.
In 1955 Americans were
basically consultants. That changed of course. In high school at that time, as
sophomores, we were not even aware of Vietnam. Most of us could probably not
even tell you where it was. However, some of my classmates were to become very
involved in that war later on. Remember--it had only been 14 years since the
end of World War II in 1959. As we looked at that fact in the years to come it
seemed to us as though we had just morphed from one war to the next. We were
doubtful that the world would ever be at total peace. So far that world
condition goes on, unfortunately.
Now that I’ve given you
a picture of where the world was in 1959, we go to the Cauldron of that year.
In the 32 years since my mother’s Cauldron, some things remained the same and
some things were very different as far as the book is concerned. Please keep in
mind that my copy of the 1959 book is one I was able to acquire from the
internet as my original book was lost in the flood. I told you that sad story
before, therefore, my report may be slightly different than the books my
classmates have.
The 1927 Cauldron began
with 16 pages of ads. The 1959 Cauldron put its ads at the end of the book. The
1959 book unlike the 1927 book is hard cover; perfect bound (no staples); no
ads on the back covers; with artwork throughout of our school mascot, the
Rockland Tiger, created by our classmate, Holman Davis. It is clear that as the
years progressed, the Cauldron became an art piece as well as a report of the
events of that year.
The cover of the ’59
book shows the first tiger art work done by Holman. The colors are maroon and
white, our class colors. The ’27 book uses the black and orange school colors
in a circle on the front and even shows a cauldron. The mascot at that time was
a bulldog rather than a tiger, however. Our school colors continued to be
orange and black though.
First
Page
The 1959 first page is a
picture of the front door of the high school on Lincoln Street.
The type under the
picture is; “We the editorial staff of this, the 1959 volume of the CAULDRON
have endeavored to portray the many aspects of one year at Rockland High
School. We will show you, through words and pictures, our academic, our
athletic, and our social attainments—and our occasional failures.”
The
Dedication
Both books have
dedications. Whereas the ’27 book dedicated their book to one of their
teachers, Charles Phillips, we of the class of ’59 chose to dedicate our book
to a long-time employee at RHS, our custodian, Oliver Wendell Holmes, obviously
named for the famous Supreme Court Judge. He was always a friend to all of us
at the school. The words under his picture read:
“To Oliver Wendell
Holmes, custodian of Rockland High School for twenty-five years, kindly and
judicious friend to all, this issue of the CAULDRON is lovingly and
respectfully dedicated.”
And rightly so, I may
add.
The
Memoriam
The ’59 book also has a
special memoriam to our classmate, Eddie Crane, who died in an accident at age
16 while working at his father’s store, Senter Cranes, on Main Street. His
memoriam reads:
“In loving memory of
Edward Page Crane this page is dedicated by his classmates.”
The
Faculty
Unlike the ’27 book, the
’59 book shows a picture of the teaching staff opposite the Dedication page in
the front of the book. I count 36 teachers plus our principal, Hamilton Boothby
and secretary, Irene Adolphsen. Kenneth MacDougal was Vice-Principal and was
also a science teacher.
Sections
of the Book
The ’27 had an actual
Table of Contents. Our book, however, was divided into sections with a cover
page done by Holman for each section. This is the Activities cover page. The
Sections were in order: Seniors, Sports,
Activities
All things Senior are
presented in the front of the book for the ’59 book. There are pages for the
Cauldron Board, the National Honor Society, and Dirigo State, which involved
honorary nominations for some students to participate in the government process
at our state Capitol in Augusta.
Here is where the
history of individual classmates comes in. Besides our individual pictures and
a list of our activities for our four-year high school career, we also have two
very special pages that I still see posted on Facebook from time to time.
One is a full page
simply called “The Class” on which every one of the seniors signed his or her
name. As I look at these names I think of some story or other connected with a
bunch of them. I also see those who have left us over the years. I bet you
every remaining classmate can tell you exactly where they signed this page. I
lot of history here.
The other page is called
“Seniors’ Baby Pictures.” This is self-explanatory. In my picture I am about
three-years-old with a tiny hat of some kind on my head and holding the knit
teddy bear which my grandmother made for me. The faces on this page also take
me back. I went through all the grades in school with some of them as well as
four years of high school. I will see this page from time to time on Facebook.
This is my picture in
the yearbook. Notice the pageboy haircut. I counted at least 15 pageboys or a
variation of the same out of the 42 girls pictured. It was a popular cut of the
day and many of us began growing our hair long enough in our junior year so we
would have hair long enough to train into a pageboy in our senior yearbook
picture. It was a popular cut of many of the movie stars at the time, including
June Allyson, my favorite actress of the time.
You can certainly see
the popular cuts of the day, including the boys in these pictures and the fact
that the pictures were all so formal with the boys all dressed in suits. Some
of these boys wouldn’t be caught dead in a suit ordinarily. Remember it was the
time of the so-called “Greasers.” That term always tickles me as we never heard
that term at RHS when I went to school. It was a name given to us later on.
Some of the boys had some “wicked” DAs though. Many of you will know what DA
means.
You can see the history
of each student throughout their high school years as listed with their
pictures. Comments were also made about each one, a carry-over from the ’27
book.
The words with my
picture say: “…(a nickname I won’t
mention here.) “One good, hearty laugh is a bombshell exploding in the
right place.” Commercial Course. Washington Club, 1-4; Basketball 1-4;
Commercial Service Club, 1-4; Decorations Committee—Junior Prom, 3; Art
Committee Kippy Karnival Ball, 3; Field Hockey, 1-3 (don’t think that’s exactly
true); Kippy Karnival Entertainment, 3-4; Band 2-4; Cauldron Board, 4, Typist;
Mixed Chorus 1-4; F.H.A. 1-4.
The Washington Club was
a club we used to raise money for our class trip to New York City and
Washington D.C. in the spring of our Senior year. When I think of that trip the
memory that comes to me is of our stay in NYC when some of the boys snuck off
to see a ticker-tape parade for Fidel Castro down 5th Avenue. They
were told not to even think about it, but away they went. What a story they had
to tell their grandchildren in the years to come as a result though. History.
always the history.
F.H.A. stands for Future
Homemakers of America. Yeah, right. The only reason many of us joined that club
was because they had a club picnic at Sandy Shores every year and we got a day
off from school for it.
So if you read the
activities that accompany each picture in the book you can see the history of
that person for the four years he was at RHS. My only regret is that I don’t
have all the comments my classmates wrote in my book because the original one
was lost in the flood. Those comments also display a history of their own.
Who’s
Who
In the ’59 book there is
a two-page spread which proposes the ideal senior boy and girl respectively.
The characteristics described are right on for the most part and gives you an
idea of how a senior stood with his classmates and the personality they had.
The Best of the Best is also listed.
Literary
Both books have a
literary section. In the ’59 book it is in the Senior section and only Seniors’
work is presented. Some subjects discussed were The Security that our government
provides for us; the pros and cons of “going steady;” the return of a dead
soldier from WWII to his family; a Rockland Tigers’ Evening written by Pat Wade
and Prill Newbert, both of whom have left us now. The poem tells a story that
borders on juvenile delinquency, a big concern with parents at that time; a
look into the possible futures of some of the classmates. It’s fun to look back
and see if some of the predictions actually came true. A story about someone’s
Ford; Advice to Under Classmates; What High School Has Meant to Me. These were
the concerns and comments on the daily lives of the class of 1959.
The
Three K’s
Besides all the clubs,
sports, and other activities presented in the ’59 book, there is a three page
section dedicated to what we called the Three
K’s, which meant Kanteen, Kurtis
Kampaign, and Kippy Karnival. These were the three main ways of raising funds
for the school. The Kanteen was run in the school gym during class out times.
The Kurtis Kampaign was actually spelled with C’s instead of K’s. and was our
annual magazine drive. It always included prizes for the persons who brought in
the most subscriptions. I was terrible at it and never won anything. I did
better selling Girl Scout Cookies. Kippy Karnial was a three-day event that
charged admission fees to a special entertainment show; special events or activities
put on by each class at the high school; a fair type affair where you could
play games of skill in the gym for prizes. There was also a ball at which a
Kippy Karnival Queen was named as a result of voting for a senior girl who was
nominated. Our Queen was Dot Childs.
Minstrel
Show
I had forgotten that my
senior year at Kippy Karnival included a minstrel show with black face. Such
shows were common in the community and at the schools at that time. It was
before the days of the Civil Rights Movement. We thought nothing of it. These
shows wouldn’t be produced today. Such was the time in our history.
I know that at some
point Kippy Karnival was discontinued for lack of interest and other reasons. I
believe it was reinstated later on. I don’t know if it continues today or not,
but I remember how much fun we had every year when KK time came around.
Today’s
History
These days, kids are
working more than we did then. If they want to go on to college they often have
to keep their noses to the grindstone. I have a lot of sympathy for the kids of
today in that respect. Your high school years should be a time of memory-making
and living your own personal high school history. It should be a fun time to
remember and reminisce about later on at your class reunions and when you get
together with your classmates from time to time as the years after high school whiz
by you.
I hope you have good
memories of your high school experience. I will always remember fondly my years
at Rockland High School.
Thanks for listening.
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