Valentine’s Day – in what we called “grade school” in the 1950s – brought a mixture of emotions.
All of us looked forward to the treats brought for our classroom party. Most likely, the teacher and what we called “grade mothers” prepared them for us.
Most – if not all – us boys had reached an age of inner turmoil. According to some unwritten male code, boys our age were supposed to dislike girls. But some of us had discovered that we just might like girls, although we weren’t quite sure just why yet.
The teacher – and probably most of the parents – required that we have a valentine for each student in our class, whether we liked them or not. That did away with some of the dread, since we knew that we wouldn’t be the only one in class to not get a valentine. More dread and anticipation was associated in selecting a valentine for the girl we liked best – and probably had a crush on.
The day of the party, a large cardboard box – decorated in red – was placed in the front of the classroom. Each student then placed their valentines in the box. The teacher then handed the valentines out, calling the name of the student receiving the valentine – but not the sender. If we happened to receive a valentine from “that girl,” our face would match the color of the red heart on the valentine.
Then came the biggest dread of all, as we waited to see the reaction from “that girl,” as she opened our valentine. If she looked at us and smiled, we felt like a prayer had been answered. If her face turned red too, we wondered if girls went through the same mixture of feelings as us boys.
Could it be that we were beginning to understand females at such an early age? If so, what happened to that ability as we grew older?
Females understand male insecurity, right?
Marshall McClung is the historical columnist for The Graham Star. He is retired from the Graham County Rescue Squad.