Friday, April 10, 2009

The Non-Prom of 1974

It's prom time at high school. Time to rent tuxes and buy corsages, neither of which come naturally to high school boys. Way back in in 1974, back before the internet, cell phones, CDs or iPods, it was the day of 8-track players and big speakers in the back window of the car. It was the day of bell bottom jeans, plaid slacks and vested pastel polyester suits. There were only three VHF channels on television and a couple of UHF stations that were pretty cheesy.

My senior prom at Putnam City High School was in 1974. I took Carole Lewellen, who was my high school sweetheart (later to become my wife). I rented a tux from Sir Knight Formalwear and picked Carole up in my '67 Ford Galaxie 500. We had dinner at Fred Gang's Meat Market, and after a most enjoyable meal, I left my first dollar tip. I was high rolling. We headed for the Great Hall of the incomparable Myriad Convention Center in the downtown we knew before MAPS and Bricktown. When we entered, it seemed strangely quiet for a prom for a highschool of some 2400 students. We asked around and found that the the band which had been hired to play the prom was a no-show. The Myriad folks were kind enough to play the music stylings from radio station KKNG; the same kind of lively music normally reserved for long elevator rides. Needless to say, the prom wound down rather quickly. It has been remembered since as the "non-prom".

Does anyone else have any good stories about their prom?

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