Smith-Cotton's Class of 1939 reflects on changes they've seen

Downtown Sedalia was the place to be on Saturday night in 1939. Big band music was in, movies were the rage and candy and ice cream were a special treat.

Nine classmates, along with friends and spouses, reminisced about their school days at a luncheon on Oct. 21 at Golden Corral. Two hundred- and-seven classmates graduated, but 70 years later, only about 100 of them are still alive.

FOOTBALL

C.O. Green, of Sedalia, had to do a lot of talking to convince his father to let him play football his junior year of high school. Green quit a job that paid 50 cents a day after school. He worked at Farris’ Standard Oil Station at Fourth Street and Osage Avenue, where U.S. Bank is now. He pumped gas and washed the windshield and the headlights.

“You know you washed everything in those days,” he said.

In football, he played first-string tackle on offense and defense. Back then, the helmets didn’t have face masks on them. The players often got poked in the eye and Green pointed out, “their nose was their guard.” Donald Davenport, a former track star, was the coach.

According to The Tiger Times, a bi-weekly newspaper published by the Smith-Cotton journalism class, the Tigers had a rough season losing their first five games. Their first victory was 2-0 win against Richmond.

For their last game, they played Slater at Liberty Park. Though the Tigers had a halftime lead of 8-0, Slater came back from behind to win 12-10.

Despite the rough year, Green went on to play football at Central Missouri State.

DATING

When it came to dating, the alumni had similar responses.

“My mom and dad wouldn’t let me do nothing. They’d let my brother do everything,” said Blanche Cramer Holman, of Sedalia.

Sisters Ruth Franklin and Janice Naser, a graduate of 1940, said they looked forward to seeing teenage boys at church socials.

Frank Donath, of Sedalia, didn’t date much in high school. He said if he did go on a date, he’d take her to a movie.

“Admission was 15 cents, but most of us didn’t have 15 cents,” Donath said. The Uptown and the Fox theaters were both open.

Green said, “I never dated until I was a junior in high school. We went to proms, class parties and dances.”

They all recalled how Saturday night was the night to go to town. Green had an uncle who lived at Ohio and 16th. He’d drive his car downtown about 4 p.m. to get the perfect parking spot. He would park it and take the streetcar home. He returned that evening, sat in his car and girl watched.

Donath and his wife, Kathryn, remembered the Hit Parade. The top 10 songs were played over the radio with the last one being the most popular.

Being part of a farm family, Green said they worked extra hard on Saturday to get their chores done early. They’d go to town and buy some cold cuts and cheese.

“We come home and we’d make sandwiches and drink cold milk. Boy, we thought we were in heaven,” said Green.

He also was tickled to get a nickel, so he could buy candy, peanuts or even an ice cream cone from Zully’s.

TRANSPORTATION

In the 1930s, the school busing system didn’t exist.

“You walked every place. My folks had cars, but they didn’t take you. You’d just walk, if you wanted to go,” said Holman.

Since Green lived out in the country, walking to Smith-Cotton wasn’t a practical option. So, he walked from his house to state Route U and would wait for his friend, Everett Stumpf, to pick him up in his Whippet. If Stumpf was busy, Green’s parents would drive him.

His senior year he drove his parents’ 1926 Dodge. He carried a tire pump with him, because the tires always needed air. In 1939, his father bought a 1935 Buick.

DISCIPLINE

Acting up in school wasn’t a big problem back then.

“I wouldn’t say we had too much. Of course you knew then, if you got in trouble in school, you got in trouble at home. It makes a big difference,” said Donath.

The men were surprised to read about the Eagle Scout from New York, who recently got in trouble for bringing a pocket knife to school.

Green mentioned when he was 6 years old all the boys brought pocket knives to Liberty School.

“You never thought to pull that pocket knife out and use it on somebody. That didn’t enter in,” he said.

The women thought about it for a minute. Then Franklin said, “Whispering — that was the biggest thing that disturbed the teachers. I will tell you what, I wasn’t even whispering, but the girl in front of me decided she wanted to turn around and talk to me ... so we both had to go to the office.”

Green said the roughest thing he did happened during the winter after the snow started to melt.

“When the snow left, we made mudballs and we’d put a rock in it. When my dad came to school (he was on the school board) he came to get me for something and he found out what was going on, so he went into that schoolhouse and stopped things right cold. I was in fourth grade,” said Green.

FASHION

In the 1930s, the women wore dresses all the time and weren’t allowed to wear slacks. In gym class, the women had to wear bloomers. Three years after they graduated, girls finally got to wear shorts in gym.

The men wore trousers, instead of jeans. Donath said regular suits cost $15 and real nice ones cost $50. Shirts cost 25 cents and shoes were $3 a piece. The nice thing about the shoes was a man would fit them directly to each person’s feet.

Curls and waves were popular hairstyles for women. Franklin had naturally curly hair, so she didn’t have to worry so much.

“The one time I wore it up, they didn’t think too much of that, so I put it down,” said Franklin.

Some girls used rollers and others would go to the beauty salon for a permanent.

“My son says, ‘Well, you say you’re getting a permanent. Well, how come you have to go get another one? It’s supposed to be permanent,” said Holman.

FOR FUN

As their senior year came to a close, the class decided to remember their younger years with a Kid Day. According to The Tiger Times, activities included a dance at Convention Hall, where Hazel Colvin performed a rhumba-style dance. Also an 11-piece high school swing band performed a variety of hits including “I’ll See You In My Dreams,” “Hold Tight” and “After the Masquerade.”

They also went to Tebo Lake for a picnic.

“Some of us got in a boat or canoe and went out. We weren’t supposed to, but we did. But we got back safe. Then that night, we went to the Uptown Theatre. I don’t know what all we did there,” said Franklin.

After graduation, the classmates went in different directions. Some went straight into the work force, while others opted to go to college or join the military.

Though the numbers of attendees have dwindled over the years, they still enjoy getting together and talking about the good old days.