Dancing At Mr. Ben's

Dancing At Mr. Ben's

8.5" x 11"

pencil

We loved to dance, back in the 1950s.

There were no dance halls or such, and no drinking, in Huntsville, Texas back in those days. But there were several places to dance. If a business had a place to dance, a juke box, a place to sit, and something to eat and drink, there would be college kids there-day or night.

The SUB (Student Union or Lowman Student Center-a fairly new building at the time) was one place that had a good dance floor, a jukebox, and a band for college dances, and a snack bar, and bookstore downstairs. This was on a hill by the science building. People cut classes to hang around the SUB and dance all day. And it was the place to go between classes. Some people even sat there to study while the jukebox was going.

Remember, we barely had tv and could only get one radio station because of the hills. Tv was a new thing, and we only had tvs in the visitors areas of the dorms.

Another place to dance was at Mr. Ben's. This was a trolly car that an older man had set up on a hill by a book store, just across the street from campus. In the trolly, he had a grill and cooked hamburgers, Lousiana rice, chicken and dumplings, and short orders. Behind the trolly, hanging over a ravine, was a long room with a hardwood floor. On one side of the room was a counter for ordering food. On the opposite side, in a corner, there was an old juke box with some really old songs on it. On each of the long sides of the room, there were some old student chairs with the writing arm on them, where people could sit and study and eat. Or they could wait until someone came along to dance with.

I was so thrilled the year that I no longer had to get up early for a class, and had to eat my meals in the dorm dining room. I made it a point to go to Mr. Ben's about 10 in the morning and rebel. Instead of breakfast food, I got one of his wonderful hamburgers. They were even better at that time of day. The first one off his grill was the best. I guess it was because the grill was still clean.

Sometimes, I would get a small bowl of chicken with dumplings, or rice, or stew at lunch time. (I really liked Helen's stew at the beer joint next door to Daddy's variety store, best, though.)

None of it cost over 25 cents an item. And 5 cents for a Coke. 10 cents for french fries or onion rings. And you could get a package of potato chips for 5 cents.

If there was a big crowd at the SUB, we would wander over to Mr. Ben's and listen to the jukebox, hoping someone would come in ready to dance.

In the drawing above, I showed one of the styles of the time and one outfit that I wore. I had an orange felt circle skirt, with about 6 to 8 petticoats under it. I borrowed Alison's white cashmere sweater and wore an orange scarf at my neck, (like they wore in the cowboy shows! That was "in style"!) , and either black flats or black and white saddle shoes. My hair was cut in duck tails. I carried my books around, but I wasn't very studious. I would rather dance!

During the summer, Mr. Ben closed up his place and went camping on the river. As I remember the story, one year, when the students returned, Mr. Ben didn't come back. He was found at his campsite on the river.

Our school colors were orange and white, which is the same for the University of Texas. When I would go to visit friends there, I wore my Sam Houston outfit and people thought I was from the university! I fit right in.

I didn't want to wear that outfit anymore after one older man, professor, told me he would pass me if I would sit on the front row of his class and wear that outfit to each class. I ran out of that place, and would not go back! I got an F in the class. I didn't know that I should have reported him. Of course, you didn't do anything about sexual harrassment, back then. Girls just tried to avoid the person and change the situation. Drop a class, move, quit a job, get a boyfriend or father to step in for you. I thought something was wrong with that man, anyway, when he told the class that things like tables and chairs were masculine or feminine! How could one tell? I wasn't about to ask! I just thought he was some kind of pervert! And that was confirmed when he told me how to pass his class!

Ah, but Mr. Ben's was a nice place to go, and Mr. Ben was a very kind, grandfatherly type of man. I thought he would be someone to go to for help, if needed. And, the kids and the noise of the jukebox and dancing, didn't seem to bother him a bit.

Most grown ups of the time thought our music was horrible, couldn't stand to hear it, told us it was trash and wouldn't last. Of course, that made us want to play it even more. It was great for dancing, fun, listening, parking, energizing, relaxing, and we're still listening to it. We thought some things were just funny and not to be taken seriously, although the adults thought we were thinking that it was great music. And, sometimes, we just tried to shock them with things like "the dirty bop". (Wasn't dirty, at all, and we laughed all the while we were dancing.)

Hope that you are going to be able to go out for some good dancing this weekend, or that you can watch.

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I noticed that at the 979 Gallery and Cafe in downtown Bryan (I hope that I didn't type that wrong, but it's close!) has a night when they have Swing Dancing. Now that should be fun. At least to watch. My knees won't move that well, but that is like the jitterbug and jitterbop that we used to do. So much fun!

I could go watch and sketch, maybe.

The night and times are on their website.

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Hopefully, if you are local, you got out to First Friday in Downtown Bryan tonight. I'm sure that it is fun, with so much to do. Lots of art, music, entertainment, food, and activities for all ages.

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Look at Virginia Vaughan's website for workshops coming up. She is doing a workshop in Rockport tomorrow, with an emphasis on drawing with the paintbrush.

She will be in Calvert February 21-22 for a Plein Aire Painting Workshop.

Sign up and join us!

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Thanks for reading and sharing with others.

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Friday Night Dancing

Friday Night Dancing

11" x 15"

watercolors

Back in the 1950s, when I was in college, there were some popular spots for dancing. Going dancing was a priority to many of us, and we would rather dance than eat-or go to class. There was a ballroom with a jukebox in the the SUB (Student Union Building), right next door to Biology class. The place was usually crowded with students, dancing or watching and waiting to be asked, day and night, unless there was some big event going on, or the administration was trying to crack down and make us all go to class.

The town was "dry", so, in order to get a drink, people had to drive across the river to another county, for drinking, liquor stores, and dancing at the little nightspots that dotted the highway.

One of the most popular of these was the Paper Moon. This was a larger place, that attracted a crowd at night. There were some old songs on the jukebox that were popular for dancing and singing along to. One of those songs, "Faded Love", would be played over and over and even more frequently as people started getting a little tipsy. "Crying in their beer", as the saying goes, might be more accurate. When that song came on, the college students would stand up, sing along loudly and with passion, and raise their drinks. A lot of people said that this was our school song, instead of the approved song that the college band played.

We were kind of lucky in those days. Everytime a team won a game, we had a holiday the next Monday. And we always won during those years. It was a sad day on campus when the team did happen to lose, and we had to go to class on a Monday.

One Monday, we didn't have to go to school. We awoke to see the flag at half staff. And learned that the reason for the holiday was that the Moon burned down. People were crying and so sad they could barely walk around.

There was another place near the Moon, but I don't recall the name of it. It was smaller and didn't have that same atmosphere. But, we didn't have a whole lot of choices of places to go.

Just south of town on the Houston highway, there was another place with a pretty good dance floor and a jukebox, but I don't think that there was drinking there. It was in a wooden building, but I can't remember the name of that place either. That is the one that I was thinking of when I painted "Friday Night Dancing". It wasn't the place that everyone congregated, or the place that you went on a big date. As I recall, we would go there, dance a few dances, then move on to another place.

Another popular place was State Lake. It had one of those rock buildings, sort of like a clubhouse, with a big dance floor, jukebox, and a nice big terrace that overlooked the lake. It was one of the WPA projects. There is a similar building at Ft. Parker Lake, and, I'm sure, a lot more across the country since it was a project built during the Depression. Of course, there was no drinking, and there weren't even tables or a place to buy food. But, it was in a lot of woods, and gave us a place to go away from the scrutiny of the grownups on campus and in town.

In those days, I would have almost killed to have a pony tail that would swing when I danced. (Now my hair is much longer than that, but I can't dance anymore due to bad knees.)

I tried all kinds of things to make my hair grow longer, including pulling my hair as I rolled it. But, it would get almost to my shoulders and I couldn't stand it any longer, and I would have to get it cut in duck tails again. Pony tails, duck tails (or DAs, as some people called that cut), and a medium length hair style that was rolled with pin curls were popular for the girls. Guys had DAs, butch cuts, crew cuts, or a medium cut that allowed the hair to be combed back with a little swirl or poof on the top. Of course, the Aggies had their military hair cuts, with the freshman being bald. We were glad to date seniors, or juniors, who had better hair cuts!

When we went out, we had to have on our beads and earbobs, maybe a watch. We just wore a lipstick called "Natural" for every day. For dress up, we wore "Red" lipstick and, for really special occasions, we would add a little powder or mascara on our eyebrows. Circle skirts were in style and, when we wore those, we had to wear lots of petticoats to hold the skirt as straight out as possible. Six, eight, or even ten or more petticoats were required to make those skirts hang just right. Another style was pencil slim skirts. Those didn't require petticoats of course, but, unless you had an adequate kick pleat in the back, it was kind of hard to walk in those!

To make sure that the figure was held in check, girls had to wear Merry Widows, that brought reminders of earlier days of corsets and tiny waists. If you couldn't breathe, you had the right adjustment on the Merry Widow! To complete the look of the tiny waist, over the skirts, girls wore a wide elastic belt, like a huge rubber band.

Sweaters were popular with the skirts as were simple blouses .

Small scarves were tied about the neck, like the cowboys wore in the movies, only with more variety in color and designs.

Shoes for dancing needed a good leather sole. To keep from slipping and having an embarassing fall on the dance floor, due to shiney new shoe soles, sandpaper could be used to scuff the bottom of the shoe a bit, until it got worn enough from dancing. Rubber heels and some soles were available, but , while they were okay for normal walking, you couldn't dance with those. And, new shoes were usually stiff as boards, which made walking with blisters on the feet, a painful activity. Often, shoes were abandoned in favor of dancing in socks or stocking feet. Guys usually kept their shoes on, unless it was at a sock hop, when everyone wore various kinds of socks.

Ballet or ballerina slippers were popular for dress, dancing, and every day. Penny loafers and saddle shoes were also popular. For dress up, the taller the heels, the better. Three to four inch heels were for dress up, flats were for everyday wear, or if your date wasn't very much taller than you were.

Along with dress up, we wore sheer stockings held up with a garter belt or a girdle. Some ladies could hold up their stockings with just a pair of garters, but that was mainly girls who were on the thin side. Stockings might be worn with flats or heels, but usually not with penny loafers or saddle shoes. For the more casual shoes, we wore white socks that rolled over into a thick top. Two or three rolls were most desirable. In the summer, there were thin cotton socks. Also, sandals were great for hot weather.

We danced to big band music, rock and roll, some blues, and old country western. If we thought it would shock our parents, without actually shocking us worse, we were all for it.

My painting didn't fit on the scanner, so I showed a detail of it, then smaller details from each side. The girls dancing aren't supposed to be anyone in particular. They just show the styles, the movement of jitterbug or jitterbop that we used to do, and the colorful jukebox at the edge of the open dance floor. (Other dances included the waltz and the fox trot, but, in my painting, my girls are carried away with the rhythm of the jitterbug.)