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September 22, 2026
Sublime Rambling
The Great Fountain Escapade
By Vicki L. George
Special to the Prophet
It was the summer of 1960 and I was 14 years old. I was also part of an active youth group at my family’s church and one of our young leaders, Miss Linda Lightfoot, invited the girls to her house for a slumber party one weekend. Excited, we all accepted the invitation.
In those days, baby doll pajamas were the most popular night wear for teenage girls and that’s what we all put on when it was time to go to bed. Baby dolls were two pieces, a very short sleeveless gown-like top and bloomer bottoms. They were made of thin cotton, lightweight, and in different styles. Of course, we had settled all over the living room with no intention of actually sleeping — no one sleeps at a slumber party.
We laughed and giggled until around midnight, when we made several phone calls to random numbers asking those crazy, annoying questions like, “Is your refrigerator running? Well, you better catch it!” and, “Do you have Prince Albert in a can? You better let him out!” Our most popular call started out, “Hello. This is the Edna Gladney Home for Unwed Mothers. We’re calling about the baby.” That one always got people a little excited.
Around two o’clock in the morning, we were getting bored and our young chaperone suggested we go for a ride. We thought that was a great idea. Her 1950-something car could hold all of us so we all piled in. There were no seat belts back then so there were girls in the front seat and girls in the back seat, some sitting in the laps of others. I remember being in the back, sitting in someone’s lap. We were about a dozen girls, with Miss Linda driving.
She lived on the north side of Austin, so we headed south until we came to 21st Street. We decided to turn right and cut over to Guadalupe Street and hit The Drag.
About halfway down 21st, we came to the Littlefield Fountain, the famous south entrance to the University of Texas campus. The fountain has three tiers, with water overflowing from the top tier down to the middle level, then overflowing to the bottom tier. Above the water is a huge sculpture that includes web-footed sea horses. The fountain is kept lit up at night and is quite spectacular.
We hollered for Miss Linda to stop right there in front of the fountain. Then we all bailed out of the car and ran to the lowest tier of water and happily jumped right in. The water was shallow, only just over our ankles, and we started running, jumping and splashing like crazy. All the while we laughed and shouted. We had so much fun playing in that fountain in our little baby doll PJs, splashing water over each other. It was wonderful on a hot Texas summer night.
Until we noticed some lights coming on in the windows of the apartment building across the street. Then some of us thought that we probably should leave. It was too late. A police car pulled up beside Miss Linda’s car. While we were getting out of the water, two more cop cars pulled up behind and in front of our vehicle. We ran and quickly piled back into our car.
A police officer got out of the first patrol car and approached the driver’s window. He held a flashlight and aimed it at each of us in turn while he waited for our chaperone to get her license out. We were all scared. All I could think of was having to call my parents from the police station in the middle of the night. And the thought of getting taken in wearing only thin, little pajamas was mortifying. When the officer shone his light in the car, we were trying our best to cover up with our hands, which is impossible in those baby dolls.
He asked us what we were doing there. Miss Linda explained about the slumber party and the brilliant idea to go for a drive and how splashing in the fountain seemed like a fun thing to do at the time.
While the officer was looking us over, our chaperone gave him her license. While he studied it, three more patrol cars pulled up alongside the first three and all the cops got out and waited by their vehicles, watching the officer at our window.
The officer who approached us told us to wait a minute. He walked over to his colleagues and spoke briefly to them. None of them moved but kept watching us. We girls were whispering among ourselves, all scared of being hauled in and having to call our folks, all of us embarrassed.
Then our officer came back and spoke to Miss Linda, “Do you realize that your license expired last Sunday?”
We looked at each other. Now we knew we were in deep trouble, especially when our driver admitted she had no idea that her license had expired. Then the officer shone his flashlight over each of our faces again. I guess we looked pretty miserable because he told our driver, “Well, I’m letting y’all go. But y’all had better go back to your house and stay there tonight. And you,” he said, looking sternly at Miss Linda. “Better get your license renewed first thing Monday morning.”
She said, “Yes, sir!” And we girls nodded in agreement. When he walked back to his car, we noticed that all the other cops were trying hard not to laugh, although most of them were smiling and some were shaking or ducking their heads as they got back in their vehicles. As soon as they all moved out of our way, we headed back to the house and we stayed.
Of course, we talked about that little escapade the rest of the night and counted ourselves fortunate that our folks never had to know about our “close encounter.” I know mine never did and it’s become one of my favorite memories.
In those days, baby doll pajamas were the most popular night wear for teenage girls and that’s what we all put on when it was time to go to bed. Baby dolls were two pieces, a very short sleeveless gown-like top and bloomer bottoms. They were made of thin cotton, lightweight, and in different styles. Of course, we had settled all over the living room with no intention of actually sleeping — no one sleeps at a slumber party.
We laughed and giggled until around midnight, when we made several phone calls to random numbers asking those crazy, annoying questions like, “Is your refrigerator running? Well, you better catch it!” and, “Do you have Prince Albert in a can? You better let him out!” Our most popular call started out, “Hello. This is the Edna Gladney Home for Unwed Mothers. We’re calling about the baby.” That one always got people a little excited.
Around two o’clock in the morning, we were getting bored and our young chaperone suggested we go for a ride. We thought that was a great idea. Her 1950-something car could hold all of us so we all piled in. There were no seat belts back then so there were girls in the front seat and girls in the back seat, some sitting in the laps of others. I remember being in the back, sitting in someone’s lap. We were about a dozen girls, with Miss Linda driving.
She lived on the north side of Austin, so we headed south until we came to 21st Street. We decided to turn right and cut over to Guadalupe Street and hit The Drag.
About halfway down 21st, we came to the Littlefield Fountain, the famous south entrance to the University of Texas campus. The fountain has three tiers, with water overflowing from the top tier down to the middle level, then overflowing to the bottom tier. Above the water is a huge sculpture that includes web-footed sea horses. The fountain is kept lit up at night and is quite spectacular.
We hollered for Miss Linda to stop right there in front of the fountain. Then we all bailed out of the car and ran to the lowest tier of water and happily jumped right in. The water was shallow, only just over our ankles, and we started running, jumping and splashing like crazy. All the while we laughed and shouted. We had so much fun playing in that fountain in our little baby doll PJs, splashing water over each other. It was wonderful on a hot Texas summer night.
Until we noticed some lights coming on in the windows of the apartment building across the street. Then some of us thought that we probably should leave. It was too late. A police car pulled up beside Miss Linda’s car. While we were getting out of the water, two more cop cars pulled up behind and in front of our vehicle. We ran and quickly piled back into our car.
A police officer got out of the first patrol car and approached the driver’s window. He held a flashlight and aimed it at each of us in turn while he waited for our chaperone to get her license out. We were all scared. All I could think of was having to call my parents from the police station in the middle of the night. And the thought of getting taken in wearing only thin, little pajamas was mortifying. When the officer shone his light in the car, we were trying our best to cover up with our hands, which is impossible in those baby dolls.
He asked us what we were doing there. Miss Linda explained about the slumber party and the brilliant idea to go for a drive and how splashing in the fountain seemed like a fun thing to do at the time.
While the officer was looking us over, our chaperone gave him her license. While he studied it, three more patrol cars pulled up alongside the first three and all the cops got out and waited by their vehicles, watching the officer at our window.
The officer who approached us told us to wait a minute. He walked over to his colleagues and spoke briefly to them. None of them moved but kept watching us. We girls were whispering among ourselves, all scared of being hauled in and having to call our folks, all of us embarrassed.
Then our officer came back and spoke to Miss Linda, “Do you realize that your license expired last Sunday?”
We looked at each other. Now we knew we were in deep trouble, especially when our driver admitted she had no idea that her license had expired. Then the officer shone his flashlight over each of our faces again. I guess we looked pretty miserable because he told our driver, “Well, I’m letting y’all go. But y’all had better go back to your house and stay there tonight. And you,” he said, looking sternly at Miss Linda. “Better get your license renewed first thing Monday morning.”
She said, “Yes, sir!” And we girls nodded in agreement. When he walked back to his car, we noticed that all the other cops were trying hard not to laugh, although most of them were smiling and some were shaking or ducking their heads as they got back in their vehicles. As soon as they all moved out of our way, we headed back to the house and we stayed.
Of course, we talked about that little escapade the rest of the night and counted ourselves fortunate that our folks never had to know about our “close encounter.” I know mine never did and it’s become one of my favorite memories.