We called them ice cream parlors then
a dime would buy a loaf of bread
we practiced how to curtsy then
and men were men back then she says
we held our hair with bobby pins
we wore white saddle shoes she says
a dozen eggs was sixty cents
and we got marks for penmanship
our blouses had round collars then
men still carried handkerchiefs
at night we danced in supper clubs
vacationed then in motor courts
a handshake still meant something then
a picture show cost fifty cents
we went to bed with cold cream on
milk came bottled cold she says
a colored girl came twice a week
lipstick only came in red
colored boys we called the men
and people still had manners then.