Paris District High School - Yearbook (Paris, Ontario Canada)

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...W . -.- - - -- -.-.,. -. , 20 --- PARIS HIGH SCHOOL YEAR BOOK, 1943 H nasium and the subsequent games that we played there, but those pleas- lrires were practically offset' by the ,act that there were windows in the doors of all the classrooms. We re- sented it terribly, andlwheneverxone of the teachers or the principal pass- ed by and eyed us through the glass, we fastened him orlher a unit- ed, resentful stare which. was even rnore hostile because it had no appar- ent effect. , After.two days We,.all agreed that we hated and loathed the new school, and we wished that we.could go back to the old one. It took at least a month before We settled down and decided .that.it wasn't such a bad 'place after all. , Unbekno.wn to us,. though, , we had passed, notmonly from one school to another but fromwone era into an- other. Coincidentally with your gration, Victorianism breathed its last. and we were coming into what was called the flapper age. Skirts that had hung modestly between the knee and the ankle suddenly ascend- ed to heights well above the knee. Girlish, rounded figures became un- fashionable, and . tomboy'? outhts were the order of the day. They con- sisted of boy's shirts and ties ,and very short, tight skirts, Simultan- eously off came the girl's hair .and ninety percent of them sported boy- ish bobs with hair shingled like. a man's. It was also at this time that the slang term, Hot dog , swept, not only the school, but the whole of the North American continent. . It was the birth of slang as a living part of the American language. Is it any wonder that we allfelt a bit befuddled? Two years before, in the winter, the girls had unquest- icningly worn what was then referr- ed to as our long underwea1 '. We folded them as. neatly as possible around. our ankles -and pulled our warm hose over them, The high- laced boots covered the worst of the bulgss.. A neat, slim ankle was not a required feminine charm, We were quite resigned to the 'fact that our ankles had the same general contour as those of an elephant. Not years, but months later, We all threatened to die if our mothers did not ,at once supply us with silk stockingsl A charming coiffure also disap- peared from public view at about this time. It was called 'tcootie-de-lod- ges. ' I can offer no alternative name, as I know no other. It con- sisted of taking the sideuhair, back combing it industriously, and smooth, ing it into great puffs over theears. It gave the general effect of large, bulbous ear-muffs. The top hair was brought in a low swoop over the forehead and the back firmly held in place by a hair ribbon or a barret. With the outward changes came many others, equally revolutionary, The charleston, forerunner of the big' apple, was the dance cfm the day. Gone was the comparative dignity of the waltz and forg- trot. .We charlestoned to and from class. We charlestoned down the street and even in our rooms at night in front of the mirror to attain that essential degree of perfection. She by Rider Haggard was the po- pular novel of the day, replacing I., MQ. Montgomery's. 'fAnne of Green Gables. Rudolph Valentino was our hero, .and the most admired b,oy.Iat school was a sloezeyed lad who walk- ed with. the sinuousgraceof a pan- ther. Radios were becoming popul- ar. Two years previously in my class

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Below, Grade X Key on Opposite Page Above, Grade X-C