“Which One Won?”: A Tribute to Ms. Newman

  — A Southwick Time Machine Original | Tribute

Long before she became the legendary Ms. Newman of Southwick High School, Jean Margaret Trombla had already shown an extraordinary gift for words. She won national writing contests, studied journalism, published poetry, and even spent time working in Hollywood before finding her true calling in the classroom. This is the Southwick Time Machine's tribute to the late, great Ms. Newman.

Jean Margaret Trombla’s story begins in Springfield, Massachusetts, where she was born on November 29, 1931, to Daniel C. Trombla and Margaret E. (Miller) Trombla. During this time, the Tromblas lived at 167 Massachusetts Avenue. Around 1932, they moved to 106 Amherst Street and eventually relocated to 194 School Street in Agawam. Jean grew up alongside her older brother, Alan J. Trombla. While living in Springfield, the family attended Hope Congregational Church. 

 

Jean M. Trombla, circa 1944

 

In 1947, while a junior at Technical High School in Springfield, Jean entered the National Teentimer Limerick Contest, open to American teenagers ages 11 to 17. Out of an astonishing 380,000 submissions, she was named a winner, taking the special prize: a radio-phonograph. The news itself seems to have surprised her more than anything else. When told she had won, she blurted out: “Heavens no! Did I really… golly, that’s swell… gee whiz… gosh… boy, oh boy! Which one won?”

Jean, not thinking that any of them were good, stuffed several variations of a boy-girl theme into an envelope and mailed them to the Teentimer headquarters in New York City.

One of them stood out to the judges. 

 

“Little Mary was ready to cry
For the fellows at school passed her by
But a [illegible] dress
Brought her instant success
Date demand now exceeds the supply.”

 

It was that final line: “date demand now exceeds the supply” that won her the prize. 

 

Teentimer Advertisement, 1947

 

Jean later said that the playful idea behind her limerick was boys suddenly competing for attention, a reversal of wartime social patterns. She explained that it was human economics: boys were asking for more dates than the girls had time for, so she had to ration dates. “During the war, it was different,” she noted, “the supply of dates was a little short then. Now, I find most of the boys want to go steady, but I don't like that. I like to shift around and get to know a lot of different ones." She outlined her ideal boy as good-looking and not too serious. She said he must be a good dancer, likes to have a lot of fun, and is a burnet. Turned out, according to Jean, that a good dancer among Springfield's male youth was hard to find. 

The contest was judged by script writers of NBC’s highly popular Teentimers Club, a Saturday morning radio feature that had been recently broadcast coast-to-coast from the stage of Springfield's Municipal Auditorium. It was sponsored locally by Springfield’s legendary Forbes & Wallace department store and nationally by Teentimers, Inc., a prominent fashion brand and manufacturer of teen dresses. Teenagers could get tickets to the Springfield show by visiting the Teen Shop on the third floor of Forbes & Wallace.

 

Forbes & Wallace was a downtown destination

 

That same year, Jean’s father won $2,000 in a nationwide radio-newspaper advertising contest sponsored by the County Perfumery Company of Bloomfield, New Jersey. He submitted his winning entry, a slogan for a hair-dressing product, at a local Walgreens store.

When asked about what he was going to do with such a windfall of cash, Daniel said he intended to use it to fund Jean and Alan’s education. (Daniel credited his wife as providing the inspiration to write his prize-winning slogan.)

In February 1949. Jean’s mother won $140 for a slogan she wrote for the “Waltz Time” contest sponsored by radio station WMAS. More than 2,300 people from five states entered the contest.

After graduating from Technical High School in 1948, Jean enrolled at Vermont Junior College in Montpelier, where she majored in journalism. While on winter break in December 1949, she was hospitalized for about a week after a serious tobogganing accident in Vermont. Her male companion was uninjured. Once released, Jean went home to Massachusetts to recover and see her parents. 

 

Jean's Yearbook Photo

 

Back on August 10, 1949, Jean Trombla and Russell Rennell were chosen to reign as king and queen of Fun Fest at the final dance as part of a series of fun events at Hope Church. They were officially crowned at the final Fun Fest dance held on August 31, 1949.

In 1950, Jean became a reporter for the Vermont Junior College News, a weekly student newspaper at her college. That same year, she was appointed to the prestigious college board of Mademoiselle, a prominent nationwide women’s magazine, after submitting an original poem titled “Nathan Eden,” earning a place among students invited to New York City on an all-expenses-paid trip, plus about a month’s work in connection with the magazine’s special college issue published in 1951.

Writing clearly came naturally to Jean. Her success with the limerick contest was no fluke, and over the next several years, she continued to distinguish herself through poetry, journalism, and creative writing.

 

Jean Trombla and Russell Rennell were crowned Queen and King of Fun Fest

 

In 1955, Jean’s mother received a telegram from the vice-president of the soap division of Colgate-Palmolive, informing her that she had won the company’s “Mink-a-Month” ad contest for April. For the contest, entrants submitted captions for cartoons that the company used in print ads to market its detergents.

A regional representative for Colgate-Palmolive presented Margaret with a replica of the coat for publicity purposes. Margaret had to travel to New York City to be fitted for the authentic mink coat, which was valued at $3,500.

Because contest prizes were considered taxable income, both federal and Massachusetts officials confirmed that the coat’s value would be treated as taxable income, creating a tax liability of roughly $700.

After college, Jean moved to the West Coast. She worked as a secretary for Paramount Television affiliate KTLA in Hollywood, California.

On April 14, 1956, Jean married Philip Edward Newman of Abilene, Texas, in San Marino, California. Jean wore a very pale sea-blue ballerina-length short-sleeve gown with a torso bodice, high neckline, and a very full skirt, paired with a pink veiled hat and matching pink slippers. She carried a bouquet of white orchids. 

 

Jean Trombla, circa 1956

 

Philip was a Navy veteran. He joined in 1952 and served in the Korean War aboard the USS Oriskany. He was discharged on March 31, 1954.

The couple honeymooned in Catalina and Mexico. They settled in apartment number 7 at Victoria Villa, 1933 North Argyle Avenue in Hollywood. Philip had been living in Hollywood and working in Los Angeles.

Their son, Alexander D. Newman, was born in April 1957. However, Jean and Philip’s marriage had been unraveling, so Jean filed for divorce, alleging cruel and abusive treatment. Reports surfaced that Philip's first wife sought a divorce that same year. Both women requested custody of their respective sons.

Jean quickly returned to School Street. Life stabilized into a long academic career. 

 

Mademoiselle, Special College Issue 1951

Jean continued her education while working, later making the dean’s list and graduating with honors from American International College in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree. She went on to earn a master’s degree from Western New England College. That same year, she began teaching English at Technical High School before transitioning to Southwick High School, where she would remain until retiring in 1993.

Contest wins were a recurring theme for the Tromblas. In late 1968, Jean accepted a Sears Cold Spot refrigerator, stocked full of Orange Crush soda, on behalf of her father after he won the “Cold Rush” national sweepstakes from Sears, Roebuck and Company and Country Club Soda Company, bottler and distributor of the aforementioned soda.

 

Ms. Newman accepting a Sear's Cold Spot refrigerator full of Orange Crush soda for her father who won it in a contest. Present are management representatives from Sears, Roebuck & Co., Crush International, and Country Club Soda Company

 

“Willie’s Island” Controversy 

 

Ms. Newman’s life was not without incident or engagement beyond the classroom. In February 1980, she wrote a letter to the selectmen of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, protesting the cutting and clearing of trees and other vegetation on a 2,000-foot-long island in the Connecticut River across from her home on River Road in Agawam. (She also wrote a letter to the Connecticut River Watershed Council.)

What happened was that a Longmeadow man who owned property across from the island, as well as a tree service company, started cutting down trees and burning brush on the island. He said his intention was to create a park for boaters. Ms. Newman said she thought the man’s actions had set back the ecological balance of nature in the general area about 30 years. Her concern for nature was perhaps unsurprising, as her father, Daniel Trombla, was a well-known ornithologist.

The island was reportedly formed from gravel left behind when the Connecticut River was dredged during the creation of I-91 in 1955. According to authorities at the time, ownership of the overgrown island was in question because the land was never taxed. (Over the years, the state, the Town of Longmeadow, and a few residents have claimed ownership of the island. “Willie Island” got its name informally after a high school student laid claim to it in 1977.)

In May 1984, the Connecticut River flooded its banks. The Town of Agawam tried to sandbag Ms. Newman’s home, but was unsuccessful. She was forced to evacuate as rising water entered the cellar, destroying her clothes, linens, and other belongings that she could not move to higher ground. As she prepared to leave on May 31, her cat “Pookie” hid under her living room couch, delaying evacuation until she could coax it out by getting down on her hands and knees. Only then did she accept help from neighbors to leave safely. The water rose so much that the well-known English teacher only had to step outside the front door of her small home and walk down a few stairs to be in the Connecticut River.

Ms. Newman’s family history carried its own weight. Her mother, Margaret E. Trombla, died on August 7, 1975; her father, Daniel C. Trombla, passed away in a nursing home on September 17, 1982; and her brother, Alan J. Trombla, passed away on July 19, 1994.

After decades in the classroom, Ms. Newman retired from Southwick High School in 1993.

For thousands of Southwick students, however, Jean Margaret Trombla would always be remembered simply as Ms. Newman. Few likely knew of the national writing contests, the journalism studies, the Hollywood chapter, or the poetry that filled her younger years. Those experiences became part of the remarkable English teacher that generations of students came to know and never forgot.

 

— Written and preserved by the Southwick Time Machine

"Ms. Newman" 

November 29, 1931 – March 5, 2012

This article is based on original primary-source research, including official records, census data, period newspapers, and directories.

 

Southwick Time Machine stories are living documents. Research is ongoing, and this account may evolve as new information comes to light.

 

Photographs accompanying this story are authentic, unless otherwise noted. In keeping with historical preservation standards, some of the images may have been digitally enhanced for clarity and detail, without altering the original subjects.  

 

 

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Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes

 

 

In November 1941, Margaret Trombla won the third-place prize in the Patriotic Pantry Party contest.

Jean Trombla played piano. She performed in various recitals. 

 
Jean was a Brownie and a Girl Scout. She was active in her church. She was also an honor roll student.

Ms. Newman played the harp.

 
Jena was chosen for jury duty in 1963.

Teentimers, Inc. was a pioneering mid-20th-century apparel manufacturer headquartered on Broadway in New York City. They helped propel the American teenager into a distinct consumer demographic post World War II. The company's apparel was sold in dedicated teen shops inside fine department stores like Gimbels in New York City. Part of their teen culture advertising campaign was sponsoring a radio show on NBC stations. The radio show, broadcasted coast-to-coast, was a massive hit. 

Philip Edward Newman b. September 21, 1936

In 1928, the Tromblas lived at 167 Massachusetts Avenue, Springfield, Massachusetts.

Forbes & Wallace was a destination unto itself. The multilevel department store featured classic white-glove service, spectacular window displays, a tea room, and more.

Alan J. Trombla: May 6, 1928 - July 19, 1994

Their son, Alexander D. Newman, was born in April 1957. That same year, Jean filed for divorce, alleging cruel and abusive treatment. According to reports, Philip’s first wife also filed for divorce in 1957.  Philip previously wed Shirley Daphine Giles on May 27, 1954. The couple had a baby boy on May 1, 1956. Both women asked for custody of their respective sons.  

 
Shirley Daphne Giles lived at 1518 South 16th Street, Abilene, Texas.

Daniel C. Trombla worked for United American Bosch Company.

Jean’s parents announced her engagement in March 1956.

Some sources incorrectly state that Philip and Jean wed on April 21, 1956.

Daniel C. Trombla was an industrial accountant.

Margaret was a stenographer when she married Daniel. 

Forbes & Wallace as part of its Teentimer sponsorship, called it Fun Fest.  

Daniel C. Trombla and Margaret E. Miller filed marriage intentions on August 10, 1927.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue became the Internal Revenue Service on July 9, 1953.

The head of the Audit Division of the Internal Revenue Service said the mink coat’s value would be added to the Tromblas’ annual income for federal tax purposes. The head of the Massachusetts State Income Tax Division said that the Bay State would figure its tax the same way. The total tax was estimated to be no more than $700.

In 1964, Ms. Jean Newman struck a 15-year-old boy with her car. The youth escaped with a fractured arm and a fractured leg. 

A Teentimers Original Dress cost around $8.95 in 1947. In promotions it was spelled "OHriginal." The Original Dress came in sizes 8 through 16. It was designed by Grace Norman and made in TEGRA, a LARTEX 'Bur-Mil' spun rayon fabric. It came in a variety of colors including: Caribbean Blue, Bermuda Aqua, Chateau Gray, Rio Lime, and Jamaica Coral.  

Philips parents had about a 17-year age gap. 

Philip's mother also died young.

Victoria Villa is still there. 

Jean's brother, Alan J., lived in Fairfax, California.

Ms. Newman’s son, Alexander D. Newman, also lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina. 

The Walgreens store got $250 thanks to Daniel Trombla’s winning slogan.

 

Vernon Edward Newman

Philip’s father, Vernon Newman, was found dead in his room at the Colonial Hotel in Fort Worth, Texas, on the morning of October, 21, 1955. He was in Fort Worth attending a funeral. Philip's father was a traveling salesman. He worked for Shield Company in Fort Worth for about 23 years.

Original Photo

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