Sepia Saturday challenges
bloggers to share family history through old photographs.
This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt features boys with
their cleats. What would football be
without cheerleaders?
1 – 2 – 3 – 4
3 – 2 – 1 – 4
WHO for?
WHAT for?
WHO ya gonna yell for?
CRADOCK!
That was one of the cheers my mother used to perform in
her high school days. She even showed me
how: Snap your fingers with every number
and twist your feet and body left and right as you work your way to the floor
counting 1-2-3-4, and then twist yourself back up on the 3-2-1-4, snapping all
the way. Now jump and yell for your
team! Cradock High, of course.
During her senior year 1945-46, Momma was co-captain of
the Cradock High School cheerleaders. And just like in the plot of an old sentimental
movie, she was dating the ultimate guy with cleats: the captain of the football
team, Richard Edward “Dickie” Blanks, Jr.
 |
| Dickie Blanks and Mary Eleanor Davis in front of Cradock High School 1945 |
Dickie was sooooooooo good-looking. And popular.
He was elected King of the May
Court, Senior class president, and president of the Hi-Y. He starred in the school play and helped edit
the yearbook. In sports, he did it
all. He ran track, played basketball
serving as captain of the team, as well as captain of both his baseball and
football teams. No wonder the class
voted him “Most Athletic” and “Best All Around.”
Momma and Dickie were very popular as individuals but
more so as a couple. The Senior Class “Last
Will & Testament” bequeathed Dickie and Mary Eleanor’s ability at going
steady to a couple of underclassmen who apparently needed some inspiration.
After high school, Dickie packed his cleats and headed to
Davidson College in North Carolina, a school known for selecting students with
academic promise and good character.
While there, Dickie donned the red and black jersey and contributed to
many Wildcat wins in football.
 |
| The local paper was proud of the number of Virginia boys playing for Davidson College. Dickie is #20 on the back row. I suspect Momma is the one who circled his head. |
And Momma continued her cheering efforts at Shenandoah College.
It appears the two kept in touch for awhile in their
college days, but they did not live up to the Senior Class Prophecy which
pictured Dickie as an All-American center for the Cleveland Rams, sitting on a
mink-covered sofa with his beautiful wife Mary Eleanor.
Nope, didn’t happen.
Put on your cleats and make tracks over to Sepia Saturday
to see how others interpreted this week’s theme.
©2014, Wendy
Mathias. All rights reserved.
Hi Wendy! What a wonderful post of the sweethearts. Your Mom is so pretty and it looks like Dickie should have gone into acting. Dang. Thanks for sharing this with us, I loved it.
ReplyDeleteKathy M.
Thanks, Kathy. Yeah, Dickie was a looker!
DeleteWhat a fun trip down memory lane! Your mom is so very pretty. How old were you when she was teaching you her cheers?
ReplyDeleteHey Jana. I was probably in high school, when cheers were a big deal. However, our family loves to relive a story, so Momma might have repeated that cheer complete with finger snaps throughout her life. HA~
DeleteWhat a great link from the football boots to cheerleaders, and the photographs of your mother and Dickie made me think of the musical "Grease"
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention "Grease" because when I was putting this post together I was going to make that connection but decided against it.
DeleteIs he really wearing loafers with no socks? That was really big in the 60s, but I didn't know it was going on back in the mid-40s. Funny...I was born the year your mother and Dickie were seniors! Wonderful story...
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm pretty sure those are just thin light-colored socks. You sound like me - I'm forever figuring my age in relation to whatever story someone is relating about their family.
DeleteSuch a pity we don't have cheerleaders here :(
ReplyDeleteThis is such a revelation. I never thought about cheerleaders being an American phenomenon. I'll probably puzzle about this the rest of the evening.
DeleteThey have them for many types of international tem sports nowadays, viz. rugby league football in Australia and NZ, but I always had the impression that they were originally an American thing.
DeleteThanks Brett. I thought there were some American-style football teams in Europe and assumed cheerleaders were part of the package.
DeleteHipHipHooRay for YOU...putting together this great post from the 'Cleats' prompt. Such special pictures and memories your Mom shared with you...love the Cheer and the Class Prophecy story. Yep, Dickie was sooooo goodlooking and your Mom very pretty. Neat post, Wendy!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sue!
DeleteWhat a nice twist (3-2-1-4) on the theme. Your mom must have been a very peppy teen to cheer for both high school and college. Did your dad know about Dickie? Is that a whole other story?
ReplyDeleteNancy
Momma and Daddy met while in college, but yes, Daddy knew ABOUT Dickie, but I don't know if they knew each other.
DeleteGreat story, and all the photos and certificates to back it up - perfect for Sepia Saturday.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much.
DeleteGreat story and photos. So what happened to Dickie?
ReplyDeleteI don't really know. Momma was very active with her high school alumni, particularly in the 1980s-90s, and until she became too ill. I don't remember her saying whether Dickie ever attended the reunions. But I did look online for him when I was writing the SS piece and found him in a St. Petersburg, Florida city directory dated about 1993.
DeleteDickie did come to the last reunion Momma and Daddy attended. So, I guess Daddy did meet Dickie. I remember Momma saying she had no idea what she would even talk to him about. LOL He called Momma when he learned she had Ovarian Cancer =(
DeleteThanks, Girl.
DeleteExcellent post! 1-2-3-4 Who ya gonna yell for...Wendy that's who!! I enjoyed seeing the photos and reading about your mother's first love. She was so lovely and Dickie was a handsome guy.
ReplyDeleteLOL -- you made me laugh.
DeleteA handsome couple Wendy. Your Mom was the epitome of cheerleader-style and beauty, and Dickie has something of the movie-star looks of that era. Just look at his stance in that third photograph! A very enjoyable post all round.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly about that pose -- truly Mr. Cool.
DeleteI couldn't resist any longer, I am now 'following' you, so remember to look behind :)
DeleteHey - that's no nice of you! Thanks ~
DeleteGood thing it didn't happen, huh, or you wouldn't be here to tell us about it? Loved the story!
ReplyDeleteI agree. All's well that ends well.
DeleteGee did you ever bring back some great - cheering - memories. What a beautiful mother and how much fun I just know she had in those good old days! Great post Wendy!
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen! Momma did indeed have fun in high school.
DeleteA predictable love story, but without the Hollywood ending...
ReplyDeleteA bit sad, from a romantic point of view, but people have to lead their own lives, and if it wasn't meant to be, so be it!! Me likes a Hollywood ending, you see?!?...
;)~
HUGZ
There is a bit of the ol' Hollywood story here, but if this story had had a different ending, who would be telling it??
DeleteI was never a cheerleader—but I wanted to be. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat story!
Didn't everybody?? Cheerleaders ruled!
DeleteTake the theme and run with it across the goal line! Growing up in Virginia Beach, I remember Cradock High as the only regional school with a funnier name than ours - Cox High.
ReplyDeleteCox High?!?
DeleteYou're joking, right?!?...
;D~
HUGZ
Hmm, interesting. I guess since I grew up in Cradock, the name to me was just "normal." I never thought "Cox" was funny either until Ticklebear chimed in. Boys! Boys!
DeleteYou, in some other form...
DeleteThey sure did make a lovely couple. What a great athlete he was.
ReplyDeleteTo be on so many teams is one thing but to be chosen captain of each one is pretty remarkable.
DeleteWe missed out on cheerleaders when I was their age. Mixing betwen the boys' and girls' schools was not possible at matches. However we can vouch for a 'match' taking place - no cheerleader needed.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful girl and a handsome boy, bet they had fun.
Did the schools have dances and invite the other schools?
DeleteIt's always fascinating to see your parents as people in their own right, enjoying themselves before you were even a twinkle!
ReplyDeleteThat's the truth!
DeleteJust shows that all those films set in high school were true, I think these two could have starred. What fun that your mother could still do the chant and moves.
ReplyDeleteThat's right -- movies are just like real life! ;-)
DeleteOh, they must have made such a handsome couple! We don't have Class "Last Will and Testaments" in Scotland - I'm off to investigate :-) Jo
ReplyDeleteThe Last Will & Testament was a way to have a little fun, make playful jokes about the teachers or other students or even oneself. When I was in school, it was published in the Senior edition of the school newspaper, typically the last one of the year.
DeleteThat's an interesting tradition for the end of year celebrations! Jo
DeleteAnd it's just as well that they moved on to the bigger world. You for one benefited greatly I'd say.
ReplyDeleteMy mother had a similar high school story except her Dickie was Gordon.....and he was my dad!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh fun -- a different ending to that story.
Delete