ANOTHER in the “SCHOOL ‘DAZE’” SERIES COLLECTION!

Back in 1964 when Tim and I were sophomores in High School, the Beach Boys craze was in “high gear.” “Surf and Drag” (racing, NOT the “drag” connotation these days!) music was popular. As a matter of fact, that is still my main music preference today! Thank goodness for XM Satellite Radio and CD’s! Even when I “surf” the web, I wished I could use a surfboard! I was fortunate to be at a Beach Boys concert several years ago, right in the front row about 10 feet from them! (Just one more of MANY ways I’m COOL). J  We used to have “Street Dances” and “Pied Piper Dances” and dance to the surf and “fast car” music by various groups, but mainly the Beach Boys. Eventually, all the guys in high school started to get the “California Surf Look.” This “look” entailed wearing a cranberry-colored sweat shirt (inside out was optional to be ultra hip), hanging a Maltese (surfer’s) Cross around your neck, skin tight white Levi jeans, combing your hair straight down in front (a precursor to the Beatle cut), and dying your “straight down combed hair blonde. I’m surprised no enterprising company came up with “Surf Wax Cologne” to complete the “California Surfer Look” in Northern Ohio! We all bought “Surfer Crosses” and wore them to school. Since these were actually Maltese Crosses, we all looked like new draftees into the Hitler Youth! OCTUNG! Errrr… Kowabunga!  Hmmmm, now I wonder if the Nazis were ahead of their time in the surfing look, or were we retro??? OR, were we unwittingly being subliminally duped into the Nazi Party??? OUCH, that scary thought really irritates my Right Wing Conservative bones!!! (See my section on other possible subliminal areas below). Our classmate, Dave Wasem (“DUWAD”) had the COOLEST “Surfer Cross” in the whole school! Instead of the “ordinary kind” like all the rest of us had with just 1 eyelet in the center for the neck chain, “DUWAD’S” had 2 eyelets on each side for the neck chain! This resulted in the gold-colored neck chain positioned horizontally across the top! (See sketch below). One of the funniest experiences with this craze was when Gary H. (another classmate) dyed his hair with Hydrogen Peroxide to turn it blonde. It seemed to work good for a few days, and then something went wrong. One morning he showed up at school and his hair had a GREEN Tint to it! It was a sickly shade of green with streaks of greenish blonde intertwined in it! We all got a real “rolling on the floor laugh” out of that! It seemed to be a long time before his hair finally looked normal again! By that time, the “Beattle Look” started to come in and we all just started combing our hair straight down WITHOUT the peroxide blonde effect! It sure was a whole lot safer that way, especially for Gary!