Friday, October 28, 2011

Halloween Countdown #15:
Hi There, High School!

For the final installment of the Halloween Countdown series, which has featured the most horrifying ephemera I can find, here is the cover of "Hi There, High School!" by Gay Head.1

The Scholastic Book Services paperback was originally published in 1953 and this is the twelfth printing from December 1962. The title page inside describes the book as containing "Tips on how to be counted in with -- and how to make yourself count -- in school life."

Some of the book's chapter titles include:
  • Yea-a-a Central!
  • The Traffic System
  • Heads ... You Win!
  • Cheers for the Team
  • Party Politics
  • Popularity Plus
Meanwhile, Gay Head's2 introduction includes the following passage:
The doors swing open on a new school term. You're back, and you -- but there come Bev and Bud! You catch their conversation.

"Hiya, Bev!" Bud calls. "Say, where did you get that swell sun tan?"

"Down on the farm," Bev replies. "You're looking A-1 yourself, Bud. Working at the filling station must have been good for you."

"Heck, I thrived on it!" Bud grins. "Have you seen Pat this morning?"

"Yes, she and Tom are in the office, arranging a senior class meeting. Lucky, aren't we, to have those two as our class leaders?"

"You can say that again! Tom's as fine as they come, and Pat -- well, it's no wonder she's so popular..."

You eye them enviously as they walk down the corridor. That's the way you want to be -- friendly and self-confident, like Bev and Bud; admired, like Tom; popular, like Pat.
Oh yes, it's safe to say this book is a reflection of a time that's as foreign to us now as Mars or The Shire.


Footnotes
1. Nope. Not going there.
2. Still not going there.

2 comments:

  1. "Still not going there." But thank you for using the author's full name again. Also, great reference to "Lord of the Rings".

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mission For Today: Find someone named "Bud" (who worked at a gas station this summer) so that I can use this keen line, "You're looking A-1 yourself, Bud. Working at the filling station must have been good for you."

    ReplyDelete