Social Life: The Catholic Club

Shortly after we moved to "Lansdale," as we called that farm, I heard about and joined the Lansdale Catholic Club. This was a group of unmarried young men and women who met once a month in the church basement. I suppose the purpose was to help Catholic young men and women to socialize and become better acquainted. But I don't think that happened much, at least with me. The boys would play pool or sit around the table while the girls would sit and talk, etc. on the other side of the hall. After this we would have a formal monthly meeting, then refreshments, after which we would play cards usually separately until it was time to go home. Occasionally we did go on trips to various places, or we were entertained by the Catholic Club in Doylestown. One time we traveled to Coaldale, Pa., and were taken down into a coal mine after being issued boots and raincoats. We were shown the seams of coal and the machinery used to mine it. It was very interesting and I learned a great deal.