Do you remember...

(I'll admit it - these are HEAVILY edited)!

Here's two pics sent in by Denny Curtin.
We could see the Chalmers factory from my front yard on Sheridan Drive:

A couple of Courier Express ads from 1954!
Note the 4-digit phone numbers. PL = Plaza

From an email sent in by Mike Bowers:

...when it took five minutes for the TV to warm up?

...when a quarter was a decent allowance?

...your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces?

...all your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done every day and wore high heels?

...they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed... and they did?

...when a 55 Chevy was everyone's dream car...to cruise, peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady?

...lying on your back in the grass with your friends and saying things like, "That cloud looks like a ..."?

...playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game?

...candy cigarettes?
...wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside?
...soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles?
...Blackjack, Clove and Teaberry chewing gum?
...home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers?
...newsreels before the movie?

...peashooters?
...Howdy Doody?
...Green Stamps?
...Hi-Fi's?
...metal ice cubes trays with levers?
...mimeograph paper?

...Beanie and Cecil?
...roller-skate keys?
...cork pop guns?
Studebakers?
...washtub wringers?
...The Fuller Brush Man?

...Reel-To-Reel tape recorders?
...Tinkertoys?
...Erector Sets?
...The Fort Apache Play Set?
...Lincoln Logs?
...15 cent McDonald hamburgers?

...5 cent packs of baseball cards -
with that awful pink slab of bubble gum?
...penny candy?
...35 cent a gallon gasoline?
...Jiffy Pop popcorn?

Thanks, Mike!

WCHS Handbook
Did you read yours?
From Sue (Reid) Mattern

...John Beresford Tipton?

...Sergeant Sparshot?

...Saddle shoes AND (dirty) white bucks?

...Duffle coats?

... The HoJo at Main and Kensington?

As of the week of Jan. 20, 2007, there are only
THREE Howard Johnson's Restaurants
operating in the whole country!

They are located in Bangor, Maine, and
Lake Placid and Lake George, New York.

Bangor Maine??????

Commencement 1958 front

Commencement 1958 graduates

...President Eisenhower?

...Equilateral triangles, the War of 1812, H₂SO₄?

...Sock Hops?

...4-digit phone numbers?
Mine was 499-W!

...Teen Canteen?

...Knickers?

...Running boards on cars?

...Slip-on one-strap skis? Roller skates with keys?

...Mr. Tuzz's formula for a banana? (BaNa₂)
"All right you bananas!"

...Pep rallies in the gym?

...Litz's diner across the street?

...Vivian Yeiser and Dorothy Vaughn?

Buster Brown and Tige
..."That's my dog Tige - he lives in a shoe,
I'm Buster Brown - look for me in there, too"?

From Gary Butt:

..."Class of 1958" painted on the water tower in Garrison Park?

...The party at Jack Hart's house and the firecracker attack on the Amherst Police Headquarters?

...The vodka laced oranges that were passed around during lunch periods?

...The Platter's parties that were held after school?

...The Friday night dances after the football games?

"We grew up in an age of innocence but we did have fun."

Well said, Gary!

From Pat "The Toe" Wyatt:
(Wow, can he kick that football!)

...Beating Amherst in football for the 3rd year in a row? (19-6)

...Ending Amherst's 57 game winning streak in basketball - beating them two times?

...Winning the village championship beating Neumann high in overtime?
In a packed gym with us trailing with seconds left and Hal
making a shot at the buzzer to send it into overtime!!

...Winning our 3rd straight Division 1 Track Championship, and second straight
Class A Sectional Championship and our 2nd Straight ECIC Conference Championship?

...Claude buying Billies buttons outside of the Colonial House?

...x-raying your feet in the shoe store on Main Street?

...watching TV shows in the appliance store window?

...Mary Ann Read getting the first color TV?

...the drag race on the old airport road where Denny Curtin,
Dan Yorkey, and Buzzy Hoth got arrested?

Some interesting facts from 1958

* Unemployment was at a post war high of 5.1 million
* The median U.S. family income was $5087 per year
* A family sized Chevrolet sold for $2081
* A gallon of gasoline was 30.4 cents
* A pair of men's shoes sold for $11.95
* A daily newspaper cost 5 cents
* A year's tuition at Harvard University cost $1250
* A hospital room cost $28.17 per day
* A pound of round steak sold for $1.04
* A pair of blue jeans sold for $3.75
* Green Giant canned beans were introduced
* Pizza Hut opened it's first restaurant in Kansas City
* Dwight D. Eisenhower was President of the US
* You could buy a house for $18,000
* Bread cost: 19 cents/loaf
* Milk cost: $1.01/gal
* A postage stamp was 4 cents
* The average annual salary was $5,500
* The minimum wage was $1.00 per hour
* The stock market was 584

...Weckerle Dairy? - "I love coffee, I love tea;
I love milk from Weck-er-le!"

...Red feather days? AND:
Polio tag

...The pool table in Joyce Bankert's basement?

..."For Sale" signs ALL OVER the school?

...Ange and Libby?

...Our school had a rifle club,
and Joyce Carol Oates was a member?

...The "Yellowjackets"?

#1 Songs from September, 1957 to June, 1958

Tammy - Debbie Reynolds
Honeycomb - Jimmie Rodgers
Wake Up Little Susie - The Everly Brothers
Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley
You Send Me - Sam Cooke
April Love - Pat Boone
At The Hop - Danny and the Juniors
Don't (I Beg of You) - Elvis Presley
Tequila - The Champs
Twilight Time - The Platters
Witch Doctor - David Seville
All I Have To Do Is Dream - The Everly Brothers

..."Blackboard Jungle"?

...the Christmas tree that was mysteriously chopped down?

...Bob Leighton working at The Squire Shop?

...Crystal Beach and Sherkston?

...Billy and George Morse? Yow!

Most popular television shows of 1958

1. Gunsmoke (CBS)
2. Wagon Train (NBC)
3. Have Gun Will Travel (CBS)
4. The Rifleman (ABC)
5. The Danny Thomas Show (CBS)
6. Maverick (ABC)
7. Tales of Wells Fargo (NBC)
8. The Real McCoys (ABC)
9. I've Got a Secret (CBS)
10. The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (ABC)

...Brainard's Sporting and Hobby shop?

...A We-Ma-Way (The Tokens' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight")?

...the local cop "Buckets" Hirsch?

...John Cameron Swayze?

...Mr. Lederer designing our school ring?

During our graduation year, some famous
entertainers were born, including:

Sharon Stone
Holly Hunter
Alec Baldwin
Kevin Bacon
Angela Bassett
Tim Burton
Michael Jackson
Jamie Lee Curtis

A couple of notable weddings took place:

Jayne Mansfied and Mickey Hargitay
Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman

And in sports:

The Yankees won the World Series by defeating
the Milwaukee Braves 4 games to 3

Arnold Palmer won his first major professional golf
tournament by capturing the Masters in Augusta, GA.

...Zeh's Hot Dog stand on Indian Trail Rd.?

...Twin Coach?

...that some of our classmates started in one-room school houses?

..."Submarine Races" at the airport?

...Jack Murphy?

The top movies of 1958

1. The Bridge on the River Kwai
2. Peyton Place
3. Sayonara
4. No Time for Sergeants
5. The Vikings
6. Search for Paradise
7. South Pacific
8. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
9. Raintree Country
10. Old Yeller

...Kaisers, Frazers, and Nash Ramblers?

...Joni James?

...Brunner's, RobRoy, Cole's, Duff's, Mann's 300 Club, (and MANY more)?

...DuMont and Philco TV's?

...throwing notebooks off the Ellicott Creek Bridge
after the last day of school?

...Pumpkintown and The Quarry?

Did you know?

That part of Williamsville is in the Town of Cheektowaga?

The Village of Williamsville is located
mostly within the Town of Amherst,
but Creek Road and Creek Heights
in the south part of the village
is in the Town of Cheektowaga.

With contributions from Denny Curtin and Ron Miller
AND
Judy Westphal and Cynthia Adams

Please send all memorabilia to:
slenz@thenetmill.com