Leon High School
Tallahassee, Florida
Class of 1959
To view other months/years of the countdown, click here to go back to the Countdown 1957 Page.
But FIRST, a popular essay topic of that period ...
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July 1957 Headlines
(courtesy of http://dmarie.com/timecap/)
Jul 2 - 1st submarine designed to fire guided missiles launched, Grayback
Jul 6 - Althea Gibson became 1st black tennis player to win Wimbledon Jul 6 - Harry S Truman Library established in Independence, Missouri Jul 6 - Beatle John Lennon 1st meets Paul McCartney
Jul 12 - 1st President to fly in helicopter-Dwight Eisenhower
Jul 16 - John Glenn sets transcontinental speed record (03:28:08)
Jul 19 - 1st rocket with nuclear warhead fired, Yucca Flat, Nevada
Jul 19 - Don Bowden 1st American to break 4 minute mile (3m58s7)
Jul 26 - Mickey Mantle hits career HR # 200
Jul 26 - USSR launches 1st intercontinental multistage ballistic missile Jul 28 - Jerry Lee Lewis makes his 1st TV appearance (Steve Allen Show) Jul 29 - Floyd Patterson TKOs Tommy Jackson in 10 for heavyweight boxing title
Jul 29 - Jack Paar's Tonight show premiers
COUNTDOWN TO GRADUATION - JUL-AUG-SEP 1957
Well, that's all the chatter I've got right now. I'm hungry and no biggie ideas are popping up, so ...
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!
Have you got that 1950's music playing in the background? If not, 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.
Looking over the Top Ten lists above, I again see a bunch of songs I loved to sing along with .. usually rolling down the road in my Studebaker. What surprises me is how often you see a familiar song, but it's not listed with the artist that you remember. Like I'm Walkin' by Ricky Nelson ... I remember Fats Domino singing that one. And, how about Short Fat Fannie - Larry Williams and his band? What about Little Richard? I don't know if the ones listed above came out first, then were further popularized by other singers, or if these were just the "politically correct" versions, since both Fats and Little were possibly the wrong color for that time.
August 1957 Headlines
(courtesy of http://dmarie.com/timecap/)
Aug 1 - Gil Hodges hits his NL record 13th career grand slam
Aug 1 - US & Canada create North American Air Defense Command
Aug 1 - Glen Gorbous throws a baseball a record 136 m (445'10")
Aug 5 - "American Bandstand," goes on network TV (ABC)
Aug 5 - Comic strip "Andy Capp" made its debut
Aug 15 - USAF Capt Joe B Jordan reaches 31,513 m in F-104 jet fighter Aug 19 - NY Giants vote to move their franchise to SF in 1958
Aug 26 - USSR announces successful test of ICBM
Aug 29 - Congress passes Civil Rights Act of 1957
Aug 29 - Strom Thurmond ends 24 hr filibuster against civil rights
Aug 31 - Malayasia (formerly Malaya) gains independence from Britain
Top 10 Hits of July 1957
(First week of the month)
(courtesy of
US Top Ten (first week of the month):
1. Love Letters In The Sand/Bernadine - Pat Boone
2. Bye Bye Love - Everly Brothers
3. So Rare - Jimmy Dorsey
4. I'm Walkin'/A Teenager's Romance - Ricky Nelson
5. All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
6. Searchin'/Young Blood - Coasters
7. Dark Moon - Gale Storm
8. White Sport Coat - Marty Robbins
9. Start Movin'/Love Affair - Sal Mineo
10. Little Darlin' - Diamonds
US R&B chart toppers this month:
C C Rider - Chuck Willis
Short Fan Fannie - Larry Williams & His Band
US Country chart toppers this month:
Four Walls - Jim Reeves
Bye Bye Love - Everly Brothers
September 1957 Headlines
(courtesy of http://dmarie.com/timecap/)
Sep 3 - Dodgers play last game in Jersey City (11-4 in NJ)
Sep 3 - Warren Spahn sets record for a lefty pitcher with 41st shut-out Sep 4 - Ford Motor Co introduces the Edsel
Sep 4 - Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, calls out National Guard to stop 9 black students from entering a Little Rock high school
Sep 5 - Cuban dictator Batista bombs Cienfuegos uprising
Sep 6 - Elvis records "White Xmas," "Silent Night" & "Here Comes Santa Claus"
Sep 8 - Jackie Wilson, releases his 1st solo single "Reet Petite"
Sep 9 - "Diana" by Paul Anka reaches #1
Sep 9 - Pres Eisenhower signs 1st civil rights bill since Reconstruction Sep 9 - Nashville's new Hattie Cotton Elementary School dynamited
Sep 14 - UN resolution deplores & condemns USSR invasion of Hungary Sep 14 - Great Britain performs nuclear test at Maralinga Australia
Sep 14 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Sep 15 - "Bachelor Father" with John Forsythe premiers
Sep 16 - LA City Council approves 300-acre site in Chavez Ravine for Dodgers
Sep 17 - Scott Crossfield takes X-15 up for 1st powered flight
Sep 18 - "Wagon Train" premiers
Sep 19 - 1st underground nuclear explosion (Las Vegas Nevada)
Sep 21 - "Perry Mason" with Raymond Burr premiers on CBS-TV
Sep 22 - "Maverick" premieres
Sep 22 - Duke Snider's 39th & 40th home runs are last hit at Ebbets Field
Sep 23 - "That'll Be Day" by Buddy Holly & Crickets reaches #1
Sep 23 - White mob forces 9 black students who had entered a Little Rock high school in Arkansas to withdraw
Sep 24 - Eisenhower orders US troops to desegregate Little Rock schools
Sep 25 - 300 Army troops guard 9 black kids return to Central HS in Ark
Sep 26 - Dag Hammarskjold re-elected secretary-general of the UN
Sep 26 - "West Side Story" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 734 performances
Sep 27 - Giants rent Seals Stadium until Candlestick is built
Sep 28 - "Dollar A Second," last airs on NBC-TV
Sep 28 - "Honeycomb," by Jimmie Rodgers hits #1
Sep 29 - "DuPont Show of the Month," debuts on CBS-TV
Sep 29 - "Paul Winchell Show," debuts on ABC-TV
Sep 29 - Buddy Holly & Crickets released 2nd single "Oh Boy!"/"Not Fade Away"
Sep 29 - NY Giants lose their last game at Polo Grounds (9-1 to Pitts)
Click the jukebox to hear songs from 1955-59!
Top 10 Hits of August 1957
(First week of the month)
(courtesy of
US Top Ten (first week of the month):
1. Teddy Bear/Loving You - Elvis Presley
2. Love Letters In The Sand/Bernadine - Pat Boone
3. Bye Bye Love - Everly Brothers
4. So Rare - Jimmy Dorsey
5. Searchin'/Young Blood - Coasters
6. It's You I Love/Valley Of Tears - Fats Domino
7. Send For Me/My Personal Possession - Nat 'King' Cole
8. Old Cape Cod/Wondering - Patti Page
9. Over The Mountain - Johnnie And Joe
10. Dark Moon - Gale Storm
US R&B chart toppers this month:
Short Fat Fannie - Larry Williams & His Band
Send For Me - Nat King Cole
US Country chart toppers this month:
Teddy Bear - Elvis Presley
Top 20 Hits of September 1957
(In the UK - Can't find listing for USA)
(courtesy of
US Top Ten (first week of the month):
1 Paul AnkaDiana
Diana2 Pat BooneLove Letters In The Sand
Love Letters In The Sand3 Johnny Duncan & The Blue Grass Boys Last Train To San
Fernando
4 Harry BelafonteIsland In The Sun
Island In The Sun5 Petula ClarkWith All My Heart
With All My Heart6 Tommy SteeleWater, Water / A Handful Of Songs
Water, Water / A Handful Of Songs7 Elvis PresleyAll Shook Up
All Shook Up8 Charlie Gracie Wandering Eyes/I Love You So Much It Hurts
9 Elvis PresleyParalysed
Paralysed10 Debbie ReynoldsTammy
Tammy11 Elvis PresleyTeddy Bear
Teddy Bear12 Everly BrothersBye Bye Love
Bye Bye Love13 Lonnie DoneganPuttin' On The Style / Gamblin' Man
Puttin' On The Style / Gamblin' Man14 Little RichardJenny Jenny
Jenny Jenny15 Billy Ward & The DominoesStardust
Stardust16 Russ HamiltonWe Will Make Love
We Will Make Love17 Charlie GracieFabulous
Fabulous18 Peter SellersAny Old Iron
Any Old Iron19 Johnnie RayBuild Your Love
Build Your Love20 King BrothersIn The Middle Of An Island
In The Middle Of An Island
1 Year and 270 Days Left!
Today is September 8th and the clock on the "wall" tells me it's 1 year and 270 days to graduation! And, looking 50 years into the future, it'll be about that same amount of time until our 50th reunion! Who would have thought we'd be looking forward to getting together with a bunch of gray-headed, mostly overweight, somewhat slow-moving, senior citizens? haha ... in 1957, a senior was what we'd be next year. In 2007, a senior is what we've been for that last x years.
Think about it ... if it was September 8, 1957 and you were asked to do an essay about "What I'll Be Doing 50 Years From Today", what would you have written? Go back, back, back, to that time ... think ... what would you have said? ... hmmm ... And how close would you have been to where you find yourself in 2007?
As I started my Junior year, I really have no idea what I might have answered to "what do you want to be if/when you grow up?" I hadn't even thought much about what I'd do when I graduated next year. I could probably not tell you my plans for next weekend! I did good to get from one class period to another, head down to the newspaper office after school, and then go out cruising around in my car in the evening. I had little on my mind but cars, girls, and how to con the carhop into selling me a beer.
However, let me take a shot at it. I recall that I had some aspirations of being a race driver ... probably not as a full-time occupation, but at least on weekends or maybe for a short time, until I found a real job. I enjoyed working on cars, so might have ended up a mechanic. I had also toyed with the idea of someday converting an old school bus into a camper and taking off around the country. As it turns out, I eventually ended up doing each of these to some degree at some point in my life, but not exactly in the way I expected. I raced a bunch in drag races after graduation, right up through the 1962 Volvo I used to travel the country in August-December 1962. I joined the Air Force in January 1963 and became (guess what?) a reciprocating engine aircraft mechanic! I continued on my quest to travel the country in some kind of camper, starting with the Volvo in 1962 and continuing until today in my 2003 Damon Challenger. But, what I think really turned me around and started everyone around me thinking that I should go to callege and be a mathematician or something was when I scored a 473 on the National Merit Scholarship Exam in our Senior year. But, that's next year and I'm getting way ahead of September, 1957.
Rock and Roll - the most enduring feature of our times
Reading over the headlines above, it occurs to me that most everything there is way obsolete now, like Jack Paar, American Bandstand, Andy Capp, Wagon Train, Maverick, and Dupont Show of the Month. The only things on the list that you hear about 50 years later is Elvis and a few other R&R stars. I actually saw Paul Anka on the Today Show this week! Amazing! And, we finally made a visit to Graceland last month, after talking about it for a loooong time. Who'd have thought in 1957 that a visit to Elvis' home would be a major tourist stop? Was for me, anyway.
But, there I go, talking in the future again. What about Summer/Fall of '57? Well, as I said above, we were Juniors, most all were driving, some starting to plan ahead for college or whatever else was to come after graduation. Some, like me, were just generally enjoying life and not thinking beyond the next car payment. When I hear people talking about how hard life was in high school, I just can't agree with them. For me, high school was one of the best periods of my life. My own car, doing pretty much what I wanted to and when I wanted to, very few responsibilities, only minor debts to fret about, and plenty of friends around to get together with whenever I was in the mood. What could be better? Retirement, maybe ... haha.
What I Did On My Summer Vacation
by Robert Hoffman
Typing III, 4th Period, Mrs. Ingram
September 10, 1957
Most of us in this class are 16 years old or older and we're Juniors in High School. Aren't we a little old to be writing essays on what we did on our summer vacation? I guess it's a good typing exercise. Since you required it, here it is.
In July, we had a real surprise in our Indianhead Acres neighborhood. There was a big open field between East Indianhead and West Indianhead Drive, just North of Hokolin Nene. Last year, somebody had the idea to put a dam on Hokolin, then let the creek fill the field and we'd have a lake! It worked fine until this July, when the dam broke and all that water came rushing down through our neighborhood. I took some photos. First is view of Hokolin, where the dam was. Second is John Hankin, slogging around in the mud and picking up the fish that they had stocked the lake with. Third is a view looking North through the ex-dam toward the ex-lake. Fourth is looking South, where you can see one of the big culverts that was in the dam.
The rushing water ended up coming right past our house on Chocksacka Nene, messing up that neat little park the city had built there. First photo is standing on Chocksacka, looking North toward Hokolin. The other three show the waterfall over the street right in front of our house.
In August, some of the guys that work together at the Tallahassee Democrat decided to take a trip to the Smoky Mountains, to camp out and have fun. There were five of us. Billy Rodgers was the oldest and we went in his 1955 Chevrolet convertible. I and my brother, Dick, rode with him. Lee Dragoo also took his car, a 1954 Ford convertible, and Dickie Whitmire rode with him. We camped out on a creek right outside of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Here's a picture of Billy, me, Dickie, and Lee. Dick was taking the pictures, so he doesn't show up in any of them.
Here's a picture of Dickie, Lee, and Billy under the Rock City sign. We stopped there on our way. Below that is one of me looking cool at Ruby Falls.
Several interesting things happened to us on the camping trip, besides just the excitement of camping out in the woods. One night, a bear came into our camp and tossed our cooler around for a while. We decided to let him have it, since he didn't seem to be in a mood to let it go. In the morning, we found the cooler. He had punched holes in it with his claws and so the ice had melted and the bread and stuff was floating around in it. Yuk!
One night, a couple of guys came through the camp with some bottles of moonshine. They wanted to know if we wanted to buy any. Billy and Dick took a swig, but then decided they didn't want to buy any. I didn't drink any, because I've heard about some of the wierd stuff they make that with.
One of the best times that we had was the night we went and stole some watermelons. We'd met some nice girls at the shops in Gatlinburg and they told us they knew where to get some watermelons. We picked them up after work and drove out in the country. They took us to a great big field of watermelons and we grabbed three of them. We took them back to the camp and ate watermelon and drank beer far into the night. Billy and Dick took them home, but they didn't invite us younger guys along.
That's about all the excitement I had this summer, other than delivering newspapers and hanging around with my friends. I painted my Studebaker with flames and did some other customizing on it. I still use it every day to run the paper route, plus every night to go out with the guys. It's really nice to be 16 and be able to do these things on my own. I can't wait to be a Senior next year and maybe get a new car then if I can afford it.
I hope this essay is what you wanted and I hope I don't have to write another one when I'm a Senior next year.
The End .... Bob Hoffman
(This isn't really an essay from 'back in the day', but just a way to show those photos I pulled out of my old photo album. I'm not really even sure if that trip was Summer of '57, but who cares ... :)
Click any photo for an enlarged view
This comic has nothing to do with the essay. My wife, Joyce often tells me that Pickles cartoon reminds her of me. This one fascinated me, because the car in it is just like mine. Neato, eh?
The Cars We Drove ...
Before I forget, let me tell you about a really great website that relates. I had it as my Featured Website in my latest newsletter, but in case you missed it there, I'm going to put it here again. I've not seen a neater treatment of cars from the 1950s and 60s, along with great music. When you have some time, turn your speakers up, and click on the cool cars on the left. For us who lived through this period, this video brings back a bunch of memories. If you like cars and the music of "our time", you'll love this website. If it rejects you because it's overloaded, just try again later.
The good life, July 1957
Each time I write one of these, I do a search on the months to see what turns up. For "July 1957", I got a link to a website where Harold McMillan was quoted as saying "Let's be frank about it; most of our people have never had it so good. Go around the country, go to the industrial towns, go to the farms, and you will see a state of prosperity such as we have never had in my lifetime—nor indeed ever in the history of this country."
On 20 July 1957 the Conservative prime minister Harold Macmillan addressed an audience at Bedford football ground. Two sentences from the speech caught, and fostered, the country's mood of rising expectation and became one of the best-known political quotations of modern times.
Click Harold to read more about it.
Click any photo for an enlarged view
