Manual Arts High School - Artisan Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

Page 19 text:

MANUAL ARTS Then-Now-Hereafter THEN Few are the numbered ones left who can look back at the past and reflect upon the old days at Manual. With the outgoing tide that sweeps this Senior A class from the quiet shoals out into different cur- rents, all but a few will have been erased from the white sands of Manual Arts, leaving the new generation sparkling in the sun, radiant with hope and ambition. Let us look back into the past a little. Can you picture the scene. The North and South building, with the long board walk between. We were styled the Country Cousinf' and the surroundings and our appearance sure did fit the title. We walked in dust, breathed and ate it. You could write your name on your desk five minutes after cleaning it, and at lunch time, at the lunch counter all the food resem- bled chocolate eclair. But we put up with it and did hard work under trying conditions. Our assembly hall was what is now the machine shop. The floor space in the middle was taken up with school seats, while on each side tiers of bleachers ran up to the roof. In front, against the wall, was a rude board stage, about the size of a cracker box. Our assemblies were Overhanging : that is to say, the gallery gods presided over the assem- bly in the rafters. It was like the days of Shakespeare's Court Theatre, only the mob occupied the boxes and the aristocrats the pit. The rough comedy was enjoyed by all, since 'our playhouse was rough and the play likewise. We were as a settlement on the border, rough and ready, and the conduct of some of our students at that time was of the same caliber. Our social activities were few and the appetite for study was at that time marvelous. Our atfletic field was a snow drift .of dust, and as we were not equipped with snow shoes and skis, we did not try to outdo Norway in her sports, but picked the few hard spots to practice football and a few track events. A. small schcol paper was edited every once in a while, which published the doings of our Hskulef' ' The car service and street facilities were simply marvelous. We had a sentry.posted on the top of the North building, and when he sifted a San Pedro car coming down Vermont, fe gave the signal and school was adjourned for a recess, while the said electric Vehicle plowed its way past our school. Noise? Oh, no! You could hear it when it stopped at San Pedro and school was resumed. The conductor and motorman only made one trip, after that they retired with pensions and white beards to their homes. Such were the early days at Manual: maybe I put too much paint on the brush, but after it dries out, it will be a pretty good picture,