11 May 2013

Prom Season 1975 Style

Prom season is in full swing here in Michigan.  The stores have beaded dresses, long and short, with a lot of skin baring possibilities.  Tuxedo's with vest that match their dates' dress are being rented.  Tanning booths, manicures, pedicures, and hair style appointments are being booked.  I read that the national average for prom this year is just over $1100.  Wow!  That is a lot of money.  I attended prom in May of 1975.  I did my own hair, bought my own dress, did my own makeup and nails, and wore shoes I already had.  If I spent $50, I would be surprised.



I went to the Junior Senior Prom and Banquet with my high school boyfriend, Don. We had been dating for about two years at that time.  I remember the excitement of getting ready for Prom.  I felt so grown up.  I bought my own dress for $40 in the neighboring town of Bad Axe, Michigan.  It was a silky knit halter style long gown with a short sleeve shrug that tied under the bust.  I loved that dress and wore it to a few weddings after graduation.  Years later, my daughter used it for dress-up. Don gave me a bouquet of yellow and pink daisies with a pink ribbon.


The Prom was preceded by a Junior Senior Banquet.  The Junior Class organized this event.  Our banquet was held in the multi-purpose room at Harbor Beach High school.  It was a catered dinner.  The menu consisted of swiss steak, chicken, spaghetti, dinner rolls, salads, relish tray, cake, milk and coffee.  For the ticket price of $4.00!

The Junior Senior Banquet Program consisted of the Junior Welcome with a Senior Response.  Invocation and Dinner followed.  The Class Will, a list of what the seniors were willing or leaving upon graduation.  My Class Will was, "Brenda Glover leaves for Western Michigan University to do some lab experiments on finding a shorter route to Michigan State." I was going to Western Michigan in the fall to study Medical Technology and my boyfriend was going to Michigan State.

Next, was a speaker.  Our English teacher, Ms. Layton, gave the speech.  I don't remember the specifics of the speech, but I wrote in my senior memory book that it was good.  Class Prophecy was read next.  It was a prediction of your future.  I don't remember mine. A closing was held and it was off to the Prom, which was a short walk down the hall to the high school gym.  No fancy restaurants or venues for a Prom in 1975.

The Prom music was a hard rock band and I remember spending a lot of time in the foyer outside of the gym chatting with friends.  It wasn't a dancing type of band. We left early around midnight and went out for pizza.  My date and I; my friend Mary, and her date Tom; my friend Ann, and her date Bill went to Fosters Bar, south of Harbor Beach.  My parents let me stay out later than usual and I got home around 1:30 a.m.

I remember Prom as a special time in high school.  The Senior Prom was the start of the graduation festivities.  Good friends and good times will always be remembered when I look back on that day in May of 1975.


1 comment:

  1. Love reading about this! Keep going! I'm writing about 1975. I am a 80's brat.

    ReplyDelete