"Betty's on the phone for you, Stacy."
Quickly, Stacy squeezed her toes to bring her well-worn Bass Weejuns partially back on her feet, smashing the backs with the bottom of her heels. She lept off the bed and hurried to take the receiver from her mother and take a seat on the stool next to the phone table in the hallway.
"Hi Betty! What's up?"
"Not much, really. Tomorrow's my last day at Woolworth's, before going back to Northwestern, and I thought about getting some friends together to see a movie."
"That sounds good, Betty. You go back to school a little earlier than we do at Wisconsin. I still have a week left to work at the Malt Shop before I get ready to go back to Madison. It's too bad we go to different schools."
"Yeah, I know. But at least you're going to come and visit me one weekend this semester."
"So, what movie you want to see?" Stacy crossed her feet at the ankle underneath the stool and slipped her toes a couple of inches out of both of her loafers. In Stacy's case they were really 'Dime' loafers since she always kept emergency phone call money in the slit on the upper of each shoe, which was designed to store a single coin for decorative purposes.
"Well, the Seven Year Itch is playing at the Strand."
"That's great! My cousin, Sally, in Chicago already saw it back in June and said it was very funny. It's about time it came here to Rockford."
"Yeah, we seem to get all the good ones after they finish playing in Chicago and Milwaukee."
Betty and Stacy made plans to meet their friends at the Downtown Diner for supper then walk over to the movie from there. Betty called Alice, Wally, John and Guy to meet them for supper and the movie afterwards.
Late the next afternoon, Stacy dressed up for the evening with a short sleeve white cotton sweater blouse, a pink poodle skirt, white socks with the tops neatly folded down and her trusty black loafers. She added a matching hairbow to pull back her medium-length black hair. Stacy walked five minutes down pretty, tree-lined, Elm street; took a right on Oak Ave and then a left onto Main St. where the diner was located.
Six good friends enjoyed hamburgers, french fries and milkshakes with the backdrop of jukebox music while talking about the end of their summers and returning to college. Stacy enjoyed this last opportunity for her group of friends to get together before leaving Rockford for their sophomore years. She mindlessly played with her loafers under the table and sat at times with her feet crossed underneath at the ankle using her toes to twirl one shoe in circles on the floor. Occasionly, she spun her shoe out of reach and had to uncross her feet and retrieve it.
After dinner, they walked down the street less than a block to the Strand where a long line had formed to buy tickets to the movie of the week. After a twenty minute wait, they found a good seat about three quarters of the way back of the 500-seat theatre. The guys especially were excited to see Marilyn Monroe, who had a significant but unnamed role in the movie.
About half-way into the movie, Stacy dared to lean back in her seat and prop her legs on an empty seats in front of them. She made sure her long skirt stayed below her knee and did not ride up any farther. While focused on the movie, she crossed her ankles and began to dangle both her loafers a little. During a particularly funny scene, Stacy lost control of her feet and one of her loafers dangled off and landed in the floor in front of them. Losing her shoe got her attention and in the process, her ankle slipped into the gap between the two seats in front of her. Stacy tried and tried to free her ankle on her own but she was stuck. She realized she would need help and that would have to wait until the movie was over.
After the lights came on, everyone realized what had hapened to Stacy. Guy and Wally pulled the two seats apart just enough for Stacy to slip her foot out of it's trap. After standing on one foot and resting her other sock-clad foot on the seat, she asked John to help find her other shoe.
John looked up and down the row in front of them. "I don't see it."
"Maybe it got kicked down another row."
By now every one had left the theater and Stacy dared to place her foot back down on the floor to go look for her shoe. After a couple of minutes, she found it under a seat two rows in front. Before putting it back on, she lifted her foot and noticed that her formerly pristine white sock was now a dark gray color on the bottom. She dreaded her mother seeing it come laundry time.
On the way home, everyone discussed the movie. Out in front, the guys talked about how swell Marilyn looked and behind them, the girls talked more about the romance. Stacy pointed out something else.
Betty, Alice, did you notice Marilyn's shoes?
"Which ones?" Alice asked.
"Those high heels! They looked like dressy house slippers."
Betty replied, "Yeah I saw them. I've seen a couple of women wearing them in Look and the Saturday Evening Post. They call them 'mules.'"
Alice added, "I think I saw a story about them in Life magazine. They're also called Spring-o-lators. the article talked about ehm being a 'Stay-on Shoe' because they have an elastic strap on the insole that helps keep your shoe on.
"I think I'd like a pair of spring-o-lator mules," Stacy dared to say.
Alica and especially Betty laughed. Alice rebutted, "You're kidding, right? Those are for movie stars and fashion models."
Betty interrupted, "..and brothel maidens."
Alice continued with a whisper, "It's not really lady-like, for a college girl. No one from Rockford would wear them."
"I still think they're neat. I think that shoes like hers, without backstraps, mules, would be very comfortable. Don't we all wear backless house slippers arounf the house? Why not wear that style other times? I hate the way regular shoes are so confining. That's why I slip out of the heels every chance I get." Stacy stopped briefly and raised her heels and flattened down the backs of her loafers. (Stacy demonstrated.) "Sometimes, when I'm around the house and my parent and sister are not around, I find myself walking around like this," Stacy said while pointing to her feet.
Alice gasped under her breath and Betty replied, "Stacy! You'll ruin your shoes that way!"
"You sound like my mother. One of these days, I'm going to buy me a pair of those backless high heel mules and wear them!"
After that, one by one they reached each other's house and said goodbye for the summer. Mr. Anderson drove Stacy back to her dorm in Madison in their green 1953 Packard. Soon she was settled back into college life and loving it.
The first Friday night back in Madison, a group of girls, including Stacy who wore her red 'W' sweater with a white skirt and her black and white saddle oxfords and white socks, from the dorm went to the Ritz downtown to see the new Katherine Hepburn movie - Summertime. It was a nice romantic story and Stacy was captivated by Katherine Hepburn's mules. She noticed that Katherine's character, Jane, was even careless enough to drop one shoe on her lover's balcony and had to go home around sunrise carrying one lonely red shoe. During the movie, Stacy thought about how restrictive her lace-up saddle oxfords were and how appealing unrestrictive backless shoes like Katherine Hepburn wore would be refreshing. Again, after the movie, Stacy chatted with her friends about the shoes, as well as Marilyn's, and they responded similarly to how Alice and Betty had already done.
Over the next couple of weeks, Stacy focused on her classes and, of course, trying to meet guys. Every day she wore a dress and high heels or a skirt and loafers, as was not only fashionable but was also required by the university's dress code. Similarly, all the guys wore freshly starched shirts and ties to meet university requirements. One handsone guy from her Literature class had caught her eye. She knew his name was Lamar Olson, but she had not had a chance to meet him.
A couple of weeks later, Stacy was finishing her lunch in the university cafeteria and relaized she was about to be late for class. She hurriedly slipped her toes into her loafers, mashing down the backs and lept out of her chair to return her tray and walk to her class. Being in a hurry, she was not paying attention and after opening the door outside, she ran into a guy trying to come inside. She dropped her books and paper in various directions and tripped out of one of her Bass Weejuns, which fell off easily since she had the back pressed flat.
"I'm terribly sorry Miss. I need to be more careful." He said while beginning to pick up Stacy's things.
Stacy recovered her shoe and subtly placed her other shoe on correctly and looked up to see it was Lamar, she guy she'd been dying to meet.
"I'm the one who should be sorry. It was my fault for not looking where I was going." Stacy paused then boldly noted, "Aren't you in my Literature class at ten?"
"Yes, I thought you looked familiar. My name's Lamar Olson."
"It's nice to meet you Mr. Olson. I'm Stacy Anderson."
"Miss Anderson, it's a pleasure to meet you too. I guess I'll see you in class."
"Okay, see you then."
Near the end of October, there was a big campus-wode homecoming dance and Stacy wanted Lamar to ask her very badly. The problem was, that she had not been able to get to know Lamar. Her assigned seat was on the front row at the far end of the room and Lamar's seat was in the middle of the room only a couple of rows from the door. One day, Stacy came up with a seemingly brilliant plan. After class she met with stuffy Professor Edgehill and made a request. "Dr. Edgehill, I have a problem and I was wondering if you could help me."
"Okay, what's your problem, Miss Anderson?" Dr. Edgehill withdrew his pipe from his jacket pocket and began to stuff a pinch of Prince Albert into the bowl.
"My hearing is not so good on the right side. I'm getting over a severe ear infection and I was wondering if I could move to the other side of the room so I could have my good ear aimed in your direction."
Prof. Edgehil lit his pipe with a zippo lighter and took a quick puff. "I'm willing to make adjustents for medical needs. Mr. Mullins did drop the class last week. You can have his seat. It's the second desk on the third row from the door. (Pointing) Is that okay with you?"
Stacy looked at the desk and realized it was just one row over and two seats up from Lamar's desk. It was perfect. "That would be very good, Dr. Edgehill."
The next day, Stacy changed seats and she began to have more opportunities to talk with Lamar. Unbeknown to her, Lamar was enjoying getting to know Stacy better as well. He also enjoyed watching her swing her bouncy black ponytail back and forth and play with her well-worn loafers under her desk, She also slipped her heels out of her pumps on occasion and dangled them off to the side, off the end of her toes. One day, Stacy lost control and her high heeled pump slipped completely off and made a loud noice during one of Dr. Edgehil's lectures. "Miss Anderson, please keep your shoes on during class. Last time I checked, We're still in the city."
Stacy was embarrassed to be singled out in front of the whole class and especially Lamar! However, Lamar thought it was cute. It was not only a couple of weeks before the Homecoming Dance and she was running out of time to make an impression on Lamar, not knowing she already had. Things were not as bad as it seemed to Stacy. Lamar asked if he could walk Stacy to her next class and she quickly accepted. On the way, Lamar asked Stacy to the big dance. She was very happy and had a hard time hiding her pleasure. As soon as she got home she wrote a letter to Betty and Evanston telling her all about Lamar and their upcoming date. She also expressed an interest in going shopping for something to wear to the dance when she came to Chicago that coming Friday.
Friday around noon, Stacy dropped off her books in her dorm room, picked up her suitcase and walked in her blue dress and black pumps to the bus station to begin her trek to Evanston on the express bus to Milwaukee. To rest her feet, she sat with her feet on top of her shoes, ready to slip back on very quickly when needed. Stacy changed busses there and this one several stops, including ones in Racine, Kenosha, Waukegan and Highland Park on the way to Evanston, where Betty was waiting for her around 4:30 in the afternoon.
Betty walked Stacy her back to her dorm room at Northwestern; they then took a tour around campus. That evening the two of them ordered take-out pizza and came back to their dorm lobby to watch television. Stacy told her all about Lamar - how they met, how she found a way to sit near him and how he finally asked her out.
The next day, Betty and Stacy dressed up in dresses and heels and took the train into downtown Chicago, about ten miles away to the south. After walking around Grant Park and along the Chicago River, they found themselves in Marshall Field's.
"Wow, it's bigger that I remembered! What a store, Betty!"
"We could spend hours here!"
Betty and began their way through the clothing department trying on lots of items. Stacy's first goal was to find a pretty dress for the Homecoming Dance. After about an hour, she found one that suited her just fine.
"I still have $20 of the money I earned this summer that I brought to spend today. Let's look at shoes."
"Sounds good to me, Stacy." Soon they two girls from Rockford were runnaging though various high heeled shoes, occasionally slipping off one of their own shoes and trying on the shoe from the rack. In the back corner of the shoe department, something caught Stacy's eye.
"Look, Betty. There they are!" Stacy pointed at a small display of mules. "Spring-o-lator Mules, like we ones we saw Mariln Monroe wearing! Picking one up and turning it over she read, "And it's only $16.95. That leaves me enough for lunch."
"That's a lot of money, Stacy. These nice pumps over here are only $12.95 and they look very durable.
"These shoes are nice as well. (Looking closely at the insole) Oh, that's neat! The sole does indeed have an elastic strap that help's keep your shoe on your foot. I think I'll try on a pair of these."
Stacy found a salesclerk and asked for a size 7 1/2 in a couple of different styles. After bringing them out, she tried them on and noticed how the springolator elastic strap worked as it was supposed to work. She bought a pair that matched the dress she had already purchased. Now Stacy was ready for the Homecoming dance and she couldn't be happier.
Betty and Stacy finished their shopping and returned to campus for the evening. They went into Evanston to meet some friends for dinner and a movie. The next morning, Stacy went to church with Betty and her roommate and soon afterwards, grabbed a sandwich and took the return trip to Madison on the bus.
The day of the dance, Stacy took a long time to get ready, but she was on time when Lamar called from the dorm lobby to walk her to the dance, which was being held at Memorial Union Terrace which offered a nice romantic waterfront view of beautiful Lake Mendota. Stacy walked proudly with her handsome date in her mules with confidence as the elastic insole caused a spring in her step as the bottom her shoe slapped the bottom her foot with each step. Lamar liked her shoes quite a bit, but did not dare say anything. He was just happy to have such a pretty date to the dance.
The band played a variety of slow songs, fast songs and all things in between. About 90 minutes into the dance, Stacy and Lamar decided to take a break and walk along the waterfront. As they got away from the crowd, Lamar dared to hold Stacy's hand. She did not mind and she certainly did not complain. However one thing was starting to bother her a little. After all that dancing, she realized that the elastic insole had made her feet really sore. Her right foot was especially sore for some reason. They came to a bench and Stacy suggested they take a seat. Lamar offered her a smoke and he also lit one for himself as they looked out onto the water. The sun was about an hour and a half away from setting and it would soon be too cool to enjoy the outdoors.
Stacy crossed her right foot over her left to try to see what might be causing that foot to be particularly sore, Without calling too much attention to herself, she glanced down into the space between her foot and the insole and was horrified to see the elastic starting to separate from the insole. Apparently, she had bought a defective pair of Spring-o-lators. If she went to back to Chicago she felt confident that Marshall Fields would swap them for a new pair, but she was more worried about the rest of the dance. How was she going to finish the dance?
After finishing their smokes, Lamar suggested, "So Stacy, you ready to go back to the dance?"
Not wanting to seem like she was uninterested Stacy replied, "Alright, we can walk back now."
Stacy began to favor her right foot a little as the elastic slowly separated more with each step. When they arrived back at the dance, Lamar found a nice section of the dance area next to the lake. It was a very pretty evening and the reflection of the sun on the surface of the water was breathtaking and romantic.
The first two songs played when they returned were fast. Lamar had a good time moving fast to the music with his pretty date, Stacy. Near the end of the second song, however, Stacy felt a pop on the bottom of her right foot and suddenly her shoe felt a lot looser. The music stopped and transitioned into a slow song, so Stacy was able to recover and get used to the feeling of not having the elastic strap working to her advantage. Lamar was oblivious to what was going on. He was just having a good time.
The music picked up again and Stacy struggled to keep her right shoe on ahd therefore call attention to her debacle. Near the middle of the song, Lamar executed a spin toss and sent Stacy off to his right toward the lake. Right before he pulled her back, her right foot slipped out of her shoe and her shoe was sent off in an high arc, landing with a big splash in the lake, nearly 10 feet from the shoreline.
"Oh no! My shoe!" Stacy cried out as she saw her shoe land in Lake Mendota.
Lamar abruptly stopped and looked down to see Stacy looking helpless standing on one high heel amd one bare foot, flexed trying to keep balanced. "I'll go down and see if I can see it."
Lamar ran down to the shoreline and Stacy hobbled along after him. "I don't see it, Stacy , but I'll wade out and see if I can find it."
"Don't do that there's no reason to ruin your clothes. Besides, there's no telling where it actually landed."
"Well, I guess we can't dance like this."
"I suppose you're right. And we were having such a fun time, too. Let me walk you back to your dorm."
With only one shoe, Stacy limped along holding hands with Lamar as they went back to her dorm. Along the way, people stopped and looked at Stacy missing a shoe and wondered what had happened. Stacy was embarrassed about being seen that way. When they arrived inside the dorm, Stacy paused in the lobby expecting to say bye for the evening. Instead, Lamar suggested, "Stacy, why don't you get another pair of shoes and we'll go downtown to the diner and get a hamburger?"
Stacy was glad that their evening was not finished. She slipped off her remaining shoe and raced upstairs. A couple of minutes later, she came back down wearing her favorite Bass Weejuns,"
"Let's go, Lamar, and grab that burger!"