Historic Hood River
Setting the Table
Notes
Although these young ladies are setting the table for a Christmas party, I think it is a fun image for the Thanksgiving weekend.
This is an Alan Winans image from Wyeast High School, circa 1954. The more I look at it the more I see. It’s charming how they have candles, tablecloths, centerpieces, and… plastic cafeteria dishes.
The centerpieces include Santa in his sleigh pulled by reindeer, as well as lots of snowmen and I think Casper the Friendly Ghost.
The “fruit salad” consists of a pineapple slice as the base, a half a banana topped with a cherry, and a squirt of whipped cream. You can see one of the students dispensing the whipped cream– proof that aerosol whipped cream existed in the 1950s.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Tomorrow you get to put as much whipped cream on your pie as you want.
Charlott
This was a tradition when I went to Wy’east. It seems a group of girls worked on "their" table decorations together. It was a dress up fucntion. I have to be honest here. I don’t recall if this was an entire girl function, meaning all 4 classes. I am having somewhat of a "senior moment." I don’t remember much other than I borrowed a Fostoria sugar and creamer from my Mom and for reason unknown to me the creamer never made it home. We had basically the same type of thing in May, which was "The Mother’s Day Tea." Dress up, inivite your mother and serve things one would at a tea.
I think there is a possiblity that the girl in the back upper left with the puffy sleeve dress, might be Maureen Higgins, but not certain.
Norma
HRHS Girl’s League had a similar Christmas dinner. Each senior girl was the hostess of a table that included her "little sisters" an adult ( I remember my adult as Betty Seaton, the school secretary) and sophomore and junior students. The senior girl was responsible for a table decoration with a prize for the Most Beautiful and another for Most Original. I remember winning one of them but it was not the one I was going for!
Charlott
Thanks Norma, you jogged my memory. Yes, at Wy’east a senior or possibly two together hosted a table, with their ‘little sisters" and other girls from the sophmore and junior classes. It seems I do recall some sort of program. Probably both schools were pretty much the same.
Charlott
The girl furthest in the back in the jumper type dress is Bernice "Bernie" Baker. She had an older sister Yvonne "Vonnie" who married John Delephine. She also had a quite a bit younger sister, Betty.
Maureen Higgins
Yes, I think that is me in back in this picture in the puff sleeved dress. I am amazed anyone recognized me. I did recognize Bernice Baker after she was pointed out but can’t remember anyone else’s name in this pucture.