Genealogists and family historians get a lot of
satisfaction from chasing their ancestors’ stories. Finding a diary, a message
on a postcard, or a photo with a name attached is like the sun coming out after
a storm. One day we will be somebody’s ancestor. We need to leave our
descendants a little bit of sunshine too. So here is my story told
alphabetically, not chronologically: Growing Up in Cradock.
Did anyone ever sleep at a sleepover? When I was in
junior high school and maybe even early high school, a sleepover was a major
event. Typically it was part of a birthday party but not always. Maybe it was
just the crowd I hung with, but at every single one of them, the goal was to
stay up all night.
How did we manage to do that? About the time that it was
officially “late,” we watched “Shock Theater,” a local television show in which
a Dracula-type vampire would rise out of a coffin with his greeting, “Good
EEEE-ven-ing.” Then he introduced some classic horror movie featuring Dracula,
Frankenstein, Wolf Man, the Mummy or somebody along those lines.
After the movie, it was time for prank phone calls. These
gags were pretty funny to 12 and 13-year olds but are old hat now. Well, not
just old, not even funny. We grabbed the phone book, opened to a random page,
and dialed a random number. The gags went like this:
“Is your refrigerator running? Well, you’d better go
catch it!” OR
“Do you have Prince Albert in a can? Well, you’d better
let him out.”
Yeah, we were a laugh riot.
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| My sister's sleepover at our house - 9th birthday party 1968 |
The most fun though was a special phone number supplied
by one of the local radio stations. The number connected to something like a
pre-Internet chat room. When the number connected, you could hear everybody who
was calling and then strike up a conversation. We often exchanged phone numbers
with other slumber parties and called each other. Now, this was in the days
before cell phones, so it was ONE house phone. Everyone at the party who wanted
to talk just had to wait their turn.
Some girls had bad experiences at sleepovers where the
girls would do something mean to any girl who fell asleep (like covering their
face with shaving cream or freezing water in their bra). Fortunately I never
attended such a party. If someone fell asleep, it was allowed.
Zip, Zoom, or Zigzag over to the A to Z April Challenge
Zone for Zillions of Zesty Zingers by Zealous Zanies before they are
Zapped. But the challenge is now over,
so it’s time for me to catch some zzzzzzzzzzzz’s.
Now where's that Survivor Badge?
Now where's that Survivor Badge?
