Marshfield High School - Tide Yearbook (Marshfield, MA)

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C iciss f t ' OpL i ' opnec f anet ia an J fan Sh erman Notice: missing— the one and only copy of the 1954 class prophecy of Marshfield High School. One thousand dollar reward. Out of the blue soars a 2154 latest Studley model space ship christened Bump. Reading the sign with his robot vision, the space ship remarks, I could use that tidy sum. Off to the Pearly Gate he flew in search of the 1954 crew for a clue. An odd sight appeared before Bump ' s eyes— a 1930 roadster hotrod stopped before the Pearly Gate. The space ship screamed to a stop before St. Peter. He roared to St. Peter in a booming voice, Is George Dow in there? Of course not, is the reply. What did George ever do to get in here? Well, is any of the Marshfield 1954 class here? Yes, only two deserving ones, angel s, Ste. Grace Marie Jones and Ste. Judith Curren, teaching all the cherubs. Out walk Ste. Grace and Ste. Judy, with pure white dresses and gold halos above their heads, wondering with whom St. Peter is talking. All they could see was a space ship, which roared at them in a strangely familiar voice— Bump ' s voice, Where is our prophecy? Grace answered in a tinkling voice, I don ' t know. Find Janet and Smoky. In a cloud of gold dust Bump took off. He knew where to look for them. Down three levels by way of the China rice fields Bump plows. Even the devil didn ' t know where Smoky and Janet were. Bump buzzed down to the last level, the reincarnation cen- ter. In the President ' s office there wasn ' t a soul in sight. All this office consisted of was a desk, easy chair, water cooler, and a clock on the wall. The desk sounded amazingl y like Alfred whose rise to executive power amazed everyone. Be seated, spoke the desk in an efficient tone. Bump sprawled into the easy chair which emitted a sleepy groan. Down came a gavel hard on the desk— for once Elsie was knocking Alfred around. The easy chair jumped with a start. Alfred shouted, Jake, don ' t ever let me catch you sleeping on the job again. Yes, master, murmured the easy chair. A bub- bling began from the water cooler; private secre- tary, Beatrice was giggling again. The quiet clock on the wall chimmed softly at the hour. A wonderful clock, remarked Alfred. Arlene gives her time so freely, as my other private secre- tary. What do you want. Bump? If it ' s the prophecy, I haven ' t seen it. Everyone must report to my office once a week; you will have to wait for the authors to appear. In walked a needle and a thimble, formerly the two best dressmakers in Paris, Barbara Shaw and Beverly Fletcher. They still show their punctuality by being the first to report. Before the thimble and needle have a chance to go back to their respective sewing cubbyholes, a zebra accompanied by a cop- per spring bounced in. The zebra (alias ex-convict. Pretty Boy Sinnott) (alias the Foot) commanded, No one leaves this office until the prophecy is found. We want the reward, confessed Don, copper spring, Monroe, a one-time swindler who sold coiled copper wire for fantastic prices, claiming that if the wire were put on the carburetor, it would give a tremendous saving of gasoline. Just a minute, screamed the desk and down came the gavel again. Just a minute nothing replied the big-footed zebra, we are controlling the office now. The class of ' 54 began to file in by two ' s and three ' s. Down in the corridor was heard a ringing and whirring noise coming toward the office. Kath- rine was now a telephone complaining that she had to listen instead of talk. Bette Kelley, a vacuum cleaner, was forever picking up dirt. Through the ventilator of the office floated in an atomic submarine The worthy Captain Ralph Ben- nett went down with his ship in the War of 1984. The barking of a vicious dog was heard; it was chasing a telescope, which was followed by a ruined negative. Peter Theran had cured so many dogs of ferociousness that it had become incurable in him. To make things worse, surveyor John Callahan, now a telescope, had taken away Peter ' s new hospital site. John Caswell had taken pictures of this situa- tion. Now as a ruined negative, he is still trying to develop his hobby into a profession. In hobbled an elephant ' s tusk; nobody could imagine who it was. Then Billy Bryant told his sad story. He had been an elephant hunter in the African wilds. The law of averages finally caught up with him.

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Imagine Judy Curren and Janet Ela going to Paris for a month? Sound fantastic? Well, it hap- pened on the night of December 4, 1953. Judy and Janet, as Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough, stepped onto the M.H.S. stage and took us to the 1920 ' s in the senior class play. Our Hearts Were Young and Gay. Cornelia and Emily, as they prepare to sail for Europe, are trying to appear sophisticated although Mr. and Mrs. Skinner (John Callahan and Kathrine Schatz) treat them as immature 19-year-olds. The confusion of sailing is increased by the Herculean efforts of the ste’O ' rd (Tony Hatch) as he delivers trunk after trunk to the tiny stateroom, and by the loss and recovery of the ever-present safely pockets. The experiences of the girls on shipboard, hil- arious throughout, include romantic entanglements with two Harvard med students (Alfred Almeida and John Caswell), meeting with the two fright- fully ripping British girls (Betsy Anderson and Jayne Nangle), mistaking the ship ' s band leader (Don Monroe) for an admiral, the second return of the elusive safety pockets by the purser (Smokey Sher- man) and his assistant (Beatrice Gonsalves) ' and Emily ' s pat on the back for catching a stowaway. The first tragedy of the voyage comes when Cornelia contracts the measles as the health inspector (Bette Kelley) is about to reach their cabin. What a dilemma! Powder and lipstick are plastered all over Cornelia by Dick, Emily and Leo in order to cover the dreaded spots. With the aid of a charm- ing chapeau , Cornelia succeeds in passing the health inspection as they arrive in Le Havre. Arriving in Paris, Cornelia and Emily register at a boarding house run by Madame Elise and her daughter (Barbara Shaw and Grace Jones). Pre- vious guests had included Cardinal Richdiieu and among the present occupants were . . . bedbugs! Cornelia ' s swollen lip the following morning indicated they had had little to eat since the Cardinal ' s visit. The arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Skinner finds the dis- tinguished Otis, the mighty hunter put to work on the scrubbing detail. Thus ended tragedy number two, with the girls and their Harvard escorts leav- ing for dinner in Paris. Monsieur de la Croix (Peter Theran), the noted French actor whose only interest in Cornelia was her actor-father, finally agreed to give her acting lessons. Tragedy number three struck when Monsieur belittled Cornelia ' s acting ability with this pro- nouncement, Why don ' t you take up dressmaking? Discouraged and disheartened, Cornelia went into a series of monologues which drew the approval of all present, including the window cleaner (Peter Sinnott). The fond farewell of the two girls to their room in Paris created a mood of sadness which was abruptly broken when the safety pockets were dis- covered under the bed as the curtain fell. From early November, when the cast was chosen, laughter could be heard through the corridors in M.H.S.; it reached its peak the day costumes were being fitted. Those flapper fashions really did things for the cast, and to the audience. Knickers, blazers, clothes, safety pockets, life jackets, slinky black dresses . . . plus the foghorn and chocolate cake: the list is infinite. No doubt we will always remember the unex- pected curtain in Act III for emergency repairs (won ' t we, Judy?j. And someday Tony will get the point of his jokes. Will we ever forget the male dishwashing machines for our cast dinner . . . the scrumptious roast beef . . . the nerve-racking rehearsals . . . the big haunt and the little haunt (directors, that is) . . . the trips to Hubbard ' s . . . everybody out from backstage ? Yes, December 4, 1953, is a day we will long remember with a great d al of pleasure.

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Suddenly through the ceiling crashed a new star of the galaxy, Tony Hatch, famous six dimension come- dian. Hi, everyone! Want to hear my latest joke. Ha-Ha-Ha-! A blackboard struggled into the crowded office. Jayne Nangle had the best disciplined junior high class. Her class did only one thing wrong; they threw erasers at the blackboard. Since Jayne was the object of their aim, she knows how a backboard must have felt when she used to slam a basketball against it. In tripped a huge Webster dictionary— Donald Coit, an eloquent orator; no longer is Don at a loss for words. Frannie Hannaford, once an Olympic champion rolierskater, did not show her championship style as she stumbled into the office as a roller skate. Everyone was delighted to have the new fantastic permanent wave machine join them at this time. Kathy Cobb had styled many famous hairdos. An eyelash fluttered in. The class of ' 54 could scarcely see who it was. As is the case with all flirtatious eyelashes, it has an objective. It was try- ing to cover up roving eyes. It ' s Betsy, everyone shouted. A hush fell over the room The roar of a lion and the honk of a moose were heard; then they came in sight. Perched between the moose ' s antlers was a basketball. Moose and Ben had just arrived from Ellsworth, Maine. Now Ben realizes what a basket- ball feels like when slapped, swishing through the net. Moose was his good old self. Bob Habel, Fear- less Fagan of the Detroit Lions, famous lion quater- back threw himself over the one yard line into the room. All but four of the ' 54 class were present. No one could get out until the prophecy was found and the authors were among the missing. The desk, Alfred, picked up a gold plated pencil to write an order. He kept hearing a squeek from the almost worn-off eraser. It was Smoky Sherman. Now the executive, who continually crossed out words, is an eraser- finding out what his purpose in life is. Everyone yelled to Smoky at once, Where is the prophecy? The only reply poor, worn-out Smoky could squeak out was, Here comes Janet. She ' ll tell you. A tailless horse came trotting into the room. The implication was obvious— Janet had gone through life with only the tail; now she has to live out the other half. The desk shouted, Where in heaven ' s name is the prophecy? It ' s in George ' s hot rod; we put it there in an envelope the Saturday night before it was due. Somebody from the Class of ' 54 yelled, George isn ' t here yet! In the midst of confusion the space ship. Bump, roared, I saw George ' s rod in front of the Pearly Gate; he must be stalled there. Within seconds the Class of ' 54 had piled into the space ship and Bump soared off to Heaven. The first thing sighted was a ladder trying to scale the Pearly Gate. Carpenter Joe Carr had built himself a ladder on earth, because he knew that was the only way he could ever get into Heaven. A heart-rending sob was heard from the dead engine. It was George; he wouldn ' t start. Thirty-one objects grabbed for the envelope lying on the car floor (George had never taken a beating like this, not even in football). The desk opened the envelope. To the astonishment of the Class of ' 54 (except the old worn-out eraser and the tailless horse) the en- velope was empty. The old rusty crank, presumed to be Miss Miller, was so furious that the prophecy hadn ' t been written yet that it whirred and cranked so hard and so fast that the motor started abruptly. The antique Ford roadster plowed through the Pearly Gate and the Class of 1954 disapeared into Heaven. Judy Curren, Jayne Nangle, Peter Theran, John Callahan, Janet Ela, Arlene Murphy.