Front Foyer Steps 1972

I don't know what the occasion was, but there are people from all grades gathering on the foyer steps. I can identify among others, Veronica Brady, Carol Norrish, Barb Finley, Melody Lack and others.

Sunday Morning Memories

Once again, on Sundays, I try to put up other images of the 1970's Oshawa/OCHS milieu instead of just OCHS specific pictures.

However the first one today is OCHS specific. It is a shot taken from the front doorway of the school looking out across the traffic circle up the drive to Stevenson Road. In this pic, you can see the white weather station box that the geography club monitored in front of the cars on the apron of the football field. You can see Joe Pender's Volkswagen bug parked and I think that the van that is visible was driven by Art Chai. The car next to the VW van was biology teacher Ingulf Trettin's car. I think that the car on the very end was driven by one of the secretaries, either Mrs. Smegal or Mrs. Dubie.

I was (am) a packrat, and one of the things in my possession was a bubblegum bag from high school. The bubblegum inside the bag was "Gold Nuggets". They were irregularly shaped rocks of gum.

Below is a product that my parents purchased at White and Sons Hardware Store on Simcoe Street North. I am not sure if it is still there or not. The price of this product called "Flan" is 40 cents. You can see it written in pencil in the corner.

I was cruising around Simcoe Street South, and snapped a picture of the plaza below:

If you look closely in the window (click on the image to enlarge it), you can see a sign that says "Crimplene - $2.95 per yard". Not knowing what crimplene was I googled it. This is what Wikipedia has to say about Crimplene:

Crimplene (polyester) is a thick yarn used to make a fabric of the same name. The resulting cloth is heavy, wrinkle-resistant and retains its shape well. Britain's defunct ICI Laboratory developed the fibre in the early 1950s and named it after the Crimple Valley in which the company was situated.

The fabric enjoyed popularity upon introduction in the 1950s in response to its convenient 'wash-and-wear' properties. Crimplene was often used to make the typical A-line dress of 1960s Fashion. Likewise, it was popular amongst men in British Mod Culture for use in garish button-down shirts.

In the early 1970s, crimplene began to fall out of fashion. Lighter-weight polyester fabrics like Trevira replaced crimplene for their ease of movement and ventilation. Crimplene is seldom used today as fashion-preferences have drifted towards more "natural" cottons.

A dress made of crimplene is shown below:

I again pay tribute to my car, a Chevy Vega.

And finally, this is an OCHS specific picture.

However, once again, I do not have a name for this individual.

Update: Thank you to the reader who left a name for this student. Of course, this is Melody Lack. (once my memory was twigged this was a D'Oh moment)

Initiation Pics Continued ...

The following series comes from Grade 9 Initiation (or Minor Niners as they were called). As previously iterated, it is politically incorrect to humiliate and torture these days. Back in our day, it was considered a worthy spectacle. But in an earlier day, so was feed Christians to the lions. Ahhh ... I miss the smell of DDT in the morning.


The sign that the person is wearing is "Minor Niners Waddle to School". The only person that I can identify, is Cathy Montgomery in the upper right corner. Update from reader: Girl with glasses is Mary Ellen Barrett.

Above is part of the crowd totally enjoying the humiliation and degradation of the Grade Nine students. Mark Foley is identifiable. The tall dude, I believe is a Kreisz (sp?) and the blonde long-haired individual is Benny Winterink, who has passed away (R.I.P.).

Update: A reader has a much better memory than mine: Middle photo - foreground (left to right) - Mike Foley, Francis Kreisz, Benny Winterink, Bernadette Barber, Melody Lack.

Take a look at the eggs and various filthy substances in the bottom of the pic to smear the Grade Niners. At the extreme top left of the pic, is Italo Labignan.