To the editor:

Whoa! As the huckster says on television, there is more!

My family was with me in New Cumberland, Pa., at an army post during the wind-down of the Korean Conflict. It ended in 1954, the year of the city’s centennial celebration. Returning to Lawrence in late 1954, we were informed of the celebration and its activities. All I remember is that the beard-growing contest was the main subject of conversation.

Gratefully, the archive photo in Thursday’s Journal-World flooded my 94-year-old mind with so many memories. The photo is so clear and detailed. The queens, all beauties, were so easily recognized. Two examples are Susan Montgomery and Mary Lois Pontius. Susan married Dr. Richard Morrison, a graduate of KU who became a radiologist for KU Medical Center. Mary Lois (Pontius) Cook married architect John Cook, a KU School of Architecture graduate. Mary Lois and John moved to Bodega Bay, Calif., where John designed homes near the ocean, one of which was featured in Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

All of the girls in the photo looked so wholesome, pure and fresh, terms seldom heard these days. At age 94, I do appreciate this refresher of times gone by. Can’t wait for another “From the archives” next Thursday.