Bombin' the Ave

It was 1954 and I was involved in one of the many early to mid teenage infatuations that were customary and almost obligatory in those days. I remember the year because that's when "our song" came out - The High and the Mighty. Every couple had to have a song, one that typified their undying love for each other. Whenever it played on the radio you'd hold hands, look into each other's eyes and talk about forever. Many of the kids; that's what we were, chose The High and the Mighty because the beautiful music and romantic lyrics stirred the emotions. There were a boatful of other "our songs" but at the moment the only one I can recall is Little Darlin by the Diamonds. It's funny how you can go from a love struck teen who can't wait to see her that night and doesn't sleep well from thinking about her, to an old man 67 years later who can't even remember her name, what she looked like, how long we were together or anything at all about her. I may have met her at school or some social activity but there's a good chance that I first saw her while bombin' the ave.

That's what you did at night if you were unattached and looking for some action, you bombed the avenue. In Milwaukee what that meant is that you slowly cruised up and down Wisconsin Avenue checking out the girls who were walkin' the ave, usually in twos because there were usually two guys per car. When you (the guys) spotted something that looked interesting you'd slowly pull over to the curb and deliver your pickup line. It was decided in advance who would do the talking and whose turn it was to get the good lookin' one. See, for some reason almost always one of the two girls was good lookin' and the other was semi-good lookin'. We used to think that the good lookin' one did that deliberately to make herself look better. 

Me and my buddy Jerry who was a couple of years older than me had an advantage. Jerry had dropped out of school at 16, got himself a job at a grocery store unloading trucks, stocking shelves and mopping floors, and was able to make a down payment on a brand new red Ford convertible with white interior. Girls liked convertibles because their friends could see them cruising the ave like beauty queens in a parade, and because it was easier to get out of the car quickly if the guys became too aggressive. 

When it was my turn to do the pick up line I tried to quickly assess the girls attitudes and deliver a quietly confident and intriguing line..."Hi girls...how about helping two nice guys break in this new car. We'll stick to the ave or anywhere else you'd like to go and drop you off whenever and wherever you want." Maybe half the time the girls would just keep walking but the other half they'd walk over to the car to size us up and then either get in or not. Jerry drove so I was shotgun, so I'd get out of the car and direct one of the girls to the back and then follow her in. If I had the good lookin' one I'd play it cool. If I had the other one I'd spend the evening being the clown...entertaining her and making her laugh at a distance. Once when I was in clown mode the girl stopped me and asked, "When are you going to make your move?" I honestly don't remember what happened next. Usually if things clicked you'd drive to a nearby park and get into some hot and heavy necking. If I say so myself we were fairly successful when I did the pickup line. When Jerry did it, not so much. I would always cringe thinking that his, "Hey Girls! Wooo wooo!" would never go down as one of the world's greatest pickup lines.

When you picked up girls it was never with a thought to a future relationship although sometimes it turned out to be. Usually you just dropped them off at the end of the night and never saw them again. I wonder if that girl ever thinks of me and our song The High and the Mighty?

Fast forward a couple of years to 1956. We're in the same Ford convertible, Jerry with his girl and me in back with mine (I remember her name. It was Diane). We'd been seeing these girls for several months. We were driving southwest over the railroad track bridge on Forest Home Ave near 35th Street. It was sundown and the sky was that beautiful dark pink, and the new song Canadian Sunset sung by Andy Williams was playing on the radio. I'm feeling the breeze in my hair, enjoying the sunset and the cozy feeling of the girl nestled against me, I'm 16 and thinking...man, I got the world by the ass! No way could I have imagined the twists and turns, ups and downs of the path I would walk from that moment to this.