Leon High School
Tallahassee, Florida
Class of 1959
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April 1957 Headlines
(courtesy of http://dmarie.com/timecap/)
Apr 1 - Trial begins in Budapest against participants October uprising
Apr 1 - World's biggest glass oven used
Apr 3 - USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
Apr 6 - NYC ends trolley car service
Apr 9 - Suez Canal cleared for all shipping
Apr 11 - Ryan X-13 Vertijet becomes 1st jet to take-off & land vertically
Apr 13 - Due to lack of funds, Saturday mail delivery in the US is halted
Apr 13 - 11th Tony Awards: Long Days Journey into the Night & My Fair Lady win
Apr 15 - Congress gives Post Office $41M; restoring Saturday mail delivery
Apr 22 - All NL teams integrates, John Irwin Kennedy is 1st black on Phillies
Apr 29 - 1st military nuclear power plant dedicated, Fort Belvoir Va
COUNTDOWN TO GRADUATION - APR-MAY-JUN 1957
Thus ends another of my questionably interesting recollections of our high school years.
I'll be back in next quarter. If you have ANYTHING to contribute, AS USUAL, PLEASE SEND IT ON!
So Ends the Sophomore Year!
Nuclear tests, T-birds, Elvis, Marilyn, and Norman ... all these things and several more made up the end of our Sophomore year.
Well, I don't know about you, but I've got that 1950's music playing in the background and really enjoying it. In case you missed it, click the jukebox, then click the BACK button to come back here and continue reading. If you want a different year between 1950 and 1984, CLICK HERE and choose your year.
I don't know if anybody noticed, but TropicalGlen lost their jukeboxes for a short time. Some flap with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). They straightened out their problems and returned, but now the jukebox has 1955-1959, instead of one year on each one. Also, you can no longer select the song(s) you want to hear .. your only choice is to listen to all on the box, in the order that they send them. I've emailed the guy (in Puerto Rico) to see if the old style can be brought back. In the meantime, it's at least some music playing, despite it not being as "selectable."
Looking over the Top Ten lists above, I sure see a bunch of songs I loved to sing along with .. usually rolling down the road in my Studebaker. Still much Elvis, but I now see beginnings of Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and even the Coasters (Searchin' and Young Blood, under R&B). I think that this was about the time that we formed a car club called the Coasters, hung those neato Coaster tags under our rear license plate, and worked together on a rail job at a Speed Shop on South Monroe.
Wanna read a page from the Elvis Presley Fan Club Magazine? Just click the photo on the left to see an enlarged version, where you can enjoy all of those gems about the club meeting once a month to talk about their hero. Seems kind of spacey, but probably no worse than us Coasters getting together to talk about carburetors, headers, chrome, and drag-racing :)
Speaking of wierd, how many watched that Elvis singing with Celine Dion thing on American Idol last week? Was that strange or what? We're still wondering whether that was all digital or if they had an impersonator on stage. Anybody know?
May 1957 Headlines
(courtesy of http://dmarie.com/timecap/)
May 1 - Larry King's 1st radio broadcast
May 4 - Alan Freed hosts "Rock n' Roll Show" 1st prime-time network rock show
May 4 - Bob Hoffman turns 16 in Tallahassee, Fla.
May 6 - Last broadcast of "I Love Lucy" on CBS-TV
May 6 - Pulitzer prize awarded to John F Kennedy (Profiles in Courage)
May 7 - Maj Johnson, USAAF flies a Lockheed Starfight to 17.28 miles (27.8 K)
May 15 - 1st British H-bomb explosion (over Christmas Island)
May 16 - Maj Irwin, USAAF flies a Lockheed Starfight to a record 1,404.18 MPH
May 17 - School desegregation law, Brown v Board of education
May 17 - Prayer Pilgrimage, biggest civil rights demonstration to date (District of Columbia)
May 18 - 83rd Preakness: Eddie Arcaro aboard Bold Ruler wins in 1:56.2
May 22 - Red Sox set American League record by smashing 4 homeruns in 6th inning in 11-0 win
May 22 - South Africa Government approves race separation in universities
May 24 - Anti American riots breakout in Taipei, Taiwan
May 28 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
May 29 - Dodgers about the proposed move to the west coast
Top 10 Hits of April 1957
(First week of the month)
(courtesy of
US Top Ten (first week of the month):
1. Party Doll - Buddy Knox
2. Round And Round - Perry Como
3. Butterfly -Charlie Gracie
4. Butterfly - Andy Williams
5. Teen-age Crush - Tommy Sands
6. I’m Walkin’ Fats Domino
7. Little Darlin’ -Diamonds
8. Young Love - Tab Hunter
9. Marianne - Terry Gilkyson
10. Why, Baby, Why? - Pat Boone
US R&B chart toppers this month:
I’m Walkin’ - Fats Domino
Lucille - Little Richard
School Day - Chuck Berry
All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
US Country chart toppers this month:
Gone - Ferlin Husky
This was also about the time that I spent many hours with John Hankin, a fellow Coaster, working on rebuilding a 1932 Chevrolet 5-window that he bought. Took it down to the frame, replaced everything, put in a 283 ci Chevrolet engine, and eventually turned somewhere around 130 mph in the quarter-mile. I heard that after he married Robin, he went to work for her dad's furniture store, pulled the engine out of the coupe to put into a pickup truck for hauling furniture, and then one day someone called a wrecker to tow that coupe off to the junkyard. I've not seen John since then, so don't know if that story is true or not. If so, it's a shame ... On the right is sort of what if looked like.
June 1957 Headlines
(courtesy of http://dmarie.com/timecap/)
Jun 1 - 1st US runner breaks 4 minute mile (Don Bowden)
Jun 2 - US TV interviews Khrushchev
Jun 3 - Howard Cosell's 1st TV show
Jun 4 - 1st commercial coal pipeline placed in operation
Jun 5 - NY narcotics investigator, Dr Herbert Berger, urges AMA to investigate use of stimulating drugs by athletes
Jun 10 - Harold MacMillan becomes British PM
Jun 12 - Paul Anderson of US back-lifts a record 2850 kg (6,270 lbs)
Jun 12 - Stan Musial plays in 823rd game (new NL consecutive-game streak)
Jun 15 - "Ziegfeld Follies of 1957" closes at Winter Garden NYC after 123 performances
Jun 15 - 89th Belmont: Bill Shoemaker aboard Gallant Man wins in 2:26.6
Jun 17 - "So Rare" by Jimmy Dorsey Orch peaks at #2
Jun 17 - Tuskegee boycott begins (Blacks boycotted city stores)
Jun 22 - KC stops using streetcars in it's transit system
Jun 24 - "I Love Lucy," last airs on CBS-TV
Jun 25 - "Jonathan Winters Show," last airs on NBC-TV
Jun 27 - Hurricane Audrey, kills 526 in Louisiana & Texas
Jun 29 - Malenkov, Molotov, Kaganowitsj & Sjepilov leave USSR communist party
Click the jukebox to hear songs from 1955-59!
Top 10 Hits of May 1957
(First week of the month)
(courtesy of
US Top Ten (first week of the month):
1. All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
2. Little Darlin' -Diamonds
3. Round And Round - Perry Como
4. Party Doll - Buddy Knox
5. Come Go With Me - Del Vikings
6. Gone - Ferlin Husky
7. I'm Walkin' Fats Domino
8. School Day - Chuck Berry
9. Why, Baby, Why? - Pat Boone
10. Butterfly - Andy Williams
US R&B chart toppers this month:
All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
US Country chart toppers this month:
Gone - Ferlin Husky
All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation) - Marty Robbins
Honky Tonk Song - Webb Pierce
Four Walls - Jim Reeves
Top 10 Hits of June 1957
(First week of the month)
(courtesy of
US Top Ten (first week of the month):
1. All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
2. Love Letters In The Sand/Bernadine - Pat Boone
3. School Day - Chuck Berry
4. Little Darlin' - Diamonds
5. White Sport Coat - Marty Robbins
6. So Rare - Jimmy Dorsey
7. I'm Walkin'/A Teenager's Romance - Ricky Nelson
8. Come Go With Me - Del Vikings
9. Gone - Ferlin Husky
10. Round And Round - Perry Como
US R&B chart toppers this month:
Young Blood - Coasters
Searchin' - Coasters
C C Rider - Chuck Willis
US Country chart toppers this month:
Four Walls - Jim Reeves
Click any Photo to Enlarge!
And here are some links for you:
CLICK HERE to read all about nuclear testing in 1957 .. with more of those neat mushroom photos!
CLICK HERE to see all the available color schemes on 1957 Thunderbirds!
CLICK HERE to buy those neato magazines on E-bay!
CLICK HERE for the June 1957 baseball schedule!
What Do You Remember Most?
Who, me? Well, I didn't think much about nuclear tests, despite all the hype about teaching kids to "duck and cover." I don't remember ever being taught much about hiding from bombs. I vaguely recall bomb shelters, but don't personally know anybody that had one.
Of course, I remember Elvis and Marilyn .. two of my favorite people! But, what stands out most is my recollection that I turned 16 in May and was now able to drive anywhere, anytime, alone! Now, that was a biggie!
I got an email from John Hoover this month, reminiscing about "We burned a lot of $.19 gas driving back and forth between Mutt's and south Monroe. Without cell phones, that was the only way you could find out who was where on Friday and Saturday nights." Our discussion started with him trying to recall where Wagon Wheel vs Corral were. Well, I remember that perfectly ... I think. Read this and find my errors:
Monroe Street - From Wagon Wheel to Mutt & Jeff's - 1957
I was thinking about this a while back, because I remember one late Saturday night when I ran 13 red lights between South Monroe and Mutt & Jeff's. Recall, that was back in the days when most people were in bed by 11, so there wasn't much traffic. I sure wouldn't try something like that today! Back then, however, I did a few things that I wouldn't attempt today, traffic or not.
At any rate, let me start my recollection from the Wagon Wheel, just South of where Magnolia Drive met South Monroe Street. I'm going to include some photos on the left to stir your nostalgic juices. Leaving the Wagon Wheel, up past Magnolia, and the street widened to 4 lanes right there at Fain Auto Parts (Emma Jean's daddy). First stoplight was there at the street by the Silver Slipper, but I don't recall it's name. Then, continue on down the hill, past Capital Auto Parts on the right, Dixieland on the left (stop for a beer - ask for Ruby if you're under-age), then Corral on the right, and on the to 2nd stoplight in front of John Manthey Oldsmobile. Stomp the gas past Scwab's Pure Station on the left (where I worked weekends for a while), Thompson's Hamburgers (best I've ever tasted, before or since) on the right, to the 3rd light in front of that fruit market. Light turns Green, head up the hill past the ball field to the 4th light, on Gaines Street. On up the hill, with your dual pipes blasting, past the Capital building on the left, to the 5th light, Pensacola Street. On past the Courthouse on the right and the 6th light, Jefferson Street. Then on to the College Avenue light (7th) in front of Bennett's Drugstore. Glance to your left and you'll see the marquee of the State Theater.
Now you're in the middle of town .. population somewhere in the 35,000 range. Past Nic's Toggery on the left to the double light on Park Avenue. I guess we'll count that as one light (8th) since they changed at the same time. Hey! I just noticed .. how come Pensacola and Jefferson are streets and the others are avenues? I thought streets ran one way and avenues the other ... hmm .. oh, well.
North Monroe Street - On to M&J's
Was College Avenue the division between South and North? I think so. At any rate, we continue on past the Florida Theater on the left to the 9th stoplight in front of the Floridan Hotel (Call Street?). Then, boogie on up to the "big" intersection at Tennessee Street, with Proctor Pontiac (Palmer's daddy) on the left, a bank on the right, and a large Gulf Station. Past the Duval Hotel on the right to the 10th stoplight on some little street whose name I don't recall. Up the hill to the 11th stoplight in front of Billup's Gas, where we got all those free tires on their lifetime guarantee (they eventually stopped giving the warrantee to us paperboys, who wore tires out in about 3 months .. LOL). On down the hill and veer off on Thomasville Road .. had a stoplight there for Monroe Street, but as I recall, we rolled on through if we were turning onto T'ville Road, right?
Up the hill and to the 12th light on Betton Hills Road. Then, on up to Mutt & Jeff's ... now, where was that 13th light? I don't think they had one at M&J's. Did I miss one? Horrors! Maybe I counted Park Avenue as two lights ... :)
So, all that and you drive through Mutt's and nobody's there! So, you head back South, taking Calhoun Street to get you back to South Monroe, where the action is, a little faster. That's where we did most of our drag-racing, hollering at each other side by side, and getting tickets from Tallahassee's finest. I remember one night, a few years later, when I was racing my 1956 Ford with Bob Allen, who had a candy-apple Red 1958 Ford convertible. We ran side by side all the way out Monroe, then split up and he went home. Guess who was waiting in his front yard? A police car. They saw us, knew him, so just went to his house instead of trying to catch him. Now, that's a small town!
Aaaaagh! Senior Moment! I went looking for a photo of that Coaster Car Club tag hanging on the back of my Studebaker and guess what I found? The tag, hanging on my 1956 Ford, which I didn't get until my Senior year (I think). At any rate, all that above about the car club (and probably the John Hankin story below) happened way later! So, maybe you'll read about it again in a couple of years.
If you want to see the whole car, plus my front yard on Chocksacka Nene, click the photo for the enlarged version. Can't read that hanging tag, but trust me, that's an "official" Coasters Car Club tag.
