The Good ‘Ol Days When We Dared To Be Bad
Janice Collins Bailey, Marcia Benjamin O’Donnell, Kathy Knee, and Marilyn Ash Barbeck
Janice: In high school I was on a car-packing team of talented and well-practiced yard toilet-paperers
. We chose the homes of some of our favorite classmates to decorate with all kinds of toilet papers that we liberated from filling stations.
I had known “Danny” Tontz since grade school at Adams Elementary and he lived across the street from me. Our TP team always worked after dark and one time he received one of our prize treatments. The next day there was a knock on my front door. It was Dan, who NEVER came to my house. He insisted that I come over and help him clean up what he called a mess. The next morning my mother went out to get the newspaper and came in to tell me that Dan had toilet papered our wrought iron porch railing by weaving the toilet paper in and out of the posts and finishing it off with
a big bow!
Marcia: I don’t remember being with you when Dan’s house was decorated. However, I do remember being sick when you gals came to borrow a roll. Much to my surprise, I was awakened the next morning by my father who said our house got T.P’d !!!
Kathy: We sure had fun! I remember that one year we went to Archie Adams’ house during a slumber party for my birthday. It was in December and it was snowing, but we got the job done. The only other thing I remember is that Archie’s dad came out of the house, and it seems like there might have been a shotgun under his arm!
Marilyn: I remember “dragging Douglas,” pooling our dimes for gas (Did it only cost $.50/gal?) and taking toilet paper from filling station restrooms. We were frustrated when they didn’t have rolls to throw up in the trees, only the little square sheets! I remember giggling at slumber parties and my mom planning a surprise come-as-you-are party for my 16th birthday! I’m so glad we have all these great high school memories!
2010 Class Reunion, Sunday Breakfast – Bruce Ellis and Dan Tontz get the TP treatment.
What’s the story behind these reunion photos?
Janice: My guess is that “someone” at the Wichita Country Club reunion breakfast brought up the topic of toilet papering, so Marcia Benjamin O’Donnell got some of their toilet paper and both of us gave Dan Tontz a quick decoration for old time’s sake. Bruce Ellis, an innocent table mate, received part of the decoration also.
Marcia: Yes, I was the one that whispered in Janice’s ear; we went to the restroom and “borrowed” a roll. I think the only comment from the men was, “That’s what we get for sitting!”
Photo: Ruth Anne Ellis, 2010
If anyone else has memories on this theme, please add them in the comments section. We know we weren’t the only ones to do this.
Great memory! I grew up to be very careful not telling my boys about the joy of toilet papering, because with three boys and more in our neighborhood, I did not want to plant any ideas. Nevertheless, by high school my two older boys were deeply into the joys of decorating. What they did not know is that I discovered their armorer —dozens of rolls under their beds! Of course I replenished the household supply without them even missing rolls! They were good citizens combing our neighborhood of new construction for coke bottles at the building sites. They turned the bottles for money to buy toilet paper. In the recent years I told them about that art form in our teenage years!