1973

1973

Woodbine Avenue

Overbrook

Philadelphia, PA

My age: 17- 18

School- I finished high school and started Brandywine Junior College (DE)- freshman year.  I lived in a dorm what was a converted apartment building.  I had 8 roommates and we were mostly compatible and enjoyed each other. I enjoyed that year and it was the first time that I liked school.  I liked being on my own, being responsible for myself and finally feeling as if I had a voice.

Work-

• While I was in high school, I babysat to make extra spending money. I usually worked one weekend night and played the other night.
•  I worked at Hartman’s Amusement Arcade on Long Beach Island in NJ.  The place was creepy. I worked there for 5 in July/ August weeks and I held the record of longevity.  A lot of workers came and went as each paycheck period rolled around. I think I made $1.35/hour.

Music and Entertainment

•  Fabian, one of the musical heart throbs of the 1950s, played at our senior prom (May).  One of my classmates was related to Jerry Blavat, a Philly DJ with connections. We didn’t know who Fabian was but we knew we were getting a one-time great performer.  He sang all those songs from the 50’s and we didn’t recognize any of them.
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• Bye, Bye Miss American Pie was an instant hit.  The first time I heard it, I loved it.  It was played at every dance even though it is way too long and not danceable. I loved it for the first five years of its life but then I began to hate it.  The song makes no sense to me.
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•  I think I went to a school dance almost every weekend.  It cost $1 to get in.   We could come drunk and the adults pretended not to notice.  There was always a live garage band. If I went to Archbishop Carroll’s dances, boys were there.  If I went to my school’s dances, there were mostly just girls as we were an all-girl school.
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•  Jim Croce died in a plane crash and that left us all so sad.  He come on the scene and quickly had several hits. Time in a Bottle was his most poignant hit.
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•  I went bowling sometimes with my friends. I sucked at it.

Movies- I was now legally old enough to see R rated movies but my mother still had the finally say as to what I could see.

Books-  As a high school senior, I took an American Literature class and this was the first time anything I read seemed interesting to me. This class finally turned me in to a reader.

• o   The Great Gatsby- I thought this was the best book I ever read.
• o   The Catcher in the Rye- I could identify with Holden.
• o   Our Town- “Mama, do they ever understand?”
• o   The Grapes of Wrath- boring 

Travels-

•  Italy- This was my first trip abroad.  We went as a school group during spring break (April) and I loved every minute of it.  When I got home, I had the travel bug. We visited Rome, Florence, Venice, Pisa and Assisi. Sal and Pepe were our guides.  We called them Salt and Pepper.  We all fell in love with Sal and he flirted with us which only reinforced our adoration of him.
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•  I went on a road trip to Rhode Island with my parents.  At the time, the movie, The Great Gatsby, was being filmed there.  My father took some time to drive around and find the filming spot but we never found it.

News Events-

• Nixon announced that we were pulling out of Viet Nam.  It was a long, dreadful war and my uncle had served a couple tours of duty so this was a relief to me. I remember wanting to discuss this with Mrs. Jordan, my Social Studies teacher.  I went looking for her and found her charging down the stairwell.  “Mrs. Jordon, what about the President’s announcement?” I asked so enthusiastically and in hopes of having a wonderful academic, philosophical discussion.  “Yes, isn’t it exciting,” she responded and keep right on charging down the steps.  That concluded our conversation.
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• The Battle of the Sexes- Billy Jean King beat the pants off Booby Fisher in tennis and the whole world cheered for her.

Family-  

•  I graduated from high school in June.  I never thought this day would come.  I hated school and I could hardly wait to get out and be on my own.
• My cousins from my mother’s side moved from Hawaii to Virginia.  They came to our houses with lei made from the most fragrant orchids. They put these flowers around our heads and they were strangers to me.
• We rented a house on Long Beach Island for the month of August.  My grandparents come with us.  The house was too small for all of us but that didn’t matter as we were mostly outside all day.  It was only a problem when it rained.  And then the house was a prison, closing in on us.