Alumni Spotlight
Mason Bishop – Vicksburg High School Class of 1934
Let us introduce Mason Bishop, an alumni from a different era – you see Mason attended school at the "Red Brick" (now the Admin Building) on Kalamazoo Avenue from kindergarten through twelfth grade.
Our education system has seen many changes since then. But, Mason feels the discipline issues in the schools are probably the things that have changed the most (along with the respect for teachers and authority).
Many of us in the community know Bishop for his musical accomplishments. He has traveled many miles and played with very influential bands in his career as a musician. However, this article will spotlight Mason from a much different angle. It features him in his youth and what it was like going to public school in the 1920's and 30's.
Mason went to the "Red Brick" from Kindergarten through twelfth grade. He lived with his family at 120 Park Street, just down the street from the school, until after graduation.
In school there were very strict rules; respect for the teachers was expected and the students received it in return. Mason remembers there were three commands in his classroom. Each time they left the classroom they were expected to Turn, Rise and Pass. When they were dismissed, they would turn in their seats, rise to attention and pass (march) down the hall to their next classroom. They would only step out of line when they got to the next classroom door. The superintendent, C. H. Andrews, was a real disciplinarian. Mason said Mr. Andrews would not hesitate to fist fight with a student if the student wanted to fight. Mason even witnessed such an event on more than one occasion.
Mason had a math teacher, Casmir E. Manigold, from 6th grade to high school whose mental mathematic capabilities made him world famous. As an illustration of his genius, Mr. Manigold would ask for a problem, say 789 to the tenth. He would then close his eyes and put his right index finger against his forehead and rattle off the answer in a couple of seconds. Mason and a friend of his, Thurlow Andrews, would go to great lengths making up problems in hopes of stumping Mr. Manigold, but never did. This very much impressed Mason and he has never forgotten Mr. Manigold.
All the boys wore knickers and long stockings throughout grade school. The transition to high school offered a welcome change. They were allowed to don long trousers every day! They were emancipated. Mason's freshman year was one of wonder of the upperclassmen. He experienced a newness of the curriculum, new teachers, desks and a study hall all on the second floor of the "Red Brick." Mason made new friends; country people who paid tuition for their studies. This was very new to him. He didn't try out for many of the sports teams in high school but did win the mile run in the high school track meet in the spring of his freshman year. Because of the hard times, track and field was dropped that year.
In 1930 the first Vicksburg High School Band was formed. This was to change Mason's life forever. He had mental acquaintance with music but had never played an instrument. He had admirations for a pretty blonde girl named Dorothy whose brother, Dwight Tiefenthal, was to be the band leader. Dorothy talked Mason into playing the trumpet, her instrument, in the band. His father grudgingly put up the money for his first horn, a Pan American trumpet, and Mason paid for it by washing the supper dishes for a year. He took to the trumpet like a rabbit licking salt.
Mason tried out for baseball and made the team, which pleased his dad. He earned a Varsity letter as a sophomore and made new friends like Millard Bowersox and Bernard Barber, the best all-around athletes in Vicksburg history in Mason's opinion. In his junior year he went out for football and basketball and earned letters in both sports. He also played in his first dance band of his life that year. He had become a pretty good trumpet player and was shamelessly exploited by every program chairman in Vicksburg. His father took a dim view of music but his mother was very proud of him.
Mason played football on the first team and set an all-time record at Vicksburg by intercepting two passes for touchdowns; both for 75 yards in one game. They had a new coach, Hubert Smith, who also coached basketball that ended the season by winning a District tourney trophy and by getting to the semi finals in the Regional in 1934.
The baseball team had a terrific season. They won eleven straight games, averaged two runs a game and had six shutouts. Andrew, the coach, sent letters to the best teams in the state challenging them to a championship play-off. However, after none responded, they claimed a mythical state championship.
Mason graduated in 1934 and thus ended his education at the "Red Brick." He went on to college and made his mark in the "Big Band" era, playing with the Jimmy Louxe Band, Ted Lewis Band, Bob Strong Band and the Davidson
Band. He even played in the military band while in the Army.
He still lives in Vicksburg, just off Park Street where he grew up, and just down the street from the "Red Brick" which is now the VCS Administration Building.
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