Pluto Landry and the CYO Circa 1946

Earlier this week, my cousin Tim sent me this copy of a newspaper article.  (Thank you, Tim!)  I thought it was an interesting piece of information from 75 years ago.  I didn’t think I’d be using it for my blog post, though.  I wasn’t planning that far ahead.  So when I was trying to think of what I’d post this week, I knew it was time for something about my dad’s side of the family.  When I started looking, I wasn’t sure how far back I was going to go.  I was looking at grandparents and great grandparents, but then I started thinking about this photo of my dad.

I’m not really sure where this photo came from.  It must have been from my dad’s collection.  It is a photo of him.  That would be Robert Joseph Landry, Jr.  He was known by his family as Bobbie, but friends called him either Bob or Pluto.  He was born in 1929 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  This photo looks like he was a teenager and I estimated that it was taken around 1946 or 1947.

When I realized that the photo and the article I got earlier this week were from the same time period, I figured I’d put them together for a post.  And of course I would have to use my dad’s nickname Pluto, because that’s how he’s referred to in the article.  The article is about the Catholic Youth Organization of Lake Charles planning for an Easter dance.  My dad must have been a member, because he is listed as one of the planners.  I was surprised that they called him Pluto Landry, because I thought that he didn’t get that nickname until college or later.  I was wrong.  The planning of the dance happened some time around April 22, 1946, and my dad hadn’t graduated from high school, yet.  If you remember from a post from about a month ago, my dad graduated about a month later. 

I looked through the list of planners in “Group II” and I only recognized one other name.  I heard the name Harvey Prejean my whole life.  He was a friend of my dad and they obviously were friends for a long time.  Not that I can picture who he is at the moment.  I just remember the name.  The name Bob Phillips sounds familiar, too, but that could be that I’m thinking of Ralph Phillips who married a Bouquet cousin.  I don’t know if it’s the same family.  But they were also planners for this Easter dance from 1946. 

I doubt that the photo had any connection to the Easter dance.  It’s a nice photo of my dad.  I’m thinking the photo was taken in the back yard of the Landry family home in Lake Charles.  I’m not certain, though.  I notice that his pants look brand new.  You can still see the creases from the fold at the knees. 

It reminds me of a photo of myself from the same age.  I’m posting that photo, too.  I can’t mention it without showing you what I’m talking about.  It’s a photo I took when I was trying on clothes in my room shortly after I graduated high school.  I guess I was shopping for new clothes for college with the money I got for graduation.  The funny thing is that I didn’t buy these clothes, I just took a picture in them!  But something about the clothes and the pose reminds me of this old photo of my dad.

Well that was unexpected.  I wasn’t planning on posting a photo of myself.  I usually post old photos.  I guess a photo from over 40 years ago counts!  Plus you get to see a painting that my mom did.  It was in the boys’ bedroom for many years.  I had it in my college dorm at McNeese and now my brother has it in his home. 

Well, I guess that’s all for now.  Son of Pluto signing out.