I dropped out of high school the February before the prom. I did get invited to one after I showed up in Iowa City that spring. Since I was invited be her and I had no car, she drove her dad’s blue Toyota Mark II. I wrote about it here. And no, given that this was University High (run by the university) in Iowa City in 1971, it was not exactly your traditional prom. Especially so since the girls at that particular time and place were not into shaving legs and underarms (which I found rather sexy, believe it or not). ‘Nuff said…
Junior Prom: 1982 Lincoln Continental Sedan chauffeur driven
Senior Prom: 1984 Chevrolet Cavalier–self driven with street racing afterwards
Same spring 1971 as you, Paul. I had a steady, but didn’t go to prom because I couldn’t drive–and didn’t want to ask her to drive or to buddy up with another couple for transportation.
That spring I’d been caught street-racing my father’s 1971 Mercury Monterey late at night, doing 60+ in an ostensibly 25mph zone. Being under 18, Ohio (at least my county) was tough: if you’d exceeded the limit by more than 10mph, you paid the fine AND lost your license two days for each mile over the limit. The kind policeman had written me up at only 60 mph, so that’s 35 mph “over”–meaning losing license for 70 precious days as HS senior year came to a close.
Still have fond memories of the car, with bench seats a mile wide and FoMoCo’s plush, uh, “tricot cloth” used for upholstery then. Good times!
Here we go:
That looks like Parma.
1977 Chevy Malibu. I washed and waxed that car to within an inch of its life. The Malibu belonged to my mother, and was not a bit sexy or fun to drive, but it was new, and I was very proud to be trusted with her wheels. I even brought it back with a tank of gas.
She died in that car in 1981. Poignant memories of that particular GM product.
Awww man, I’m sorry 🙁
’69 Camaro in 1982.
Prom: my fathers 1963 Buick Electra 225 6 window piller-less hardtop, grey with grey cloth, a sad note, this followed his ’61 Invicta convertible (metallic green with 3 tone green vinyl interior and light green top!, I turned 16 in 1961. & ’62 Electra-225 convertible light brown with brown leather bucket seats). He drank from the GM hierarchy, From ’56 on a yearly Buick with an Olds thrown in every now and then, and by mid 70s Cadillac’s until Buick Le Sabre’s in the ’90s before he stopped driving.
After prom: my mothers 1963 Plymouth Valiant V-100 4 door sedan, light blue with blue vinyl.
Dave
I drove my first car to prom of course. ‘85 Cavalier 4 door in dark grey. Complete with aftermarket sunroof, Kenwood, and knockoff BBS style rims. And let’s not forget the Heartbeat stripes. I had that sucker valet parked too! 🙂
Just realized I attended three proms having been asked by a junior girl my sophomore year.
Sophomore year: Driven there by my dates friend in a 1978 Dodge Diplomat. The female friend of my date committed suicide two weeks later. Can’t look at an early Diplomat without thinking of either that prom or Becky.
Junior year in 1989 I went stag in my fathers 1988 Ford Tempo GLS. That was as close as it got to sporty with a Tempo. It was a two door with a five speed.
Senior year was in 1990 and I drove my just acquired 1989 Mustang with the mighty 2.3. My date and I were color coordinated but as a guy a year behind me observed as I was stupid to ask her. She had five older brothers and he said any lewd thoughts were a death wish on my part.
Oddly, each of these proms were in a different state from my high school. There were. I appropriate facilities on the Illinois side where I attended school so proms were nearby in Cape Girardeau, MO. Might this be the only time people were encouraged to violate the Mann Act?
1978. I was in a group of friends who wasn’t dating so one of them played social secretary and paired us all up.
I drove my father’s 6 month old white 78 Lincoln Continental Town Coupe. It was already filthy, encrusted with bugs and tar. I spent the day scrubbing it back to new. I felt like the king of my senior class (though I was probably the only one who did).
It was a win-win because he liked the weekend he spent with my 67 Galaxie 500 convertible.
My senior prom was in the spring of 1990. I had a ’68 Mustang fastback; but with no AC, it was definitely out of the running. So I drove my Mom’s ’82 Cadillac Eldorado. She had traded her ’83 Cougar for it in 1989 (the Cougar was a wonderful car, but she always wanted a Cadillac). Unfortunately it was a turd (a beautiful low-mileage turd though). It would randomly cut off without warning and the 4.1 V8 was a dog. It was traded-in in 1992 for a new Thunderbird Sport. So ended the great Cadillac experiment of 1989-92.
3 of us (and our dates) pooled together and got a limo for the night. None of us owned cars at the time.
A 1971 Buick LeSabre sedan, gold with black vinyl top and interior. Complete with stocked cooler in the trunk for the afterparty, as the drinking age was 18 at the time…which is way too young.
Prom theme, “goodbye doesn’t mean forever” song from The Goodbye Girl which must have been in release at the time. 41 years ago, ugh!
1985 AMC Eagle. Same color scheme as the wagon pictured above.
What? It was the nicest car we owned. Could have been my 1962 VW bug or a 1977 full-size Olds wagon.
Fun fact: I got into 3 separate (small) accidents that day; one in each car. My folks were not pleased.
9th grade prom – 1993 Audi 80, father-driven
12th grade prom – 2016 Kia Cee’d Sportswagon GTLine, brother-driven.
I had planned to pass my driving test before prom, to take my other brother’s Volvo S80, but at the eleventh hour, my practically confirmed date decided to get a stupid excuse to drop me out, so the frustrated me decided to do the driving test later and get a ride to prom.
Prom?????
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
The loser I was in high school, helped greatly by my parent’s attitude to anyone female who came to our front door, ensured that I didn’t even consider the idea, much less make a complete fool of myself by trying to ask someone. And, even if I had gotten that far, mom would have put a stop to it immediately.
I can sympathise. My mother wouldn’t have minded, but my dad was an outright embarrassment.
Syke, I think that that laughter is hiding a lot of pain!
Count me in as one of the loser/ loner/ dweeb/ whatever/ insecure guys that never had a girl friend in high school. I wasn’t going to ask some of the “desperate to go” girls that some of my friends suggested, just to attend the event. Yeah, HS wasn’t fun in that social way for me. I guess it’s no wonder that I started riding motorcycles back then. Life got much better in the years to come. I got over it and moved on. I’ve been married to a terrific woman for 36 years and my 50th. HS reunion is coming up in four years. I plan on attending.
Oh, I borrowed my Dad’s ’63 Lincoln for a date once, back then.
I got back – my 30th class reunion was something out of a Hollywood script writer’s wet dream. And then I showed up at the 45th and outdid that one.
Nobody in my class wondered about what happened to the class loser after that point.
The best revenge is living well.
Count me in, too. Didn’t go to prom because I doubt that there was anyone at Berea High that would want to have been seen with me. I was quite the dorky loser. Funny thing is if you saw me now you’d think otherwise.
There are a whole range of reasons for looking back at senior prom with embarrassment and dread. 🙂
At least the car was fun – my father’s one-year old 1965 Galaxie 500XL 2 door hardtop, with the 390 V8. A beautiful car to look at but downright dangerously overpowered for its handling and braking abilities. Like the one below, but with a black vinyl roof.
https://www.google.com/search?q=1965+ford+galaxie+500+xl+2+door+hardtop&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_x4Hrm5TjAhUP-58KHSgBDlwQ_AUIECgB&biw=1440&bih=772#imgrc=WvMxfo8aGUf80M:
Damn – no edit button.
I’m old so…..
Senior prom – the only choice: family Falcon station wagon. On the way a German Shepherd ran out in front of the car. Bonked it to the ground where it lay there stil lbreathing and also bleeding some. The kid with it was known to my date so we had to go to their house and tell them. I got a repair ticket after that for having a headlight out. Got to the prom (late, obviously) and the kid’s sister was at the same table. Shit. Then she said the dog seemed OK.
Junior prom – brother got the car so we went with a friend and his date. Black 1957 (old by then) Chrysler New Yorker four door sedan. Very out of date, still beautiful as they still are today.
I had a similar experience once with a German Shepherd one, on a date, rather than the prom.
My date didn’t own a car at that time, and she said she missed driving, so I offered her to drive my Mazda 323. She wasn’t a bad driver, but at some point, while driving through a neighborhood, a German Shepherd ran right into our car’s path and she couldn’t avoid hitting it. The dog probably had a broken leg… the owners’ neighbor saw the accident and took care of it. I can’t remember what my date and I did afterwards, but on our few subsequent dates, she never asked to drive again.
I went to my Senior prom only. I did not take my 1964 Ford Falcon that my girlfriend — who did not have a car — was used to riding in. I took my grandfather’s 1979 white Chrysler New Yorker and we had a nice time. It was an uneventful drive to Charley’s Crab in Palm Beach and then to the Prom after.
1983-double date prom. Me in college, she in HS- geez. My best buddy and her best friend. His Dad’s almost new Olds 98 sedan. Dark blue metallic with a full padded vinyl roof and velour seating. Spent full day with him polishing and cleaning it. It was huge step up for his Dad from a 12 year old Nova. It was a stunning ride.
1983 in a 79 305 Berlinetta. It seemed fast at the time but certainly slow by today’s standards. Same for the Berlinetta.
1980 Senior prom, in my aunt’s 1979 Chrysler Newport that I detailed in exchange for the favor. It didn’t take a lot to get it cleaned up, but when I was finished, it looked pretty sharp. White exterior with a red vinyl interior. Probably a 318. Unfortunately, I was nervous as hell when driving, what with the borrowed vehicle and it being my first formal date, so there isn’t a lot to tell.
PRNDL: Do you have an old car with a 2-speed automatic transmission? That’s all I have on my ’64 Falcon. I still use ‘Low’ gear sometimes, too.
1991 Senior Prom: In my grandfather’s white 1979 Chrysler New Yorker. A rather large car. I’d driven it before so I wasn’t a total stranger to being behind the wheel. The drive to dinner and then to the Prom afterward was pleasantly un-eventful. GOOD. 😀
Not a prom, (such event doesn’t exist in my country) but an after-exams party in the last year of high school. Went there with a bunch of friends in the backseat of a Citroën 2CV, driven by the father of one of the friends as we all were to young to have a licence.
We didn’t do that sort of thing in 70’s England but if we had it would have been my Mum running me into town in her DAF44.
I took my daughter to her ‘prom’ in 08 in my Maserati Gransport – only to be upstaged by a bunch of lads in a Bentley Continental…
My son, at the boys part of the same school, got taken in ’12 in something so nondescript I dont remember. Probably a Citroen C5 D wagon. He never did care…
Neither had a licence at the appropriate date but both knew how to enjoy a drink (responsibly of course!)
No such thing in Australia either. I had to ask one of my US penfriends (e-friends?) to find out what it meant.
Yeah, I guess we had some kind of social/dance/graduation/acknowledgement-that-it’s-all-over thingy at the end of Form 6, but I couldn’t wait to get away from school (bullying, nobody likes a brainiac) so had nothing to do with it. I avoided all that social dress-up stuff all through school. School days were the all-time worst years of my life, bar none.
I didn’t reach driving age till after the school year ended, so if I had gone I would have walked. It was only a mile, so no big thing. No way would I have gotten Dad to drive me in the dented, rusty ’67 Falcon; he was an embarrassment at the best of times. If I’d had a girl with me, he would have been unbearable!
June, 1988.
By this time, my senior year, I was on my second car: a 1982 Audi 5000 Turbo. White over black leather; an exact clone of the pictured example.
I LOVED that car. It had major turbo lag but when it did kick in, it would throw you back in your seat! It was great fun for this teenaged boy to tear around in.
The prom for my Northern Virginia high school was held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC, whose ballroom was the only one big enough to accomodate my class of nearly 1,000 kids and their dates.
My date was the stunning Vanessa, an auburn-haired, green-eyed girl who was a ringer for Suzy Parker. She was a Junior at a neighboring high school who I’d met some months before at a modeling gig we both did (ugh, don’t ask).
So Vanessa and I went to my prom in my Audi. Many other kids in my class rented limos, but I didn’t want to. I loved driving my car and could think of too many other things I’d rather spend my money on.
A lovely, exciting, and highly memorable evening was had by us both. (And like Jason Shafer, I won’t dwell too long on any Mann Act violations //ahem//!)
Sadly, neither Vanessa nor that particular Audi were in my life for very long after. I still miss her today, though….my Audi 5000, that is!
I didn’t read the year of the car and expected it was a C3. Pleasantly surprised by the fact that it was a beautiful C2
My mom’s 2001 Aurora V8. I took this picture the day before, after I detailed it for the prom. I took it to two proms a week apart. I posted the picture to Wikipedia around the time, and it has survived on Google Images to this day. The car is still doing well, just got a new catalytic converter, water pump, and smog pump in the last 6 months at about 105k.
You know what I find interesting? Some people (areas of the country perhaps?) refer to it as “Prom”, some as “The Prom”. Same as “He is in hospital”, or “He is in the hospital”. She is “In university”, She “Attends a university”.
Sorry, just notice things like that!
Didn’t notice it until you mentioned. Interesting….
I’ve heard (and said) it both ways.
Also, i often hear roads in the western US called “the 305” rather than just the route number. I NEVER hear that on the east coast.
Using the word “the” in front of the highway number (or name) is ONLY a Southern California thing. Here in the San Francisco area it immediately brands you as an outlander.
Junior Prom was in my parent’s 1968 Country Squire LTD wagon. I remember it was experiencing overheating issues and I had to top off the radiator at my GF’s house when I picked her up. Though the wagon presented certain “opportunities,” we remained chaste!
Our family moved one State over the next summer, and by Prom time, a certain 4′-11″ tall young lady and I were well on the way to becoming an item. Picked her up in my ’71 Vega notchback. Didn’t dance much, as I was 16″ taller than she! Took her for a moonlight spin afterwards – literally. She commented in my yearbook about doing donuts that night in the gravel parking area of a rural garage.
In 1974, my Dad’s green ’74 Grand Prix… two proms in two weeks in that car, as my then-girlfriend went to a different school. (I was quite afraid I’d have to use Mom’s ’68 Country Squire.)
Oh man, Prom was on my 18th birthday coincidentally and my first school outing experience as I was very socially inept until my senior year. I went with a girl I knew because I didn’t know any boys that would and I had hoped to borrow my BIL’s 2005 Sebring convertible which he sadly denied.
I ended up taking my brother’s tan 2001 Taurus and was excited but totally oblivious to the embarrassment my date must have felt… this was in 2010.
I actually went to 4 proms. My steady girlfriend went to another school my junior year. I drove my parent’s 3 year old ’62 Olds wagon, complete with the dented door that had not been repaired yet. Thanks Mom. Of course I got a lot of kidding by friends for driving that nice roomy wagon. That was to my girlfriend’s prom. To mine we took my grandma’s ’60 Impala sedan. Nice car and I had a lot of fun with it after taking my date home.
Senior year , girlfriend from last year and I weren’t steadies any more, but I took her to her prom in my dad’s ’64 Impala two door hardtop. He had bought it a few months earlier for his business. For my prom I didn’t have a date until the day before when my mom suggested that I give a call to a girl that I had known all my life and who was kind of like a sister to me. Our folks had been friends and run around together since high school so we grew up together. Her long time boyfriend was away at National Guard basic training, so Mom said that she was staying home. I gave her a call and she said sure. We took my dad’s ’64 Chevy again. I may have had the best time of all at that prom because I wasn’t worried about impressing her or anything like that. I also didn’t have to think about having any evil intent for later that night. The pressure was off. Of course I was a perfect gentleman, too because I respected her and her boyfriend. I had my own car both these years but didn’t feel they were good enough for prom duty. Renting a limo back then was unheard of in our rural community.
Our ‘78 Gutless Cutlass in May 1982. I actually took a girl from a different school, and we had a good time. Funny thing – I went to high school with my (now) wife, and for all I know she might have been there. I didn’t actually meet her until 10 years after I graduated.
In my senior year in high school in 1964, a girl friend’s debutante formal, driven by her father in his 1962 Buick Electra 225 4-door six window sedan, I will always remember being chauffeured sitting in the back seat with sumptuous brocade upholstery. My own senior prom later that year I drove myself and my date in our family’s 1963 Mercury Monterey Custom 4-door hardtop, Jamaica yellow with tan cloth interior. Loved that car, our first family vehicle with power windows and air conditioning, you felt like a million bucks driving to the prom in your formal white dinner jacket and date in her long formal gown.
1963 Mercury Monterey just like this one from a 2011 CC writeup by Laurence Jones
1964 – Drove our white 1964 Galaxie 500 sedan. Went with a wonderful girl I had been dating a long time. Fun times. Our HS class was very close. We have a a reunion every 5 years with the 55th coming up in the fall. I have never missed a one any many can say the same.
Thankfully, I wasn’t expected to even participate in such ‘optional social conventions’ being a rather shy, backward nerdy kid. Never considered going or having anything to do with it. Did get roped in the prom decorating committee and had to attend one but only as the backstage ‘help’ and clean-up. Night of magic? For someone, I suppose, I could have done without the whole miserable business.
1978 Lincoln Continental
Now THAT is a proper prom car.
Ha, I was far too socially inept to go to prom, but it didn’t matter because I just didn’t care. My older sister was quite popular in High School and went to several each year, so it averaged out.
One of my church buddies has a 1977 Corvette, he always loans it out for prom night which is quite generous of him. I should do a COAL on Bob’s car sometime…
I’m very particular who I let drive my car. I am also very picky where I park it etc. Some of my family were very surprised when I let my teenage nephew use my 2009 Mustang for each of his proms and a couple of fancy winter dances. He is, actually the only kid in the family who I would trust with my vehicles. I let him keep it for the whole weekend each time and he brought it back in cleaner condition and with more gas than when he picked it up. He even arranged to park it inside when he had it. I told my brother that the last time he used it I got to wondering about 12:20 AM what my car was doing. He thought that was funny. Of course my nephew is my sister’s son, not his.
Mom’s 1986 Plymouth Horizon.
I would have had to go in a a “59 Rambler American. Luckily I was spared the ignominy. Waited too long to ask the girl I liked. Too clueless to ask anyone else.
Along with why peers – a select group on high school non-entities – we had our own party. We would have arrived mostly in older Chevy Plymouth or Ford 6s. A few of the really cursed ones would have Ramblers.
The cars we had access to were proven chick repellants and we weren’t the pretty boys. My group were the guys whose finger nails always had a bit of dirt under them.
2012:
I wasn’t even planning on going to prom but was asked by a group of friends to go as one of the girls in the group didn’t have a date. So Jr prom My date and I got all dressed up and rode with one of our friends in her 97′ Ford Escort. The first and last time I’d ever like to spend time in an escort.
2013: Once again, I was asked to go with another girl in our friend circle who didn’t have a date but this time my dad shocked me and let me drive his beloved 98′ Mercedes S500. The first time ever driving that car I might add.
My Dad’s new ’70 Olds 98 for my senior prom. I drove my ’64 GTO for my girlfriend’s (she’s now my wife) senior prom in ’72.
That sounds pretty tame compared to how a lot of the young folks do it this century, lol.
Prom #1: My 1966 Galaxie 500
Prom #2: My mom’s 1994 Volkswagen Passat wagon
Didn’t go but if I had it would have been my 68 Cougar.
Nothing! Our high school didn`t have a prom because nobody was interested in having one. The early 70s, protests, anti-establishment , Watergate, Mc Govern, Nixon,, hard rock music, long hair, jeans and t shirts, getting stoned…………….The prom was for uncool people anyway!
And here I thought my high school was the only one that ever cancelled a prom…..
Actually, they did finally cave in and have one after all, though I don’t recall anything but a senior prom there and it was announced about two to three weeks beforehand, not much time if you wanted to plan things. I had drifted apart from my sorta-gf by that time, and also, was terrible at dancing and didn’t want to put that on display, so didn’t go. I wouldn’t likely have had a car to drive.
Spring of 1980. I/we took my date’s mother’s 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ. This car was loaded up with everything, including the T-tops. It was a glorious ride, as I had never driven a car with all of the toys.
I originally had no intentions of going to prom, not that I had anything against it, but I wasn’t dating anyone and I never really understood the function of the event. Sally grew up down the street from us; our mothers spoke frequently. Obviously we knew each other since early childhood, but there was no spark there for either one of us. As it turned out, Sally didn’t have plans for that weekend either.
I still think to this day that her mother spoke to my mother to get us to go to prom together and possibly more. But that would have been like dating my sister… We had a good time, got home really late into the morning. All the stuff you’re supposed to do on prom night, right? We remain friends and stay up to date on FB. She’s recently widowed, but has three children and four grandchildren.
In the end, I’m glad I went with her. Since there was no romantic entanglement, there were no unrealistic expectations and we had a great night.
I went to my high school sweetheart’s prom in 1984 as a junior. She drove us (I was still in drivers ed) in a so-new-it-hurt 1984 Dodge Aries. Her parents had traded in a 1970 Plymouth Fury, dark blue with a black vinyl roof. She loved how the Aries “purred” and the ease of driving it. I didn’t share the enthusiasm. The Aries met its fate a few months later when it was rear ended by a semi when she was stopped on the other side of a bridge to make a left. Minor injuries for her but the back bumper was over the rear wheels..
Didn’t know any girls, my friends didn’t know any girls, so neither me nor anyone I knew was interested in going to this. No one had cars either, or even driver’s licenses as far as I knew. It was 2011, nobody even had McDonalds or grocery store job, we were all staring at the prospect of being indefinitely unemployed in a matter of days, there was nothing to celebrate and no confidence to do it with.
Ahhh, the good ole daze, heh?
Spring of 1981. I was awkward and not much interested in dating, but asked a “safe” female friend who I knew would accept (and knew no strings were attached), but only because I felt prom was an obligatory part of the high school experience. I also knew I was going to graduate one semester early (in the middle of my senior year), and wouldn’t get another opportunity to attend.
I drove a 1980 Mustang Ghia hatchback, white with saddle tan perforated vinyl seats, and a wheezing inline six and automatic that could barely get out of its own way. But it looked cool, and in those low-performance days I suppose that is all that mattered.
It is sad that they don’t hold proms in hell.
I don’t know anyone who went to prom. We had 4000 students attending high school in two shifts, so there wasn’t any learning. Teacher didn’t know names of kids that didn’t cause problems, like me. We had a dozen truant officers. There was no homework. There was no team sports except for basketball. We walked through metal detectors and past troopers screening us. I’ve seen my history teacher stabbed in the hallway before class, and another assaulted with a fire extinguisher in class. You never knew when a gang battle would erupt.
It was more like a “Pre-Juvenile” institution than a high school. I attended summer and night school and was often the only student in those classes that wasn’t pregnant. My graduating class number almost 1000, and I remember being told that there were more graduating seniors that year, than there were seniors graduating that year in the entire city of Reno Nevada. The drop-out rate is phenomenal.
We didn’t drive cars to high school. We took buses or walked. I escaped by graduating at 16 and went immediately to university where I discovered an actual education.
If they held a “Father-Daughter” dance, they’d cancel it from a lack of fathers.
I drove by my high school yesterday, to show my kids. The school district has depopulated and now only the hard core poor attend it, everyone else either sends their kids to the catholic schools or home schools.
What a hell hole.
Wow, sounds pretty awful…. well, except the “no homework” part 🙂
My Jr (1986): The four of us were driven by my friend’s dad. I think it was an Audi 4000 or equivalent Volvo sedan… (?)
GF’s Sr (1989): Dad was cool enough to let me drive his Cadillac! ’88 Sedan de Ville; he hadn’t had it a year, yet.
(Not my Dad’s but close – his had a black vinyl top and no luggage rack)
1997: Got driven by my mum in her car which I had almost written off a few months earlier, not long after getting my license. Wasn’t trusted to drive it! But I was one of the dateless attendees at the high school ‘deb’, or debutante ball that they’re known as in Australia. I think a few people got limos. I don’t believe anyone borrowed anything fancy, but I was one of the few to have a license when it occurred.
Oh, and it was a red 1982 Mazda 626 Superdeluxe Hatch, automatic, and the heaviest steering in the world.
WAY late to this party, but here goes:
My Junior Prom: My (well, still my Dad’s) ’73 LTD.
My Senior Prom: Although the LTD was all but mine by then, my Mom’s ’77 Chevrolet Concours (The “Caprice” of Novas) – Mainly because my date preferred that car to my LTD. Good call on that one ;o)
Other Girls’ Proms – Mostly the LTD, although the very last prom I attended was after I got my ’79 Futura at 19, and a girl I was dating wanted me to take her to her Senior Prom (she was either 18 or almost 18). Funny thing about that night was I ended up with TWO dates, as her best friend’s date just up and left her there! Not cool. So I took both girls out to dinner afterwards and we all had a great time. I definitely got the nice guy award that night.
I don’t know about other areas of the country, but here in southern Indiana they also have a Post Prom. It is another dance or meal after the Prom starting after midnight or so. I think it is to keep the kids busy instead of getting into mischief or having car wrecks. When I ran a restaurant we catered breakfast at 3:00 AM for one local school.
One post Post Prom I went to involved renting the local drive in theater for the night and showing a movie. I wonder whose bright idea that was.
I was fortunate that my parents trusted me and I didn’t have a curfew. Of course my Dad knew about everyone else in town, so I found out years later that he knew most of what situations I got into. After Prom and Post Prom and after taking my date home, I usually drove around until 3 or 4 before going home. I always parked my car in front of the house on the street. Once, my Mom got up in the morning and panicked when she didn’t see my car out front. She ran upstairs to ask my brother if he knew where I went the night before. There I was sleeping in my bed. I had parked my car, for some reason I don’t remember, in the driveway on the other side of the house.
We had something similar called after-prom. But ours was not “official”, it was just an agreement among the kids to go to some location, usually a field out in the country where we could get a keg or two of beer and have some unsupervised fun. I went to after-prom more than I did actual prom!
I’m sure there is plenty of that too around here, I just never participated at Prom, at least.
I’m the father of 3 daughters. You can bet I stayed up “watching TV” until they each got home. I’m not even all that over protective, either.
The tradition around here in the Baltimore area back in the day (I graduated in 1978) for the kids that stayed out of trouble (mostly), was to go out to dinner afterwards, or maybe a supervised after-party at someone’s house.
Where you went to dinner was usually based on your budget – everything from an all-night diner to a fancy restaurant. My go-to was Little Italy which was middle of the road budget wise, but still nice.
The hoodlums, if they attended such an event, would do other things, sometimes resulting in some misadventure story which we’d hear about on Monday, but for a guy who stayed out of trouble, to me this was just the stuff of legend. ;o)
Today, the whole prom thing has gone completely off the rails!
$800 prom dresses? Prom proposals involving airplanes towing banners, or perhaps a major league scoreboard? Trips to after-parties at Caribbean destinations? Ok, I may’ve been exaggerating on that last one, but you get the idea.
If we we’re getting fancy back in the day, it involved renting a tux, and possibly even a limo! But in the case of the latter, usually it was a kid who had a relative in the chauffeuring business.
Glad that in Portugal it’s all still quite simple.
I wore a tux, and for the proposal, I made her a playlist where reading the sequence of music titles, it would make the proposal speech. It was regarded as one of the best proposals in the school, only for her to make me wait 2 weeks and then cut me off using the group excuse.
No car … no girl. But fortunately my small, all-boys private high school didn’t have a prom, at least as far as I can remember (it would have been 1973) so it was a moot point.
Jr Prom: Took Dad’s 1974 Mercury Comet. Six of us crammed into that car.
Sr Prom: Skipped. Was more focused on making money for college tuition. No help from family.
This was back in the day when tuition (room, board, registration, fees) for one year at a state college was $ 1,200.
Today, kids spend $ 1,200 on prom nite with a limo and fancy dinner.
I spent about 50 euro on prom, this was 2017, and one year of tuition here in a public university is still €1080
For junior prom I drove a 1980 Pontiac station wagon. We never made it to prom. I didn’t go to senior prom, too busy working. Daughter #1 was born February 14th my senior year. Do the math. True story.
Wife:
Senior Prom: 1990 Toyota Pick-up; 4 on the floor; bench seat; rubber floor mats.
Me:
Senior Prom: 1992 Eagle Talon TSi AWD – 5 speed – white over tan
IN ADVANCE: My high school is weird and sometimes had a dance/prom at the end of each semester because idfk
Freshman Dance/Prom thing of 1986: My father drove me in his brown/amber ’78
Thunderbird DIAMOND JUBILEE. Ran like a champion until it hit 260,000 miles in 1988 and just couldn’t go anymore.
Sophomore Prom of 1986: A four-door 1981-1982 Dodge Colt with shit brown paint. It had the horrible 1.4 engine that got to 40 in 20 minutes and had a janky front axle. Right after the embarrassment from all of the guys and my date Jenna almost not wanting to go with me after seeing the car, I scrapped the car for $400.
Sophomore Prom of 1987: Rode in my friend’s green 1969 Olds Delta. He put some racing grade tires on it(at least for 1987)which were great.
The very same night, after he dropped off me and Jenna at her house, he totaled the car by hitting a dump truck at 55mph and died in the accident. Godspeed, Desmon.
Junior Prom of 1988(Her school): Jenna moved out the neighborhood and went to a different high school, and for some reason that school had it a few days early so she invited me. She drove me there in her lime green ’61 Bug. Wasn’t a comfortable ride as the seats were half dead and the suspension wasn’t steady at all.
Junior Prom of 1988( my school): Black ’74 Cougar with the gargantuan 460 under the hood. Supercharger modded as well. She was a beast, but that gas mileage hurt and I had to sell it shortly before Senior year. Had it since I salvaged the Colt. I managed to pack 5 people including me into the thing, including Jenna, in what would be my last encounter with her before I found she was cheating on me with three guys.
I managed to find the exact same car for sale in 1995(when I was in the Air Force) with custom wheels. Bought it instantly and still have it to this day.
Senior prom of 1989: managed to drive two cars. On the way there, had six of us bunched up in my mother’s blue 87 Corolla. However, from my kind of drunk(3 whiskey shots)parking, the car got towed, and by the time i was a little more sober, Zoe, who was my gf at the time, got us all in her yellow 65 Land Cruiser and let me drive. Was a great riding car and even had it the entire 8 months we were married(a year later)
Didn’t go, but if I had it probably would have been in the ’70 Impala Custom 4 door hardtop I had at the time.
I’m late answering this but basically, it’s relatively common here in Australia for people to show up to their grade 12 formal (basically the same thing as a prom) in a stretch limo. And I simply wasn’t interested in that so I indulged this idea of getting family to rent a luxury sedan and drive me, but then gave up on that idea. By then, it was getting really close to the date so I ended up… riding in the back of a stretch limo (an AU Ford Fairlane). Yawn.
One of my best friends ended up booking a ’59 Chevy sedan with some of her other friends and I missed out on a slot in one of those (a local small business had 2 or 3 ’59 Chevys). Lame!