Class ring tradition keeps memories alive

When Dorothy Moss of Brockport looks at her “still shiny” 1940 Binghamton Central High School class ring, she’s flooded with memories of “those scary years to be a teenager.” Dorothy keeps her blue-stoned, gold signet ring as a way of honoring her classmates.

“Countries were being invaded, England was being bombed, and many of the boys in my class joined the Army, Navy, and Air Force right after graduation,” Dorothy recalled. “During our senior year, one of my classmates, a boy from Czechoslovakia, announced in English class that he was leaving school to go back there. The Nazis had invaded his country. Our teacher tried to dissuade him from going, but I’ll never forget his words, ‘I have to go – I’m big enough to stop a bullet.’ I’m a great-grandmother now, but those school days don’t seem so long ago.”

Dorothy’s reference to her class ring as a symbol of her high school memories isn’t unusual, said John Horvath, who for 23 years has served westside high schools as a sales representative for Herff Jones, an Indiana-based company that supplies rings and other memorabilia. “Class rings summarize the friends and activities that schools bring to all of us,” he said.

Friendship is definitely something that Stacy Dickinson, a teacher at Spencerport’s Terry Taylor Elementary School, associates with class rings. Stacy, who attended Williamston High School in Michigan, helped her best friend find a lost ring in a hilarious incident involving wet jeans and too much laughter. “We hung my friend’s jeans out the window to dry,” Stacy said. “Her boyfriend’s ring was in her pocket and it fell out into the grass below. She was frantic to get that ring back. We ended up using a metal detector to find it, but we did. Today they’re married and have two wonderful children. I don’t think he knows the ring was ever lost.”

The tradition of class rings is widely accepted as an American custom first started at West Point Military Academy in the mid-1830s. The first ring featured an insignia of a book with a sword driven through it, symbolizing the class’s hatred of their textbook, “Notes on Artillery.” Eventually, the West Point class ring evolved as a way to show honor and commitment to a graduating class and the ring ceremony became one of the school’s most revered institutions. By the 1940s, the custom and its significance had spread to colleges and high schools across the nation.

Sometimes a class ring can do more than provide memories; it can also lead the way to a life lesson, said Marilyn Leise of Holley, who graduated from Nazareth Academy in 1952. “My class ring was purchased with my babysitting money and was constantly a proud reminder of my high school years,” she recalled. “For 20 years I wore my ring on special occasions. Then, a new struggling ministry was soliciting funds (including jewelry and silverware) for missionary work. I sent my beloved ring with mixed emotions. The pleasure I received from sacrificing my want toward someone’s need gave me a deep down joy.”

The style of Marilyn’s special ring, like many of those throughout the 40s and 50s, was most likely chosen by her principal. “Through the middle of the 20th century, most schools designated a single style of class ring that all would wear,” Horvath said. “With many of the changes our society experienced in the 60s and 70s, the class ring adapted too, allowing for individual choices reflecting one’s accomplishments and personality.”

That’s something that Maureen Longobardi of Spencerport wishes was true at Notre Dame High School in Batavia in 1972. “We certainly didn’t have any options,” she laughed, remembering how the strict rules in her Catholic high school about dress also applied to her jewelry. “You could get a blue stone, with or without facets. I think I had a necklace too, but that was surely blue as well.” The ring had to match her blue pleated skirt, vest, and knee socks.

Today’s high school students have more choices – the color of stone, which emblems, even the style of the ring – the list of options is long. “Today’s kids are individualistic and that is what they are looking for in their rings, a lot of personalization,” said Scott Fitch of Jostens, another national company that supplies rings to westside schools. In a new twist on an old tradition, Fitch said, many students today order their rings in their sophomore year so they can wear them throughout their high school years.

While the majority of high school students still choose to purchase class rings, sales are down somewhat, Fitch noted. That doesn’t surprise Christy Mandel of Chili, a senior at Churchville-Chili High School planning to attend SUNY at Fredonia next year. “With college tuition being what it is, a class ring is just not a priority for me,” she said.

Despite the financial pressures on many young people these days, the tradition of a high school class ring is too deeply rooted to fade away any time soon, Fitch said. “They represent memories, commitment and tradition. Out of all the things that kids can purchase to represent high school, the ring is the only one that will last a lifetime.”