1950s Dating in Sikeston, Missouri

Tom and me with Monoply Board

My freshman year at Sikeston High School I enjoyed playing trumpet in the band, marching in the band at football games and parades, being with my girlfriends in Red Peppers, participating in the National Forensic League (a speech and debating club), and a few more activities.  But most of all I enjoyed spending time with Tom Harmon.

I remember that each day after school he would be waiting for me by the Band Building.  He would carry part of my things and we would go to Wag's and get a Pepsi and Fifth Avenue candy bar.  On the way home, we would share the 12-ounce drink, in a bottle, and 3 ounce candy bar.   We stopped at Heath Street to go our separate ways.  We looked into each other’s eyes and hating parting.  We must have looked ridiculous to others.  We were very young, only 14 and 16 years old my Freshman year, and yet thinking we were grown-up.  Surprisingly, I am still with that skinny, pimple faced boy.  He is no longer skinny and has put on weight over the years.  His skin is now clear and he is a handsome man.

Tom had no car, so we walked places.  I know that seems odd today, but in the 1950s and early 1960s people in small towns often walked places.  Most families had only one car that they shared.  Dad always had the last word on who got to use the car at any given time.  Partly because we walked, everyone was thinner back then.  People never ate in their cars, they ate together at the kitchen or dining room table.  In general, everyone was more active, and kids played outside until their mothers called them in at evening time. 

There was not a lot to do in Sikeston without a car.  We went to the movies one a week and went out driving around with friends in their cars.   Tom came over to my house almost every night.  My parents were not fond of cards, so we played board games at my house, like Chinese Checkers or Monopoly.  Most evenings we walked out back and sit on the picnic table and talked.  When my Dad came out and coughed it was time to go back inside, and for Tom to go to his home.

My parents tried to interest me in other things so I didn't spend as much time with Tom but that rarely worked.  I do remember my going to Band Camp one summer at Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau.  That was a lot of fun.  I made new friends and interacted with students who all enjoyed playing music.

Oh, if we only knew then, what we know now.  I realize now that our youth is a time to explore opportunities and broad friendships.  Had I not been wrapped up in Tom Harmon I might have had a much richer High School experience.  I have had a good life and would change only a few things.  I look forward to my class reunions and will be in Sikeston attending my 55^th SHS Class of 1962 reunion this September.  I realize how much I missed in school when I listen to friends fondly recall all they did in high school, without being focused on a single person.  Sadly, we can only give young people advice to enjoy their youth, each one has to experience it their way.  What is good for many, is not always good for others.  Those differences make life and people interesting.  I remember that walking home with Tom Harmon made me happy then, and I still enjoy walking beside him today.

My First Encounter with Tom Harmon

Margaret Cline 1958

Tom Harmon 1958

The summer between my 8th and 9th grades, I met my husband, Tom Harmon.  I knew he was the one for me the minute I laid eyes on him.  To me, he was the most handsome boy I had ever seen and the best skater on the floor of the Sikeston Roller Rink.  Skating was big in small towns back in the 1950s. The year we met was 1958, and I was two weeks shy of my fourteenth birthday.  He was wearing Levis, a black T-shirt, with the sleeves folded up, and he had a cool flattop haircut.  I had on jeans, a white shirt, scarf around my neck and wore my hair in a ponytail.  In the 1950s, they also made “pin curls” next to the face.  We took a wisp of hair, curled it, and stuck a bobby pin in it to make it stay, the pins were removed after a few hours.  You can see the result in the above photo, the curls remained all day.   Hair styles change every generation, often several times, and it is an important part of a girls day to get her hair just right before leaving home.

The music at the skating rink was mostly Elvis Presley, and they stopped about every twenty minutes to let skaters pick a partner.  I saw this one cute guy stealing a glance at me and prayed he would ask me to skate with him.  The music stopped.  He skated over and asked me to be his skate partner.  We said nothing while we skated to the song.  He was on the quiet side and only said, "Thank You" at the end of the couples skating piece.  He didn't even tell me his name or ask me for my name.

Oh, to be young again!  The feelings are so much more intense as a teenager.  The second "Partners Session" came and again he came over to me, smiled and took my arm and led me to the floor.  He didn't even ask! I thought that was odd.  He appeared to be much more self-confident and sophisticated than the boys he was with that night.  At the end of the session I asked him his name and he looked at the ground and said it softly, but I could not hear what it was.  He asked me for my name, and I proudly told him, "My name is Margaret Cline.  I live just three blocks from here up on Lake Street."  He just smiled and said "thank you" again, and skated off.  I was on cloud nine.  I skated over where his friends were huddled together, and they all looked and smiled.  To my surprise, I did not know one of them.  Sikeston was a town of about 14,000 residences then, so we tended to know everybody.  Later I understood that they were in high school and I was going to high school that Fall.  That is why I didn't know them at the time.

The lights flashed and the evening was over.  I had a friend of mine with me, and I ask her to come to my house afterward.  I didn't expect to see my new found skate partner.  To my surprise and delight, he was waiting for me outside next to the door.  He smiled and asked if he could walk me home.  His friend Henry Davis was with him, so the four of us walked home.  We went around to the back yard and sat on the picnic table.  There were awkward silences, but I was on cloud nine.  Tom and I were on one side of the table with our back to our two friends.  All of a sudden he leaned over and kissed me.  On the mouth!  I did not know what to do so I just said, "I think it is time for me to get into the house now."  The shy quiet boy found his voice then and kept talking so I would not go inside. 

A few minutes later, at about 9:45 p.m., my Dad came outside and just looked at all four of us.  He said, "It is getting late Margaret."  That ended a wonderful evening.  I went inside and danced around and felt as light as a feather. It is hard for me to believe now, but I was two weeks shy of my fourteenth birthday the night we met.

My parents were upset that I wanted to date at such a young age.  We "debated" the issue for weeks. Now, of course, I realize they were right and I was much too young to begin dating, but nothing would stop me from seeing Tom Harmon.  

We dated "steady" for almost two years and I married Tom Harmon in 1959.   He is still quiet, but he is not shy.  People on his father's side were all quiet.  If you could say something that interested them, then you had a conversation.  Amazingly, Tom has kept my interest for what will be sixty years in 2018, and the flame still burns inside me when I see him. 

I am Blogging my memories and posting them on this Blogger to preserve my life's memories for future generations.  It is my goal to turn my many memories and inspirational artwork into a book for my family and friends, and to anyone else that might benefit from my experiences.  Having written three books, I understand the long process of writing a book.  It is important to plan three to six weeks in advance when writing this style of a blog.  Enjoy, I hope you enjoyed this and will come back again next week!