Sophomore Class, Elizabethtown High School 1957
Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
Contributed by Jack Weiser, tall boy back row I’m one of three plain girls in my high school class
Have you found (or kept) an individual or a group photo from your school days?
School snapshots are available online. Have you discovered a digital copy of a school photo?
Did you find the former plain girl who posts here on Wednesdays?
Click to see: Our class visits the E-town Library
Good morning, Marion! I have a few photos from those days. Our older child found some online photos, too.
I think that’s you, second row second from the right?
Yes, you’ve seen my younger photos on my blog, so I’d be easy to spot. Thanks, Merril! 😀
You’re welcome. 😊
😀
Hi Marion, I think I spotted you in the second row, one in from the right. Am I right? Great picture – I have all of my class pictures in elementary school 🙂
Good for you, Barbara! I don’t have any of those little wallet-size photos we got plenty of in elementary school. I do remember that my mother saved all of my brother’s pictures, grades 1-12 and framed them. My brother came 12 years later than I, so she probably had more time, with her three girls in high school or junior high, and her only boy in grade school. 🙂
You are easy to spot, Marion. We took class photos in elementary school. I still have all of them. I didn’t realize you went to school in E-town. My first serious boyfriend was from Elizabethtown. I visited the college many times.
What a surprise that you dated a boy from E-town College. I see a blog post sometime: NC Girl Meets PA Boy. Thanks for tuning in with a neat factoid, Jill! 😀
I was a VA girl way back then! 🙂 The last name was O”Brien. 🙂
A cliche applies here: “Small world”!
Yes, your fans find it easy to spot you. I’m guessing another plain girl is first row, far right; and perhaps another is far left, first row. I have several elementary school class photos that I treasure and they show up online from time to time in a group from my hometown of Middlebury. This is so fun but I know the feelings of being different from your peers is NOT fun.
Plain girls have a keen eye for other plain girls. Your guesses are spot on. And, as I mentioned in my memoir, my prayer covering made me feel different–and not in a good way. You can empathize, Melodie. Thanks! 😀
I spotted you right away, Marian. And yes, I have a few of these group photos also. I imagine most of the people in them who are alive today might be living close to me. I hope I have occasion to meet them and hear a bit of their stories. Your high school was small compared to mine. We had 144 graduating seniors at Warwick in 1966.
We don’t have reunions anymore, which saddens me, but I do keep up with a few H. S. classmates, some of whom came to my book signing in Lititz, PA Yes, our graduating class was smaller than yours, but we picked up steam a few years after this photo was taken when the high school was consolidated. My senior class boasted 105 in 1959. Thanks, Shirley! 😀
Wonderful photo. It’s priceless. I remember class photos in elementary school, but after that no more. I graduated from high school with close to 600 kids, so the logistics of taking a group photo may have been impossible.
Oh, my gosh, Ally! Your high school must have been a large urban school. My grands go to one of those, and I’m not looking forward to a recitation of hundreds of names at graduation. Still, it’s a milestone for the two oldest. 😀
I grew up in a small town of 35,000 and there was one high school. It was not an affluent town, so we all got dumped together in this high school. It seemed normal at the time, but now it seems odd.
Ha! Those were the days. . . .
What a priceless photo, Marian! I think I still have a high school photo and one from fifth grade. I need to check.
You have a good memory for the ages of your photos. Maybe finding them could be a pleasant distraction from writing today. Thanks, L. Marie! 😀
I have a cast photo from high school. We’re all wearing aging greasepaint, so we we must be easy to identify now. I think you’re second from the right in the second row?
Good guess, Liz. Judging from the photo, you must have been a thespian in high school. Right? 😀
Yes, I was a charter member of the school’s Thespian Society chapter.
Wow!
I also have a few class photos and wish I had more 🙂
Carol, it would be interesting to go on a search. Maybe you’d find more than a few. Ha!
Thanks, Carol. 😀
I love these old class photos. I still have all of mine too. I should pull them out and blog about them. That would be fun. You look so sweet. How old would you be, about 13?
’m not surprised you have all of your photos, Darlene. I’m glad this post sparked a possible future blog post. You know I’d read it! How old? As a sophomore, I would have been about 15, graduating in two years at age 17. Thanks for asking, Darlene. 😀
Every girl is beautiful! ❤️
A lovely thought, Jenn. Thank you. Did you notice the bobby socks and saddle shoes?
2nd row 2nd last! Yes I’ve got one or two.
You got it, Susan. Thanks! 😀
Great photos and lovely memories, as always!
Thanks for the nod here, Fatima! 😀
Hi Marian. I do have some of my old school photos and they are such fun to look at now. Our last class reunion was for our 40th. Next year will be 50!
You are moving right up the ladder of class reunions, Janet. Thanks for stopping by here today! 😀
Second row, second from right, that’s you, Marian! I remember your “young” look from your memoir. The second plain girl is in the first row, far left, the other plain girl might be the one on the far right, first row?? Old class photos are priceless, they take you on a trip down memory lane, and bring up many things you thought you had forgotten—old crushes, old friends, etc. Not sure why we never had a class reunion, I would have loved that, but wasn’t in a position to plan one!
Elfrieda, you are right about the trip down memory lane.
In the photo, the tallest young man is Jack, who contributed the photo and comments here occasionally. I also spot the boy I named “Wayne” in my memoir. The girl beside me was so good in art; I thought she had a magic pencil. Thanks for helping to jog my memory. Plus: You are right in identifying me and the other plain girls. 😀
I like the white socks that most girls seem to wear… except the leftmost girl in the first row. I wonder why she bucked the trend 🙂
Dear Endless Weekend, I’ve been waiting for someone to comment about the socks and shoes, and you’re the first. My best guess: This girl is a plain girl and is probably wearing hosiery–maybe nylon stockings. Thanks for chiming in! 😀
It’s funny, the things that jump out at us! May I ask what “plain girl” means in this context? I would think that hosiery, especially before adulthood, would have been more luxurious than socks?
I understand your reasoning about hosiery seeming more luxurious than socks. The girl you are referring to, like me, was a member of a protestant denomination, which at the time, believed plain clothing was a reflection of Christian spirituality. My memoir, Mennonite Daughter, describes the first 24 years of my life as a Mennonite, one of several sects of plain people. Mennonites and Amish are noted for loving peace and following godly principles with strong family values and love of the simple life.
Thanks for asking. I appreciate your interest. 😀
I’m not sure if I would have picked you out or not, Marian. I saw the answer before I perused the photo carefully. I wish I had class photos of every year that I taught. I have one for most years, and I do enjoy looking back. It’s fun to see how styles and haircuts changed over the years.
Elementary schools make sure there’s a photo taken every year. Colleges don’t provide such a service. These days we’d take selfies, individual or small groups. I’ve noticed that styles for guys (except for haircuts) don’t change much. I don’t see many school-age girls these days in bobby socks and saddle shoes like in our photo.
Thanks, Pete! 😀
Hi Marian, I wasn’t sure which one was you but I cheated and read the other comments. You look very happy and smiley. I do have pictures of my class for every school year. I have not looked for any on-line. I have never attended a high school reunion either.
You are a busy bee and also well organized. I am not surprised that you have a class photo for every school year. Thanks, Robbie! 😀
I saw the other girls–far left and far right in the first row–before I spotted you. But there you are with those dark gorgeous eyes. I only have a few photos from elementary school. My mother did a “great” job of getting rid of precious things. I do have my high school yearbooks–most girls dressed like me with sweater sets, teased bubble cuts held in place like helmets with hair spray and eye make-up expertly applied by a girlfriend.
On top of all the crushing losses, Ukrainian girls are losing images of their school and family history. I grieve for them. Be safe and well.
Your school photos have suffered the plight of Cliff’s. With every move, his mother threw out more stuff, like school pictures he would treasure now.
As you know I wore braids and a prayer veiling into my twenties. But when I turned fancy, my flip became a “bubble,” sprayed into a helmet. Yes, I too grieve for Ukrainians, including the girls who have part of their growing up years snatched from them. When we visited schools near Kiev, the girls were smartly dressed, Three words that come to mind: Innocent, modest, and artistic.
Thank you, as always, for sharing your thoughts: Stay well, Elaine! 😀
These memories and memorabilia are great, Marian. I think I saved my old class photos, but I’m not sure. They’d be in a box on my cousin’s attic. I wonder if class photos are available online in Belgium as well. I doubt it.
When you visit your box in your cousi’s attic, it might feel like opening a time capsule. That was my experience opening up teen memorabilia in our mom’s attic. Everything smelled a little musty. I think you are still in Mexico, but I’ll have to check. 😀
Once I read that you were in the second row, I recognized you immediately Marian, but this is a good lesson because I thought you were in the front based on the plain dress and not her face. I made a wrong assumption. Lesson learned. 🙂 I also learned today that class photos are online – how about that! That will be fun to explore. Thank you for that and have a nice weekend.
Like me, you are analytical in your approach.
Do have fun checking out class photos. It’s fascinating what we can find online.
Stay well and enjoy the weekend ahead, Melanie! 😀
I’ve been travelling, so I’m late catching up with my reading. I spotted you more quickly than I thought I would. A great photo to have.
How sweet of you to “catch up” with me. Thanks for your loyalty. I hope you had a good trip! 😀
I have one when I attended Kraybills school in 1955 & 56. Send me your email and I will send it to you.