Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in 2015:During World War II, many cities and towns attempted to curb the growing problem of juvenile delinquency resulting from the lack of recreational facilities for teenagers.
Enter the youth canteen. Canteens were a common meeting place for soldiers and sailors in most cities – a place to dance, eat, and forget for a few hours that the war was just an ocean away.
But the youth canteen was a place where a teenager could feel like an adult.
The youth canteen was set up by the city’s civil defense department during the war and was originally intended as a junior police unit. Within a few years, however, it developed into more of a social club.
A May 1945 Indianapolis Star article described the first citywide cafeteria dance, attended by about 1,500 youths. The Doc Weston Band played. While there were many boys, the article said, many girls danced with other girls.
“They danced and danced… as effortlessly as their ancestors danced the waltz a few decades ago,” the story said.
By November of that year, two years after the youth program was launched, there were over 30 youth canteens across the city, with more than 10,000 young people participating, the Star reported. That same year, an “Over 18 Club” was established for young adults aged 18 to 30.
The canteens had names that reflected the lingo of the time – Jive Hive, Boogie Barn and Buzz Bucket – and were located in neighborhoods, in basements, churches and community centers. Youth councils set the rules and ensured they were followed. There was some adult supervision, but not so much that it seemed as if they were in control.
The canteens were open most evenings, but access was restricted to 14- to 18-year-olds. The city’s curfews were strictly observed.
Of course there was entertainment. There was always a jukebox or record player and a dance floor (there had to be room for swing, bop or twist dancing). Add to that a table tennis table and lots of Coca-Cola and you had a youth canteen. Themed dances were held and the youth canteen choir was founded, which performed at various locations.
As musical tastes shifted from Frank Sinatra to Elvis Presley, teenagers’ interests changed too. The drive-in theater or cruising was to blame, but by 1960, the nearly three dozen youth cafeterias in Indianapolis had disappeared.
