Thanks to John Chiles, John Movius, Steve McMahon, Yolo County Historical Society, and the Davis Virtual Market for early assistance.

Current Exhibit

"Flings, Hops, Proms and Balls: Davis High School Dances 1930s-60s" is a cultural exhibit. It contains photos of dances taken from our collection of high-school yearbooks, three "formals" worn to school dances of the late 50s and early 60s, and "dance cards," which contain lists of girls' partners for each dance and also the songs played for the event.

Recently, an odd tradition by today's standards has emerged in connection with the dance-card portion of the exhibit. Joann Leach Larkey, a 1947 graduate of DHS (and later a noted historian of Davis history) was interviewed by the museum about her high-school experiences in the late 80s. She stated that while she very much enjoyed the informal dances, the two formal ones (the Junior Prom and Senior Ball) were frustrating because they were "program dances." For these, a girl was required to have a date, who would purchase a dance card for her. He would sign "one or two lines" to reserve dances for himself, but then would arrange for his friends to sign the rest. Girls, therefore, would arrive at the event without knowing who most of their dance partners would be. Our exhibit offers a possible explanation for the program dances, and also provides evidence that they had disappeared by 1950. 

Operated by the Yolo County Historical Society for the City of Davis