Sepia Saturday: Before e-Harmony

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt featuring vending machines triggers a very faint memory of having once dined in an automat. Unfortunately the memory is so faint that no real story emerges, and certainly there is no photo. A more vivid dining memory is from my college days.

When I arrived at Madison College (now James Madison University – GO DUKES!), Gibbons Hall was a mere 5-years old.

Gibbons Hall -- the D-Hall October 1969

You would think people would have been used to the unusual architecture by then, but Gibbons continued to inspire debate. Round and constructed of brick, it was the first building to depart from the traditional bluestone Madison has become known for. Gibbons was also the first building on the new “back campus.” While a dining room was always available from the earliest years of the college, Gibbons was the first building dedicated to food. On the upper level, eight dining rooms were arranged like slices of pie around a central kitchen. The lower level housed the post office, bookstore, and lounge for day students.

It was during my freshman year that I met Hugh, Keith, and Tom. They were day students who no doubt took full advantage of that day lounge. With the aid of a student directory they made random phone calls to girls in the dorms just to see who would talk with them. Being the pathetic person that I am, I talked. Fast forward to my sophomore year. Hugh, Keith, and Tom were back to their old tricks calling girls again. They called. We talked.

Typical scene at meal time at the D-Hall in the 1970s
image from JMU Library Special Collections

One day I was at the D-Hall with friends. I saw the three guys plus one new one. The new guy was light-haired and had a big smile. He laughed a lot and seemed very friendly. He also had a big appetite. And why not? The food on our campus always ranked among the best in the nation according to the Princeton Review. Homemade rolls every night. Homemade apple dumplings – I always went back for seconds (and yes, thirds). Saturday lunch alternated between open-face roast beef sandwiches and subs. But I digress.

Later that night the phone rang, and it was those guys again. I mentioned that I noticed they had a new person with them and wondered who he was. Keith said, “Oh, that’s Barry. Do you want to date him?” Heck no – I was just making conversation.

Once inside Gibbons, hungry students
climbed these stairs to the D-Hall

It wasn’t long – a couple of days maybe – that I received a phone call from none other than the new guy. No telling what the others had told him about me. One call led to another. We talked many times without ever meeting. Even though I knew Barry on sight, he didn’t know me. He must have felt like a stalking victim whenever I said, “I saw you at the D-Hall.”

So finally Barry got up the nerve and asked me out – probably just to shake that eerie feeling of being watched. When I said, “Yes,” he added, “And if you see me, introduce yourself.”

That opportunity presented itself a day or two before our scheduled date. I was heading to the D-Hall for some lunch just as Barry was leaving. There he was – I had better say something, I thought. I have no recollection of what I said although Barry’s version of this story is, “Hi Barry, I’m your date.” I KNOW I would not have said that – it’s much too dorky, even for me. The part of the story that I remember is that he always told people that after we each went our merry way, he regretted not looking back to check out my legs. HA HA – the joke would have been on him as I was wearing an olive green plaid dress with olive green tights. Oh, smokin’ hot!

Gibbons Hall - where Barry and I first met
Yellow arrow: I was heading down the steps.
Purple arrow: Barry was leaving the D-Hall
and heading towards the steps.

And the rest is history. In those days there was no Match dot com. No e-Harmony. Still, lots of romances began at the D-Hall.

See who else is dining out at Sepia Saturday.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.