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Looking backward on The Foreword

Friday, December 21, 2007

By Alex Linn, Allderdice High School (City of Pittsburgh Schools)

"Dear Editor, I feel certain in this matter I am speaking for the majority of the students. I mean the arrangement of the cafeteria. Since the position of the sandwiches and the milk has been reversed, one does not know if the desired sandwich is there or not until it is too late to do anything but take whatever is there.It would be very nice if the former arrangement could be restored," signed Sandwich Lover.

That’s not something you hear everyday. This letter to the editor comes from a 1937 copy of the Allderdice Foreword, one of many recently discovered in between file cabinets in the Allderdice vault. About two weeks ago, Vice Principal Anthony Baldasare was cleaning out the Allderdice main office when he found a stack of Forewords dating back to the first published copy on April 1, 1927.

The newspapers reveal a snapshot of early student life at Allderdice.

"When I went to school here, Allderdice was a junior-senior high, going from grades 7 to 12," recalls Joanie Kravetz, an Allderdice alumna and school office worker. "There was minimal security, with only one security guard."

Filled with poems, jokes and comics, the early Forewords show the heart and talent of our young school. They even contained lists of every student reaching high or regular honor role to highlight the accomplishments of the students.

The student activities also were very different from those of today. "The Bird Club," "Modeling Club" and even a club entitled "Story Hour," showed the diverse and sometimes very detailed interests of students of past years.

The groups were so important to the school back then that there was a dedicated section of each edition of the Forward for club news called "Clubdom." Club activities, future meeting dates and other trivia were listed for each organization.

Another difference was the clothes that students wore. Regular outfits were much more formal – girls wore dresses and boys wore full jackets and ties.

"None of the students had the outrageous hair colors of today," said Ellie Young, school assistant librarian who attended Allderdice in the 1960s. "In fact, on St. Patrick’s Day a girl came to school with her hair dyed green and the principal sent her home."

One thing is certain: the students had a sense of humor. Instead of an April Fool’s edition called the Backward that students produce today, they called it the "Springer." Inside were sections such as " Believe It or Not," "Basketball Contender for Soccer Championship," and " Coach Irwin scores 1 out of 10." Writers used fake names, for example, Widow’s Weeds, The Wild Rose, Jumping Bean and New Potatoes.

The past "hangouts" also were different from where kids gather today.

"In the mornings everyone would congregate at the flagpole," said Young. "For lunch or after school, we would meet at the wall to walk upstreet together."

The cafeteria in the 1920s also was much more formal – even elegant. Equipped with real silverware, glass plates and metal trays, it was a lunchroom students of today could only dream of.

"The lunch room was on the fourth floor back then," Kravetz said. "Tickets were only 38 cents for a full lunch – known as 3 and 1 — and you would buy them out of the machine located near the office."

The food also was something to be remembered. A school holiday around Thanksgiving called "Turkey Treat Day" supplied the students with real turkey – not that rubber stuff – complete with mashed potatoes, gravy and pie.

While the times were different between now and the 1920s, students really haven’t changed that much. We still have many of the same goals, aspirations and hopes for a better future.