Did you go to your prom? I didn't. I couldn't see wasting my money on a dress, shoes, etc for one

[debm55]

Last edited Thu May 11, 2023, 10:11 PM - Edit history (1)

evening. Maybe if I was going "steady" I would have. To go with a student that I hardly knew, wasn't worth it. It was no big deal back then. It seems today everyone goes and spends lots of money on the prom and after prom. I was never into HS that much, also I was looking forward to college.
Edit to add--the prom itself was no big deal. Having to go to my cousins pre-prom(coronation) was.

[Alice Kramden]

1. Did not go, didn't want to

It wasn't the cool thing to do back in the 70s

[Historic NY]

2. Nope not when the class was around 1100,

that went to school on split shifts 7-12 other 12-5. Senior class pictures were taken in the summer before school started. We happy few just went out and partied by bar hopping

[debm55]

5. I had a class of 700. Class pictures were also taken in the summer. I can't remember what I did.

[Historic NY]

18. I didn't get it taken because I was working 22 miles away w/o a car...

didn't want to ride a horse into the city

[MutantAndProud]

3. No

I was too unwell to attend high school in person but I also find the idea of prom to be fairly creepy

[debm55]

10. I'm sorry that you could not attend HS for health reasons. I hope all is well with you know.

[MutantAndProud]

16. I got a first semester in

So that was decent. The charter school nonsense was a joke though, I ended up having to teach myself; but the decent teachers I had had before were a good foundation. Still have to finish college eventually

[rurallib]

4. I was at a catholic school that I had no desire to be at

so I had no desire to attend any extra curriculars.

The girlfriend and most of my friends were at the public school. So no.

My dad told me that if I went to the public school I would have to find another place to live.

[debm55]

11. I am sorry that happened to you.

[MutantAndProud]

17. Middle school for me

Not optional after I was ‘discovered to be gay’

I feel your pain. Made a good friend there but she seems to have drifted away a bit

[Mr.Bill]

83. I was lucky.

I got kicked out of Catholic school after 6th grade.

[rurallib]

87. well it wasn't like I didn't try

My dad was good drinking buddies with the priests.

My school had an abusing priest and my parish priest abused me. Try as I might they wouldn't kick me out.

[Mr.Bill]

88. I was a closet Atheist by the third grade. n/t

[Ocelot II]

6. Nope. Didn't get invited. Never had a date in high school.

Nerdy social leper.

[debm55]

8. me too. The guy that asked was not my boyfriend, he just wanted to go. I was the artsy/nerd type.

Last edited Thu May 11, 2023, 07:56 PM - Edit history (1)

There were alot of us like that. In HS young men don't want a smart young woman.

[TexasBushwhacker]

78. Same with me

The 4 of us were all artsy nerdy types in the same art class.

[MontanaMama]

7. Yes. I went to the prom

my junior and senior year of high school. I still have my dresses. Both of them were Gunne Sax. They're back in style I see. I remember the one my dad bought for me for the junior prom...it was white and so beautiful. I think it cost $150 which was a crap ton of money back in 1981. My mom said it was too much money...I could hear my dad and mom outside the dressing room at the store...my dad said "after seeing her in that dress, there's no way I'm not buying it". And he did. I felt like a princess in that dress.

[debm55]

9. I loved Gunne Sax dresses. I bet you looked beautiful in it. Some girls were using as wedding

dresses.

[MontanaMama]

12. My son is a senior in high school right now.

Prom is this Saturday. I so wanted him to go...kids now go in friend groups so I figured I could entice him that way. He doesn't date and doesn't have a girlfriend. He looked at me like I had two heads. He's not the least bit interested which is okay. The world is different now.

[debm55]

14. I would have gone with my friends as a group, but back in 1973, it was couples only.

[LuckyCharms]

13. I went to two proms, one year apart.

I went with my girlfriend, who was a year older than me and went to a different high school.

[debm55]

15. I think if you had a "steady" it was different. For those of us that didn't it was just another day.

[Ocelot II]

25. It wasn't really another day; it was a day to feel like an outcast again,

having desperately hoped maybe someone would ask me, some zitty geek of a boy I had an inexplicable crush on, but even the zitty geek boys would invite girls who were less nerdy than me. So I'd sit home in my room and mope and my mom would try to cheer me up by telling me she wasn't popular in high school either, which didn't help - great, it's hereditary!

[debm55]

32. I remember what I did now. My cousin was in the same grade, same school. She was a cheerleader, and

since she always called the pretty_______(last name) My parents took my family see her and her boyfriend in some type of mini-
ceremony, where neighbors lined up on both sides of the sidewalk to the car and take pictures. I felt like shit, but that was another day in my life back then. I also remember girls getting an early excuse to leave school to get their hair done. I came home and just let it be. But I felt like shit.Parents said nothing to me.

[RobinA]

69. That's What

I could not stand. If you went to the prom at my school you either didn't come to school Friday or left at noon. In my family, entrails had to be showing before we could miss school, so I wouldn't have gotten to leave early even if I had been going to the prom, which I was not. So it was me and two other people in my classes. I didn't even want to go to the prom, but that day was a guaranteed feel like shit day anyway. I always wondered why they couldn't have the damn thing on a Saturday.

[debm55]

70. same here. Oh and prom committee left classes to decorate the gym. It was a big deal at my school.

[lastlib]

48. I often think of it as Singles Awareness Night.....

It's kind of a rub-your-nose-in-it event if you don't have a girlfriend/boyfriend. To me, proms are kind of an anachronistic way of telling us we have to conform to a certain (ridiculous) standard.

[debm55]

56. Agree. Now groups of friends can go. Back in 1973, it was couples only.

[lastlib]

65. This song nails it:

I was seventeen when it came out. Boy, did it ever nail my pathetic little town/school!

[debm55]

68. Yep.Janis Ian told it like it was.

[kimbutgar]

19. I went to an all girls school so I ended up inviting the guys to go to my prom

Both my proms junior and senior dates turned out to be gay later in life! Nice guys though. But I remember my older sister who was gorgeous going to her proms and I liked seeing her in the beautiful dresses and hair all done up and I couldn’t wait to go to one myself ! I was an awkward skinny girl who looked like I was 12 when I was 17! I laugh when I look at those pictures of myself and my dates! And I’d do it again! The year after I graduated high school I had a boyfriend who was a senior in high school who took me to his prom. My sister brought me this glammed out dress in a light purple satin and I had so much fun at that prom! It was my most glamorous look!

[debm55]

23. Kimbutgar, it sounds like you had a wonderful time and looked beautiful.

[livetohike]

20. Junior Prom (1969)I went with my boyfriend who was a Senior.

I was asked to my Senior prom by a guy who was a friend, but I had a job interview at a summer camp for prom weekend and went there instead. Didn’t get the job.

[lastlib]

21. Only went to see if they'd throw me out.....

(I was suspended from school for flipping off the vice-principal who was an asshole. Wasn't supposed to attend any school-related functions, but did go to an interscholastic chess tournament, and then prom. (No date) Well, they didn't throw me out of either one.)

I wasn't into high school, either.

[debm55]

24. You had to have a date at my school--no singles or group dates. Did you have a good time?

[lastlib]

37. Nah--the band sucked

All they could play was the Doobie Brothers. To this day, I LOATHE the Doobie Brothers!

[debm55]

41. That's funny.--------

[ProfessorGAC]

22. Sort Of

I left HS after my junior year to go to college.
But, the catholic HS wouldn't send the diploma until I filled the community service requirement.
Since I was a commuter (college was around 20 miles away) I'd go to an inner city school twice a week for 90 minutes.
I'd play chess & math games with the smarter students so they wouldn't be bored while the teacher was catching others up.
Anyway, since I still had to report to the Dean once per quarter, I was still eligible for the prom. I didn't have a GF at that time, so I went with a girl/friend that I'd known for many years.
We had a good time, so I'm glad I did it because I otherwise had no senior year.

[debm55]

27. I wanted to leave HS after junior year also, I had enough credits- more then what was needed. I'm

glad you had a good time. My 50th reunion is coming up. Still haven't decided to go or not. Senior year was taking the classes I wanted to take--drafting, psychology, anatomy. etc.

[ProfessorGAC]

29. We're Close To The Same Age

It will be 50 years this month that I left HS, but next year for the original graduation year.
The 40th reunion was a 3 night affair & I only went for the meet & greet the first night.
I might do that again.

[debm55]

34. I posted here once that people would say-"Who the hell are you?" It's a one night thing.

Last edited Thu May 11, 2023, 04:45 PM - Edit history (1)

[jimfields33]

26. I went to three. They were all different and fun.

Glad I went.

[debm55]

28. Wow, I am glad you had fun. When I taugh HS, I went to my first prom.

Post prom was a club. My son's post proms were in Chicago and the following year, NYC. We live in Pittsburgh.

[jimfields33]

30. That's kind of cool. See it from a totally different perspective.

[Mad_Dem_X]

31. Nope. Nobody asked me

And I was way too shy to ask anyone. My sister went to her boyfriend's prom, and told me it was nothing special. So, I never felt like I had missed anything by not going.

[debm55]

57. I was asked by one guy that I didn't even know. Saw no point in it.

[sakabatou]

33. I didn't.

[debm55]

58. Didn't go either.

[Chainfire]

35. My wife's senior year was interesting in that respect.

(1970) Because she refused to join ROTC, and did not hide her liberal views, she was excommunicated from her "class." They called her a 12th grader rather than a senior, so no, she wasn't invited.

Our school was so small that we had a Junior/Senior prom every year, so you had two shots at it. I went to the Jr. one, but not the Sr. one. The two classes together would have been fewer than 65 kids and since most of them were dating each other, there would have only been maybe 100 people if everyone came.

[debm55]

59. Mine was different, We had Jr and Sr Prom and Homecoming, and a Christmas Festival each year. Same

Last edited Fri May 12, 2023, 12:34 PM - Edit history (1)

people went to all of them. I like how the times have changed and anyone that wants to go can go. But I'm the type that wouldn't go by myself.

[BoomaofBandM]

36. No, never was asked. My older sister was on prom court so I felt unpopular. Weird age.

Got dressed up and went out for dinner with friends.

I did get asked to be a foreign exchange student by an advisory board, so I went to Turkey. I think that was cooler than prom, now that I am older wiser and much less hormonal.

[Emile]

38. No I didn't go or ask a girl to go. We worked at our son's after prom

and like myself he didn't go either.

[debm55]

94. So you did go to a first prom. Had the same happen to me when I taught HS.

[Mr.Bill]

39. I went to my Junior Prom

but the money I had saved for my Senior Prom had to be used to repair my car that had been hit while parked in front of my house by someone with no insurance. I needed the car because I had a job and needed to get back and forth to work.

[debm55]

80. Did you enjoy the Junior Prom?

[Mr.Bill]

82. Yes I did, very much.

I wasn't real involved with the girl I took, but we had fun. I had a small close-knit group of friends and we called ourselves "The Clique". We arranged for the journalism techer, who was a wedding photographer on the side, meet us before the prom in one of the classrooms and he took a group picture of us. Five guys with their dates. Some of the girls were also part of The Clique, too. I still have that photo somewhere and it brings back some very good memories.

[Torchlight]

40. Did the whole nine yards.

Powder blue tux, 3 gallons of Polo, and white, Herb Tarlek-shoes. It was out third date, and Total Eclipse of the Heart was the last song of the night. We dated for the next four years through college.

I'm now godfather to her kids, and we all meet up once a year at the halfway spot between their place and ours.

[debm55]

61. HA, ha--three gallons of Polo. Was it worth it-did you have a good time?

[Skittles]

42. no

it simply had zero appeal to me

[debm55]

43. Skittles. didn't go either, That didn't bother me. What did bother me was the mega celebration for

cheerleading cousin. Now that made me feel sad and I'm sorry to say jealous. I hate to say this but I was much smarter and prettier then her, but she always had tons of boyfriends. BOOHOO. Anyways, I didn't want to go to a prom with just anyone to say I went. Later when I taught HS , I attended my first prom with my husband.

[Skittles]

44. I moved from England and went to high schools here

I'll never forget being taken to a "pep rally" - one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen....WTF, I asked these girls, why are you gyrating like fools in the guys' games, why aren't you playing your own sports? - they had no answer

[debm55]

45. OMG, I lived here all my life, I always why the girls were cheering instead of playing in their own

sports. And at girls' sports, there were no guy cheerleaders. Like I said, I was not one to play dumb for a guy. Nope not me. As a result, I had no dates in HS. In my HS that's what guys seemed to be attracted to.

[Skittles]

47. heh, it really pissed off the cheerleaders that the guys flocked to me

blonde hair down to my ass and a semi-English accent

[debm55]

50. Good for you, Skittles! ---

[jmowreader]

46. At my high school one year we only had cheerleaders in football

There were only 12 girls in school who wanted to cheerlead...and all of them went out for basketball. Since no one else in the student body felt like doing it, basketball didn't have cheerleaders that year.

[debm55]

49. We had for Basketball and Football. I went to a large HS --10, 11 and 12 grade. 22OO students.

[jmowreader]

51. We normally had for both sports too

Our student body was less than 300. My senior class had 85.

Now let's talk about extra entertainment.

I've told you fine individuals that my family used to move around when I was little. We moved A LOT. All those bridges in the West wouldn't have been built without the Bureau of Public Roads. We went into this zero-horse town in Idaho that didn't play football every year because they didn't have enough boys enrolled in high school to field a team those years - and this school was playing in a six-man league. Imagine having to cancel football because you only had four boys in the student body!

[elleng]

52. Yes, and JR Prom too!

[debm55]

60. Did you enjoy it?

[elleng]

79. Yes, enjoyed them all, good times,

good friends, nice venues.

[wnylib]

53. Yes, senior prom. There wasn't any junior prom at my school.

I went with the boyfriend that I had been dating since the start of my senior year. He had graduated from the same school the year before me.

I shopped around for a dress with no success so, when my family went to Philadelphia in the spring to visit my older brother and his family, he took us shopping at a large store there. I don't remember the name of it now. I bought an ankle length, sleeveless gown, empire waist style. The entire gown was white lace over white taffeta. There was a wide, bright pink, satiny ribbon interwoven in the lace at the empire waist. My hair was done up in "angel curls" which was the popular dress up style for hair that year (1967).

The prom was held at a large ballroom setting on the lake (Lake Erie), where a lot of community dance events occurred. We went with another couple. The school had an after prom, all night dance in the school gym to discourage kids from going out drinking. So I had a change of clothes with me for that dance. On entering, a chaperone at the door stamped our hands as evidence that we attended. But after an hour, the 4 of us slipped out the door and drove down to the beach with a bottle of Southern Comfort.

I had very little drinking experience prior to that - a couple mixed drinks at weddings where adults monitored me, some wine with dinner on holidays, a few sips of rum smuggled into parties at a friend's house. No heavy drinking of one right after the other all night.

When I got home at 8:00 am on Saturday morning, my parents and sister were in the kitchen having breakfast. I went upstairs immediately, tripping on the way. My mother laughed and said I must be really tired after staying out all night. But when I laid down in bed, the room kept spinning. Then I felt sick and started for the bathroom just as my mother reached my door to ask
how the prom had been. Face to face, at close range, I said it was great and rushed into the bathroom to vomit.

My mother blurted out, "You're drunk!" Then she called out to my father, "She's drunk!" He said that he wasn't surprised and that I'd learn a lesson from suffering the consequences.

But the prom itself was not a big deal. I remember the preparations for it and the experiences afterward more than the prom itself.

[debm55]

62. I won't ask you if you had a good time then

Last edited Fri May 12, 2023, 03:56 PM - Edit history (1)

[Luciferous]

54. I was 8 months pregnant. So no lol

[debm55]

63. ---------

[Wicked Blue]

55. I was a hippie in 1969 and decided prom was too bourgeoise

My bf and I made a beer run to a NY border town instead. In NJ drinking age was 21, NY was 18 back then.

[debm55]

64. That's funny.

[malthaussen]

66. I went to two of them. But of course it's cheaper for a guy. n/t

[debm55]

67. Did you have to pay for the tickets and flowers? There are all kinds of stretch limos, and girls

buying prom dresses actually have a list so no one has the same dress as you. Guys rent a tux. It can get expessive for both.

[malthaussen]

81. Stretch limo? Not in this world.

Both times my date and I went in a friend's car, so no expense there. The tux and tickets weren't too expensive. This being 50 years ago, some girls made their own dresses (or their mother did). I'd say neither cost more than a couple day's pay at an average job. I'm pretty sure they're more expensive these days.

Some guys didn't even rent tuxes, but just came in suits, but I did rent a tux both times. Think they were about 25 bucks.

-- Mal

[debm55]

86. Wow, that's not bad, Are you class of 73?

[malthaussen]

89. Yes.

I remember the #1 song in our area on prom night was "Walk on the Wild Side."

-- Mal

[yellowdogintexas]

71. I went to 3 one in sophomore year (invited by a junior)

and then my junior and senior years.

None of them were any fun at all. My senior year a couple of my girlfriends went without dates, and I wish I had joined them.

Not too expensive though since my mom made my dresses.

[debm55]

74. I wish we were allowed to do that. The proms at my school were only for Junior and Seniors--no

outsiders either.

[Aristus]

72. No. For the worst reason imaginable:

The girl I asked to the Prom turned me down because she was hoping my younger brother was going to ask her.

One of the more humiliating moments of my high school years.

My brother didn't ask her to the Prom. I don't think it was out of respect for me; we were in the throes of a blisteringly awful sibling rivalry at the time. We have since become very close again.

[debm55]

73. Oh, so sorry Aristus. I'm glad things got better between you and your brother.

[Aristus]

76. Yeah. We're very close now.

We both think of the high school years now as wasted time. We regret the time lost when we could have been good brothers to each other. Except for Mrs. Aristus, my brother is my best friend.

[TexasBushwhacker]

75. I went with friends

I'm female and I went with 2 guys and another girl. I even asked my favorite teacher to dance! We had a blast!

[debm55]

77. I like the idea of going with friends, I wished that was an option at my school. Glad you had fun.

[mvd]

84. Yes I did

She was just a friend but she went with me. It was a fun experience.

[debm55]

85. Glad you had fun, Matt.

[NNadir]

91. Yes. It was a very big deal to my girlfriend at the time.

A real lot went into it; it all seems so vapid now.

She was in the 10th grade going into the 11 grade, I was a high school senior.

The usual things went on, drinking and lots of sex; we also went to a club in New York with fake IDs provided by friends who didn't go to a prom. In those days New York didn't have pictures on licenses.

Stayed up all night, "parking" - without sleep went to a local amusement park the next day.

The next year, same girlfriend, I went to her junior prom, and we went straight to my college dorm room afterwards, more sex.

Later that year we broke up, my idea, and she began to date a good friend, and he took her to her Senior Prom, and lived with her for a couple years after that.

Everybody involved ultimately vanished from my life. That was probably best for all concerned,

I rather despise who I was at the time, although, at the end of the day, who I was determined who I am. Who I am is very much involved with working to not be who I was.

[BlackSkimmer]

92. I love your last line.

Well said.

[debm55]

93. I'm glad you changed and are working on becoming a better person. At my HS she would not have been

allowed to attend as the prom was only open to Seniors and Junior. No Freshmen or Sophomores were allowed to attend.