On The Wings of Love - GenX Prom Memories Forever
Unknown Speaker 0:00
Welcome back everybody to our encore presentation of episode 118 on the wings of love are Gen X prom memories, and there were a lot, a lot of prom memories, good, bad and tragic.
Unknown Speaker 0:16
Yes, yeah, this episode is really fun because it's the memories of the dresses and the songs and the stories and much simpler times. Wouldn't you agree? Oh gosh, can I? Can I speak to that for just a minute? Because, okay, I don't like to admit this, but yet, here we are. Sometimes I will go down a Tiktok rabbit hole, and I don't mean to. I don't mean to. I'm not proud ever do. It appears that there are two new viral or two new, like, big trends happening. I believe in this episode we're about to encore. We touch on the whole prom posal, like how we didn't have that. And thank goodness, because, God, the pressure the boys or the girls asking have to be under is tremendous promposals. We've covered that, and it's insane.
Unknown Speaker 1:06
These are two new things. One is, I guess, a thing now are these big prom breakfasts, brunches where the girls get a group of maybe at minimum 24 other girls together. Now I'm assuming, if you're a junior or senior girl, you probably maybe had a little bit of a hand in the ideas of how we're going to decorate for this breakfast or this brunch. I'm also betting, though, the moms have a lot to do with this. So you guys the decor of these prom breakfast brunches are it's, it's as if it's a, like a baby shower, bridal shower, all at once. I'm talking balloon arches. Oh my god, tables of food that look like it's been catered. Beautiful. Most of them have like, Michelle, can I ask you? Are these on the day of, like, the girls are going to be getting ready, and they're all going to get ready, okay, so it's not the morning after. It's the day of. No, it's the day of. And I don't know if they've all spent the night the night before at the person's house, because in most of them, I see all the girls, the 18 to, you know, 36 girls are all wearing matching jammy sets, like all in matching pajamas. And then usually there's a flower wall. And I'm not talking this is not one video I've seen with a flower wall. This is multiple. This is at minimum, 10 videos I've seen a flower wall where,
Unknown Speaker 2:36
quite obviously, the mom, or moms have gotten together and gone to like a florist and gotten buckets of flowers. So we have buckets of peonies and carnations and roses and filler baby's breath and lilies and and then one of the activities at the brunch is that the girls all put together a bouquet. I'm going to come back to the bouquet in just a minute, because there's also activities they all have, like, the little headbands that hold your hair back to put your makeup on. Maybe they all have matching ones of those, and they all have the same nail things they're doing, and the food is insane. And then there's always, like, a think, a non alcoholic mocktail Mimosa bar with like, little signs that have, yeah, that have, like, it'll have, like sparkling cider, but then they'll have set out, like in ice buckets, cranberry juice and orange juice and apple juice. And
Unknown Speaker 3:27
I'm so exhausted. This has grown up written all over it. This is grown ups. Children can't come up with this stuff. So the bouquet, you might be wondering, well, why a bouquet? And so that's going to bring me to the next Tiktok viral trend I've seen. The first part of the video will start and they'll both be in, like, regular clothes. A lot of times the girls are in those same pajama matchy sets. So maybe the boys come over to the brunch and they film the first parts of this video I'm about to describe. So the girls in the little matching pajamas, the boys in, like, jeans or sweats, and the girl, like, might have her hair up, no makeup, they do like a little dance, and maybe they'll do a little twirl. And the girl's holding that bouquet. Remember I said it was gonna come back, and she goes right towards the phone camera, and so all you see is this bouquet of flowers coming right at you, and it fills the whole screen, but when she pulls it away, they're completely dressed in their informal process, and the hair's done, the dresses, the tux, and then they'll keep doing the spinny dance. Sometimes there aren't flowers involved, and they'll just do like a dip, and he'll dip the girl right in front of the camera. But when she comes back up, she's all dressed for prom, and they're both, you know, they do that kind of editing where they can overlap it. Can I just say my son would have never been for that. If he was a hell, he would have been like, Well, I'll see you tonight, like these guys, I can't, I mean, just wow. Well, understand though, that a lot of these guys, though, they understand the appeal of Tiktok, and if they're not.
Unknown Speaker 5:00
On it already doing stuff like this. They understand the appeal for the girls, and, you know, they don't want to say to the girls, I'm not going to do that stuff. Some of the guys look really uncomfortable, but a lot of the guys are super into it. And I can't even imagine how much more pressure and anxiety this puts on the whole day and night. And I'm so exhausted. I first of all, I'm just exhausted having told you this story, but I'm exhausted when I watch these because
Unknown Speaker 5:27
I as you're about to hear listeners in this episode, we all had a lot of our own normal anxieties, without thinking about filming the Tiktok video and making sure it's posted before prom starts, or setting up for prom brunch, and the larger your group is, the more popular you are, the more valuable you are. And so what if you're the person who's one good friend, and then you don't get to be on Tiktok, doing Tiktok, doing all of this stuff. I just read something that it's like upwards of over $2,000 the average cost of just all of this stuff from the prom post that is not okay. No, not okay. It's not. It is so, I mean, it is so inequitable. It's available to just a small segment of society. And I have so many things to say. The first being that this is the perfect example of a well produced childhood. I'm in the middle of reading the anxious generation right now, and they're talking about how we are now. We have now transitioned from a play based childhood to a phone based childhood. These are kids who had a phone based childhood, and their experiences are produced. They're not real. They're not real, they're produced so many of these high school rituals, especially in certain communities where the parents get really involved in homecoming or prom, and then the parents have their own party, all of that kind of stuff. I know we've had tons of conversations about this. There are lots of reasons for it, but I wonder if one of the reasons is frustrated creativity. Because producing something like this. The food is a creative endeavor. The decorations are a creative endeavor. The hair and the makeup are a creative endeavor, like maybe take a ceramics class or something. That's an excellent point Kristen, because I can say my kids when they were going to prom, it was nothing to this extent, by any stretch, but there was still, like Andrew's promposal, that I wanted to get in on, because it was an outlet for my creativity. And I think that you're really onto something. And Michelle, I think that you had an outlet for your creativity, and that your girls were involved in, like the theater, in theater and all that kind of stuff. So that kind of lent itself to you probably helping out with, you know, costumes, all of that. But, yeah, I, I am 100% behind that theory. I think it's true, and so I understand how it happens. It's it feels good to make something pretty, but make sure that you're doing it for your own self and not producing your child's faux existence, yes. Also, I think raising the bar, I mean, I think these things now are setting expectations, yeah, for what comes next, they're only in high school and and I think it's also, it's probably very regional as well. That is true for in a lot of different ways. There are a lot that has lots of different implications. There was a woman I once knew whose 14 year old daughter had made it to the Olympics in figure skating. And so everyone's like, Oh my God, you must be so excited. You must be so happy. And she was like, Well, yeah, but what happens when the most important thing that's ever gonna happen in your life happens to you when you're 14? Yeah, is it all downhill from there? She was like, shouldn't she, like, live her life for a while, and then you reach the pinnacle of something really important. What can she do after the Olympics that will measure up to the Olympics? To your point about it being produced? You know, it's also like, Those videos are edited. There could have been a little like, who knows what that we didn't see. All you have to do is watch the Secret Lives of Mormon wives. And you know that what you see on the screen, on Tiktok is not how they really are living their lives. But, yeah, that's gonna stick with me, Kristen, the whole produced aspect. Because How unfortunate. And even when your kids grow up in the photos of them that you have and all of that are these, you know, photo shoots, practically that now you know of your baby and your toddler, and you know, I don't know not that we're like these rose colored glasses people, but this is kind of what we are
Unknown Speaker 9:40
right now. We talk about a lot, that it just was, it was it was better when we were growing it was, it was simpler, and because we didn't have the social media aspect of it, and we didn't have to keep up appearances for that, yeah, the level of the pressure, acknowledging, of course, that this was hell on wheels for some.
Unknown Speaker 10:00
People, but it wasn't Hell on Wheels the way it is today. It was just simpler. And you could just not go, just don't go.
Unknown Speaker 10:08
This is true, and I think we talked about in this episode, and you all can hear it in just a few seconds, but there are some things that are better now than they were in our day. Like you couldn't go by yourself in to prom. No. You were with friends. You would go with a bunch of friends. No.
Unknown Speaker 10:25
So
Unknown Speaker 10:28
to that point, I will say I've seen, I've seen a good handful of these tick tock videos where it's just a girl and she's like, in her sweatpants, and she does a twirl and puts the flowers to the camera and she pulls it back, and she's in her prom dress, and there's no date. So either her date was like, hell no, I'm not doing that, or she's going, I'm like, oh, good for you. I bet you're gonna meet Sarah going by yourself. So yeah, so let's go back and be reminded why the Gen X version of prom was so much better. Yeah. So please enjoy an encore of episode 118,
Unknown Speaker 10:59
on the wings. Oh,
Unknown Speaker 11:10
wings.
Unknown Speaker 11:12
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Unknown Speaker 11:59
So I'm sitting in the front seat of my date's car, and something feels wrong, like it just sits a little breezy. It's just, it's just a little breezy on my front and I look down and the weight of my giant corsage has pulled down the front of my dress.
Unknown Speaker 12:20
Hello World is a song that we're singing.
Unknown Speaker 12:24
Come on, get
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happy. Whole lot of loving is what we'll be bringing
Unknown Speaker 12:33
we'll make you happy.
Unknown Speaker 12:36
Welcome to the pop culture Preservation Society, the podcast for people born in the big wheel generation who wore tube socks with their Earth shoes. We believe our Gen X childhoods gave us unforgettable songs, stories, characters and images, and if we don't talk about them, they'll disappear, like Marshall will and Holly on a routine expedition. And today we're saving that night to remember the one we wanted to have just one more night to hold on to always and forever. Our Gen X prom.
Unknown Speaker 13:08
I'm Carolyn, I'm Kristen, and I'm Michelle, and we are your pop culture preservationists.
Unknown Speaker 13:15
No, what about prom? What would you mean after school? No, what about prom? Come on, just say it. What? Just say it. I want to hear you say it. High school prom may be one of the most universal events that causes the same levels of angst, hope, expectation, nervousness, excitement, euphoria, fantasy and yes, even rejection and despair, no matter which generation you're a part of, could prom be the most memorable part of your high school experience? I mean, I don't do yes
Unknown Speaker 13:51
or maybe or not. Well, if you win, or maybe that is memorable. Yeah, if you win, you no doubt have memories, good or bad. And if you didn't go, you certainly have lingering memories tied to that as well. But there is a reason. Countless movies have been made around prom. Carrie foot loose, Jamie Lee Curtis's slasher pick, prom night. And as you just heard in that gut wrenching sound bite, Pretty in Pink, which don't worry, we will dive into in depth in a few weeks. And that reason is that prom is important. It's a pinnacle for a lot of people, the dream. And as for the ones who say prom stupid, well, they're just lying.
Unknown Speaker 14:37
So I want to ask you Kristen and Carolyn, a question, what was it, or what is it about prom that made it such a big deal? Is it the romance of it? The idealized romanticism, which, that might not even be a term, that could be redundant. I don't care. I just said it. And do you think that.
Unknown Speaker 15:00
Prom is the same now as it was back in the when we were kids, Dark Ages. Yeah, oh, my god. Dino, no, I Yeah. Not even closes, right? I think it was the opportunity to play, to play grown up and perhaps force the issue of coupling, yes, which apparently is the goal of life, coupling. It's sort of, coupling is sort of the job of high school, even if you didn't date in high school, coupling was a theme of so much of your joy and or pain and trauma, pushes us into the coupling, right? Even if you went as friends. I know that you, you know that's such a qualifier. Oh, it's his friends, it's just, it's his friends, right? But still, you were pretending to couple and as if this is the work of life, and so even if you didn't have relationships in high school, prom was still the opportunity to pretend that you did,
Unknown Speaker 15:54
right? And I love how you said, it's kind of a time to pretend that we're grown ups. My prom was had such elements of that, like, we got wine glasses engraved with, you know, the theme and the date, like we were going to drink wine, right? We got that was like, that's what, like the high school gave you, where you guys got the party favor? No, it was, like, the favor that school got. Oh, you're kidding me, yeah, as a member of the prom committee, I was one of the people to help decide that, but that was just a given. And we also got really Formal Invitations, almost like wedding invitations, that had little piece of tissue inside and it had, you know, the couple's name on the outside.
Unknown Speaker 16:33
Yeah, so we really wanted to be grown ups. I think it was definitely, yeah, coupling, like you said, and you didn't dare go with friends like you would now, like you had to be a couple, and if your friends, God forbid, didn't have someone to go with, it was your responsibility to be like matchmaker, like, who can go with my best friend? And how can we find a person? And it couldn't just be that they went with some other friends. Happened to me, Junior, younger, okay, you guys both just hit on something that is just occurring to me. And it's so true, the word coupling, I love, because that combined with Carolyn, your prom with it's almost like, like you said, a wedding invitation. Because to me, this whole idealized romanticism, again, whatever. That's a term that that's what comes to me. It was, it was like the most romantic thing, like event of, like, prom, like, it's just something you, you thought about for years, and I don't know, I was a huge romantic so the idea of going with someone who liked you, and you liked them, even if you weren't a couple yet, but then you throw in a, like, a wedding invitation with a piece of tissue paper, and that just, Like, almost like, pushes it up to the next level, I would have been pretending wedding, right? Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 17:46
And those are kind of my my memories, Michelle, as you were describing kind of almost that anticipation and that expectation when we were preparing for this episode, and I was trying to think of my most memorable moments, they all seem to come pre prom, like, almost pre the night it was, you know, the planning and getting the dress and who was going sizing, yeah, and whose table, you know, we had tables for dinner. I mean, we had, like, waiters and waitresses serve us dinner. And I don't know if yours was that formal, but you know, and who was going to be at your table and trying to organize all that, that was where a lot of my memory and moments come from, not the actual event itself. I'm embarrassed to say. I don't really know why. I don't remember a lot. We'll just skip over that part that says a lot. That says a lot Carolyn, and I think that lines up with a lot of people's experience. And I think one after I'm
Unknown Speaker 18:40
gonna add to your list of things we did in anticipation, because I know our listeners will also. I know for sure the two of you agree with this, and I know we have so many people listening right now that are probably already shouting it at their list, at their whatever device they're listening on the 17 magazine prom issue that came, like two months before even when we were children, like I would look at my sister's prom issue. And I would, oh my gosh, you guys that prom issue just full of those ads for the dresses. And you would just imagine, did you guys ever like, cut them out? We would cut them out and make, like, collages and put them on my bulletin board. Yep. Yeah. And do you have a tear out of a dress that I was fantasizing about? I didn't get that dress. But
Unknown Speaker 19:21
no, I don't know, but I was going to say Michelle, in reference to the 17 magazine prom issue that, of course, we all loved and poured over. That actual issue goes back to the mid 40s. They 17 had Yeah, had articles about prom and what to wear and how to act and all of that that go back to, yeah, mid 19, how to act. Well, seriously, bad act that. Well, that causes me anxiety, like there's something you could do wrong. And that's sort of a theme of my promenade, because you're being exposed to things that are beyond you. And I was like, Am I doing it right? Okay, well.
Unknown Speaker 20:00
That's that's a great segue, then that leads us into was prom a big deal for you guys.
Unknown Speaker 20:07
Well, sure, it was conceptually, much like Carolyn said in the planning the the run up to it, but it was also, predictably, a huge disappointment, because we're asking children to fantasize about being grown ups when they really have no experience being grown ups. And so the fantasy is bound to come up short, right? We don't know what we're doing, especially if you're counting on someone else, like boys, to make your dreams come true, right? You're asking teenage boys to make your dreams 17 year old boys, yeah, not gonna happen. They're not in the same space that we are, just from a developmental standpoint. My first year, I went with my boyfriend who did not go to my school, and we double dated. So right there, that kind of takes away some of the school spirit aspect of it. It's not going to be a big bonding thing if you're going with somebody who doesn't know the rest of the people. Then we double dated with two people who were not a couple and barely knew each other, and so that was awkward. But what I do remember is that we had dinner at a fancy, revolving restaurant. You're playing grown up, but I was really anxious because I didn't know which fork to use. And I remember I ordered the shrimp scampi. I had no idea what shrimp scampi was, and so I'm like, what's gonna what's gonna come. I have no idea what I'm gonna eat. So it's supposed to be really fun and romantic, but it was mostly unfamiliar and anxiety inducing. My second year, I learned from my mistake, and I thought I'm going with somebody from school. I'm not going with somebody who's not from the school. So I waited and I waited and I waited for somebody to ask me. I flirted like crazy for weeks and weeks and weeks, but nobody's gonna ask the girl who has a boyfriend. Never once did I consider asking somebody myself, even as quote, unquote friends, even as friends wouldn't even do that. So I sat at home by myself on prom night and watched On Golden Pond. You just touched on something that I didn't think of, but anxiety. It is so, so anxiety inducing. And you know, I don't know about you guys, but when I went to prom in the late 80s, we didn't go. Well, maybe people did. I certainly didn't go to the hair salon and get them to do the giant that we do. We did our own hair. We did our own now, you know my girls each well, one year, my older daughter, this was really fun. She had a huge group of friends here, and they did just like, dress down prom night. We had, like, big cutouts of Harry Styles, because this was when one direction was first big and cardboard cutouts of like Edward Cullen. And so they all took picture. We I took Prom pictures of them with them as their dates, but they were in like, sweats and whatever. Anyway, what I was gonna say is they, each of them, had one year where we went. We paid the money for the big updo and the dress, and even if they're going with someone who was, in both case, well, in both cases, both of my girls went to their senior prom with, like, their best guy friend,
Unknown Speaker 22:57
someone that's familiar to you, someone that you hang out with. It doesn't matter. It is all of that stuff that built up the anticipation, getting the dress, getting the right dress, the hairdo, the whatever. I'm quite certain they were nervous before prom night.
Unknown Speaker 23:13
And it almost just takes everything away from it. I feel it does. It makes it more difficult. What about you? Carolyn, was it a big deal for you, other than that, other than that, pretending like you were getting married? I guess
Unknown Speaker 23:26
yes, it was a big deal for me, personally, for all the reasons we've said, just the romanticism of it and all of that, but also because I did not want to be staying home and watching On Golden Pond. Sorry, Kristen, I know, but you know, it was that FOMO of I have got to be there, gosh darn it. And there are complicated whatever about all of that. But I did go. I went with the same guy. We actually had a sophomore cotillion, so we had three formal dances, and, yeah, I know.
Unknown Speaker 23:57
And I went to the all of them with the same person. And so there was all drama related to all of that. So yes, it was a big deal on different levels for me, some that were prom related. Others were, you know, boyfriend related. Others were just, you know, I got to be there, like, everyone's going to be there. And yeah, so that's how I felt, Carolyn, when you said I've got to be there, everyone's going to be there. That's how I felt sitting home watching on golden time. I felt like everyone was at the was at the prom. All of my friends, even my nerdy friends, had people to go with. And somehow I had failed in this endeavor, and I sat home by myself. Well, for me, prom, my junior prom, was a little bit of a big deal, only because I was set up. I'm quite certain my friend Susan probably bribed our friend Scott to ask me. So Scott and I went together. We did have a great time. I was pretty uncomfortable the whole time because I wasn't really sure, is this supposed to be a date? But you guys, it was senior year. That was like straight out of a fairy tale for me. I was asked to senior prom by.
Unknown Speaker 25:00
My Ross. Friends, fans, you would understand he's my Ross. Yes, this is the guy I knew I was gonna marry. I mean, seriously, everybody in our friend group thought we were gonna get married, but he was just basically my best friend through sophomore, junior and senior year of high school, and when he asked me to senior prom, I was, I was over the moon, and I was like, This is it. This is it finally, this is it. It was not
Unknown Speaker 25:32
the fairy tale. Did start our freshman year of college, but stopped very abruptly. Thank the good Lord. Be careful what you wish for girls and boys, we thank whoever for unanswered prayers, right? Oh, my God, you guys just the whole night, like, like, basically, this was, this was our wedding. This was our pre wedding, in my opinion. You know, I was, like, it was everything I ever wished for, wanted, hoped for, dreamed of, and so it's a big deal. Listeners, I want to ask you guys, some of you have been sharing prom pics with us already. A great idea is, I don't know if some of you know this, but we have the Facebook group. It's called Growing up Gen X, and it's a group that's basically for you guys. So you can, if you're a member of that group, which anybody can be, you just go on and you can post things like photos. You could post, you know, videos you find, or links you find, or just memories. It's a great, great place for you guys to all chat with each other. And Carolyn Kristen and I definitely are part of the group, and we pop in too. But this is where it would be so fun for you to post your prom pics this week. So we asked our society members on social media, and as always, the response was huge. We have so many stories to share. We have yours, and still more of ours. The dresses, so much pink
Unknown Speaker 26:53
themes. What's happening?
Unknown Speaker 26:57
Technical, accident over here. Sorry, nine. Here we go,
Unknown Speaker 27:03
the themes, which are just so so cliche and fabulous, and, of course, the music, because, as we know, it's those songs that are what take us right back all these decades later,
Unknown Speaker 27:17
Carolyn studios falling apart. So sorry. Yes, and our loyal listener, Alyssa, left us a voicemail with such a fun and all around great prom memory. We love this story. Listen here.
Unknown Speaker 27:30
So when I was 15 years old, well, I guess I just turned 16, I was going to prom with my true first love. I was gonna look absolutely gorgeous in this off white chifani dress that I bought at a bridal shop. It was almost like we were having a dress rehearsal for when we get married one day, which we didn't but anyway, so I had to have the perfect 80s hair, which was going to be this up swept curly mask with the baby's breath all stuck in it. But my hairstylist insisted that I roll my hair at home, so it'd have a long time to set before I got to the salon to take it, you know, to take it to the next level. Well, as y'all know, most high school girls do not want to be seen in public, and my hair salon was inside a department store,
Unknown Speaker 28:32
which meant I was going to have to walk all the way through the parking lot, through the store, which it felt like it was miles to the salon from the front door entrance, even though it was, you know, not even a football length. And what if, what if someone saw me in rollers? So I did put my hair in rollers. But girls, I was like the stealthiest spy you could imagine, I mean, I went fast, but I was sneaking, and I was alert, and I finally made it to the hair salon, and nobody saw me, and that salon as she worked her wonder, and I had the hair of my dreams, The hair that every southern girly girl in the mid 1980s could have hoped for. And yes, it was an amazing night. We danced to endless love. We came back to my house with friends afterwards, and I made pancakes. They looked terrible, but they were great. And even though our relationship was doomed to end, it was not endless love. I still have the photos to prove it, and if I can say so myself, it was worth all the potential embarrassment of wearing rollers through the mall department store. I.
Unknown Speaker 30:02
I mean, that is so true, because our hair in the 80s was so manufactured. It was like you were wearing a costume. Your hair was a costume. And what if some it was like wearing a wig, like, what if somebody saw you without your wig, right? I can picture. Is it Elisa? Elisa, we hope we're It's Ellie. It's all like Elisa. I think Lisa, not Alyssa. Okay? Anyway, I can just picture you like, darting, like, behind one clothes rack, and then maybe behind a mannequin, and then just, like, waiting, waiting, wait. You can't see me right now, Lisa, but I'm like, darting like you would Dart, and then maybe, like, you know, crouched low. I love, like a Brady Bunch episode, like, can't you see, can't you see Alice? Like, having her out in her rollers and trying to hide behind a mailbox or something,
Unknown Speaker 30:45
Alisa with some big sunglasses too, like maybe a trench coat and the collar pulled up, you know, just
Unknown Speaker 30:53
Well, I'd argue that the most important thing when dreaming of prom isn't who you're Going with, but it's what you will wear, right? Ladies agreed, and that's like we were just talking about that's kind of where our 17 magazine obsession came in. And just that, we would pour over those dresses for hours. We dreamed of our prom dresses like I said. I cut mine out and, you know, cut out and make collages of them. You might have sketched them on your school folders. Some of us, even, I don't know who, but maybe went to stores and tried them on years before you were really going to prom. I want to hear what you guys addresses looked like. Well, like you. Kristen, I had prom junior and senior year. So we had junior senior prom. So my junior year, it was kind of the sky blue, polyester scoop neck spaghetti strap, body hugging, kind of disco number,
Unknown Speaker 31:48
I know, and I don't have the fondest memories of that. It was almost one of those, like I can't find anything else, and this is as good as anything. But my senior year, that was a different story. I loved this. I had a white Gunny sax like ensemble. I say ensemble because it was actually, I know it's actually a coordinating skirt and long sleeve top. Yes, I'm so retroactively jealous. Was there a belt? Was kind of this gauzy material? No, I'm very Gunny sex. There's no belt of them, kind of, oh, it's very loose, loose. It's very it's loose.
Unknown Speaker 32:25
And I loved it. And I actually thought I was kind of being daring. I thought, oh my gosh, this isn't like a gown,
Unknown Speaker 32:33
yes, but you guys really, the real brave soul of my senior class was my friend Robin. Guess what? She wore a short dress, not short like mini but short to her knees. I think she was the first person in the woman in the history of Bishop Eustace prep prom night to have worn a short dress. It was all the talk. That's all we got, was Robin's blue dress. I can remember the dress almost was better than my own dress. It was like, I wish I had, though, you know, that gumption to, yeah, exactly that. It was very, very daring. So Robin, who went on to be, I'll just say, she went on to be Miss New Jersey in the Miss America Pageant a few years later, that's what that gets. Yeah? You know that confidence and self, that's true. That is absolutely true. Yeah. So that was, that was my two prom dresses. But much preferred my ensemble. I got my senior year prom dress at Lily Rubin, which you guys it was a total old lady store in Scottsdale fashion, square, like picture, like old Scottsdale ladies who were going, like, on a cruise or something anyway. But while my dress like it, it's definitely dated. It doesn't look, I mean, it's definitely of the time it, it doesn't really look like a typical 80s prom dress. Again, refer to the picture on social media this week, but it's a pale pink satin with a long skirt. But it's not like super poofy. It's just kind of like satin. So it just kind of, it's pleated, but it just kind of goes straight down, and the fabric is all gathered across the bodice, up to one giant poofy sleeve, but nothing, but nothing. Other shoulder bear symmetric.
Unknown Speaker 34:17
Yeah, I felt like a princess, and my I really wanted, like, fingerless gloves, you know, but kind of long, like, up to my elbows, because, you know, that was the thing. My mom made me a pair of fingerless satin gloves. And, like, did all this beading around it. And, of course, I hot rolled the hell out of my hair Alisa, and it was all curly, but the side, one side pulled up with like a literary comb. Oh, a comb, not a barrette. The whole ensemble is asymmetrical, yes, yes, yes. So the dress, this is, this is where the initial Paul was cast over my prom experience, because the dress is that important. It is a reflection of you and your grown up.
Unknown Speaker 35:00
Self, it's sort of like fantasizing about what kind of woman you'd like to be in the future. So I found a dress that I liked at the mall at Brookdale, and I put it on layaway and but my mom wanted to see it, and when I tried it on for her, she declared it was too small, which I loved, because I thought that was sexy. Like, you know, the tighter the better, right? And well, as sexy is, you can get covered in, like, peach covered lace, right? But, um, she said, No, it's too small. You need to buy a dress. You can't spend $60 on a dress that doesn't fit you. I remember her saying that. So I lost my $15 and later, my mom came home with a dress that she found, oh no, at like, a thrift store or a garage sale or goodwill, I don't, I don't know, and it was $20 and it wasn't perfect, but she thought she could alter it. She thought she could remake it and make it more,
Unknown Speaker 35:59
something I don't, I don't know. And we tried, you guys, we really tried, but it was never gonna be my style. It was never, no matter what you did to that dress, unless I cut it down the back and, like, make it open in the back. I don't know. It was never gonna be my style. It was white with pink flowers on it, and it was full of ruffles. It looked like something that Mary Poppins would wear to dance with a penguin. Like, that's what here I'm gonna show you. Wait, did you What did you wear? It? Is this your dress? Yeah, you actually wore it. They wore it. Oh, wow. It totally looks like the Mary Poppins dress. It's Mary Poppins. It also looks very similar to your friend's dress. Yeah, I was kidding, and I think she liked her dress, but you know, that's her style when she's playing grown up. That's what she wants to look like as a grown up. That is not what I wanted to look at her face. I know I'm not happy. Listeners, we're gonna post this photo in our Facebook group and probably in stories too, because Kristen is, you can tell she is not happy with that dress. I'm, I'm, yeah, I'm I'm not sure what exactly is going on. And I felt just add that to that layer so you don't feel like yourself, right? But I felt so guilty. I felt guilty about the money, I felt guilty about the effort that my mom had put in. So I just threw in the towel. I just said, okay, okay, we'll do this. And so I start out the whole prom experience by feeling awkward in my skin, all because of the Mary Poppins situation.
Unknown Speaker 37:26
Yeah. Well, I have a couple things. One is, I really want to know what that dress you put on layaway looked like, like, what was your style? Kristen? Well, and actually, the one that I put on layaway was still only partially my style, but it was a little more gunny sacks, like, except it was completely strapless, so it showed cleavage, and this, I'm sure my mom was not up for and it was peach colored, and so that was a very 80s color. I like that. So I think I really liked the absolutely strapless part of it. So like I said earlier, it was the dress that almost all our society members wanted to share with us most there was lots of Laura Ashley, lots of pink, lots of poofs and ruffles and bows. The descriptions of the dresses you guys gave us are so visual and so are you guys ready? I want to share just some of them. Gail. Gail wore a pesto water colored inspired, zoom, zoom, dress purchased at merry go round, complete with long white satin Gloves. Gloves were the thing. I really think they were, and a coordinating lace shawl.
Unknown Speaker 38:35
Gail, bring your rocking chair to the phone. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 38:39
Gail, we really hope you're posting a picture of this in our Facebook group, please.
Unknown Speaker 38:44
Hoops were apparently a big thing. I'm assuming that's a regional thing. That is regional. We did not have to be. No, I agree. I agree. They like plantation dresses. Wow, those girls were wearing. Well, Ellen, who I love her Instagram. Name is Ellen. Ellen No watermelon
Unknown Speaker 39:01
lives in Boston and says they wore very full, almost Southern Bell dresses with lace gloves and big hair, again. Photos of that, please, Ellen
Unknown Speaker 39:13
bathroom. I mean, I'm sorry
Unknown Speaker 39:17
when you Yeah, when you had the gown and all of that. My gosh, with that, remember when Rhoda sat down and he rides me?
Unknown Speaker 39:26
She's
Unknown Speaker 39:27
got like, pantaloons underneath. That's what I'm picturing. When they go to the bathroom, or when they just sit down at dinner, the whole hoop comes out.
Unknown Speaker 39:36
Well, as if hoops weren't like I don't want to say bad enough, because I'm sure they thought they thought they were wonderful. But Gretchen wore an off the shoulder teal dress with ruffles, ruffles and more ruffles, she says, and rented a petticoat
Unknown Speaker 39:51
shop to poof it out to the max. She says, you can rent a petticoat. Wait. She says, Oh my gosh, there was a stage coach in the Photos.
Unknown Speaker 40:00
Oh, my
Unknown Speaker 40:05
gosh, obviously, Gretchen, you had to rent the petticoat now we understand
Unknown Speaker 40:11
when in Petticoat Junction. That's right. Oh my goodness, that's so funny. No, we're Gretchen. Went to high school stage bonanza. I I swear Jessica McClintock, gunnysacks just needs its own episode one day. You guys, it really does. Here's some of the ones we got Denise's Gunny socks. Gunny socks. Gunny sacks was baby blue, eyelet,
Unknown Speaker 40:38
precious.
Unknown Speaker 40:40
I know Dominic has was peach with a two tier ruffle, and, as she says, a big ass bow in the bows. The bows just got bigger and bigger and bigger every year. I mean, as if you really needed to tie something in the back of you, in that scale, you guys, for me, though, and high school, the bigger the bow, the better. In my hair and wherever, you know, in my ponytail, the bigger the better.
Unknown Speaker 41:07
Well, Anne found her white multi tiered Gunny sex in 17 magazine. Of course she did. And because she knew she couldn't afford it, her mom took her to the Gunny sex outlet, which was a few times over, knowing it was just going to be a shot in the dark. But you guys, not only was the dress in the window, it was in her size, what are the chances you dream come true
Unknown Speaker 41:33
without it? Oh my gosh, without a doubt. Yeah. But
Unknown Speaker 41:36
alas, as you all hear in just a minute, Anne's night wasn't all dreamy. So we'll get to that in a minute. Melanie's gunnysacks was pink and white striped. I feel I remember that one. I can see that one a lot of people. That was a very popular dress. I think it's from 17 we've all seen it, or we saw it for sure. Sherry's gunnysacks was light purple with a high neck and long, puffy sleeves. She bought it with the money she saved working at McDonald's and says I felt like a queen. It was well worth coming home from work smelling like french fries.
Unknown Speaker 42:09
Now I'm picturing the light purple high neck dress smelling like french fries, right?
Unknown Speaker 42:16
Another dress I feel like I can see in my head is Angie's. It's the High, Low dress with a big bow at the hip. Can you see that?
Unknown Speaker 42:26
Yeah, and she Oh. She also says her spiral perm was big spiral perms, man. How could they be? They were, they were not small, they they were anything. But
Unknown Speaker 42:36
more than several people mentioned they were off the shoulder dresses. I feel very seen by you all. Thank you. Oh, and this one makes me a little sad. Tammy grandmother made her a custom black and white striped taffeta gown with a black peplum. Can't even just see that. Yeah, I can totally see it. She must have felt so sophisticated until another girl showed up in her exact dress that her mom had made what? And she says, and this is at a prom, I know. And so tammy's grandmother made hers, and the other girl's mom made her so I guess same pattern. I'm guessing they bought the same Butterick pattern, yeah. But Tammy says, and this is at a prom of only, like 80 people. Oh, God, I love how Tisha described her dress. She says my dress looked like a doily, and then a princess. She puts nuns patrolling. Oh, so it sounds like Tisha didn't have an option, like the dresses. That's how I That's how I felt. My dress may not have looked like a doily, but my overall, my overall feeling was that I was a doily walking around. I was your esthetic. Because, yeah, so I feel, I feel Tisha and Megan wore a knee length dress. Oh, Megan, you're like Carolyn's friend. You're very fashion forward. Yeah, it had a crinoline poof. It was white with a shimmery sequined halter top. Oh,
Unknown Speaker 43:57
Megan came to prom to play man and with a short dress, I know. I mean, that's like, that's like, the, that's like, the Madonna skirt I'm picturing with the halter, and she paired it with hot pink dyed pumps.
Unknown Speaker 44:12
I'm loving this ensemble. Megan, yeah. Picture please. Megan, yeah. And that does bring me to finish with the absolute necessity for prom in the 80s, the dyed to match pump. You had to have the dyed to match pump came in all different heel sizes. You gave them a little swatch of your dress. You sent it in. They came back. They looked at that. I remember you go to Kenny, and you bring them your, yeah, your little swatch, and then you pick them up a few days later, and they're a different color. I can remember having the worst blisters on my heel because the shoes were totally cheap. And you know, when our kids went to prom, they all wore Converse and tennies with their prom dresses. How fun that would that have been? I know. See, again, these kids don't realize how good they've gotten.
Unknown Speaker 44:57
Okay, so we always like to ask our followers about their memory.
Unknown Speaker 45:00
Moments, quote, unquote, memorable moments. And that's what we choose those words on purpose, because you guys have so many good stories, so we just you might have something so shareable, and we don't even know what to ask about. It can be so very personal. So for instance, for me, it has to do with undergarments. So my Mary Poppins dress was off the shoulder, so I needed a strapless bra, which, truthfully, I didn't need, because I was 17, so my breasts just stood up by themselves. Of course. Yeah, I didn't need to. I didn't need a strapless bra. So I went bra shopping with my mom, and I was envisioning, I'm like, oh, strapless bras gonna be sexy. And so I'm picturing something pink and Lacey. She loved me. I did. I felt sexy. That's why I really felt sexy. I didn't want to hide it under a bushel. No,
Unknown Speaker 45:50
but my mom was, and is to this day, extremely concerned about support, which, like I said, it wasn't necessary at the time, and she insisted on this sort of military grade flesh colored thing that was like the bra equivalent of a girdle. It was not sexy. It was not something you would want to be seen in which, I mean, let's be honest, that might have been part of her plan the whole time, right? So I'm sitting in the front seat of my date's car, and something feels wrong, like it just sits a little breezy. It's just, it's just a little breezy on my front. And I look down and the weight of my giant corsage has pulled down the front of my dress, the whole front, my whole like, down to my midriff. And I did No, I didn't know. I'm sitting there in the front seat of the car and a military grade, flesh colored strapless bra, and I'm just sitting there sitting. And I was just, I like it. I just grabbed it and I pulled it up. Here's the other thing about my mom, she doesn't like things to be tight, especially on me, and so she might have made it a little too loose.
Unknown Speaker 47:06
The dress was a little too loose.
Unknown Speaker 47:09
Thank God I was with somebody that I knew, and not like, you know, the crush of my dreams or something like that. But it was still embarrassing, even though it was somebody that I knew, and it was not something that you could cover with a joke. I don't remember anybody like making a funny joke like everybody knew. And we were all just silent, complete silence, while I pulled up my dress. Oh, I've got to say, as I said a little bit earlier, I just don't really have a lot of specific memories from the night itself. You know, it's the build up and then, I mean, I have vague memories of the dinner and stuff like that, but really, my biggest memory, I think, besides the before, is the after. Like, we had a really fun stuff we did after. We went to the beach the next day and to one of my friends houses, and it was so fun, because, I don't know, again, feeling so adult. I must have gone around thinking I was 30 something this whole weekend, because one of my memories is that the guys grilled hamburgers on a grill, and they're like teenagers. Like, do you have like, a weber grill kind of a thing? Like, dad, yeah. Look at those little adult men making me a hamburger, and it was such a good hamburger, I remember this hamburger? Well, I think
Unknown Speaker 48:24
I was really hungry or something, honest to goodness, though, I'll tell you, that's probably one of the top five hamburgers I've ever had my life. I know often, I think it was just, you know, the environment and the whole thing. But it was just like, these guys, they're like, they're mature, they're freaking hamburgers. So that is definitely one of my, one of my memorable limits, and it really ties into what we were talking about previously, about how we're all trying we're pretending to be grown ups. And so that made your experience like that was a plus. Like, I'm doing it right, pretending to be grown ups. Look at them, pretending to be dads. Girl,
Unknown Speaker 49:03
pretending at Carolyn's prom, pretending to be married. Well,
Unknown Speaker 49:07
gathered around the grill. The wives are just gonna go over here and sit in these beach chairs. We're gonna smoke and drink vodka tonight while the boys make our hamburgers. Yeah? Well,
Unknown Speaker 49:19
other than what I already mentioned about going with, you know, the guy of my dreams. I do remember that I had to work that day at Yummy yogurt. That was my big job in high school. And I was very concerned with looking skinny that night. You guys. I weighed all of like, probably 115 112 pounds at five eight. So all day long at my job, I drank tons of water, like I wouldn't stop drinking water. This is breaking my heart. And you guys, we had dinner at the compass room at the top of the Hyatt, and it was, like, one of those restaurants that, like, spun around, Yeah, mine and off too. I think there were four or six of us, like, in a rounded booth, and I was sort of like back in the middle, and I had to keep getting out to pee all night long. Like, all for dinner.
Unknown Speaker 50:00
Dinner. I remember being so mystified by that like that was like a long time ago. I drank all that water. I had to pee all the night, and I was so, so mad at myself. But I just want to read to you what I wrote in my senior book about prom. Because, my God, well, no, it's just, it's very basic. It's very diary entry. We ate dinner at the compass room on top of the Hyatt Regency in Phoenix. We doubled with Sloan and Missy. It was the best night ever. What we did after the event, we were going to go to Scottsdale conference center, but they got mad. What do you think happened? They got mad. They got mad. So we went to Dave McCarthy's and set out by the pool all night and played truth or dare, truth actually, and drank champagne and wine coolers.
Unknown Speaker 50:42
He dollars. Then we went up on and sat on the roof and watched the sunrise, and I'll never forget that. So listen to some of the memories of some of our followers. These are awesome, yeah, some of them are hilarious, and some of them are quite, quite sad, like a nors, she says she wasn't invited. She was one of six girls out of over 60 in her class. And then it says, I'm looking at you, Mark Trump, bore, but
Unknown Speaker 51:09
her mom bought her the most stunning Laura Ashley, white and black strapless dress. I'm going to read it now. How a Nora told us this? She says, my first it was a raw silk dress that was so Audrey Hepburn
Unknown Speaker 51:20
and some hot shot, pushy girl asked to borrow it. Can you believe that? So I helped the other girls with makeup and loaned them jewelry and watched get this pretty in pink with my dorm.
Unknown Speaker 51:32
Oh, so that is pretty in pink. That is like a John Hughes movie. Says, Yeah, I know she says, But you ladies know how I just love Chris Isaac, right? And listeners, Anora is actually friends with Chris Isaac to this day. So she says, Well, one day the entire story came spilling out, and he was beside himself. He actually said, this is Chris Isaac. Actually said, I wish I'd known you. Then I would have been the very first to ask you, and I would have taken you anywhere else you wanted to go to. And she says, Oh, Chris Isaac, is that a retrospective date? Let me just tell you. I wish I could tell that aforementioned boy who had totally led me to believe he was going to ask me. Andor is like, wants to say in your face,
Unknown Speaker 52:14
oh, my God. She goes. And then honor says, because, you know, there's some dumb high school boy on one hand and the hot rock star on the other hmm, yeah, take your pick. Yeah. So we're glad that you have great perspective on that now. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 52:29
and our friend Courtney, talk about memorable moment you guys. Her prom was on the Queen Mary. How does that beautiful God instead of the gym, yeah, right. And always and forever was her prom theme. Oh, I can. I can remember dancing to that song. I loved that song. And she and her date ended up marrying each other. Well, you mean, gosh,
Unknown Speaker 52:56
I know. And she said they're celebrating 32 years next month, right? Another one of our friends, j, k, s, a shared a story about marrying her prom date, you guys. They got married the Saturday after graduation. They've been married 38 years, and she said prom was just kind of a whatever, because the wedding was, I guess, a few weeks later she was so she was really practicing growing her that was a practice wedding. Yeah, that really was. And
Unknown Speaker 53:26
I'm so glad she's been married for 38 years, because generations, j, k, s, a, good for you. We were of that generation where there were friends, I knew people that did get married not not long after high school graduation, so only the pregnant ones in my high school.
Unknown Speaker 53:43
JK, essay, can you confirm or deny?
Unknown Speaker 53:48
Oh, gosh,
Unknown Speaker 53:50
and Megan says I danced so hard my totally unnecessary strapless backless bra, I hear you. Megan slipped down to my waist like a belt, until I just took it off and shoved it into my hot pink dyeable handbag.
Unknown Speaker 54:07
Wait, and this is Megan, who wore the short skirt with the crinoline and the sequin halter with the hot pink dyed pumps, so she also had a hot pink dyeable handbag. Oh, my God, Megan, your outfit just got so much. Yeah, just better. Kenny made me. Kenny made a killing off of Megan. Oh, my God, Kristen, you should have, you should have been friends with Megan then. And then Megan would have been like, geez, Kristen, just take off. Just take it military off. Yeah, that is so true. It never occurred to me to just take it off and throw it in the garbage, yeah. Well, but Chris, Kristen, I know now, would have definitely taken the garbage, yeah. Well, and I love Ann's story, because I this would have been me 100%
Unknown Speaker 54:48
she says my date chose a seafood restaurant, and I was too timid to tell him that it was the one kind of food I just can't stand, and they had no non seafood choices on the menu. Not one.
Unknown Speaker 55:00
Yeah, rolls, dinner rolls. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I asked my friend ahead of time for the least fishy tasting fish, and spent the meal trying to wash down chunks of halibut with my coat as if I were swallowing pills.
Unknown Speaker 55:16
Don't you just swallow? And I would have told you get if they would have had, like, popcorn shrimp on the kids menu, because that's like, pretty much all batter, but oh man, how
Unknown Speaker 55:27
a bit, which is kind of scammy. Was not really my thing either, yes, well, at least she wasn't allergic.
Unknown Speaker 55:34
Yeah, got into anaphylagy or something. I'm a picky eater, so I feel that.
Unknown Speaker 55:41
Okay, Gail wrote. Pete and I went to prom as friends, and his pale pink bow tie matched my wrist corsage. We laughed, danced and posed for pictures by the wicker chair. Oh yeah,
Unknown Speaker 55:54
wicker chair just make the rounds. Oh, my God. Years later, I ran into my prom date. I stood behind him in the frozen foods and I touched him on the sleeve, and
Unknown Speaker 56:07
after catching up and reminiscing about high school, we learned that although we had a blast at prom, we both had our eye on the same guy.
Unknown Speaker 56:22
Listen, classic Gail as well. Yeah, she saw him in the frozen foods and she touched him on the sleeve, much like Dan Fogelberg, and that's what Gail. We know Gail enough to know that's what the reference was, another one of our friends who we only know about your Instagram handle, which is jmmcg, 1959
Unknown Speaker 56:43
I just love the whole the whole comment she gave us says I looked like a child bride. My boyfriend wore a tux with some kind of powder blue, something. We didn't have to have them at school, so the rest is a haze of bourbon.
Unknown Speaker 56:58
I'm assuming she means the rest. We didn't have to have them, like the dance didn't have to be at school, right? I'm assuming, yeah. So the rest I just love, I loved I looked like a child bride. So funny, and it's so relatable. Actually, Christian probably relates to that quite perfectly. Yes, okay, that's, that's kind of felt like a child bride. I felt like a child bride. That made me very uncomfortable. Okay, Dominica says I happened to snag the last dance with the guy I had been crushing on for two years. We were just friends, and his prom date was his girlfriend. He had promised me a dance, though, and we slow danced to seasons change by expose, which is such a moment in time that is just seasons change is it just so late 80s, I can hardly stand it. Okay, you have to see the picture for this story, so I'm gonna repost it. And actually, I'm gonna probably repost it like in our stories, but hopefully Amber, Amber dawn. Please repost this in our Facebook group. So I wanna set it up for you guys. You need to picture. She sent DM this to us a few weeks ago. Picture, total air supply, hair on her date, like, huge perm, like, so tall, right? And
Unknown Speaker 58:12
a longish helmet, almost like mullet helmet, and it's way taller than than Amber's hair. And this is what she This was her caption, oof Oh f period
Unknown Speaker 58:24
says 1987 period, I ended up marrying parentheses and subsequently divorcing this prize.
Unknown Speaker 58:36
On this day he got his hair done at the salon. Dot, dot, dot. I did not. Oh my god. And it's so obvious in the picture. You guys, his hair is, like, is like, twice as tall as his head and just her little hair heads just, I just love how she goes. I ended up marrying episodes of Clinton, divorcing this prize
Unknown Speaker 58:58
Amber. I love it like that was. That was one of the most winning comments to me, and we're sorry, but we're happy that we're happy that that you're better. Now I'm in my mind. He still has that here today. He's walking around with it right now. Yeah, he goes, and he goes to like that, I'm not No, no, no shade on this, because I still love air supply. But he goes to the like, air supply, not the actual air supply concerts, but the people who pretend to be air supply and make sure his hair is even more teased, I think. And he goes to like, 24 hour fitness, and he oils up. And yes, he does, yeah, I would say quads. I was pointing my arm and saying quads, but that's not the right muscle. Yeah. He still wears Muscle T shirts, yeah.
Unknown Speaker 59:40
Oh my god,
Unknown Speaker 59:52
I'm so fascinated with prom themes, you guys, it paints such a picture of a moment in time very often.
Unknown Speaker 1:00:00
Easy and overly earnest in its approach. And so Mike, my husband, Mike, he was on his prom committee because they had like four people in their graduating class. So pause,
Unknown Speaker 1:00:13
that is so out of character of the mic. I know. Are you sure it's the same Mike? Like I said, not a lot of people in his graduating Mike, yeah, so it was just sort of like he got roped into it. Didn't have a lot of choice, and so he was really trying super hard to get them to approve, who's going to drive you home by the cars to be there from theme,
Unknown Speaker 1:00:40
they said, No, that one did not get past the administration. But here, this is another reason why my prom was not memorable. They didn't choose a song. Instead, they just chose, like, this nebulous idea. You guys listen to this. This is my prom theme. These times hours to remember. Wait, wait, wait, wait, like, what is times? Dot, dot, dot. Ours to remember are just these times. Like, if I recall, it was a colon, but punctuation is an issue, because situation is important. Yeah, it was these times, colon, hours, apostrophe s,
Unknown Speaker 1:01:19
oh, it was apostrophe s, and it was printed on the tickets, on the programs, and even as an 18 year old, I'm like, I can't look at it.
Unknown Speaker 1:01:30
That will live on forever. That problem just doesn't count. You didn't do over.
Unknown Speaker 1:01:36
We, we were the same we didn't have. When I was reading everybody's prom themes, I was so envious that it was like because we had some great songs in the late 80s. Ours was called perfect prom songs. Ours was called Once upon a time. And if you guys look at my picture, the only thing that I think was indicative of Once Upon a Time Is there some paper crowns on the ground by the plants in our prom picture, like they moved to Party City, and they got, like, the paper crowns, and they tossed them, just set these here next to the plant. If we did have, like, a castle or something, it can have been that great. We didn't, obviously have a prom committee with the caliber of your husband, Mike, or the one you work on, Carolyn, because it was, I have forgotten about it. And, you know, I'm big, I would have remembered it if it was, like, if it was good, wow. That takes my breath. Look at that castle. It was probably like, from, you know, like the, you know, what's the bulletin board paper? Like, they got in the teachers and they had castle.
Unknown Speaker 1:02:35
Well, we did have songs for our themes. And so I'll actually even tell you my sophomore cotillion theme was we've got tonight by Bob Seeger. That's good because it's true. We've got tonight, and it was the pre Kenny Rogers version. That was good because high school maybe would have picked Kenny Rogers. We've got tonight. That was pre Kenny junior year. Was just the two of us by Washington Junior featuring Bill Withers.
Unknown Speaker 1:03:02
Seat what? Make sure you get that in there. Yes. And then senior year, no, who picked this? I mean, I guess prom committee I just make, I mean, the the title is nice, it's just the the performers. So it was just you and I by Eddie rabbit and
Unknown Speaker 1:03:19
crystal that was gonna be my wedding song. When I was 1987 I was like, planning my wedding obviously, to the guy that I went to prom with, and right? I loved that song. My friend Susan and I both loved it. We both were like, This is gonna be our We're each gonna have this as our wedding song. Neither one of us did, but it's a great song, like the long hair you could have all gone to prom with the long crystal Gale hair. Yeah, any rabbit he had kind of long hair? Yeah? He did. Yeah. That's so those were our themes. Okay, so Gail's theme was one more night. Solid choice. How much money did Phil Collins make on that song? Prom Night? Yes,
Unknown Speaker 1:03:55
that is mine and Andy song. Actually, it is our song, one more night. That's a really, you've got just one more night. You've got just one prom night. Phil Collins, Denise's okay. This is solid. This is either you either this is like an early 80s it's either a late 70s, early 80s prom, or else you live in, like out state, Minnesota. Denise's was Stairway to Heaven. But here's my question, what do you do when the song changes? Like, it's a slow dance, right? But then remember how this The song starts to get like, it rocks pretty hard. Do you start fast dancing then I don't know. Okay, Courtney, these guys are looking at me because they're like, what
Unknown Speaker 1:04:35
never really made it through the entire song, all 11 minutes of it, exactly? Yeah, there's a point where you're not slow dancing anymore, and that's a very awkward thing on the dance floor. Courtney's theme was always in forever. Amy's was time for me to fly by REO
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speedway.
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And they this is so great, and they decorated the gym with doves and a Pegasus.
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Oh, wait,
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getting better and better. Oh, my God. Okay. Another 1982 theme was lights by journey. I like it. I think this is very romantic between the lights looking out over the city when the lights go down in the city. Colleen's theme was a night to remember. And she says, Boy, it sure was. My date ended up with my friend. It's all good, though I got to slow dance to more than words by extreme. God, that's such a solid slow dance choice.
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Again, just a moment in time, you just nailed it. We know exactly where you were and what everybody was wearing and what everyone looked like when you say more than words. By extreme Megan's theme was forever young by Alphaville. And I I actually have FOMO when I read this, because that is the perfect prom theme that wins the day forever, and that's cool and makes me cry. Like that song is so beautiful and it makes me cry. And when I read that that was her prom theme, I felt sort of the same way. I felt like once upon a time with paper crowns,
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agreed Megan was in the perfect outfit. She took a bra off when she was dancing. Megan, you're a prom like your prom. Feel like Megan's
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prom queen Megan grew up in a John Hughes movie. That's what I'm imagining right now. Yeah, I think, don't you think, yeah, um, oh, this is great. Jody's prom in 1985 was putting on the Ritz.
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But I just think of that, that show putting on the hits that I can't even say putting on the Ritz. I can only say putting on the hits, putting on the hits. I just hear it as like the big cigar.
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So romantic Dominica theme was into the night, which, let's be honest. Wait, why is that creepy? Tell me I shouldn't read it. I shouldn't. Oh, it is into the night. Oh, my God, she's just 16 years old. We don't
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know what love this is a great song. I love this song. It's one of the creepy, the songs with the most creepy lyrics you've ever heard. And my husband has the most perfect idea I've ever heard for either a good SNL skit or what the video should actually be like for this song. It starts out, and you just see a man's hand writing in his journal. And he starts out, she's just 16 years old, and he's writing the words as he says it right, leave her alone, they say. And the camera is pulling back, pulling back, and you see that he's sitting in prison,
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so the fact that that was her prom theme,
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it's how you guys, how did I not know that those were the words I had? No, you need to read all of them. Yeah. Okay, gross. And I would wait till the end of time for you, and he'd do it again. It's true. It's worth it to be in jail. A different Colleen theme in 1985 was night with a K night in heaven, because her school mascot was the knights, and the prom song was heaven by Bryan Adams. That's so clever. Leslie's theme was under the sea, solid, perennial prom choice. And of course, she wore a royal blue, ruffled, shiny, copious amounts of synthetic fabric that probably looked like, you know, like sparkly and shiny, and it doesn't Tammy. Our listener who had the sophisticated black and white custom dress that her grandma had made. And then another girl showed up on the same dress. Her theme was splendor. Ah, Paris, like, that's Christians. That's Christians. The
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pipsters theme was, we've got tonight. Oh, and that's awesome, right? And she still has the cocktail glass filled with purple feathers, again, cocktails out of high school. Yeah, you got Bishop eusta scrap and Anne's prom theme was, this could be the night. And she says, I imagine that theme was a big hit with a parent,
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kind of like, who's gonna drive you home tonight? Yes,
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perhaps the surest way to time travel back to the dance floor at our proms is to hear a song from that memorable night. So whenever I hear crystal Gale and Eddie rabbit crooning just you and
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I am immediately transported at that moment to the Sheraton post Inn in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where I was dancing.
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Tunes spun by DJ. Danny Pellegrino,
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so I want to ask you guys, did you have a DJ or a band? Okay, reason number 42 that my prom was not memorable. We did not have a DJ. We had a band. I don't think they played any recognizable songs like they may have played original music. Oh, I don't know that I danced to a single song. Are you kidding? I am not even kidding you. I remember showing up and going, Are you fucking kidding me? Like, where's the Michael Jackson? I mean, I didn't think Michael Jackson would be at my prom, but I thought that we would be dancing on the dance floor Michael Jackson, and I remember these people just being so earnest, like they were just singing their hearts out about love and but not to songs that I knew. Oh, my god, wow. We had a DJ, and sadly, I don't remember that we danced a lot and we loved to dance. I'm wondering if we did and I'm not remembering it, or if we were maybe a little self conscious on our fancy I don't know, but lady in red is the only one I specifically remember, and lady in red because I feel like I feel like we didn't dance a lot, because I have this solid memory of dancing with my future husband, who is not my husband and but also everyone who all of these stories are often shared. My husband knows all these stories so but I remember putting my head on his shoulder a little bit and feeling like, oh, maybe I should like, but it was like I was really nervous, but lady in red was playing, I do have one. I do have one memorable song that didn't happen at prom itself, but like, like you, Carolyn, we did do things. It was a tradition to do something the day after prom, and that does have happy memories to it. The bit the day after prom was a big deal. You made plans to go do something that was actually fun. So we went boating on Lake Minnetonka. We purified ourselves in the waters of Lake Minnetonka. And the song that I remember coming out of the boom box on the boat was Everybody Wants to Rule the World by tears for fear. And I remember just sitting there and the sun is shining, and there are swimsuits on and the water is all sparkly. And it did feel like we were grown ups, and it felt like I should have a drink in my hand and that I can maybe I'm off the coast of Capri or something. It felt like, Okay, now I'm playing grown up. This is working for me.
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So our listeners chimed in with some of their memorable songs, and some of those included Almost paradise from Footloose, perhaps my all time favorite high school song. I love the song, open arms by journey. Oh my gosh. Is there a better song from back in the day? I do not think so. It was also our listener, Kelly's theme, and she was on the decorating committee, and she wrote the song lyrics in calligraphy a giant roll of bulletin board paper. Oh my gosh, Kelly, do you still have that? If you still have you deserve to keep that giant roll of bulletin board paper that took a long time, I'm sure.
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Okay, we've only just begun.
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That's a great song throwback for unless this throwback, yeah, well, that's one of our Boomer listeners, and I think that was somebody's prompting. So love it. Mara says that they had a band. Okay, there you go. And that that band was pretty good, sorry, Kristen, but the best dancing actually came during the band breaks, when they danced to Michael Jackson's wanna be starting something and some of his other hits. So did you have some regular music that played during the band's breaks? Kristen, I don't know. He didn't stay that long
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for, like, let's blow this pop stand. Then we went down to the river flats and, like, drink wine coolers or something. Another classic, great song, Whitney, Houston, I want to dance with somebody we've got you can't touch this. That should be your prom theme.
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Yeah, parent or enemy, yep, okay, Angela's theme. And the song she thinks of is, I've had the time of my life. The time of
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my
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life.
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Yes, at prom, does somebody lift your baby up in the air? Okay, endless love. Yes, I'm right there with you. Melanie's theme in 1985 was Purple Rain. Okay, that seems like such a miss. Why didn't we have Purple Rain. Why could we have seem very Promi to me, it's purple. It
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just seems like the decorations would be so easy. Well, lucky listeners, we are going to be making a Spotify playlist that has all of these songs that we've talked about on it so all.
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All of our memorable prom songs will be included on a fun Spotify playlist, and we'll have that link for you in our Weekly Reader.
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So clearly, prom is an important milestone in our development as almost adults, whether it was the exhilaration of playing Princess, or it was a complete dud, or maybe it was full of shame and rejection. Either way, it left a mark. And here's what I'd like for people to do in honor of their teenage selves. I'd love for you to envision what prom would look like for you today. As an adult, you have full agency to right the wrongs of the past or replicate the choice of the past. Maybe it's an all pants prom. Maybe there are no husbands allowed. Maybe it starts at 430 so you can be in your jammies by nine. Where would you have this prom? What music would you want? We can actually do things like this now, because we're in our 50s, maybe it's your next birthday, or maybe you have a big anniversary coming up. The point is, we can now be the teenagers We long to be back then there's still time. Thank you for listening today, and we'll see you next time.
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And don't forget you guys. We would love for everyone to see all of those dresses and hairstyles. So please, please post in our Facebook group the one that's called Growing up Gen X, which is a fun place that is for all of you, where you can post memories and pictures and links, and a place where we can all connect with each other, because I really want to see if some of those same please, please do that. We just feel so grateful to all of you for listening and for sharing, and to those of you who click those stars and leave us such nice reviews on Apple podcasts. Thank you. We have to make sure to acknowledge all of our supporters on Patreon and those of you who have just donated via our website that support puts the gas in our tank and helps us pay the bills so we can keep on trucking and doing what we love and what you guys love to hear. Today, we're giving a special shout out to patrons, Courtney, Tracy, Carla, Felicia, Amy, Ally, Nina, Diane, Sherry and Lorna. Thank you guys. So so much. Yes, thank you. Thank you. In the meantime, let's raise our glasses for a toast. Courtesy of the cast of Threes Company, two good times, two Happy Days, Two Little House on the Prairie. Cheers, the information,
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opinions and comments expressed on the pop culture Preservation Society podcast belong solely to Carolyn the crushologist and Helen Newman, and are in no way representative of our employers or affiliates. And though we truly believe we are always right, there is always a first time the PCPs is written, produced and recorded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, home of the fictional wjm studios and our beloved Mary Richards, Nanny, Nanny, keep on trucking and many the force be with you. Something always happens
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whenever we together, we get a happy feeling when we're singing a song.