Dr Rosemary Lucas - The Palos Juniors

00:01 My name is Sarah Lucas, and I am interviewing Dr. Rosemary Lucas. Dr. Rosemary Lucas is going to be turning 96 in August of this year. Today is June. What is it? June 27, 2023. And we are in Plymouth Place, LaGrange Park, Illinois. So, Rosemary, what is on your mind regarding the Palos Juniors and why is come up for you? I'm curious. Tell me.

00:36 The Palos Juniors was a group of young women that was formed by a lady in the Palos community during the late 30s and the 40s.

00:49 Okay.

00:50 Now, you need to understand what was going on in the late 30s and the 40s, what was going on in the world at that time? And how did that impact where you were?

01:04 Right.

01:05 Well, of course, the war was there. All right, and how did that impact me and other people my age? Well, we were of an age where we were high school, probably. Yeah. Most of us were in high school. And you couldn't do the things that kids normally did in high school. You went to school, you came home, you went to school, you came home. There was no social life and anything if you wanted to go anywhere. Remember, gasoline was rationed and it was needed for more important things than for your outings. And so anyway, this lady, her name was Ethel, I remember, and she was sort of the town, I don't know, social worker. I'm not quite sure what her title was.

01:57 Okay.

01:57 I don't think she had one. And she was more than a busybody, but she recognized that there were kids, young people around town who were not getting to meet any other young people.

02:09 Sure.

02:10 And also there was somewhat of an elitist attitude out there at the time. And I think the idea was you wanted to be sure that you met some of your own, you know, understand that. Okay. So anyway, she formed this group called the Palos Juniors.

02:31 Sorry, we had an attendant come in. So you were saying about the woman.

02:37 Oh, yes, Ethel.

02:38 Yes.

02:39 And Ethel decided that there were all these young people hanging around, and normally they would have been out dating and doing different things, but they couldn't.

02:49 Right.

02:49 So she formed a group called the Palos Juniors. It was all girls, and they were remembered by invitation only. Really? And, yes. I don't know. But anyhow, and what she was trying to do, as I say, it was to get us to meet other people, you know, maybe at school or whatever. And so she arranged a lot of social events for us. And like, for example, you know what the USO is, don't you?

03:26 Absolutely.

03:27 All right. Well, she arranged for a group of young ladies. We were Down a couple of Sunday afternoons when they had, I don't know, open house or something at the USO downtown. And we entertained sort of the soldiers and sailors who were stationed in the Chicago area. And you know, you'd have dance with them and maybe have a cup of juice and stuff like that, that sort of thing. She also. She wanted us to be a very refined group of young ladies.

04:03 Okay.

04:04 And so we. Our outing. And we could go by bus. We could take the Bluebird bus downtown. And so we went to the Shakespeare Theater as a group, you know. And another time she took us all downtown and we shopped at Marshall Fields and tea in the tea room.

04:25 Absolutely.

04:27 And then back home in Palos we would be involved with. Oh, we put on a little program. They called it a play in those days. Right. Because there was. In the town. The town hall had a lovely auditorium type place, but it was quite nice. And Joey, she had us put on a couple little shows there. But again, the object of the game was to keep us doing something other than sitting home.

05:03 Right.

05:03 And it all was done on a shoestring because couldn't spend any money on gas. But anyway, so one of the weekends she arranged that we would have a. We were going to have a little dance outside, outdoor dance or whatever you call it out there on 123rd and 80th AM or something like that. Okay. Anyway. And we had this outdoor dance. Now you can imagine what this is like. It was a Friday evening and it only went from 7 to 10. Nothing rowdy going on there, you know.

05:45 Okay.

05:46 And I remember inviting a friend of mine I was going to high school with. I invited her to come out and it was. They called it a street dance. And she had never been to a street dance before. Well, neither did anybody else as far as that was concerned.

06:02 Right.

06:02 And so we were there and it was of all places, right next to what was what we now know to be the plush horse. Only in those days it was ice cream parlor. So anyway, we had our. And that was the congregating plant. That was where you could go there and hang out.

06:23 Yeah.

06:24 And you didn't have to have any gas. You could walk there and stuff. So anyway, that was our big street dance on a Saturday evening.

06:33 What would you. What would you wear when you went there? Give me an idea of your outfit.

06:39 By that time, I think I was allowed to wear a skirt as well. Sweater, something like that.

06:44 Okay.

06:45 But don't forget I was going to a school where I had to wear a uniform.

06:49 Right.

06:49 But anyway. But Anyway, back to my street dance now. And the ice cream parlor being there. Now, the lady who was dishing out the ice cream was there when it started. Yeah. And this is a little side story, but it fits in.

07:09 Absolutely.

07:10 Anyway, the ice cream. I believe she was what you would call a spinster. And anyway, her brother, for some reason, I don't know why, he decided to start this ice cream thing. And it was always all homemade ice cream.

07:28 Yeah.

07:28 And that was there. And that was called Itzels. And Sophie was the lady who got to run it because her brother needed something for her to do. So anyway, that was. So all right, now we're. And Sophie was. There were a lot. They'd hang out there a lot on Saturday anyway. And so anyway. And he was. He was matchmaking. That's what he was doing. Or she was doing. So anyway, the one time when we were there, our little group together and one of them lived in Palace Heights, now, that was a little bit away, and it was very special that she got to be part of our group. But anyhow. And then there was. The boys were there. And at one point the story is told that this young lady from Palos Sites was going home probably. Right. And it's 9 o'clock and I gotta get home.

08:23 Yeah.

08:23 And so anyway, she's. Whatever. And Sophie went outside and she got ahold of this guy, Ellen, I remember his name was Bob Denova. Anyway, she got a hold of him and she said, look, you go after her, you shouldn't let her get away from you. She's for you. Okay? End of story. Oh, no. Indeed, they did get together and several years ago, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. And anyway, that all started there. Who knows? Between Sophie and Ethel. They were getting us all matched up.

09:01 Yeah, they were working it.

09:02 Yeah, they were working the system. But it was. I just added that because I'm not making that up. That's true.

09:08 I'm not.

09:09 I don't want to find it interesting. But the other interesting part of that is, you know, the big treat for the Lucas family. No, I did go to the Plush Horse. Well, that was the.

09:21 Oh, yes, I do know that. Yes. I'm so sorry.

09:23 Oh, that's where it is.

09:24 Yeah. And that's where it all happened.

09:26 That's where it started. Yeah. Anyway, I just put that in there. I thought it was kind of.

09:30 I love that.

09:31 But as I say, Ethel was issue. We were all. Now, if you went to the public high school, sometimes you could get a dad to take a whole bunch of your over to watch a game or something. That was a big outing. And then maybe stopping Sophie's fur and ice cream on the way back. But really there was nothing to do at that time. No, you could not further with. So I don't know if anybody would be interested.

10:02 Oh, they are. They are.

10:04 And I think those juniors was quite a sort of an elite. Elite group in a way.

10:09 Can I ask you a couple questions about it? Did you.

10:13 What?

10:13 Did you make friends there with the girls?

10:17 Well, I did, because, of course, some of them. Most of them in the group went to school together. I did not, because I was going to a Catholic school.

10:27 Do you remember who you met in that group? What were their names?

10:33 No, I can't remember anything. That's okay, because some of them I already knew. That's my.

10:40 Yeah, some of them you already knew.

10:43 Yeah.

10:43 Okay.

10:44 As I say, and the kids who went to the public high school got to know one another because they were on the bus, But I only got to know the kid I rode with.

10:56 How many years did you belong?

10:59 I stayed with it through high school, and then by the time when the war was over, people could start doing other things. Sure. So I think it sort of folded up. It was there, it served its purpose, and it was kind of put to bed probably in the 40s, you know, but it was our. It was the highlight of our lives.

11:25 Yeah. So that's the purpose it served. It was your social life and, of.

11:28 Course, living out in the country. You were isolated anyway, and then more so because you couldn't, you know, go anywhere or do anything.

11:38 Thank you for telling me.

11:40 I don't know whether that's of interest, but it is.

11:43 It is. Your stories are fascinating. Thank you.

11:46 Mess it up a little bit, you know, but it's true. I'm not making a dub.

11:50 Oh, no, I didn't think you were.

11:53 But those.