Erasmus Hall High School - Arch Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

Page 20 text:

ln The succeeding Terms, Though, we Tound ThaT There were many variaTiOns OT The Three STep. We learned how TO Peabody and Truck lT Down. IT developed ThaT we looked Torward To liops as social evenTs raTher Than social Ordeals. There were Times, however, when iT was a case OT The survival OT The TiTTesT. ThaT was The period when lolly pops were given OuT. Then iT was every man Tor himselT and The devil Take The sucker. As our sixTh Term drew To a close, we became conspicuous. A Tew sTudenTs, especially, came To The nOTice OT everyone, buT They could nOT help iT. You see, They dressed in brighT plaid shirTs and whiTe sTarc'hed collars, checkered coaTs and Trous- ers, and black and whiTe shoes. Sharpies, we called Them. ln passing Trorn Our Third year, a Tew remarks should be made abOuT The girls. They possessed a vaniTy ThaT would have puT CleOpaTra To shame. IT you had sTrolled Through The locker rooms, The Ones in The Old Building, we mean, you would have Tound yourselT surrounded by mirrors TasTened On The inside OT The doors OT Their lockers by adhesive Tape. Dressing rooms in miniaTure were displayed, while The ad- miring Temales could be seen combing Their hair and powdering Their noses in TrOnT OT Them. Even The boys' lockers reTlecTed The vaniTy OT Their OccupanTs. They equipped Their lockers wirh elecTr' l' hT Th ' ' ' baTTeries. ic ig s, e currenT being Turnished by sTorage

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nails were chewed ThaT year and silver rimmed glasses replaced The heavy celluloid ones. Now ThaT we were more maTure, we no longer broughT our lunch To school. lnsTead we Tripped down To The lunch room and made a dash Tor a Table. Whoever goT There TirsT could save as many as seven Tables, and The enTire room was some- Times overTlowing wiTh Ten people. IT we arrived suTTicienTly early, The line waiTing Tor service would only be a block long. SomeTimes, however, The line goT sTuck ahead OT us, and we would eaT our meals while we waiTed. Then we had To remember whaT we had eaTen in order To pay The cashier. We learned ThaT singing was noT always conTined To baThroom showers. One was able To hear much louder vocalizing in The boys' gym lockers. The reason may have been ThaT one could arrange a guarTeT in a locker room wiTh greaTer ease Than in a baThTub. ln order To geT on and remain on a guarTeT, a yodeler could be eiTher big or good. IT he were big, he could Take care OT himselT, and if he were good, he would be allowed To sing. Neverlrheless, sneakers were known To Tly Tor much less Than a sour noTe. While The Music Goes Round and Round was sTill The rage, we held our TirsT prom. Many OT us had jusT learned how To dance, and we could noT waiT To sTep on one anoTher's Toes. YeT, when iT came Time To go on The Tloor, only Three courageous couples sTepped ouT and danced The Box STep. The oTher Timid souls enviably waTched.

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Wheel We were enTering our TourTh year. ThaT was The auTumn oT '36. We were Tound everywhere, in The Quadrangle, in deTenTion, and slaving in The classrooms. In The Erasmian oTTice The ediTors were discov- ered doing LaTin homework. ln The DuTchman oTTice The page ediTors and The TaculTy advisers were eaTing dinner while The headlines were be' ing composed. The EooTlighTers were Teaching a new villain To snarl. The Year Book sTaTT was degeneraTing inTo a debaTing socieTy. The SenaTe was arguing abouT knocks and boosTs in The Year Book. ln The eighTh Term The seniors were melancholy. They wanTed To leave Erasmus l-lall and yeT They did noT wanT To leave. ParTing was being such sweeT sorrow. The upper-classmen appeared To vary wiTh The weaTher, and aT Times They would approach a Tellow-graduaTe-To-be and announce darkly, l'm maTriculaTing. Don'T Touch iTl You'll geT iT dirTy, said The girl as she Tolded The Third page oT her col- lege applicaTion blank. See whaT you've done now wiTh your dirTy old hands? You've messed Eorm S and Forms X, Y, and Z are so much cleaner. Ch, now They won'T leT me inTo college and iT will be all your TaulT! Do go away! You have already smudged my characTer raTing. One day in our lasT year The incineraTor Y ' S' sTarTed To Tlame and The school was cleared oT sTudenTs. Eire engines drove onTo The campus X. , , ' and burly Tiremen dragged a sinewy hose up Three TlighTs oT sTairs. l-leroic Teachers Threw ,V Q coaTs ouT OT The windows To warm The Chilly T sTudenTs. Freshmen quivered and seniors Told Them To buck up. Girls snickered and The boys waTched, engrossed. Then The blaze was exTinguished. The TireTighTers leTT. The Tlagpole 'had supplanTed The ancienT sTaTue oT Erasmus as a meeTing place. The cause oT This was The liTTle Tlower garden ThaT was sTruggling Tor an exisTence aT iTs base. The year beTore seeds had been planTed in Tour square boxes surrounding The l pole. They had been nursed and waTered, buT as soon as The sprouTs saw daylighT, They in- variably lay down and died. This creaTed quiTe a sTir among The sTudenTs, and liTTle groups be- gan To gaTher around The garden To cheer The lingering sprigs. Thus, The Tlagpole became The new meeTing place. Now as we wake up in The middle oT The nighT Tor Senior Singing, we realize ThaT CommencemenT is noT Tar oTT and ThaT noThing can sTop us excepT The English regenTs. So The Class oT June, i937 will leave, secure in The knowledge ThaT iT has per- peTuaTed The spiriT oT Erasmus l-lall.