With all the angst and hatred in the world today, I stated reminiscing about when I graduated elementary school and began high school in 1946. I was only 13 but since most of my classmates were older I was just as sophisticated having moved from NYC to far out suburbia. The war had ended and the music was still swing and hot jazz. All through high school I'd get a few friends together and drag them to NY on Saturday afternoons. We'd take the bus into the Port Authority and sneak into the back entrance of the Astor Hotel where one of the big bands was playing. I knew largely how to avoid getting caught as we were supposed to be 18 since they served liquor. We were not interested in that but the music. Other days we'd wander up to the metropole where big band leaders would be playing in the window in the front. There'd be tons of teens and service men returning from WWII dancing right on the side walk to the likes of Artie Shaw, Buddy Rich and a host of others. This went on for the 4 years I was in school and we had a great time. As we got older, we'd show ourselves in the Astor and waited until a sailor or soldier asked us to dance to Vincent Lopez, Jimmy or Tommy Dorsey or Benny Goodman among others. Never a fight or bad word exchanged among the many of us who descended on all the venues we could find. Good times and sad they've gone forever. My parents would have killed me had they known at 13 I began doing this, but you simply cannot take NY out of this girl although I segued into a Jersey one easily enough which is saying something.
Thank you, but could have been a bit more refined grammatically and structure. The idea came across though and that's what I was after. Not a care in the world in those days.
Loved your post Terry, feel exactly the same When I look back I see the young so happy 'and' all that was needed was a coffee bar and good music or - the young and old mixing happily at a good shindig Now I'm just sad at the sights I see and cannot understand why an evening is spent getting so drunk on alcohol and sprawling out onto the streets
Great story. The good old days really were the good old days. The war was over and folks just wanted to live, live; live. I'm not of the big band era but just after. I do remember the movies of that era on the Crosley TV with lots of singing and dancing. After there was Buddy Holly and the Crickets for me.
The 50s weren't bad either. I reached adulthood and had a wider latitude, so became adventuresome and began traveling when I graduated college. The music was still great, but changing. We still danced and had fun even with the Korean War in full swing. We more or less paid little attention to the Cold War, but there were those silly drills the kids had to follow in schools. As if getting under a desk would prevent a nuclear blast touching them. What was disturbing, French IndoChina or as we later knew it was beginning to get very serious and Eisenhower sent some "Advisers" over there. Still nothing to worry about until JFK came along in the 60s. All downhill from that point on.