Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in 2015:During World War II, many cities and towns were trying to curb the growing juvenile delinquency problem resulting from a lack of recreational facilities for teenagers.
Enter the teen canteen. Canteens were a common site for soldiers and sailors in most cities — a place to dance, eat and forget for just a few hours that the war was but an ocean away.
But the teen canteen was a place where a teenager could feel like a grownup.
Started by the city’s Office of Civil Defense during the war, the teen canteen was initially designed to be a junior police force. Within a few years it had morphed into more of a social club.
An Indianapolis Star story in May 1945 described the first city-wide canteen dance, attended by about 1,500 youth. The Doc Weston band played. While boys were numerous, the story said, many girls danced with other girls.
“They jived and jived . . . as effortlessly as their elders waltzed a few decades back,” the story reported.
By November of that year, two years after the youth program started, the city had more than 30 teen canteens across the city and more than 10,000 youngsters participated, the Star reported. That year, an “Over 18 Club” started for young adults aged 18 to 30.
With names that reflected the lingo of the day — Jive Hive, Boogie Barn and the Buzz Bucket — the canteens were neighborhood-based and found in basements, churches and community centers. Teen councils established and upheld the rules. There was adult supervision, but not so much that it appeared they were controlling.
The canteens were typically open most evenings and admission was restricted to 14- to-18-year-olds. City curfew laws were strictly upheld.
Naturally there was entertainment. There was always a jukebox or record player and a dance floor (there had to be space for dancing the Swing, Bop or Twist). Add in a pingpong table, plenty of Coca-Cola and you had yourself a teen canteen. Themed dances were hosted and the Teen Canteen Choir was formed, which performed at various locations.
As music tastes shifted from Frank Sinatra to Elvis Presley, so did the interests of teenagers. Blame it on the drive-in movie theater or cruisin’, but by 1960, the nearly three dozen teen canteens in Indianapolis had faded away.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Retro Indy: During World War II teen canteens were place to jive and stay out of trouble
Reporting by Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
