VOLUME ONE (link) - iiNet

...continues
Those were the days of the ducktail and we certainly had our fair share.
I don’t know whether it is politically correct to mention names and if the
definition of ducktail actually covered any of these guys.
Without being vindictive, I’ll mention a few ( without their surnames ) who
were reputed to fit the bill ..... the brothers Dave and Stan ( his girlfriend’s
name was Cavvy ! ), Claude ( Klokkie ) and of course, Lenny. Naturally there
were others and to a fresh-faced kid, it was not a happy experience to
be approached before / after school or at breaks and to be asked if you
were ”sigging”. I still don’t believe that there is a simple translation for this
nor do I believe that any answer provided was acceptable. I do remember
that the late Barry Pillemer managed to provide a superb response to one
of the afore-mentioned manne.
We were also “fortunate” enough to have for a short while, the company of
one Pat Hauptfleisch who rocked up from the South on one fine day, wearing
real stovepipes – not simply tapered pants but a pair that were so tight he
would probably have had to have been born in them. He took great delight
in stealing Jack Kabak’s sandwiches. One could say that this was a justifiable
crime as Jack’s sarmies were the best I had ever seen and probably most of
us wouldn’t frown upon one even at this stage of our lives. Pat never had any
but those of us who did, had to be content with apricot jam and the like V roast
beef with pickled cucumber and a dash of mustard on rye bread!
When it came to dress, Nicky Frootko made an amazing discovery. The old
school shirt we wore could be turned into a modern, desirable item of clothing
by simply folding the points back under the collar to make it look like an
expensive, modern, cut-away design. A close study of some of the old pics
will reveal that this brilliant, possibly patentable idea was adopted by more
than one of us.
Some of us had our first exposure to porn when two of our peers managed
to reproduce some photos which then did the rounds on the playground.
I suppose this might have happened at any school but in 1958 at Hyde Park
it was inevitable !!
Class reunion 50 years 1960 to 2010
Hyde Park high school
It is not to say that the rest of us were angels. Those with buzz bikes or
“boneys” as they were also known, would ride out at will, especially during
breaks and for example, go to the Dairy Den for an icey. Coming back into
the school grounds never seemed to be a problem as being caught wasn’t
“serious”. This word requires special pronunciation and as you may remember
many things could be “serious” – a car, a female, a party, an incident etc.
One guy who could pronounce this better than any of us will no doubt be at the
reunion – my dear old friend and partner-in-crime, Rusty a.k.a. Kid Rafferty.
( I wonder how many remember that in decorating his rucksack, he wrote his
professional title on the top flap and in his haste, left out the second “r” ).
Talking of chicks, they were many and varied and very exciting for boys who had
attended boys-only schools. I’m sure the same applied to the girls and often
wonder how many kids changed schools to be with the opposite sex. After all,
showing-off and rawfing ( sp. ?? ) was much more fun when one had some
cherries to impress ! They were on occasion also subjected to the
pipette-in-the-pocket trick ( Hazel Sarkin was one I think ). Here, during Mrs.
Henrey’s science classes we would fill a pipette with water, slip it up our sleeve,
sidle up to an unsuspecting victim, place the tip in their blazer pocket remove
the finger from the tip, thereby releasing the water into the selected pocket !
Teachers – well there were the usual bunch found at every school. We had
Mr. Scheepers for maths. He had less hair than I have today and combed the
few remaining strands across his shiny pate. He used to use the words
“crriminil” and “disssgrace” to describe our behaviour. I really liked him.
He was good at his job, handled us firmly - often with a wry smile.
I wonder how many remember the singing classes and the singing teacher,
Mr. Niven. He used to operate on some kind of a freelance basis as he used
to do his act at various schools in the Johannesburg area. I know of Parktown,
Roosevelt and Hyde Park - there were others. This poor old man was a prime
target for abuse, not only at our school but at others. He was succeeded by a
young lady whose name now eludes me. I think she also taught French.
The boys took great delight in torturing her with the systematic destruction of
the song Greensleeves. Prior to the class we arranged how we would sing
the title word. Each time the chorus came around she was bombarded at
maximum possible volume with our rendition of “grrrreen sleeves”.
The girls sang it melodically and sweetly and I’m sure were not impressed
by our contribution.
Then there was English with Miss Sachs, Adrienne. She returned to school
one day as Mrs. Gruskin. I don’t recall that she had a high regard for many
of the boys. It was the year of Christopher Lee’s Dracula and I vividly
remember the fangs that Robin Eliovson and I made from the runners of
plastic model planes – cut, shaped and curved by heating with a match.
Thereafter a dash of white paint and a little red ( for blood ) on the ends
and voila – placed under the top lip you were in the vampire business.