SLUMBER PARTIES

During my teens, slumber parties were all the rage among my friends and classmates. Beginning in about the 7th or 8th grade, we girls would gather at someone’s house, don our “cutest” pajamas, listen to music, eat of course, and stay up till all hours, talking about “girly” things. There are several of these affairs that stand out in my mind.

One was at Peggy’s house a block and a half away that included five or six girls. We were all in the 8th grade and were pretty mischievous by that time. We would make prank calls to boys, or I remember calling our former teacher whom we all disliked intensely. Her first name was Beulah and when she answered the phone, we would yell, “Anybody bawling for Beulah?” (That was a famous quote from that era from a radio show about a housekeeper by that name.) It’s a good thing we didn’t have caller ID back then or we would have been in trouble for sure. Another thing we did that night was to leave the house at midnight, dressed in our baby doll pj’s, and walk three blocks to Anne’s house where we threw rocks at her window to wake her up. I forget why she couldn’t come to the party, but we felt bad for her and just took the party to her. We never went inside --- we just talked to her through her window. Then we went back to Peggy’s --- for more mischief, I guess.

Another time we gathered at Patsy’s house. That night boys were present also; thank goodness Mother never found that out, or I would not have been allowed to go back. I don’t think anything bad occurred, but I can only speak for myself. We had a great time playing basketball, flirting, eating, etc., but when we went to bed, we separated from the boys. I don’t remember where they slept.

When I was a freshman, the sleepovers picked up. The sorority always had several each year. I’m guessing that we had about 70-80 girls who were members, so the house had to be pretty big to hold us all. Helen in my class had several parties as well as Nina Beth and Nancy, and once we had one at Rawlings, a place we could rent in Joelton. That was really fun because they had a swimming pool, also. Of course, many of us just slept on the floor with nothing but a pillow and blanket to roll up in (that was before the days of sleeping bags).

Another I’ll mention was a fairly small one (maybe eight of us) when I was a freshman. The girl who had the party got mad at me over some boy who had double dated with me. I can’t remember all the details, but she thought I was trying to keep them apart. His date was at the party, too, but she somehow blamed me!! After the boys left, her mother even got involved, telling me I had really hurt the girl’s feelings!!! How unfair was that?!? I spent a pretty miserable night, but I was mollified somewhat by Mother’s reaction to the situation the next day; she was plenty upset that I had been unfairly accused. Whenever Mother took my side against another adult, I knew I was justified because she usually took the adult’s side and blamed me.

And then there was the night I had a slumber party at my house. I seem to remember there were nine of us --- I don’t know why that number sticks in my head because I don’t remember who all was there. I do recall that Connie, Carolyn, Linda, Kay, and Judy were in attendance. Mother had cooked some great food for snacks, and we stayed up pretty late. I remember being afraid that we would make too much noise – Mother and Daddy were upstairs and we had the whole downstairs to ourselves. So I probably didn’t enjoy mine as much as I did those held at other houses.

When I look back and remember those great times, I am once again thankful for the safety of the era. There were no fears that anyone would break in, or attack us as we walked outside at midnight. (However, my parents would have had a fit if they had known about that.) Overall, they were memorable, fun get-togethers where girls could bond in a healthy way.

I’d have one today, but I couldn’t stay up past nine o’clock and what fun would that be?