Mom, Dad, and the Ottawa High School prom of 1948…..

In April of 1948, my mom (Gen Hall) asked dad to the Ottawa High School (OHS) Prom.  They had been dating since the summer of ’47.  When I heard this story from the two of them a few years back, I realized how much proms, and the times, have changed.

In August of ’45, At the ripe old age of 21, Dad was discharged from the Army after five years of service. He and mom met two years later in July of ’47. She was all of 16, and soon to be a junior in high school, although he didn’t know it at the time. When he discovered her age later, he was shocked, but didn’t stop dating her. And, it wasn’t that unusual at the time. There were lots of GIs returning from overseas, and they were dating many of the younger girls and women, as many of the women their age were already married (side note: my grandma [mom’s mom] married my grandpa when she was 16 and he was 26, so maybe this was a move forward….;-)…).

In any case, mom asked him to the prom in April of ’48, and he accepted. The night of the prom came, and of course, no limos were involved. Dad didn’t have a car, nor did his family, so he walked to mom’s house to pick her up. My Grandfather then gave the two of them a ride to OHS for the Prom.

As the night went on, they danced several dances. At some point in time, mom went to “freshen up”. Dad was standing in the gym off to the side. He was talking to some of the other ex-GIs that were there, when George Willy, the shop teacher, walked up to them. He asked if anyone wanted to see the wood shop, and several of the guys, including dad, took him up on the invitation. With smiles on their faces, they headed to the wood shop.



Once in the shop, “Mr.” Willy said “if you got ’em, smoke ’em”, and everyone pulled out their cigarettes and lit up. After a few minutes, someone reached into a back pocket and pulled out a pint bottle which made it’s way around the room. After a couple sips each, they finished their cigarettes and headed back up to the dance and located their girl friends.

When the dance ended, mom and dad caught a ride with another couple to the restaurant where they were having dinner. From there, dad called a taxi and took mom home. After dropping her off, he walked back to his folks house by himself.  

I’ve thought of that evening and the changes over the years. Their differences in age, dad not having a car to use (he wouldn’t own a car until 1950 when he and my Uncle Mick bought one together), the smoking and drinking on school property with a teacher. Mom and dad seemed to weather it all pretty well. Mom graduated in 1949 and they married in 1950. They were married for over 55 years, until dad passed away. George Willy ended up becoming the Principal, and then later, the Superintendent of OHS and served in that position for several years. When mom started working at the High School in the mid sixties, she worked for George until he retired.  

I look at George Willy’s picture from the 1948 yearbook, and see a teacher that was a bit older than the young ex-GIs he took to the woodshop. I can’t imagine what would happen to a teacher who did such a thing today. For that matter, I can’t imagine what the school would say if a 17 year old showed up with a 24 year old. Of course times have changed and we all know that. To me, looking back, it seems like the late 40s in Ottawa were a pretty good time to be alive.