Horn Blows and other social rituals

My invitation to join KMS

As you know, I went to an all girl's high school. We really had to be creative as we became dating age because there was no social contact between the boys and the girls. Back, long before I got there, someone decided that sororities and fraternities would be a good idea. This would help bring about a social life for everyone. As you made friends in Junior High, you would align yourself with friends so that when you reached Senior High, they would "rush" you and, hopefully, invite you to belong to their sorority.

Each sorority and fraternity had a big formal dance. They were equally set throughout the year so that what most people know as Prom season did not converge all at once. My sorority had a spring formal. The sorority that my sister belonged to had a winter formal, so literally there were one to two formals a month. That could really drain the budget!!

The horn blows. Each sorority had a specific horn blow. Try beeping your car horn in little staccato beeps. Some I remember were: Beep,Beep,Beep, - Beep,Beep,Beep- Beep Beep Beep. That signified one sorority. Then there was Beep,Beep, - Beep Beep, Beep Beep. I hope you get the idea. The purpose of the horn blow was so that if you were going through a neighborhood and passing one of your friends houses, you could do the horn blow and she would know exactly who was passing.

Artist rendering of The Pig 'n Whistle

This was the hang out. It was where everyone converged after a date or instead of a date. If you were hanging out with girl friends, you would go to the Pig. It was THE meeting spot. It was there that you could see who was dating whom. (Side note. My Daddy worked there with Aunt Willie Mae's husband, Glenn and Glenn introduced Daddy to my Mother. It was when he first arrived in Macon and they were working there as short order cooks.) After socializing for hours and having the Pig Special, you would leave and, of course, as you were driving out of the parking lot, you would do your sorority horn blow. (See how important these horn blows were.)

Here I am at one of the formals. This one was called The Peppermint Twist. Have you ever seen a bigger dress? I am only five feet tall, so I was all dress and, of course, the obligatory french twist hair do. I think this was about 1962.

This was at the Military Ball in March of 1964. The young man in the photo was really just a friend. His name is Bill Fields. I had so exhausted the formal budget for the year that my friend, Sharon Orwan made my dress. (We have lost Sharon to breast cancer in 2005.) She was an amazing seamstress to be a senior in high school, but I thought it looked really nice. As you can see, the style had become a little straighter and no longer were the big hooped ball gowns fashionable.









This was at one of the big dances and the young man is Lee Tanksley. Lee was really my High School Sweetheart. We went to several big dances together and dated until my junior year. He was quite accomplished. He was the band Drum Major and, also, Captain of the Golden Boots precision drill team at the boys high school.


Lee went to the University of Georgia and participated in ROTC there. So when he graduated from college, he was immediately commissioned into the Army as a Lieutenant. He served two tours of duty in Viet Nam. We stayed in touch most of our adult life. He married and had a son and lived in Jackson, Mississippi. In January, 1988, I got a phone call from his cousin Nancy and she said sadly that he had committed suicide. I had not talked with him in a while and all she was able to tell me was that he was depressed over many things. He was 42.


Every now and then, when I go through old pictures and I come across a picture of him that I saved, I am truly sad. He took me to my first big dance and he took me out on my 16th birthday. It just did not compute that he would end his life so young and so tragically. I think this was a life defining moment for me and made me realize just how important life is and how short it can be.

This is just a snippet of dating in the 60's. It was a wonderful time. It was a safe time. I'm sure I'll share more of the stories of my friends and growing up in upcoming posts.