Thanks for the Memories - Graduations Cards

The Graduate is overwhelmed by accolades given by all sorts of friends, family members and relatives, some he and she have not seen in years. What is it about Graduation parities?  First of all, it is a cultural tradition termed as a rite of passage marking one stage of a person’s lift to another. (See more about it at: http://www.netglimse.com

I barely remember my graduation from Grammar school and a little bit more from High school. What I do recall from my Grammar School Graduation is the dress I wore and still have. I couldn’t begin to tell you why and how it was saved for these past 50 years, but I was and still am crazy about it. Why? It was the material. If you could feel whip cream, that is what it felt like to me. It was soft, light and fluffy. And it was a “Jonathan Logan” Dress, a popular manufacturer of dresses geared to the young, but not the super trendy, usually classic and dressy. The company was founded in 1944 by David Schwartz. These dresses are very retro and can be found on https://www.etsy.com/ and http://www.ebay.com/  

at prices my family could not have afforded. Here are two pictures of my dress, still in great condition except for a little staining. When I can expand my family museum, I will proudly display the dress.  As for what I wore for my High school graduation I couldn’t tell you. What I do have are some of the cards, and boy, are they funny.

 When I starting gathering things for our family museum, I found two thick manila envelopes stuffed with cards. I could tell that these were some old cards by the ever-so distinguishable smell of mold. They have been stored in basements, attics, and garages. So, I opened a window and opened the envelopes. Cards in all sorts of sizes, styles, and colors congratulating me on my graduation from Grammar school in June of 1964 and High school in June of 1968. Holy Cow!

I looked at the Grammar school cards first. Out of the eleven cards saved, these are the most interesting three. Goofy and cute, sophisticated and conservative, all the cards had words of congratulations and good wishes for the future. I cannot remember any of the gifts I received, except one – a lipstick from a neighbor – only because I wrote it on the card. And like the gift, I wrote down how much money was in each card. Don’t you just love the monetary amounts? All together, I received $32.00. That was a lot of money back then . . .

Do you still have some of your Grammar school graduation cards?         

Four years later came the High School graduation cards. Out of the fifteen cards saved, these four were the most interesting. Always a goofy card, some cute and charming, and one serious. Again, I wrote down the gift and amount of money received: a charm for my charm bracelet (very popular at the time), a stuffed Koala Bear, a beach bag and an American Tourist suitcase (expensive). A little more money came my way; $53.00, but hardly enough for continuing an education. No college for me. I went straight to work and that next summer (1969), I had enough money to take my very first trip (without the parents) to Florida. After all, I had my suitcase and beach bag. What more does a gal need?

My hubby share with me his graduation memories. He, too, received what today seems like a paltry amount of money, but with his ingenious humor, he said, ". . . that $3.00 bought a lot of gasoline back then (1968), enough for me to drive to Lizzie's house and take her out for a date . . . " (he cunningly smiled.

Do you still have any of your high school graduation cards?

 

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