SOCK HOPS/ DANCE CONTESTS IN 50'S & 60'S!

       Sock Hops were the rage in the 1950's and 1960's. Although my sister Doris tells that when she was in school in the early 1950's there was reluctance to have them by the powers-to-be for, I suppose, morality issues and who knows!  They were generally held in the gym and the music was provided from a record player and attended to by one of the teacher's.

       Penny Louks was a classmate and my dance partner at most functions. She was good. I learned how to Bop or Rock and Roll from my cousin, Bob Bueghly from Marshalltown. He was about three years older and knew how to "Bop" as he called it! He taught me a lot of the moves and it gave me the confidence to walk right over at these functions and ask a girl to dance, instead of wasting time just standing around with the boys on one side in a line and girls on the other. 

        Penny and I won a dance contest at one of our local Hops that was put on by a DJ from WHO-TV in Des Moines.  Our prize was winning a trip to the local weekly show in Des Moines. It was similar to a" Dick Clark" show just seen mostly in central Iowa. One thing I remember was how small the actual dance floor was at the WHO studio. It always seemed bigger watching in on television. 

        When first dating my first wife, Sandi,  in high school in the early 1960's, we went to the YMCA for the after sporting event dance on Church Street in Marshalltwon as she attended Marshalltown High School. I especially remember dancing to the "Twist" by Chubby Checker. That dance would keep you in shape! Other dances, on occasion, were held at the Coliseum on State Street.