Grandpa's Wisdom

Necco Wafers, Nehi Grape Soda, Black Jack Gum, Drive-in movies and A & W Root Beer Floats in a frosted glass brought to your car by a waitress on roller skates. Gas for .299 cents per gallon. Listening to your favorite DJ on the radio on a sunny spring day to music that you could understand the words to, that put you into a mood for something good. This was the beginning of the MacDonald's Drive-In, when the big news was when you saw the sign proclaiming "Over One Million Sold" on the golden arches sign.

Life as a teenager was good then. The transition from "Grade" School to High School was an adventure I looked forward to, as a right of passage from being a "kid" to the beginning of adulthood. In that transition summer my friends and I actually discussed how we would define ourselves in high school.

Would we be "Gunners"? They were the guys that wore Levi's, white tee shirts with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve, a greased back "Duck Tail" haircut and a sneer of cockiness on their face. These guys roamed in groups, for strength(?), and usually hung around smoking cigarettes while in idle chatter. Occasionally one would "get into trouble" and that was considered "neat" by the group. Trouble could be anything from getting bad grades to getting caught shoplifting. In winter they wore leather jackets. Their goal was to get a job after high school, get married or join the Army or Navy.

Or would we get a "Princeton" hair cut, wear white cord's, a Stradivarius shirt, the one with the pockets cut at a slant, and highly polished "Brogue" shoes that were a couple of sizes too large so they would roll up at the toe. A thin, (Half inch), belt was also an obligatory appendage to the "uniform", as were vee-neck sweaters. These guys didn't have a group name but were easily identified, too. It was expensive to be in this group. They were guys who came from families that were well off financially or they had part time jobs from the time they could work. They started with paper routes, worked the berry and bean fields in the summer and worked at their dad's business or local drive-in restaurants during the school year. Their goal was college after high school that would prepare them for the career of their choice, or the one their parents chose for them.

When I got to high school I found that there were other groups, too. I didn't have to "join" something to be someone. My identity could be defined by what I chose for myself. Some of the guys I hung out with in my early teens chose the "Gunner" group and others became "Princetonites". Although I didn't adopt the complete style, I gravitated toward that group because the idea of getting into trouble to impress my peers just didn't appeal to me. On the other hand, working toward a worthwhile goal did. I couldn't afford all the "gear"; Strad and Pendleton shirts were very expensive and since mom did the shopping at that time I had to abide by her budget. When I told her I wanted "cords" for the school year and she got me salt and pepper cords instead of white cords I decided to get a job and do my own shopping.

I wore the general style of the Princetonite group but couldn't afford most of it so I adopted my own styles. I was the only guy in Jefferson High School that wore the jacket I'd picked out. I liked it; it was comfortable, not too expensive and it identified me alone. The Brogue shoes I wore the first year were expensive, uncomfortable due to being oversized, for fashion, and hard to keep a shine on since I walked to and from school, (two miles, rain or snow, by the way). So I decided on two comfortable shoes, a loafer for spring and summer, and Converse tennis shoes for winter. Since Bill Knight was my age, Nike was not invented yet. I liked the vee-neck sweaters but soon found that my slight excess weight put bulges in the sweaters that others who wore them didn't have. It was then that I began my lifelong pursuit of a better shape. Being somewhat short, with stoop shoulders and a propensity to my mom's fatty food diet, my only recourse was exercise through school sports activities. I learned that if I kept active I could eat what I wanted and still be stylish.

These were, indeed, the good times. Life was telling me that I had choices to make. And, even though they sometimes seemed to be difficult choices at the time, they were really simple choices, but choices that could and would have life-long impact. It was telling me that things change, and being able to adapt was better than not. It was a time I learned that rewards and blessings come from correct choices that not only effect your future but mold you into what you will become. Now, in this Autumn of my life, I see the effect of those choices in myself and in the family I would create. And, the bonus of the memories I have are their own reward...Necco Wafers, Nehi Grape Soda.......