Friday, March 28, 2014

Times Change (boy, do they ever!)

I recently acquired my high school's 1965 yearbook. That's not the year I graduated; in fact, I got married in 1965. But it's close, and in any case it doesn't matter. I bring part of it to my blog as another sort of time capsule: the way high schoolers (at least those who attended William Cullen Bryant High School in Queens, NY) expressed themselves almost 50 years ago.

The text was written by the students. If anyone has a recent high school yearbook, I'd be interested in comparing the styles. Here's a quote taken from the beginning of the 1965 yearbook:

We have acquired the incentive to try to meet all surprises and disappointments with imperturbable calm . . . 

All this is basically due to the gay atmosphere that surrounds us. The pleasant atmosphere lends itself to all those who wish to make use of it for beneficial social purposes. It is not uncommon for young love to have blossomed in the few moments that we have had between classes. Love at first sight has happened in the corridors as well as on the stairways where fortunate people leaving the cafeteria gracefully charged up the stairs to the fourth floor.



7 comments:

Julia said...

Great trip down memory lane Yeah, I'd say time have changed. All words are abbreviated now especially since texting.
Hugs,
JB

Erin L. Delaney said...

I'd like to see a side by side comparison of a recent yearbook with this one.

Erin L. Delaney said...

I'd like to see a side by side comparison of a recent yearbook with this one.

Helen said...

It sounds like there was a lot of action in your school's corridors and stairwells.

I'll try to find my high school yearbook and report back.

Susan said...

Yes, please do, Helen. I had the same thought as Erin.

Julia, I hope current yearbooks aren't written in texting language....but I'm not counting on it. :-)

Indigo Bunting said...

Ha! What Helen said.

Susan said...

Helen is still looking. She got distracted by a packet of high school love letters she had stashed in her underwear drawer.