Samuel Gompers Vocational Technical High School - Artisan Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

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L' ' W In our second year we began to learn our chosen trade Yes men we began to notlce the belles of Gompers Mlss L1pk1nd Mrs Engelberg Mlss Pearlman Mlss Pertz and Mlss Bekassy At -la-r first we men electr1c1ans mechanlcs were lndlg H nant to find women teachlng us After a brlef per1od under thelr comblned femlnme charms 1dea after all Av I however we decided maybe It wasnt such a bad A great tragedy occurred 1n our sophomore year Presldent Roosevelt d1ed The awesome sxlence that hung over the school for weeks follow 1ng can st11l be remembered Then ln keepmg w1th the tlmes our school went on strlke We didn t sympath1ze wlth the mmers tugboat owners or truckers We were backmg the gym teachers m thelr iight for more whrte pamt for the yards and s1lk lace gym shorts Another Fleld Day came along rowmg on the lake fallxng nn the lake Who pushed me anyway? R6C6lVlI1g our spots IH dldnt need them We saw a General El6Ctf1C exh1b1t1on of the magxc of electrlclty and as a result some of the Auto boys are st1ll shortmg out batterxes to see the sparks This was the term that we were destlned to taste Johns cooklng We stood nervously m 11ne awaxtlng our turn to be served It was then that we first saw John sllce meat and I do mean sl1ce When he washed a plece off the water went rlght through It It was not unt1l several terms later we found out that due to the thlnness of the pxeces a certam drawmg teacher was usmg them for traclng paper It was also thls year that we first met Frank and became loyal devotees of Italian cooklng The Junlor year meant somethmg to us only two more years to graduatlonl I wonder lf you st1ll remember the poor battered remnants of the student caught ln the lunchroom scramble outside Room 209 Thanksglvxng Day But then what was one casualty when turkey was belng served? The two places wlth the hlghest attendance on holldays Salnt Roch s and Saint Paramount s Then tragedy struck' The monltor system was dropped No more could we make our lunch money by chargmg admlsslon to the rookles returnmg from Frank s Those were hard days We began to know teachers by thelr first names There were Panama B111 Peaceful Pete and Brother Max Gompers students reached the pmnacle of raclal and I'6l1gl0LlS understandmg Some of the fellows to further demonstrate thelr freedom from blas took off on Jewlsh and Cathollc Hohdays not to men t1on the Chlnese Greek and Hlndu ones These boys were really tolerant' 13 1 I I U v g f I L . ' I V ky If : ' ' ' , . , S ' ff-I ' , ' , ' . -- , y v y ' - f 1 I ' ' I of , . . . . 9 I .I . . , Q' U x I ' I . J , . V Y ' - . ' 1 ' . the gym, we again snatched our passes from our pockets only to End we . , . . . . . 7 8 , . . . . . . ' tt ' YY , . . . v . , on . , . , ' 9 ' if ' V1 LK YU ' Y 9 CC 77 ' u ' Y . , . . . , - ' I I I ' n

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Kaclz f'l7il5u'i f fe f V lk Q Thxs was the day' At last a Gomperlte' I left my house wlth a some what nervous feellng accompanled by a forebodlng that thls was to be an lmportant day m my llfe I had walked a few feet when I was swallowed up by a lumberlng 1ron reptlle whxch carr1ed me away Lucklly It moved ln the d1rect1on I wlshed to go so I stood complacently awaltlng a chance to dxsembark I accompllshed thls and proceeded to my destmatlon The 1ron gate was open when I arrlved so I entered Immedlately I was set upon by a group of monsters wearlng large p1ns w1th the word Senxor on them Belng momentarxly bllnded by an array of the gaudlest t1es I had seen I submitted to thelr demands I found myself the proud owner of dozens of assorted passes to the gym spots and the swxmmlng pool I began my search then and there for the aCt1V1tleS that would be available to me through the use of my passes Wlth the cry of rookle st1ll reverberatmg 1n my ears I ventured out lnto the dark unknown Cwe got out at five o clock thenj my first day at Gompers Hnlshed That 1n1t1al term was a tough one The former blg shots of grammar school were on the recelvmg end of the puns Oh how many egos were deflated' Do you remember your Fzrst meetmg w1th Mlster L1fton and how you thought he was only a well dressed student? Does Mlster SChlff still mlx Engllsh wlth chess stamps and gupp1es We had our Fnrst Fleld Day and from the look of some of those polo and sweatshirts we decxded that teachers are human too The summer vacatlon over we began agam that r1de to Samuel Gompers upper freshman Oh how we howled at the new rookles taking revenge on them for our slx months of verbal lashlngs and how we would draw ourselves to full hexght when Semors came near so as not to be mistaken for these new 111 bred peasants And then we found the elevator Some of us whlpped out our passes and attempted to make use of them After llstemng to Johns brogue and staggermg un der the strange looks that came over hls face we retreated hastlly EQ, fav ,..- Z1 --f--1 12 il :Wm T l e I fi c c P A-L, 'M It I ' . 14 f .', 49 - -13 3' . ' I my 0, r 1 - ' l'l 1 x f t , HIE, ,X u g ! HZ! L f

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A... H s gi's.C? Summer came and Gomperltes went some to Rockaway some to the Catskllls and some poor souls to work That glorlous ten weeks ended all too soon and we returned to the drudgery of marchmg rn lock step through the halls We st1ll wondered why Mr Wallen had that Flfty callber machlne gun on the wmdow We also had canned music mtroduced ln the lunch room but th1s was soon drscontmued because of a malady pecullar to all Gompers students they love to smg We still thmk the teachers secreted the phonograph away to the Nlcotme Nook Slowly but surely we became seventh termers Mr Dman became a constant menace to any boys found talkmg about plumbmg ln the sewers The Tech boys learned to walt wxth Mr Bedell Mr Garfunkel was already an old frlend Speakmg of tremendous s1zes how many muscle sore Semors can remember or more than lxkely forget the Calxforma Redwood Tree they had to carry to leave Rooms 208 and 209 Once agam our passes were whlpped out but thxs t1me we sold them and four hundred rookies began thelr search for the elevator as we had four years before L1fe 1n the lunchroom was pretty much the same Imposslblel Mary was st1ll passlng out the salaml sandwlches and we kept looking for the salaml The G O Mov1e was Gaudalcanal Dlary Mr Ollvet decxded thls had been a blg mistake because fifty Senxors left the next day to Jom the Marmes He was a llttle relleved when forty mne were turned down QThey couldnt pass the lxteracy test l As we approached the top half of our Senior year we began to hear rumors about a certam dxctatorxal overlord by the name of Barker It became nothlng to see Senlors shudder and famt at the mere mentxon of bxll for graduatlon by one of his Majestys underlmgs Shocked by the amount we would need we declded to make the supreme SHCFIHCC we would go to work Congress passed the draft b1ll The Semors passed out The hats came and most of us looked good wlth them on our desks And then Semor Day the tables turned revenge' Now teachers had to iight to stay awake while we droned away The term flew by like the lunch perxod between mathematics and sclence and pretty soon we were ln the audl torxum practlcmg for graduation Then came another day The same feeling we had that first day stole over us We walked through that 1ron gate to shake hands wlth our frxends of the past four years reallzmg that some of them we would never see agam We were happy we were graduatmg but deep down we wlshed lt was just another Frlday and we had to re turn to school on Monday 117' I U 4? f Q. 'wg' f-M-js fM'1n?0 plug George Duncan 14 . y , , . Y Y 3 . u . . QQ ' ' Y! ' . ' . ' ll U' KK ' V9 ' . l . . , - Y 5 . , . . , . , . . M . ,, . . . I U. . . . . , his name. Simultaneously with our promotion we were presented with a . . . . , . v Q Y . .- 1 . I , 0 f . A 1 . 'in V l , . . g , . .. . v I o 4 1 F , , ' ,1,L fr ' - , .K NG. ' 0 I ' fly -A O l' , ,.