Bloomfield HS Prom 1974

The best photographs are able to tell a story without words. Other photographs beg the viewer to ask more questions. The prom photo on this page would certainly fall into that second category.

If I hadn’t been there myself, I’d first ask why. “Why would the four guys in this photograph think it was a good idea to dress up in pastel tuxedos?” I would just have to ask “what’s with the hair – are you kidding?” Then finally I might ask why four apparently normal high school girls would be seen with this bunch in the first place?

The answers to these important questions are two familiar words – the prom.

The word prom comes from the French word promenade, which means walk or stroll. According to the mostly reliable Wikipedia, it was considered inappropriate in the early twentieth century to dance with a man you were not married to. Instead, the girls would take short and heavily-chaperoned promenades around the block with their dates. That practice grew into formal chaperoned dances by the 1920’s.

Proms became common in the 1930’s and reached their outlandish peak in the 1950’s in the same way that Cadillac tailfins did. The traditional prom survived the 1960’s and found its stride once again in the disco 70’s. Proof that the annual event is going strong in 2009 can be found this coming weekend at The Plano Centre where several hundred Allen High School couples will dance the night away.

This year’s Allen High School prom resembles the 1974 Bloomfield High School extravaganza in name only.

A couple this year might spend $400 or even more on the prom. The evening usually includes dinner at a fancy restaurant, a limo rental, the dance, flowers and after-prom activities. Toss in a new hair-do, prom gown, flowers and a rented tuxedo and kids today are faced with one pricey evening.

I laid out $30 for a prom ticket, which included dinner at one of the many Jersey banquet halls that survive on proms, bar mitzvahs and weddings. I admit that I probably could have spent more on the yellow and brown crushed velvet tuxedo. The pink satin tuxedo was an upgrade though. The new pair of platform heels completed my transformation from mellow 70’s guy to disco king for one evening.

There certainly was dancing at the ’74 prom but it is possible that our group never hit the dance floor. Bands like Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers provided the soundtrack for our high school memories. Unfortunately songs like Rock The Boat and Dancing Machine dominated the dance. Just imagine the eight kids in this photo dancing The Bump to Boogie Down. It’s hard to visualize.

Our all night party began with a misguided trip into Manhattan where we sat in horrible traffic and imagined people were looking at us. They weren’t.

The New York City adventure was followed by an evening of driving aimlessly around northern New Jersey in my father’s car. After a late night stop at the diner, the four of us rolled in close to dawn to face my worried and then furious parents.

The 1974 Bloomfield High School prom didn’t meet all of our expectations but we still had a good time. We got to dress up and pretend we were adults for one night. That’s the story behind this crazy prom photograph and I’m sticking to it.

As for the Allen High School prom-goers this weekend, I hope every one of them has a fantastic time and can laugh just as much at their photos in 2044.

The Flipside -May 2009