Dancing at the Hangar on Friday Night
girlfriends and we loved to dance together. At the same time, I played in dance bands. I don’t remember any scheduling conflicts. But I was a busy boy! What music did I play in the bands? In the Bill Strout Band, most of our gigs were with adult organizations attended by persons the age of my parents. So, we played ’30s and ’40s dance music that they liked. Songs like Blue Moon, In the Mood and other songs by Glenn Miller, Ray Anthony, Stan Kenton, Buddy Morrow, etc. We used printed sheet music that was keyed for each instrument and bought at local music stores.
During my senior year in high school, I had my own band, and we played some high school dances. We expanded the instrumentation to include a guitar player to perform more popular songs for the teenagers. With a saxophone and a guitar, we opened it up a bit and turned up the amp! Not real rock, but close to it. We also did some novelty songs like the Bunny Hop and the Beer Barrel Polka.
My Dance Experiences
Both my folks were good dancers. They loved to dance and enjoyed going to parties with friends to dance. At an early age, around 8th grade, my mother had me taking dance lessons at the YMCA or YWCA. There were four of us in a car plus a parent driving us downtown. There were two boys and two girls, but I don’t remember the names.
The lessons were Ballroom Dancing 101, once a week for six weeks or so. We learned the Foxtrot, Rumba, Mambo, and all sorts of dances. The dance instructions came in handy for me as a boy. Most girls seemed to already knew how to dance, so they welcomed the boy-girl dance parties.
There was a church in Wichita that had an organized teenage dance party most every Saturday night during the school year. It was in the basement of the church, and it was called Rue de La Songes (Street of Dreams). These were dress-up affairs. I had to wear a coat and tie. It was great way to have a date and dance. I think the church was Plymouth Congregational Church at First and Yale Street across from Debbie Snyder’s house.
Another good teenage dance place was at the National Guard Armory near Edgemore and East Central on Friday nights. Lots of adult supervision. These dances were attended mostly by East and Southeast students. It was crowded. Remember the song Tequila by the Champs? I remember dancing to it in a long line at the Armory.
These were all great teenage times—made better with dancing.
Read about Dan and making music with the band at Dance Bands in High School.
Molly Mulloy – Molly remembers that parents attempted to civilize their teenagers with dancing lessons, dance parties and formals. She documents her story with a wonderful collection of Wichita newspaper stories and photos. Molly and her friends went along with the grown-ups’ arrangements, but they were more than ready for Elvis and for dancing to Rock and Roll. Read her story at Dancing with the Stars – 1950’s Wichita Style 
As we progressed, there would be parties where we danced. Mrs. Campbell introduced us to dance cards, ( a list of dances – Fox Trot, etc.) with a blank next to each. A boy would ask you to “save” this dance for him and his name would be written on the space. All very organized when the dancing began after the cards were filled in. I think you had to dance with everyone and not with just one person.
Different people would have these dances at their homes. I can remember cleaning our basement, finding a 45 record for each dance, and preparing refreshments which was probably crackers and cheese and punch.
I do remember HiFiHop on KAKE TV. Wilbur Love and I went when we were in 8th grade at Mathewson and were on TV!!
Our dancing was way different from what kids do today. We were just at our granddaughter’s high school graduation party where the kids are in a circle jumping up and down. Certainly not touching.
Wilbur Love (He lived across the street from me on Holyoke.), Sally Campbell (Her mother was the organizer.), Kim Corbin (maybe), Mick Sullivan, Paul Lueker, and Debbie Snyder learned together how to dance.
in junior high and high school. There was a weekly dance at an Episcopal church in College Hill and our Girl Scout troop also took lessons. I faithfully watched Dick Clark on the monster TV set my dad built.” (Nancy went on to become an accomplished tango dancer, who danced in Buenos Aires as well as cities in Europe, Asia, and North America. She says that as souvenirs, she has titanium hips. See Nancy Ingle, Becoming a Real Tanquero.)
of us. For Marilyn Tompkins Bellert, Carolyn Wharton Holloway and me, the church for dancing was Mt. Vernon Presbyterian. Every Saturday night in the ninth grade, we gathered there with friends to “dance the night away” at the Youth Center. Our parents took turns taking us and picking us up. A shop teacher at Mead, Bob Agnew, was the sole adult who monitored the activity. It’s actually where I learned to dance. I don’t know about Marilyn and Carolyn. Friday nights were always movies at the Boulevard Theatre, then the Youth Center on Saturday night. The weekends were something to look forward to.
my neighborhood thought was a necessity to civilize us. We dressed up, wore white gloves (both to be “lady-like” and to protect against sweaty boys’ hands), and learned how to behave politely in social situations. Some sessions were for just for girls. My little brother took a photo of me walking around the house with a book on my head, practicing for the girls-only posture class. We learned the ballroom dances of the 30’s and 40’s, but I rarely ever danced those again once the class was over. Instead, we learned to dance to “our” music – fast and slow – at the Youth Center, as Diane described. Once we got to high school and especially after we could drive ourselves, there were dance parties in rec rooms and basements. For me, dancing was a wonderful part of growing up. 
The Hangar on Friday nights was a great place to end an evening of pizza at Pizza Hut, a football game and then the Hangar. It was as classic as earlier Friday nights at the movies in our jeans and white dress shirts from our fathers. I think we all wore penny loafers. Those Friday nights shared Friday nights with dancing at some local churches and various parties in family recreation rooms. We were not bored!