Leon High School
Tallahassee, Florida
Class of 1959
What do you remember most about July 1955? Below are headlines for the month, followed by classmates' memories of the month, followed by links to other websites with July 1955 info.
To view other months/years of the countdown, click here to go back to the Countdown Page.
If the menus above don't work for you, try the text menu at the bottom of the page
July 1955 Headlines
(courtesy of http://dmarie.com/timecap/)
Jul 1 - 69th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Tony Trabert beats
Kurt Nielsen (63 75 61) Jul 2 - "7th Heaven" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 44
performances Jul 2 - "Lawrence Welk Show" premiers on ABC
Jul 9 - "Rock Around Clock" hits #1 on Top 100 chart
Jul 9 - 1st black executive on White House staff (E Frederic
Morrow)
Jul 11 - Congress authorizes all US currency to say "In God
We Trust" Jul 11 - New USAF Academy dedicated at Lowry AFB in Colo
with 300 cadets
Jul 12 - NL beats AL 6-5 (12 innings) in 22nd All Star Game
(Milwaukee) Jul 17 - . . . Disneyland opens in rural Orange County
Jul 18 - 1st electric power generated from atomic energy sold
commercially
Jul 22 - 1st VP to preside over cabinet meeting-R Nixon
Jul 27 - Austria regains full independence after 4-power
occupation Jul 29 - USSR performs nuclear Test
Jul 30 - Louison Bobet wins his 3rd Tour de France
COUNTDOWN TO GRADUATION - JULY 1955
LINKS TO WEBSITES WITH GOBS OF MORE JULY 1955 INFO
Top 30 Hits of July 1955
(In the UK - can't find USA)
(courtesy of
1 Alma CoganDreamboat
Alma CoganDreamboat 2 Jimmy YoungUnchained Melody
Jimmy YoungUnchained Melody 3 Slim WhitmanRose Marie
Slim WhitmanRose Marie 4 Ruby MurrayEvermore
Ruby MurrayEvermore 5 Al HibblerUnchained Melody
Al HibblerUnchained Melody 6 Frankie LaineCool Water
Frankie LaineCool Water 7 Dickie ValentineI Wonder
Dickie ValentineI Wonder 8 Eddie CalvertCherry Pink And Apple
Eddie CalvertCherry Pink And Apple Blossom White 9 Crew CutsEarth Angel
Crew CutsEarth Angel 10 Malcolm VaughanEvery Day Of My Life
Malcolm VaughanEvery Day Of My Life 11 Rosemary ClooneyWhere Will The Dimple
Rosemary ClooneyWhere Will The Dimple Be 12 David WhitfieldEv'rywhere
David WhitfieldEv'rywhere 13 David WhitfieldMama
David WhitfieldMama 14 Barbara LyonStowaway
Barbara LyonStowaway 15 Frankie LaineStrange Lady In Town
Frankie LaineStrange Lady In Town 16 Tony BennettStranger In Paradise
Tony BennettStranger In Paradise 17 McGuire SistersSincerely
McGuire SistersSincerely 18 Frank SinatraYou, My Love
Frank SinatraYou, My Love 19 Johnny BrandonDon't Worry
Johnny BrandonDon't Worry 20 Perez 'Prez' Prado & His Orchestra
Perez 'Prez' Prado & His OrchestraCherry Pink And Apple Blossom White 21 Tony MartinStranger In Paradise
Tony MartinStranger In Paradise 22 Eddie CalvertJohn And Julie
Eddie CalvertJohn And Julie 23 Slim WhitmanIndian Love Call
Slim WhitmanIndian Love Call 24 Sammy Davis JnrSomething's Gotta Give
Sammy Davis JnrSomething's Gotta Give 25 Frank SinatraLearnin' The Blues
Frank SinatraLearnin' The Blues 26 Les BaxterUnchained Melody
Les BaxterUnchained Melody 27 Jane FromanI Wonder
Jane FromanI Wonder 28 Cyril StapletonElephant Tango
Cyril StapletonElephant Tango 29 Ruby MurraySoftly Softly
Ruby MurraySoftly Softly 30 Five Smith BrothersI'm In Favour Of
Five Smith BrothersI'm In Favour Of FriendshipPersonal Memories of July 1955
(from Bob Hoffman)
I'm writing this one for July 1955, but still hoping that some in the future will be emailed to me (rjhoffman@yahoo.com) by others in the class who have memories to share.
First off, you're probably wondering what that Mercedes 190SL is doing, zooming across the page above this text. Well, I did a Yahoo Search! on "july 1955" and got over 92,000 hits. One of the less prominent of my findings was the announcement about the new 190SL being introduced by Mercedes in Spring of 1955. In July 1955, the biggie addition on the 190SL was "Cigarette lighter with shrouded element, and element diameter increased from 21mm to 22mm" - Wow! Click the little car to read more about it. Actually, I guess most of us weren't too aware of what Mercedes was doing in 1955. We were more involved with the advancements being made by GMC, Ford, and Chrysler.
Something that I found that I thought was pretty neato (a 1955 term) was a bunch of July 1955 magazines and newspapers being auctioned off on Ebay. Below, I've included the covers of some of those that I found most fascinating. Click any to see it in a larger view. Go to Ebay if you're interested in buying any of these - or, a real live copy of the Florida Times-Union!
Those are my inputs for July 1955 - do you have any you want put here? Or for August or September? If so, send them on!
Well, I wandered through 25 pages of search results and didn't find much more of interest. I figured doing that and looking at the headlines for the month above would spark a memory of what I, personally, was doing in July 1955. Didn't happen ... I recall I spent a bunch of time driving my motor scooter around town, delivering newspapers, and playing the pinball machines at the bus station, but that was pretty much my agenda for the entire summer - nothing unique for July. I did see in the headlines above where the Lawrence Welk show first aired on July 2nd and that sure rang a bell! In 1955, all we got on our TV in Tallahassee was WCTV, Channel 6 and the only thing on Saturday nights was good old Lawrence Welk - how I tired of hearing his popping champagne corks and oompah-pah music! I also recall sitting, watching that test pattern with the Indian head in the center, waiting for whatever to start up. For the youngsters, we should explain that the TV wasn't on all the time back then. It would show a test pattern for a long time (I guess to allow us to adjust our black and our white correctly), then the real shows would come on about 6 in the evening or so. And, if you weren't old enough to drive and were stuck at home on Saturday nights, the only thing to do was to watch a-one and a-two and a-pop Lawrence. There were no malls to visit back then, and the drive-ins were for the big guys with cars.
Speaking of drive-ins, I just read where McDonald's celebrated their 50th anniversary on April 15, 2005. So, in July 1955, the only McDonald's was the original one in Des Plaines, Illinois. We in Tallahassee only had Mutt and Jeff's, the Corral, and the Dixieland. I don't remember if the WagonWheel was open then ... probably. I don't think McDonald's got to us until sometime after we graduated Leon. I vaguely recall my younger sister (class of 1964) spending time "cruising McDonald's" during her high school years.
Well, it's July 17th, a couple of weeks have passed since I wrote the above and I haven't gotten any more info from anybody, so I guess it's time to publish.
I awoke this morning with two thoughts on this - Apalachee Parkway and Mad Magazine - were they around in July 1955? I did some research and the answer is No and Yes. So, my memory is serving me well. I was thinking about how the summer of 1955 was my time of discovery, new-found freedom, and transition. I was discovering cars, girls, pinball machines, and how much fun it was to drive fast. My new-found freedom was due to my having a motor scooter that would take me anywhere I wanted to go. Transition was moving from the kid I was at Cobb Jr High to the teenager I was at Leon High - nearly as traumatic as that later move from teenager to young adult.
Another piece of obscure trivia I found in my July 1955 search was info on the activities at Groom Lake. For those of you not familiar with it, Groom Lake is where they first flew the U-2, later to bring fame and misfortune to Gary Powers and the USA in general. For the Groom Lake buffs, July 1955 was when the first U-2 was shipped from the Lockheed Skunk Works in Burbank to Groom Lake, in preparation for the first flight on August 4, 1955. To read more about Groom Lake, click the U-2 on the ground (on the left). To read more about the U-2, click the one in the air (on the right).
So, what about the Apalachee Parkway? Well, I was thinking about what I'd see between my house and Lee Dragoo's - a trip made many times back in 1955 on my trusty Allstate. I lived in Indianhead Acres on Chocksacka Nene (hey, I can still spell it!). I'd drive up Chocksacka, right on Jim Lee Road, then right on Magnolia Drive. Would you believe it? - there were no stoplights until I got to George Register's Texaco Station on the corner of the Perry Highway (now called Old Perry Highway - it was new then). Fill up my 1-gallon tank for a quarter (seems like I could drive for a week or so on that gallon), then off again on Magnolia. The only thing of any significance that I recall between there and the next stoplight on Jacksonville Highway was passing Lou Rich's house - big house with pillared front porch off in the trees. Right on Jacksonville Highway, down the hill, and left turn to Lee's house. Two stoplights from mine to his -- how many today? ... 10 or 12? Speaking of that right turn, when did they first pass the law that we could turn right on Red? Tried to look that up, but no success. Seems like it happened shortly after I started driving. Am I rambling? My point -- I got to wondering whether my memory was serving me correctly, as I didn't remember crossing the Apalachee Parkway on that trip. Looked it up and learned it wasn't built until 1957! Three cheers for my oft-sloppy memory! In my research, I found some great photos of Tallahassee - Click to Old Capitol Building photo on the left to view a neat bunch of photos back to the early 1900's. Click the New Capitol Building photo for current photos of Florida - Tallahassee pics are #6-14 in that group. Others are Jacksonville, Gainesville, etc., etc.
AND, what about Mad Magazine? Well, I was thinking about those magazine pictures above and about what magazines I read back then. The only one that comes to mind is Mad Magazine. So, I started to wonder whether 1955 was just when I started reading Mad or whether that's when it was originally published. Turns out the former is correct - first issue of Mad was Oct-Nov 1952! The July 1955 issue cover is shown on your left. Even though it says FIRST ISSUE, it ain't - however, it was probably my first issue - some coincidence, eh? I think I actually remember that cover! If you click on the photo, you'll jump to a website where you can view any Mad cover since inception. I wandered through them and didn't recognize any prior to July 1955, but several after. So, let's agree that July 1955 was my first exposure to Mad Magazine, my primary source of information during that period. And if you weren't a Mad Magazine reader in the 50's, I guess this all is of little interest, but are there actually any in our class of 1959 who weren't Mad fans?
Whoa! Just thought of another magazine I read back then - Hot Rod Magazine! Spent 30 minutes or so wandering around the internet, looking for the July 1955 Hot Rod - couldn't find anything. Guess I've spent enough time playing here, so I'll close now and email everyone to let them know this gem is available for reading. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did recalling it.
PLEASE - if you have any walks down memory lane that you'd like to share, particularly in the August 1955 time frame, by all means email them to me! I'd really like to have something in here written by someone other than me! If I don't get something soon, I'll probably drop these monthlies .... or maybe I'll just keep on rambling .. LOL.
