Hanging Out With Friends

There were several couples that we ran around with when we were first married.  There were John and Marsha, Steve and Brenda, and Laura and Ope.  We also ran around with other couples--Linda and Ivan, Jackie and Bob, and Pat and Howard.  We would do things together, eat at each other's houses, go shopping (just the women), and go places together.  A lot of times they would come to our house to watch (our black-and-white) TV because they all lived on the economy and couldn't get the American station.  In October 1971, Bill and I invited everyone (and some single guys like Pat, Jim, and Mike) over for a costume party.  Below is a photo of the scary creatures that showed up!  Ha!  Click on photo for a larger view.  Oh, that's me in the white sheet.

Update:  "Call Me Grandma" asked what I meant by living "on the ecomony."  I sometimes forget that the military has a language all its own.  When a family lives on the ecomony, it means that they don't live in a house or apartment on the Army post (also called "Government quarters").  If the soldier is of lower rank, the Army will not pay for his (or her) spouse and/or family to join him in a foreign country or let them live in Goverment quarters.  So if the soldier wants his family with him, he has to pay for the trip over (and back home again) and find a place for them to live that is not on the post (or a place for them to live "off post") or on the economy.  Our younger friends lived in German apartments or the second floor or basement of a German house with the owners living on the first floor.  I hope this is all clearer than mud!