Leon1959

Leon High School

Tallahassee, Florida

Class of 1959

What do you remember most about August 1955? Below are headlines for the month, followed by classmates' memories of the month, followed by links to other websites with Augusts 1955 info.

To view other months/years of the countdown, click here to go back to the Countdown Page.

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Home Attendees 45th Reunion In Memoriam 50th Reunion Memorabilia Directory

August 1955 Headlines

(courtesy of http://dmarie.com/timecap/)

Aug 2 - USSR performs nuclear test

Aug 3 - Roger Moens runs world record 800 m (1:45.7)

Aug 3 - Automobile Association of America ends support of

auto racing

Aug 3 - Hurricane Connie begins pounding US for 11 days Aug 4 - Eisenhower authorizes $46 million for construction

of CIA headquarters

Aug 8 - Fidel Castro forms "July 26th Movement"

Aug 8 - Geneva conference held to discuss peaceful uses of

atomic energy

Aug 12 - WPBT TV channel 2 in Miami, FL (PBS) begins

broadcasting

Aug 12 - Pres Eisenhower raises minimum wage from $0.75 to

$1 an hour

Aug 18-19 - Hurricane Diane, kills 400 in US

Aug 19 - R&B (DJs must play Fats Domino's "Ain't That A

Shame," not Pat Boone's)

Aug 19 - WINS radio, announces it will not play "copy" white

cover versions of "Ain't That A Shame"

Aug 20 - 1st airplane to exceed 1800 mph (2897 kph)

Aug 25 - Last Soviet forces leave Austria

Aug 26 - 1st color telecast (NBC) of a tennis match (Davis

Cup)

Aug 27 - "Guinness Book of World Records" 1st published Aug 28 - 1st NFL preseason sudden death football, Rams

beats Giants 23-17

Aug 31 - 1st sun-powered automobile demonstrated, Chicago

COUNTDOWN TO GRADUATION - AUGUST 1955

LINKS TO WEBSITES WITH GOBS OF MORE AUGUST 1955 INFO

Found the UK hits for August 1955

A really great website - input any date in August 1955 and get all of the details you'd ever want to see

Top 20 Hits of August 1955

(In the UK - Scroll Down for

8/1/55 Top Ten in UK & USA! )

(courtesy of

http://retrocharts.com/retrocharts/1955-August.html)

1 Slim WhitmanRose Marie

2 Frankie LaineCool Water

3 Frank SinatraLearnin' The Blues

4 David WhitfieldEv'rywhere

5 Ruby MurrayEvermore

6 Malcolm VaughanEvery Day Of My Life

7 Alma CoganDreamboat

8 Frankie LaineStrange Lady In Town

9 Eddie CalvertJohn And Julie

10 Jimmy YoungUnchained Melody

11 Slim WhitmanIndian Love Call

12 Dickie ValentineI Wonder

13 Caterina ValenteThe Breeze And I

14 Al HibblerUnchained Melody

15 Eddie CalvertCherry Pink And Apple

Blossom White

16 Sammy Davis JnrSomething's Gotta Give

17 Crew CutsEarth Angel

18 Nat 'King' ColeMy One Sin

19 Ray BurnsThat's How A Love Song Was

Born

20 Ferko String BandAlabama Jubilee

Personal Memories of August 1955

(from Bob Hoffman, with contributions from Judy Thompson Goodwin, Patricia Ward Sabia, and Tom Cash!)

Well, halleluliah! I actually got some emails from some of you guys! So, I'm writing most of this one for August 1955, but still hoping that more in the future will be emailed to me (rjhoffman@yahoo.com) by others in the class who have memories to share. You'll find the comments from Judy, Patricia, and Tom below, carefully buried within my ramblings so you have to read the whole thing. :) Hey! Off the subject, but I learned something wierd about MS Word the other day. I typed (card:) and Word actually stuck a smiley face there. So, I typed a :( and, sure enough, it substituted in a frowny face. I had no idea that Word was recognizing those cutesy chat symbols. How about that?

Well, in my monthly attempt to arouse memories, I first looked over the list of headlines above, then did a Yahoo Search on "August 1955." One thing I got from the headlines was that wierd controversy around the 19th, on whether to listen to Fats Domino's or Pat Boone's version of "Ain't That A Shame?" I don't remember hearing about that - I recall hearing both versions. I just always thought that Fats' version sounded like Rock&Roll and Pat Boones' sounded like ... well ... Pat Boone. Nothing much else jumped out of the headlines at me. But, hey! Did you notice I finally found the USA Top Ten songs for the month? If you're into R&B (or Rock & Roll), check out that website - click on the flaming "Shakin' All Over!" below - lots of interesting trivia there. Speaking of songs, that brings to mind the email I got from Tom Cash about his memories: "The one thing that came instantly to mind was the cafeteria. It had a juke box! I'm pretty sure I remember hearing ..." Wait! That's after we start at Leon next month. So, I'll include Tom's juke box comments, plus mine, in September, after school starts.

After the headlines, I perused through about 120 of the search results and noticed some really interesting stuff. One topic that's been in the back of my mind since I started this was the Civil Rights movement. I knew it started sometime in the 1950s, but wasn't sure when. I also vaguely recall some sit-ins in Tallahassee, but certainly didn't recognize the significance of them at the time. In my August 1955 search, I came across an article describing "Lamar Smith, sixty-three-year-old farmer and World War II veteran, was shot in cold blood on the crowded courthouse lawn in Brookhaven, Mississippi, for urging blacks to vote." Sounded like the start of the movement to me, but I decided to follow up. I found several Civil Rights Timeline pages, but the best seemed to be the one at infoplease.com. It starts with the Brown vs Board of Education decision on May 17, 1954, then the next event is in August 1955 "Fourteen-year-old Chicagoan Emmett Till is visiting family in Mississippi when he is kidnapped, brutally beaten, shot, and dumped in the Tallahatchie River for allegedly whistling at a white woman." That's followed by the December 1955 event, when Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama. All of this going on and I was happily riding my motor scooter, unaware that major historical events were happening all around me. Makes me wonder what might be going on right now as I sit here in my little world, tapping on my computer.

But, how about something close to home? After writing last month's blog (or whatever this might be called), I realized that Mad wasn't the only magazine I read back then. Another that I spent alot of time in was Hot Rod Magazine. I figured it started up sometime in the 1950s, but it turns out that it actually began in 1948. Back then, they talked about Salt Flats, racing on Daytona Beach, and other topics way out of the area of interest of youngsters like ourselves.

However, in 1951, the National Hot Rod Association was formed and in August 1955, they held the first National Championship Drags in Great Bend, Kansas. Six years later, Tallahassee got its first official drag strip (not counting the quarter-mile marked off on Old Tram Road) and I spent several years taking part in this great sport. That's August 1955 Hot Rod on your left - click it to enlarge it.

I got another surprise in my August 1955 search. I'll bet that you, like me, thought that the 2004 hurricane season was about the worst in history. Well, it might have been, but August 2004 wasn't the worst August - seems like August 1955 beat 2004 in many ways! August 2004 still leads in Intense Hurricanes (3) in all of recorded hurricane history for the month of August. However, according to the Atlantic Hurricane Activity analysis for August 2004 on website http://hurricane.atmos.colostate.edu/forecasts/2004/sep2004/ , August 1955 had more Named Storm Days (37 vs 29.75) than August 2004, more Hurricane Days (20 vs 15), more Intense Hurricane Days (7.25 vs 5.5), and was 1st in Net Tropical Cyclone (NTC) value (90, August 2004 is 2nd with 86), whatever that is. One more case of history passing me by, I guess. I don't remember any hurricanes in August 1955. Do you?

Well, seems like I've wasted this month talking about things I should remember, but don't. Something else I don't remember is sort of unrelated, but I don't know where else to put it. Classmate Patricia Ward Sabia emailed "I was reading your RV Stuff newsletter about Faye Dunaway graduating in 1958. I had heard she did not really graduate. She left before the year was over and never really graduated. I have never verified that. Maybe you know. Anyway, it doesn't really matter, we just knew her when she was there." Now, as she says, it's not really important, but just a point of curiousity. Does anyone remember for sure? And, any stories of how she got started in Hollywood?

Speaking of Faye, I had an idea for the 50th that I will put on the "50th Ideas" page when I can get to it. I decided to also put it here, just in case some of you read this page and not that page. What if we combined our 50th reunion with the classes of 1958 and 1960? Most of us had close friends in one class or the other, so I thought it would be interesting to see what they had planned and if they'd like to combine theirs with ours. Any thoughts? Anybody know Faye well enough to invite her?

Hope you found this month's ramblings mildly interesting. Like it sounds, I spent most of my time trying to make the most of our last month before 'back to school.' I guess I pretty much bobbled along, assuming that Ike, MLK Jr, and the National Hurricane Center would take care of all those things I mentioned above. My only source of news was a glance at the front page of the 200-300 newspapers that I folded/rolled each day, so I suppose I wouldn't be expected to know about all those civil rights movements, Geneva conventions, and hurricanes. Should be more personal thoughts next month, since we actually get into high school (especially if I get inputs for you guys!).

Oops! One more topic, then I quit for sure. Next month (September 1955), the new 1956 model cars start showing up, so I thought it might be nice to include photos of some of the 1955 models. The two ads below are from Ebay. To read more about the other cars shown, go visit http://www.remarkablecars.com/1955-cars.html. As usual, click any to view an enlargement. That's it until next month ...

PLEASE - if you have any walks down memory lane that you'd like to share, particularly in the September 1955 time frame, by all means email them to me! I really enjoy having something in here written by someone other than me! I I have some vague recollections of our Freshman year, but nothing specific about September or even the first day of school. Anybody out there have that memory?

PREVIOUS MONTH NEXT MONTH

UK Top Ten (first week of the month):

1. Rose Marie - Slim Whitman

2. Cool Water - Frankie Laine

3. Unchained Melody - Jimmy Young

4. Strange Lady In Town - Frankie Laine

5. Ev'ry Day Of My Life - Malcolm Vaughan

6. Evermore - Ruby Murray

7. Ev'rywhere - David Whitfield

8. Dreamboat - Alma Cogan

9. Learnin' The Blues - Frank Sinatra

10. I Wonder - Dickie Valentine

Courtesy of http://www.rocknroll.freeserve.co.uk/august.htm

Rockin' Rollin' Diaries

July '55 - '62

The charts in UK and USA, the releases

and other important events

Courtesy of http://www.rocknroll.freeserve.co.uk/august.htm

US Top Ten (first week of the month):

1. Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley & His Comets

2. A Blossom Fell - Nat King Cole

3. Learnin' The Blues - Frank Sinatra

4. Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado

5. Ain't That A Shame - Pat Boone

6. Hard To Get - Giselle Mackenzie

7. Unchained Melody - Les Baxter

8. Something's Gotta Give - McGuire Sisters

9. It's A Sin To Tell A Lie - Somethin' Smith & The Redheads

10. Something's Gotta Give - Sammy Davis Jr

US R&B chart toppers this month:

A Fool For You - Ray Charles & His Band

Maybelline - Chuck Berry & His Combo

US Country chart toppers this month:

I Don't Care - Webb Pierce

Courtesy of http://www.rocknroll.freeserve.co.uk/august.htm

'Shivers down the backbone....'

So it's clear where my interests lie - what about others? A great opportunity to inject the email I received from Judy Thompson Goodwin in answer to my plea for memory inputs "Okay, Bob, it took me awhile to put together some memories of at least summer of 1955, if not just July. My father, Romulus Thompson, had just recently been hired as the band director in Monticello, Florida. He had a summer band camp there, & since it was my dream to one day be the head majorette for the Leon High Band, & Mr.Hobbs had told me that majorettes must also play an instrument, I went with my father each day of the week for the camp to learn to play a clarinet. I remember also reading "Gone With the Wind" while I waited for him to complete his day in Monticello. I think I first saw Tommy Folsom, a student in Monticello, at that camp or around the high school. It was love at first sight for me! He had black hair & green eyes & I thought he was the best looking guy I had ever seen. We did date for awhile until a beautiful Monticello girl took him away from me. Anyway, thanks for kicking in the memories." Sounds like Judy was already planning ahead for her time at Leon. I don't recall knowing anything about high school - I guess I just planned to go and see what happened. In August, I was still busy enjoying my summer, with little thought of what my future might bring. Meanwhile, I guess others of you were already working and planning for band, football, cheerleading, student government, etc. Also, unlike Judy, I shy away from talking about my thoughts on the opposite sex - that would probably require another entire website :) Suffice it to say that I had my first date while at Cobb, with one of our 1959er classmates. After a couple of dates with my dad chauffeuring us, I decided I'd hold off the dating until I could drive myself -- and I did.

Just like last month, I found a bunch of August 1955 magazines and newspapers being auctioned off on Ebay. Below, I've included the covers of some of those that I found most fascinating. Go to Ebay if you're interested in buying any of these. Notice, we've got some Comic Books this month! ... hahaha ... another popular read in my little world. Click any to see it in a larger view.