English High School - Blue and Blue / Record Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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After covering the most memorable day in our English High careers — next to graduation, of course — let us proceed with our first-year activities. We were always picking the splinters out of our pants after wildly cheering on our city championship football team over in the smoky atmosphere of Braves ' Field. Those were the days when giants — our line averaged six feet and one hundred ninety pounds — played football for English. We were all thrilled and chilled on that memorable Thanksgiving day when our line and KORAN KASABIAN wrecked Latin 19-0. But now let us once again venture inside those cherished halls of Montgomery Manor. What period are we entering? — Oh, yes, drill, sir. We really suffered there more than anywhere. Our captain was always referring us to the furniture polish ads whenever we needed hair tonic. He said it ought to polish blocks like ours wonder- fully. Ah, the poor freshmen, we really caught it in drill. There were, of course, those happenings that merit discussion such as the captain who gave the command Spittoons, Column Right, only to bounce off the wall himself; or, perhaps, the freshman, who at the command, Present — Arms! made a formal presentation of his gun to the captain, and then after school made a formal presentation of him- self to the drill master for formal, also private, instruction in the meaning of the various commands. Yes, it was a great year for the freshmen in drill, blistered feet excepted. We might note here that although we were now struggling through December, some were still getting a seat at the wrong lunch. Were their heads or their stomachs the more responsible? The track and hockey seasons were now on and we were in the middle of our first year. Well, with CAPTAIN DOHERTY, RED GILBERT, FRAN MURPHY, and B OB BARRY, JENNINGS and CAPUTO scoring goals, we won the Reggies city championship in hockey. THE RADIO AND DRAMATICS CLUB Presenting The Cavalcade of English High as a Feature of the 12Sth Anniversary Celebration.

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History of the Class of ' 46 By Robert W. Egan As everyone leaves behind him a record, so our great and glorious class has left behind it a record long to be remembered in the annals of English High School. After being requested to write this saga of education, the author decided to keep in the style of English High and so record the more riotous and humorous aspects of our history rather than just the dull ordinary facts. Freshman Year To start with, we must go back four, or maybe more years depending on our various stages of devotion to this citadel of higher education. On one September morn, altogether too summerlike to be a school day, we toddled up from Dover and way-stations in short pants and smoking father ' s best pipe. Then, suddenly, Mont- gomery Manor loomed up ahead, almost as big as the seniors, and there we were. After a brief struggle with those tremendous doors that barricade the various en- trances to the Manor — we were later to learn of doors more easily accessible at various times of day — we finally entered, gasping for breath. We were inside at last I Now to the homeroom, oops, pardon me, but that big fellow with those pearl buttons on his shoulder said, To the cafeteria. Freshman! So, ignoring the disdain in his voice, what else could we do? We went in the general direction of the basement. Then, for the first of many times, did we learn that more than a gen- eral direction is necessary at English. When you give anyone general directions here, a compass, map, and direction finder should accompany every word. After discovering that the cafeteria was not hidden among the lockers; no, it wasn ' t in the courtyard; no, keep out of the boiler room; oh, yes, there it was dead ahead. Dead ahead, at English — that means around the corner to your left; then take the second right. Yes, after a bewildering ten minutes, we were royally welcomed to the cafeteria by the nicest man who politely said in quiet tones: Hey, you! Over there, stupid, don ' t ya listen? Then things really quieted down. To a dull roar, that is. The usual red tape was widely distributed, all having a little stamp bearing the symbol Aw, and then we were off to our homerooms. Yup, now we ' ll see what this joint is really like. Those were our thoughts, but we never really put the necessary emphasis on the see. See? We almost found the third-floor cross corridor before we arrived at our homerooms. But when we got there, the fun really started. Although we had all been briefed on the evils of the rotating block system, we were totally unprepared for the detailed instruction ' that followed. This was a Thursday so we started with, um — let ' s see now — oh, yes, here we are, H14 Ky 155 — oh yes, but what about those things listed above? Oh, those come after E15 and F17. Then we eat, huh?— Oh, that depends on F17, no Mil — oh, please teacher, not that, — well, which side is Mil on, north or south, — I know the cafeteria is in the middle, that makes no difference. North, well then you have first, — no second — oh, you ' ve gotten me all mixed up. Well, anyway, eat when a bell rings and the kids start running. Then take notes on the result. By ne.xt Thursday you ' ll be all set. — Yes, teacher. And so we faced the world and school fearless and unafraid on that first dav long ago. Of course, the fact that ninety per cent ate at either the wrong, or both lunches was a mere nothing. And here we might note the fact that those teachers who endured through those rotating days have entered the new era with either grey or bald heads. Please note the similarity existing among the seniors also.

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We might add, also, that, by now, all of us knew that they didn ' t have pigeon milk in the boiler room. We had also learned about the tile baths and swimming pool, had hunted for the elevator, and had given up looking for the third-floor cross corridor. But we still could have been sent to Mr. Brown for a left-handed monkey wrench for the desks on the left side of the room. We could have also been sent to the bookroom for a special dictionary for freshmen, but other than these our errands were legitimate. The biggest event of our freshman year, however, was the end of the spucky era. No more spuckies; no more could the cry be heard ringing through the cor- ridors and cafeteria: — Hit ' im with a spucky! Alas for an old English High in- stitution. Now, however, the spring drew on — and, — well read the next paragraph. CAPTAIN HENNESSEY had his volunteer squad out heaving bean bags, hand grenades to us, — and here we might pause to hold belated services for the poor inebriate who walked into one barrage, on the wrong side of the street parade. These events occurred in the usual English High style. The only thing that went off as planned, however, was the scientific placing of our certain best drillers in the armory basement guarding the clothes. These same faces were seen in the center of the ranks in the street parade. Now, at the end of our freshman year, let us take one more look at our ath- letic teams, this time turning to baseball. We were co-champions. On top at the end of the sports year as at the beginning. Well, now as we sat sweating in our homerooms, no longer puzzled by the rotating block system, realizing now that cruel fate had decreed that there shall be no elevator or tile showers, we wished that the bell would ring so that we could leave our beloved Alma Mater for two months. Then at last, through the sticky heat of the South End summer, a bell did ring, and chaos reigned I They refer to blue Monday, but alas and alack, They never mention Thursday — the day we go back! LIBRARY WORK HAS APPEALED TO THESE BOYS OF THE E. H. S. LIBRARY CORPS. THEIR WORK HAS BEEN OF REAL SERX ICE TO THE SCHOOL. First row, left to right: Robert Shea, James Amirault, Earl Taylor, . lan Tobin, Leo Kearns, Paul Black, Edward Gula- chenski. Second row: Miss Irene Kelly, Librarian, David Meffan, Edwin Rubin, James Doyle, Arthur Shaw, and William Francis.