Prom Night 1959 

By Nancy A. Meadows-Galloway

For most high school students, the prom is the highlight of their Junior and Senior school years. This was no different for the Junior and Senior class students of Deweyville High School in 1959.

Stanley and Carolyn Meadows, who were dating at the time, decided to go to the prom together which was being held at the nicest hotel in town.

The students had worked hard all year long earning money by washing cars and having bake sales to pay for their prom. This was no easy task considering there were only 15 students in the senior class alone and not too many more in the junior class.

The evening of the prom was finally here and they arrived in style in his fathers ’56 Chevrolet. Stanley wore a fashionable black suit that was cut for that era. His hair was slicked back with cream and he looked quite dashing. After all, he had been voted the “biggest wolf” by all of the girls in the class that year. Carolyn was dressed in a light pink satin and netting dress, with a full hoop skirt, which became a challenge when it came time to sit down. Elbow length gloves covered her delicate hands.

As they approached the hotel ballroom where the prom was being held, they heard the sounds of Elvis Presleys’ “Love Me Tender” being played by the live band. The ballroom was elegantly adorned with foil and glitter decorations. The students had worked hard all day to make it perfect.

Students and their dates lined up to have professional photo’s taken in front of the wall that had been decorated with a large picture of the earth since the theme of the evening was “On Top of The World”. The continents had cleverly been made out of foil. 

Halfway through the evening a formal dinner was served, to everyone’s delight. After hours of dancing, all of the students were good and ready for something to eat.

As the evening waned, it became clear that the prom of 1959 had been a great success, thanks to the ingenuity and hard work of all the students involved.

If there is a lesson to be learned here, it would be that the young people from this era knew how to take on responsibility and were not intimidated by it. They did not expect something for nothing, nor did they expect someone else to pick up the cost for them. This is a lesson that many young people could use today. (Note: It appears that the “biggest wolf” out of the class was finally tamed. Stanley and Carolyn have been married for almost forty-two years.)