Prom Season

Ok, I really don't want BLR to turn into a sequence of memes, but since I'm not currently doing a Bible Study to occupy today's post and I encountered this prompt, I thought I'd answer.

Not because the proms I went to were so incredibly magically wonderful, but because it's fun to see how the event that is a prom has such interesting regional variations. Anyway, this is part of a series hosted by Mocha With Linda; you can click on the image to see her response and all the linked-up answers...and, if you're blogging, why not do a little reminiscing and linking up as well?




It's spring. And for many high schoolers, that means PROM!

Share your prom memories. Did your school have a junior prom or just a senior prom? What did you wear? Was there a party after the prom? Did you go with a date or with friends, and if it was a date, was it a one-time date or a boyfriend/girlfriend scenario? Did you go to more than one prom (like, being someone's date at another school or year.) Where was your senior prom held? Any particular songs come to mind when you think of prom? As always, pictures are great!

First up, let me say I am not going to attempt to look for those ancient yellowing prom photos. It could turn into an all-day safari into old albums and boxes in the attic and, well, I'm not that anxious to see the pictures anyway...

Prom in rural Indiana in the 70's had a pretty set ritual. I don't think my high school(Tri-West)was very far outside the norm for our area. The Prom itself was a dinner AND dance, and if you were a Senior it was free. It was also free if you were a Junior who had met your quota of magazine sales (the number '6' is in my head for the number of sold subscriptions necessary for a free entry). Tickets were...I kid you not...something like $15 for lazy Juniors or dates from other places.

Our prom was always at the Indianapolis Airport Hilton (rumor had it that someone in the administration of our school district had connections with someone who worked there). There was an atrium area with a small roundish indoor pool and roses in plant pots adjacent to the room in which we had our dinner/dance and it was a nice place to stroll when the band was on a break.

Dinner was served buffet-style, and I seem to remember that my Junior Prom was the first time I'd ever had the opportunity to eat fried shrimp. However, I was afraid I wouldn't like it, and it looked to be messy to eat, so I didn't try it and opted for the 'steamship round of beef' (I don't know if that's what it was really called or not; that's what I remember as it seemed an odd thing to call a beef roast) or the 'coq au vin' instead.

After dinner, there were photos and the band cranked up. Try as I might, I can't remember the theme of the prom my Junior year; it was 'Dream On' when I was a Senior (taken from Aerosmith) ...it was 'Over the Rainbow' for the prom I returned to when I was in college, as my high school beau was a grade behind me in school.
(I actually had to retype that; 'Dreamweaver', by...???....was a big hit then and was one of the songs played, too, and I forgot until just now that it was actually 'Dream On' that was the official theme. We did a video shoot at church a year or so ago that was a tongue-in-cheek telling of the story of Joseph, and 'Dreamweaver' was the background music. It played over and over and over while the scenes were shot; I kept having Prom flashbacks...).

Dancing went until midnight or so, then everyone changed clothes and headed out to the local bowling alleys. We didn't rent the places; they just stayed open late on prom nights and we'd go in groups of 4 - 6 and bowl until 2 or 3 AM.

Then we'd head home for a few hours of sleep or, if someone had connections to a family willing to host a breakfast, we'd go have breakfast and perhaps play ping-pong or pool or some other thing if it was available. Cat naps on the sofa were not unheard of...

After breakfast, we'd head home, change clothes again, grab sandwiches and go spend the day at a State Park. Turkey Run was the hands-down favorite, but Shades was in the same general area and one year the group my date and I were hanging out with went to Shades, just to be different.

I don't know how much of that sequence of events is still part of the prom ritual in that part of the country...

I wore the same dress to my Junior and Senior proms; it was an awful color for me but I didn't have the sense to know it then. A pale yellow poly voile print; with front lacing (just for trim...and I added a couple of crocheted loops above what came on the dress so that it wasn't *quite* so low), tiered skirt, and ecru lace 'angel' sleeves. Very Gunne Sax, although I don't think it was an actual Gunne Sax dress. I seem to remember that it cost $54. I kept all my dresses until about 10 or 15 years ago when, in a purging fit, I cleaned out almost all my sentimental garments.

On my return as a college kid, I wore a fairly plain ivory poly crepe floor-length dress that I'd made...it had an a-line skirt w/an empire waist and spaghetti straps. The only trim on it was a brown/orange/ecru butterfly applique on the bodice center front. It was also an awful color for me, even though I'd spent HOURS on the dorm roof trying to soak up enough sun to make an ivory dress work.

I did go to all three proms with the same date...and the less I think about that relationship now, the less humiliation I feel. So I'm not going there.

In Alabama in the 21st century, proms are quite different. They're incredibly expensive, for one thing, and so far none of my kids have expressed any interest at all in going. The two older ones didn't, and The Actor, who is a Junior this year, also skipped this year's prom. Here, it's just a dance...no dinner...so the kids go eat at various restaurants around town. My Sweet Baboo and I got a rare Friday night date a few weeks back, and it turned out to be prom night for a couple of high schools in the neighboring county. The upscale shopping center/restaurant development was awash in kids in prom finery, and more than a few parents/siblings/extended family who were hovering around taking pictures. I won't go into what we observed...just that it was a very interesting evening.