I was born in 1960 and went all 12 years of public schools in the Putnam City system.

My HS class just had our 35th reunion this summer and as a part of that, we set up a big Facebook group. Our class was over 1,000 -- this was the last year before PC North opened -- and our FB group numbers over 400.

As a part of the massive amount of memories being shared in the group, it really struck me how bizarre the various rules were in school and also in the homes.

For example, I went to Hefner Jr. High (now a middle school) and even though it was the largest public jr. high in the state, girls weren't allowed to wear jeans. Also, we did not have one dance or social mixer in those three years because our principal was a strict Baptist. Teachers also openly talked about religion in class, but that's a whole other subject.

On the other hand, the kids at Central Jr. High (now Capps Middle School) had OPEN CAMPUS for lunch!! That meant, kids as young as 12 were allowed to wander up and down 39th street, often crossing the six lanes to go to the various fast food joints that were so ubiquitous in that stretch back in the 70's.

Also, high school was also very, very strict in many ways... An unexcused absence cost you a full letter grade and I believe two meant you failed a class. YET, kids were allowed to openly SMOKE in the school courtyard! Virtually no one was over 18 and it was illegal for them to even purchase cigarettes but big packs of kids would gather all over campus and smoke away without any attempt to hide it. WTH were the schools thinking??


And with my own parents, we had super strict curfews, they had to know all my friends, etc. YET, when I turned 16 and bought my own car, they allowed me to careen all over town with of course absolutely no way of checking in with them or communicating until I hopefully found my way home. My friends were much the same.

In fact, I remember when I was 16 and only a few months, they allowed me and a couple of friends to take my car to ENID on a Friday night for a football game. We only had a very basic map, no directions to the school and really didn't know what the heck we were doing, and we merely headed in the general direction and kept stopping for directions. Then, we drove back very late that night, not getting in until about 1 or 2AM. And of course, we were driving my old Mustang that was hardly reliable in the first place. It had stranded me several times in the few months I had been driving it.


Many more examples but it's just so strange to think about how in many ways things were ultra-strict, yet in others kids were given much more freedom than they would be now.

In HS, we were not allowed to wear shorts, but all of us carried pocket knives or even Buck hunting knives on our belts...

Come to think of it, I seem to recall students parking in the school lot with shotgun racks in their trucks.

No facial hair! I had to shave in the 8th grade because of this Moore Public School system rule, that and my Celtic/Viking heritage. Hair length rules and no public display of affection. I would have had a heart attack back then if girls could have worn the shorts they do now. My girlfriend back then, now wife, was always getting busted for her mini skirts. They never liked the horseshoe taps I wore on my shoes either.

Mel,
You are too young to remember when Moore didn't have a junior/senior prom. They had a junior/senior banquet. Dancing in Moore schools wasn't allowed. That was in the 50's.
C. T.

I was only 4 or so years behind you Pete but jeans were OK for girls and there were banquets/dances at Mayfield. I do remember the smoking area at PC West but I think cigarettes were legal even under 18 until the early 80's after I graduated in 1982. I don't remember having to check ID's for tobacco when I worked at Skaggs, only for beer (which was 18 at that time). I also remember the gun rack in trucks with a shotgun/rifle in them.

Born in 55. Moved here from Chicago in 1960. Grades 1-7, St Charles. All but a couple years taught by Nuns, the other by what we called lay teachers. Grades 8-9, Hefner Jr High. Don't remember much of Jr High. You could get a motorcycle license at age 14 and a lot of my friends that had motorcycles rode them to Hefner. There was a chain link fence cage area in the parking lot they parked them in. I rode the bus. I do remember how easy public school seemed compared to St Charles. Was really easy for me to make As and Bs. Went to PC High School for 10-12. Class of 73. Just had our 40 yr reunion and there were I would guess 100 there out of a class of 950+. There were 5 people there I remembered and they were ones I went to St Charles with. One thing I remember about public schools that would be unheard of today was getting licks. The teachers could bust your a$$ with a wooden paddle. Hard and multiple times. You really hated to get licks from one of the sports coaches who also taught class. Some paddles would have holes drilled in them. Could you imagine teachers doing that today? Guys could have mustaches but they weren't supposed to be below the corners of the lips.That wasn't always enforced. Never rode a bus in HS. Soph year a buddy's older brother took us in his car and Jr and Sr yr I had my own car. We could leave for lunch all 3 of my years of HS and would usually go to Leroy's Burgers or Conrad Marr Drug Store on 50th and Meridian. Even the year with no car we had plenty of time to walk there and back. I got my first car 5 months before I turned 16 had my permit, and could take it out with one of my older friends who had a license. I got my first ticket before I turned 16 and got my license. During school I usually had a 10:00 curfew. Sr year it was midnight on weekends and if I wanted to be out later they had to know exactly where I was and what I was doing. I can remember a lot of pickup trucks at HS with rifles and shot guns in the back window. Was no big deal and no one seemed to care. I don't recall anyone smoking on campus. Maybe there were some.I didn't smoke and didn't run with anyone who did. I ran with guys that were into making our cars fast and racing and usually weekends and weeknights during the summer were were on 39th st.

The Ed Sullivan Show.
(that was a very confusing thing for a pre-teen . . . and, later, a teenager)

You had tumbling acrobats mixed in with jugglers and comedians such as Alan King and Topo Gigio.
And, right after that you had The Beatles vs. The Doors.
He, Ed, was Lenient with the Beatles and overly Strict with The Doors.
Taken as a whole, it could be reasonably described as "Nonsensical"
I suppose.

And then there was that whole JFK personal as compared to political deal.

Come to think of it, I seem to recall students parking in the school lot with shotgun racks in their trucks.

Had a .22 in my truck lots of days for shooting after school. Half the time, I don't even remember locking my truck (probably not true, but I'm getting old).

You could get a motorcycle license at age 14 and a lot of my friends that had motorcycles rode them to Hefner. There was a chain link fence cage area in the parking lot they parked them in.
I had my MC license at 14, started riding at 9. I never did ride it to school but knew others who did. It was mainly for our group rides with our fathers and others in our neighborhood to a cafe or truck stop somewhere that we did sometimes in the evenings. Most every weekend was for riding out at Draper, what is now Stinchcomb or a trip to Lake Murray or the Flying P Cycle Ranch in Weatherford, Texas. We trailered to go trail riding as some in the group had MX bikes and not street legal enduros.



I don't recall anyone smoking on campus. Maybe there were some.I didn't smoke and didn't run with anyone who did. I ran with guys that were into making our cars fast and racing and usually weekends and weeknights during the summer were were on 39th st.
I knew of it at West because the hall where the smoking area was ended right at my geometry classroom and there was an exit off that hall and between two buildings.

The age 14-16 motorcycle license was limited to something like 90 cc or 5 hp. I may be a little off on those but it was something close to that. It was also not strictly enforced. A lot of my friends age 14-16 who had motorcycles were in the 125-350 cc size. Yamaha 125s, Yamaha 175s, one friend had a Honda 305 Superhawk all before they were 16.

I had a 72 Kawasaki G5 100cc that was bought when I was 12 replacing my Yamaha Mini-Enduro MX (60cc), the limit was 100cc at that time. The year later (1977) the limit was bumped up to 125cc, my father had a 72 Kawasaki F7 (175cc).

My sons had their licenses in 1982 and 1985. They both had 125cc bikes and when they tested for their vehicle license at 16, they didn't have to take the written test because they had to pass that to get their license for the bikes. They rode the bikes to school (weather permitting), but, they went to Jones HS so traffic was not an issue. I mapped a route they were to take to school. As for smoking at school, in the 50's, there was a courtyard at U. S. Grant where students were allowed to smoke. At Capitol Hill HS, you could smoke in the restrooms. That was 1960.
C. T.
I had my MC license at 14, started riding at 9. I never did ride it to school but knew others who did. It was mainly for our group rides with our fathers and others in our neighborhood to a cafe or truck stop somewhere that we did sometimes in the evenings. Most every weekend was for riding out at Draper, what is now Stinchcomb or a trip to Lake Murray or the Flying P Cycle Ranch in Weatherford, Texas. We trailered to go trail riding as some in the group had MX bikes and not street legal enduros.



I knew of it at West because the hall where the smoking area was ended right at my geometry classroom and there was an exit off that hall and between two buildings.

Courtyard at Grant was still the smoking area in the mid 70's. I wrestled at that time, your hair couldn't touch the ears nor the collar.

Four of us were driving around one Friday night, had hung out outside a liquor store and finally got someone to buy us a case of beer. I was driving my 1963 Mercury Monterrey that I had bought for $100 I made from my paper route, but I was only 15 and didn't have a license but the guy in the passenger seat did. We pulled through the Penn 44 parking lot, and there was a little bit of water at the exit, I couldn't resist and spun the tires getting out of the parking lot(was the only way the cruising vessel could spin the tires), I obviously didn't see the cop but he lit up his lights and pulled us over. Us, being the brainiacs we were at the time, traded seats to get the guy with the license behind the wheel. The cop comes up and proceeds to tap on the passenger side window, damn, we're caught. I get out and the cop takes me back to his car and puts me in the backseat. Goes back to the car and discovered the beer. Anyway, the cop proceeds to give me a lecture about all of the charges I would be facing and how much money it was going to cost me. Then he says "if you would have been caught by one of the younger guys, you would be in jail for awhile" but I'm going to go easy on you boys. He tells us to take the car home and park it, and if he saw us again that night that we were all going to jail and sent us on our way, even let us keep the beer. No way that would happen today.

Oh, the sending folks on their way still happens, a lot even. Letting them keep the beer though, nah, hadn't heard of that one in a long time. Back in the day, an officer or so in my area would do the git your car home and keep it there route. Most though, even if they didn't write someone up, made the youngsters, and some of the not so young, stand there and pour out their own beverages. Guess they figured it would sting more that way. Probably stung far less than thinking of the officers drinking it though.

Rumor has it a group of teens would often take the driver's vehicle home and park it for the night, just as instructed, then switch to a different ride belonging to someone in the group. No one said keep all cars parked. So the evening cycle might begin anew. A group could slip out of town, pull up to the back door of one of the places known to take a three monkeys attitude to underage beverage distribution and spend the rest of the night, sometimes beyond, avoiding the known patrol routes.

Come to think of it, I seem to recall students parking in the school lot with shotgun racks in their trucks.

Most of my friends and I had rifles or shotguns in our trucks.... Especially during hunting season.

Until the sometime in the 80's, drinking age for beer in Oklahoma was 18...

In high school (late 70's) there were a few places that were notorious for selling beer to virtually anyone. I remember walking into a convenience store on NW Expressway & MacArthur when I was 15 and just buying beer without being asked for an ID. I never did have a fake one.

And at that age, I looked more like I was 12 than 18.

Until the sometime in the 80's, drinking age for beer in Oklahoma was 18...

In high school (late 70's) there were a few places that were notorious for selling beer to virtually anyone. I remember walking into a convenience store on NW Expressway & MacArthur when I was 15 and just buying beer without being asked for an ID. I never did have a fake one.


I think it changed sometime around 85-86. I know it happened right before I graduated in 87.

We had a convenience store in MWC for awhile, until a kid from my school that wanted to be a cop got them busted, that would ask for id but you could flash them a library card, or anything, and they would sell to you.

After that we were reduced to asking people walking in convenience stores if they would buy beer for us. It was really amazing how easy it was to find people that would too.

Pete,
When was it 18 for boys? I didn't think it was ever 18 for boys, but I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time. I remember when it was 18 for girls and 21 for boys.
C. T.
Until the sometime in the 80's, drinking age for beer in Oklahoma was 18...

I worked at Sirloin Stockade on 39th just west of Meridian for a short time in HS and Alfia the prep lady that did the salads and pies would buy beer for us after they closed.

Pete,
When was it 18 for boys? I didn't think it was ever 18 for boys, but I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time. I remember when it was 18 for girls and 21 for boys.
C. T.

It absolutely was 18 for all during the 70's and through the early 80's.

I was president of my fraternity at OU and had to know the laws very well. The police would come see me personally if there any issues.

Later, I was on the frat board in the 80's when the law changed to 21 and we had a horrible time trying to enforce them.

Until the sometime in the 80's, drinking age for beer in Oklahoma was 18...

In high school (late 70's) there were a few places that were notorious for selling beer to virtually anyone. I remember walking into a convenience store on NW Expressway & MacArthur when I was 15 and just buying beer without being asked for an ID. I never did have a fake one.

And at that age, I looked more like I was 12 than 18.


Pete,
When was it 18 for boys? I didn't think it was ever 18 for boys, but I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time. I remember when it was 18 for girls and 21 for boys.
C. T.This I know first hand because it worked out great for me. Law was 18 for girls and 21 for boys until '77. Then it was decided that the different ages was discrimination so it was changed to 18 for everyone. "77 was the year I turned 18 so I got to legally drink. YAY! Then about the time I turned 21, which would have been '80, the law was changed again to 21 for everyone. I was 21 so I was fine with that too!

Wow! Reading the different rules in schools is enlightening. I went to Taft Jr. High in '71 to '73 and Northwest Classen from '73 to '77. At Taft we could leave for lunch but there wasn't much close enough walk so it didn't matter. At NWC boys and girls could wear anything except shorts and anything the admin ruled as "too revealing". Even the "too revealing" rule was allowed to slide much more than it would be now. One girl I remember well wore a lot of tank tops with no bra. No wonder I remember. Smoking was allowed in the courtyard. Lots of guys had beards and many had hair shoulder length or longer.

The smoking thing just blows my mind... What on earth were these schools thinking allowing this with kids as young as 14??

Of course now, absolutely no one -- even teachers -- can smoke anywhere on a school's property.


It's just very strange to me how most people regard the Old Days as much more strict yet in lots of ways it was much less so than now.

...
It's just very strange to me how most people regard the Old Days as much more strict yet in lots of ways it was much less so than now.

Over the years I've tended to refer to this as learning what happens when the AV club grows up and enter politics and pulpits.

This I know first hand because it worked out great for me. Law was 18 for girls and 21 for boys until '77. Then it was decided that the different ages was discrimination so it was changed to 18 for everyone. "77 was the year I turned 18 so I got to legally drink. YAY! Then about the time I turned 21, which would have been '80, the law was changed again to 21 for everyone. I was 21 so I was fine with that too!

That's how I remember it too cause I am the same age, law changed right before I turned 18 and changed after I turned 21. You could get into beer bars in Norman at 18 before the law changed.

We also weren't required to register with Selective Service.

Until the sometime in the 80's, drinking age for beer in Oklahoma was 18...

In high school (late 70's) there were a few places that were notorious for selling beer to virtually anyone. I remember walking into a convenience store on NW Expressway & MacArthur when I was 15 and just buying beer without being asked for an ID. I never did have a fake one.

And at that age, I looked more like I was 12 than 18.
October 1983 ahead of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. I was a freshman at OU in 82-83, beer was 18 for all and then went to 21 in the fall.

In 1968 ladies could buy beer at 18. We had to purchase it while the young men waited in the car.