“I can still see that L-shaped dock,” said Karen Magidsohn (1965+).” We would take baths down at the lake, but we would also sit on the dock and shave our legs. I can remember the older girls were shaving their legs and it was a peer thing, so I thought I should. On the way home from camp that summer, my aunt who was only ten years older than me, was sitting next to me in the car and asked if I had shaved my legs. So, I had to tell my Mom.”

More than one girl shaved her legs in the “water fountain/Bradley Basin”. According to Missy Plambeck (68-78), it was the perfect place to do it, although other girls like Pat Rehmus (1962-65) thought it was odd.

Judy Engibous (1973-75) shaved hers for the first time at camp. “My Mom was a control freak and insisted I bring Nair to camp, but the sheer practicality of shaving far out-weighed waiting for some cream to work, so I shaved!”

And then there was hair and makeup. Kerry Weber (1968-70) recalled a little girl named Jane, who came to camp with makeup and was probably only in the fifth or sixth grade. “I can still see her with this bright purple lipstick. I know she figured her parents weren’t around to see her experimenting with it.”

“In part, because of camp, I was never much into makeup, “said Sandy Indianer, who camped in the late sixties. “I would put it on for special occasions, but I was one of those girls who always felt fine without it. I didn’t worry about my weight while I was there, but I did shave my legs while I was there. I think I was eleven and some of the girls were already doing it. They would shave down by the lake. I think I went home and Mom didn’t say a thing and I don’t think I shaved again until I was thirteen. It was just the girlie thing to do,” she laughed.

One summer Susie Utter (1954-56) bleached her hair, using peroxide and proceeded to lifeguard at the beach. “My hair turned orange!” Bev Lemanski, who camped in the forties, recalled the older girls in hut nine over the boathouse all putting blonde streaks in their hair with peroxide. She had them do one streak in her hair and her Mom did not notice till February! “She was so upset with me and it was due to word of mouth and not her noticing,” laughed Bev.

Debi Gottlieb (1968+) was fifteen and worked in the kitchen as a camper and her sister Lori was there at the same time. Although Debi tried to ignore her and was never homesick, she recalled Jan Schreiber sharing a cabin with her. “I trimmed her bangs. She had real curly hair and when it was wet, you don’t realize how much is cut off. I’m sure her Mom was less than pleased.”

Missy Plambeck also said her mother was horrified to see how filthy she was one summer. “Another summer, they walked right past me. I was in Senior Village that summer and I would usually lose 10-15 lbs. every summer from running up and down those long stairs, so I was thinner and trimmer. but Laura Gumbleton and Laura Collins had cut my hair and plucked my eyebrows that summer!”

Did you ever return home from camp with a different appearance than your first day?

 

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