The senior prom being held at the...

The senior prom being held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on Sunday, for those 50 and older, brought back memories of a certain couple who were pretty fair at spreading around the shoe polish themselves.

Ben worked for 35 years at the Happy Doll Co. in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he attached little heads atop little bodies. Every Saturday, after his shift ended, he and his wife, Anna, would share an early supper in their railroad flat above us. They would put on a Caruso record, then sit down at one corner of the table and eat from the same plate.

What they ate was this: pigs knuckles and salsiccia bought from Faldo’s butcher shop, spaghetti and, for dessert, figs and sweet oranges. Sometimes Anna served a piece of thin steak rolled and stuffed with bread crumbs, sliced hard-boiled egg, garlic, onion, parsley and raisins.

They washed it all down with rough, strong red wine that Ben made with his little press in the cellar. Next came black Italian coffee, which Ben liked to doctor with some anisette. Anna skipped the anisette.

Then they were ready to dance.

Out came the Guy Lombardo and Lawrence Welk records, and, for the more racier moments, Xavier Cugat. Downstairs, we would hear the dull shuffle of their shoes as they glided across their living room rug. Muffled laughter, too. Every once in a while we would hear Anna sharply yell out “Cheech,” Ben’s nickname, and imagine that he had gotten a little bit carried away with his hands.

This was their routine. They had done it almost all their married life, through wars, Depression, fights and raising four children. Ben said all his children were conceived on “dance night.”

“Go to bed as two,” he liked to say, “and wake up as three.”

We’re not implying that hanky-panky will be going on at the senior prom, which will run from 1 to 4 p.m.

Then again, who knows?

Dancing will be done to the sounds of the Kenny Sheldon Orchestra. There will be refreshments and door prizes. Tickets, which are free, are available at the Santa Monica Senior Center, Broadway and Ocean Avenue.

The prom is being sponsored by the Santa Monica Department of Culture and Recreation Services. For information call (213) 394-1227.