Friday Night Follies

One of my early memories is hanging out with my parents at a neighborhood ice house on the outskirts of San Antonio. For those of you not familiar with the concept of a Texas ice house, NPR explains: (NPR can produce some really cool stuff, just as long as they stay away from politics.)

"Part town hall, part tavern, icehouses have been a South Texas tradition since the 1920s. Before refrigeration, icehouses stored and distributed block ice for the neighborhood iceboxes.

Over time, they diversified— iced beer, a little food, maybe some groceries — a cool, air-conditioned spot where neighbors and families come to sit, talk, play dominoes, turn up the juke box, maybe eat some chicken wings, dance on the slab outside."

Instead of a concrete slab outside, our neighborhood ice house had an indoor dance floor - real wood, sprinkled with sawdust. Most of our friends met there on Friday nights. The parents would dance, the kids would run around and raise hell, and everyone generally had a pretty good time.

Most of the music was typical for south Texas; polkas, waltzes, conjunto, and of course, western swing. I grew up an enthusiastic if not particularly skilled dancer. That's why I like this video so much. As you watch it you'll see the evolution of pop culture through dance, from the 50's through disco and rock.

For the record, I'm old school. My definition of dancing is a rhythmic activity engaged in by two people of the opposite sex who hold each other throughout (get your mind out of the gutter...). This excludes such abominations as disco and line dancing.

Anyway, it's Friday night. Let's dance!