ephemera from Silverfish & Foxing
Dick Carlton runs an old paper shop (ephemera) not too far from my place. Nice guy, he let’s me scan things that catch my eye if I plug his shop. Just this afternoon I leaned on the old brass door handle and pushed open the old wooden door and Dick called out to me, “Got some cowboy stuff in”. He knows I can’t get enough of it. What you see up there is a page from a social calendar of Square Dances from 1958…82 pages of dances in northern California. Western wear shops, record shops and microphones for the callers are all advertised inside.
“Ankle Knockers is another new club in East Palo Alto with Ken Oburn at the helm…” is the beginning report from the San Francisco/Peninsula news. The editor, Madeline Allen, starts off her column with this bit to ponder…
“If you ever begin to wonder whether or not the Square Dance movement is growing, just make a point to attend one of the Stampedes at the Oakland Auditorium.”
Fifty years later and I don’t think you could wrangle up two Square Dances in the whole state on a Thursday night