Mike Tussey: Those school years of the 1950s were indeed — Happy Days

It’s January 29, and amid the gloom of recent polar vortex temperatures and snow, sometimes we daydream.

Perhaps those great high school days when you were a senior in high school, for some of us, graduation couldn’t get here quick enough, others are not so sure. It may have been decades ago, but those years left indelible memories we will never forget.

By the time you’re a senior you’re knocking on the door of 18 and somehow you think you know it all. By the time you were a freshman, you felt insignificant and had no status at all. Nevertheless, your tenure during those high school years created some of the best times of your lives.

The friends you made were great and some even became a confidant with whom you spent lots of time with during and after school. Those teen years were very special given that your persona and personality was being formed day by day.

Some of us were like a “mouse” – seldom seen or heard. Others become loud and aggressive and full of confidence. The teen years yield tremendous growth especially in height. Let’s face it, some guys who are 6’3 dwarf a kid who is 5’6 and that difference makes a huge difference in confidence and stature. Some girls, even though they may not like it, become very tall and love it, others would rather not tower over the smaller boys.

For me, come on along for a trip back in time to the innocence of the mid 50s in the small town of Ashland, Kentucky.

My high school years were spent at a small parochial school – Ashland Holy Family located in the west end of the city where I graduated with the class of 1956. Yeah, it was way back there in the mid 20th Century. Our Senior Class consisted of just a total of 20 — 12 girls and 8 boys. I got to be good friends with most of the Class of 1957 which was small as well consisting of only 21 – 13 girls and 8 boys.

Ashland High was a huge school located in the East part of the city – usually graduating 200 or so annually. Ashland Junior College was very popular in the 50s and became the “place to be” for good reason.

The age of innocence was punctuated by televisions’ Howdy Doody Show from 1947-1960 and of course the Mickey Mouse Club in its early years of 1955-1959. If you remember the TV series “Happy Days” from 1974-1984, you felt a sense of what life was all about in the mid 20th Century – the 1950s. A huge impact was that of “fads” that dictated what the boys and girls wore daily.

For me, I conformed quickly in my sophomore year. The uniform of the day was two hair styles you could choose from. One style was a “Fonzie” look with long hair and duck tails, the other a “Flat Top.” I chose the “Flat Top” to accentuate the styles of the day such as 14” pegged trousers, shirts worn with the collar and sleeves up, a very narrow belt, and of course, “White Buck” shoes per Pat Boone. In short, I thought I was “cool.”

Although many guys didn’t conform to the fads of the day, they preferred wearing just a T shirt, Levi’s to the hips, and a pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve. Of course, no sight of white bucks, but possibly sneakers or boots.

Smoking was huge back in the 50s due to cigarette use and advertising in the movies and television. So much so if you looked close at a smokers hand you would see the dark yellow nicotine stains on two fingers. No filters yet.

For the girls, you would find them wearing two tone shoes known as Saddle Shoes, a huge skirt worn very long, mid-length to short hair styles, and maybe even a class ring around the neck belonging to a boy friend.

Most girls were very reserved just like many of the guys.

By the time we were 16, most all of us had our driver’s license and with that came with some independence. However, only a few of us were privileged to drive to school. By the way, there were NO school busses back then. If there was a foot of snow, we were expected to be present for class. You never forget those high black boots.

The craziest thing we ever did was during my senior year when we crammed 11 of us into my friend Bob Lynch’s 1941 Ford sedan. Once we got crammed in, it was time for a leisurely drive uptown. The back seat was a bad place to be.

My first trip to the principal’s office came when I began playing a piano in study hall during my senior year. My mini-concert was cut short with my trip to the office which I would rather have not made. It cost me 30 minutes after school cleaning blackboards etc.

That stunt was mentioned in Class of ’56 annual for our class prophesies which envisioned me playing a concert at Carnegie Hall in 1970.

My second trip was during my senior year when I left the school ground to get a candy bar across 9th street at Coleman’s Market. The Nun caught me and off to the principal’s office for disciplinary action.

Smoking was something I never did during my young years and to this day, I can honestly say that I have never even tried it. My father died of lung cancer at age 60 due to his smoking all his life. I couldn’t stand the smell, let alone inhaling it into my body.

Of our very small graduation class of 1956, I wonder how many are deceased now. Likely, many have passed on. The only Holy Family reunion I attended was in 1988 when I was 50 at the K of C Hall back home. Since it was a very small school, multiple classes were invited to attend. We all change over the many years for sure, not one person recognized me, but it had been 32 years since graduation.

My only regret was not playing basketball for the “Irish.”

During those after-school days kids back then from the west end of town migrated to the old dust bowl courts behind Holy Family High. The crowd included my buddies from over at Booker T Washington High – Jack Tolbert, Newt Owens, Teddy Brown, Jim Thomas and others.
I had developed a jump shot back then with some dribbling skills, but never tried out for Holy Family’s team. Looking back, I should have for my sophomore year.

One thing for sure, Ashland’s two high schools may have been on opposite ends of town, but we all hung out socially and became life-long friends. In fact, I met Camilla Jo Curnutte, an Ashland Tomcat Band Majorette with the class of 1958 one night at the very popular Bluegrass Grill in 1961. I remember it just like it was yesterday.

In June 2024, we celebrated our 63rd wedding anniversary.

Such is life, growing up in a small Kentucky town.

It’s time to snap a finger and return to the 21st Century and our brand new year of 2025.

How about you?

I bet you have a ton of great memories too.

Just like the songs says – THOSE WERE THE DAYS!

Mike Tussey has “retired” from a 60-plus-year career as a legendary play-by-play announcer for over 2000 football, baseball, and basketball games, including most recently for ESPN+. His career also includes a stint in law enforcement, teaching and coaching, and writing books, including the “Touchdown Saints.” He grew up in Eastern Kentucky and now lives in Florence with his wife, Jo. He has opened another “Door of Opportunity” and is now a regular columnist for the NKyTribune.