No the signing so much but, during my senior year, two friends and I made a project of getting in as many photos as possible. Although I didn't play sports, and didn't join any clubs, we were in the photos for the float committees for the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior classes, the chess club, the glee club, the 4-H club, the debate team, the school newspaper, and a few others that I don't remember. We had a friend who worked for the school newspaper, and they were the ones taking the photos for the school annual. He let us know what the photo schedule was so we made a point of getting there ahead of them.
One year I didn't buy an annual (adolescent rebellion thing) and then when asked to sign people's annuals I had to let them sign a cheap notebook. It was fun, though.
Was there ever a time when signing high school annuals wasn't a thing? I can't really say it was fun or not fun. It was just something everyone did. Some people's signatures and little notes meant more than others. Sometimes, later, I remember looking at some of the signatures and thinking, "Who is this person?" I don't have a single annual left today. They've long since gone into the trash somewhere, I would imagine.
I agree Allie, some people who signed my annual were great friends and their comments meant a great deal to me. I was careful not to allow people who weren't kind to sign my annual.
Yes, signing the yearbook was a big deal. It was the older day equivalent of today's "friends" on facebook. You could tell how popular someone was by the number of people signing his/her yearbook. I went to a school with over 3,000 students, and of course, the front and back covers where the coveted spot to sign. Some people's book didn't have a single page that wasn't covered by signatures. When my son was in high school, he decided not to get yearbooks - he didn't see the appeal, and he thought they were just another way for the school to get money from the students (he was born a cynic). Anyway, his senior year I kept at him, telling him he needed to at least get his senior yearbook, so that he could keep those memories. He finally looked at me and said, "OK, if they're so important, when's the last time you looked at yours?". He had me there - we've moved, on average, every 3-4 years, and I couldn't even tell you where my yearbooks were, much less when I had looked at them last. When I finally found them, and started reading the messages, I didn't remember who any of the people were.
All of my elementary and high school memorabilia was lost when my dad's house burned to the ground while I was away at college. Otherwise, I'd love to have that stuff. I know that I found it odd at the end of the year, particularly the senior year, that everyone seemed to want to sign everyone's annual, and that everyone said something nice, even those who weren't particularly friendly during the school years. People who barely spoke to me for the four years of high school wanted to sign my book, and weren't snarky about it.
Yes...though as with Facebook friends, it wasn't really reliable. In real life even more than on Facebook, people just didn't refuse to sign yearbooks. Some of the most effusive and flattering things written to me came from girls with whom I'd never actually had a conversation. Yes...I remember one boy writing words nice kids didn't use in mixed company in a friend's yearbook. (She was one of the more active Christians, and they weren't even friends or ex-friends, just classmates--he was just showing off how raunchy he was.) Yes, and some girls who hadn't noticeably liked school cried real tears of nostalgia when they realized they wouldn't have to go there any more. I remember feeling shy about autographing the yearbooks of people I barely knew, then relieved because my mugshot was a bit overexposed. Instead of trying to sign a group or action picture that I considered more flattering, I went straight to the one that I thought made me look even more juvenile than I really did (which wasn't easy) in order to be able to write "Remember me, but not like this." Lots of people used that line. It was the alternative to the sentimental effusions the girls scribbled, the "Remember me for I will never forget you" from someone who didn't know enough about you to forget.
I still have the books from my junior and senior years. At our 50th reunion I reconnected with some old high school friends. It's fun looking through the annuals, brings back lots of memories. Many of those who signed my yearbook are no longer alive except in my memories.
A quiet rebel I was in junior and senior high school. Like Mal's son I thought that it was just another way for the schools to get money so I didn't get one either. I said no to everything. No regrets. To my surprise though a lot of the classmates remember me that I never thought would. I'd think, "Now what did I do that made them remember me?"
When I was in school many years ago signing annuals was a popular thing to do. In fact, after the annuals arrived one period in the school day was put aside specifially for signing annuals. Mind you, this was 55 yrs ago, and I am sure that things have changed. But it was a very important thing to have that time to track down all of your friends and your favorite teaches to have them put some little note in your annual. And sometimes you were lucky enough to get a note from the "football hero," or the most popular kid in school. It was just a fun occasion for everyone and something we looked forward to every year.
Although they are all long gone (probably some of the people as well), signing school year books was fun. There is one that I still remember from junior high. It was from a girl whom I did not associate with but she wanted to sign my book. I still don't know why I remember this after so many decades but can't figure out what it means...I don't think it was nice, but who knows? "In your chain of golden friendships, remember me as a link, a missing link." What do you think?