Wineka column: Mom's autograph books

When my father died four years ago, some papers and keepsakes passed to me that have no significance, except to our family.

Dad happened to keep a couple of autograph albums that had belonged to my mother while she was in high school. I came across the small books while tidying up a closet this past weekend.

The entries covered years from 1945-49. Mom (her name was Nancy) graduated in 1949 and married my dad that October.

The messages and signatures in the autograph books are a peek into another time. The penmanship understandably was better, out of necessity, and there were a lot of nicknames — "Dimples" and "Put-Put" among them.

One of Mom's autograph books had a red-and-white vinyl cover that could be zipped up for safer keeping.

In it, Austin Stiles, Class of "48," tried to throw a curve:

Dear Nancy,

I am the guy from the city,

I am the guy from the town.

I'm also the guy that spoiled your book,

By writing upside down.I'm generalizing here, but kids seemed to cherish their friendships then. They razzed each other a lot, but they also could be philosophical, serious and hopeful, wishing each other great luck and success in the future.

Often, a friend would say something such as, "Life is a picture; paint it well," or "In the golden chain of friendship, consider me a link."

Charles Daughtery dashed off sort of a sad note to my mom:

Best of luck to Nancy, who when I left was a very little girl, but when I came back from the service was all grown up, and I never even had a chance.Many of the pages are filled with corny rhymes. Dimples wrote this on Jan. 29, 1949:

Dear Nancy,

Once upon a time,

A goose drank wine.

A monkey chewed tobacco on the streetcar line.

The monkey choked,

The street car broke,

And all went to heaven on a nanny goat.A couple of album entries are drawings. Other people penned messages similar to the telegraphic codes used today in texting.

One friend wrote:

2 y's U R

2 y's U B

I C U R

2 y's 4 me.I'd like to report that my mom and her friends lived in a much more innocent time. On several cultural fronts, they did, but she and the girlfriends who autographed her albums had a preoccupation with finding a man — their "Prince Charming" — and getting married.

Dear Nancy,

Apples on the cupboard,

peaches on the shelf.

Nancy's getting tired

of sleeping by herself.

Love, Freda"Put-Put" had this warning for my mom:

Don't make love by the garden gate, for love is blind, but the neighbors aren't.

My dad, who was older, didn't come into the picture until my mom was almost through high school. Through most of her school days, mom's boyfriend was a guy named "Tunner," pronounced "Tuner."

In fact, several of the messages refer to her as "Tunner's best girl."

I have no idea whether Mom's real dreams came true.

She and Dad had two boys. They were married for 38 years. For most of her adult life, she sold shoes.

In 1987, Mom died at age 55 from cancer. But I've always known why Dad kept those autograph albums and never remarried.

For us, she was:

2 sweet

2 be

4 gotten.

Read Mark Wineka's blog, "Wineka's World," at www.salisburypost.com.