"WOODY" invites you to the Ellwood City Lincoln High School Class of 1953 official website. Thank you for your interest in this, our attempt to place the Class of 1953 on the web. Please notify all that you know to log on, and complete their individual profiles.
If you could help those that do not have access to this website, it would be very much appreciated. All comments and suggestions are welcome.
Thank you, and enjoy ...
PRIVACY NOTICE: All contact information (address, phone number, e-mail address) entered into this website will be kept confidential. It will not be shared or distributed. Your contact information is private: your street address, e-mail address, and phone number cannot be seen by the classmates unless you grant permission on your Profile. When someone clicks on your name, the only contact information they will see is your city and state and whatever information about yourself you choose to put on your Profile. Unless you explicitly grant your permission, your email address is not visible, although an email can be sent to you using the contact box at the bottom of your Profile page. Note, however, if you send a message to someone through their Profile page, the Classmate will see your email address so that they can respond.
Please be patient as this page continues to be reconstructed.
SMALL TOWN GIRLS,
BIG CITY SHOPPERS
“Oh, I do hope the weather will be perfect, not too balmy and not too cold!”….
As a teenager in the early 1950’s, I was living in Ellwood City with my parents and sister. Approximately every two weeks, my mother, sister and I planned a shopping trip to downtown Pittsburgh. It was the highlight of my week and my excitement heightened as the actual day crept closer. The weather was an important contributing factor. It didn’t matter during which of the four seasons we went, we always parked our car on the North Side.
“Girls, we have more money for shopping because we are saving on parking,” my mother would say. We bought into that reasoning! When it was summer, we trudged across the Sixth Street Bridge, sweat pouring from our faces. When it was winter, we bundled up with such huge amounts of clothing that our eyes were the only uncovered parts of our bodies. Even with all those layers of warm clothing, we were chilled to the bone with the wind whipping up from the Allegheny River.
“Couldn’t we park in a regular garage just one time?”
“We are almost there, just keep going,” she would answer.
I tried to keep my head down to prevent my face from freezing but still held it high enough to keep my “eye on the prize,” which was arriving at the Joseph Horne Company. I never made it there without my hands and feet feeling so numb I thought they would drop off from being so cold.
It was all worth it when we went to The Flame Steakhouse for lunch. The restaurant had a huge picture window where you could see the flames of the grill leaping so high, they beckoned the customers to “come on in.” Naturally, we couldn’t resist such temptation. Once inside, we could smell the steaks grilling, which made our taste buds perk up. We waited in a long line, my mother presented a $5 bill to the cashier for the three of us, and she even received money back. If my memory serves me correctly, a delicious steak and baked potato lunch was eighty-nine cents!
The department stores had reasonable prices and it was so comforting to know that each department had two or three sales people to cater to our every whim. When our selection was made, the next step would be to gain access to our cash. The paper money was pinned to the inside of my mother’s blouse as she was terrified that someone would steal it or she would lose it.
“Stand in front of me, girls, so I can have privacy to retrieve the cash we need,” she whispered.
We then took our item to the clerk and it was such a thrill to watch the air pressured tube that held our money whoosh its’ way across the track near the ceiling toward the office. As we waited patiently, an office employee would put our change in the tube. As it made its’ way back to us, we craned our necks, staring at the track, listening for the clinking and clanking of the coins.
It was also a special time at Christmas to see the delightful decorations in the windows at the three big stores – Horne’s, Kaufmann’s and Gimbel’s. I peered into the windows, pressing my nose against the cold glass, thinking I could see more clearly. Seeing Santa Claus relaxing on an overstuffed chair wearing his red suit and black boots, I was filled with childhood delight mixed with a bit of fear. My anxiety was settled by watching the miniature train hurry around the track as it puffed and whistled. A Christmas tree had red and green tinsel wrapped around it and twirling elves were busily pounding their hammers with unending strokes. I thought the creative employees of those stores must have had “visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads” because the decorations were so awesome!
We walked back to the car, carrying a box of succulent Gimbel’s Annaclairs, our mouth-watering candy treat for the day. Somehow, that made my tired legs feel so much better that I looked forward to the next visit to the city of wonders.
Patty Gunnett – Wexford –
email patbob241@comcast.net
Ramblings of a Retired Mind
I was about how a status symbol of today is those cell phones that everyone has clipped onto their belt or purse. I can't afford one. So, I'm wearing my garage door opener. I also made a cover for my hearing aid and now I have what they call blue teeth, I think.
You know, I spent a fortune on deodorant before I realized that people didn't like me anyway.
I was thinking that women should put pictures of missing husbands on milk cartons!
I was thinking about old age and decided that old age is 'when you still have something on the ball, but you are just too tired to bounce it.'
I thought about making a fitness movie for folks my age, and call it 'Pumping Rust'.
I've gotten that dreaded furniture disease. That's when your chest is falling into your drawers!
When people see a cat's litter box, they always say, 'Oh, have you got a cat?' Just once I want to say, 'No, it's for company!'
Employment application blanks always ask who is to be notified in case of an emergency. I think you should write, 'A Good Doctor'!
I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older. Then, it dawned on me - They were cramming for their finals.
As for me, I'm just hoping God grades on the curve.
Enjoy Your Days & Love Your Life,
Because Life is a journey to be savored.
To pass the time, and plant your own Flower Garden
.png)
When the new screen appears, click on it. Try clicking and dragging.
.... and now, a look back to the year 1953.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was President of the U.S
and Richard M. Nixon was Vice President'
... and on a local scale,
Victor Fera was our Class President
William Burns - Class Vice President
Leona Koziar - Class Secretary
Patricia Poholsky - Class Treasurer
Our Class Sponsors were:
Mrs. Helen McKinney and Miss Abigail Cresswell
1953 Emmy Awards were:
- U.S. Steel Hour
- Donald O'Connor - Colgate Comedy Hour
- Eve Arden - Our Miss Brooks
- Art Carney - Jackie Gleason Show
That Annoying Test Pattern, on Dumont Television, WDTV and listening to the Star Spangle Banner when going off the air.
Popular Songs were:
- Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes
- I'm Walking Behind You
- No Other Love
(... and we could understand the words)
Popular Singers were:
- Frank Sinatra
- Mel Torme
- Dean Martin
- Ames Brothers
- Rosemary Clooney
Remember the Manos and Majestic Theaters?
Movies were:
- War of the Worlds
- From Here to Eternity
- Roman Holiday
- Shane
... how about Williams Dairy, Pe'Wees, Isaly's
Nick's and the Shuffle Shop?
.gif)
.... and can you beat these prices?
- Average Income - $3140
- Average New Home - $9550
- Car - Ford Mainline Sedan - $1497
- Gasoline - .22 per gal
- Isaly's Sky Scraper - .10
- Man's Wool Suit - $28.50
- Postage - 1st Class - .03
- Rib Roast - .29 per pound
- Sirloin Steak - .55 per pound
- Potatoes - 5# for .35
- 10# Sugar - .89
- 1# Coffee - .37
- 1 carat diamond - $399
- Loaf of Wonder Bread - .19
Which makes you wonder, were we better off then?
How did we survive 50 + years ago?
We drank water from the tap not a bottle and nobody knew about the dangers of lead poisoning so even cribs were painted with brightly colored lead based paint. Medicine and Bottles with tablets did not have child proof lids
No seat belts or air bags in cars, nobody knew or if they did told our parents smoking and drinking was bad for the baby, kids shared coke from one bottle, soda had masses of sugar and we ate real white bread and butter and everything else including full fat milk that we are now told is bad for you
Parents couldn't reach us ( no mobiles ) and most of the day we would be out playing with friends and parents knew we would be safe with hardly any weirdos wandering the streets. If we got caught doing stuff we shouldn't, the neighbor would take us home. We usually got a beating for breaking the law, even if we didn't. Just being there deserved punishment. ( but no do gooders saying mustn't smack children ). And if we played up in school the same applied.
While playing we got cuts and bruises and the occasional tear in jeans but it was just part of being a kid and no visit to the hospital.
We had no fancy games but could play for hours making a Go cart or a new tree swing and for other games most times we would find a ball and whatever we could use as a bat, or in the summer all jump into the nearest place we could find and if the water wasn't that clean we just didn't swallow it.
We rode our bikes with no helmets and doing whatever stunts we could (bikes were so much heavier and stronger) and always had punctures to repair or get dad to help with.
If we didn't get in the team we were not good enough and that was that.
But most of all we were allowed to be kids
To dream, to invent and to play.
It's no wonder that the generation that grew up then created some of the most innovative and exciting technology we have today
Thanks for those years and all those "BAD THINGS" that is why we are who we are today
For an easy, yet unusual puzzle
Click and drag the puzzle pieces.
You will realize why it is here!
)
