Picture taken in 1936 The teacher is “The” Verl Allen Can you spot Gwen?
Usually we would walk the mile and a half to school but when the weather turned cold we didn’t have any we did not have any winter clothes. Max wore Uncle Deak’s old suit jacket, which was too large. I wore a red unlined jacket my mother had bought on a trip to Mexico. Mom wrapped us in blankets and Dad took us back and forth to school, in a sleigh pulled by a team of horses. I wasn’t embarrassed at the coat. I thought it was neat that my Dad would bring me to school. None of the other parents did that. All the kids along the way would come and ride with us. Later I had the nicest coat in school. I had hand me down’s from Aunt Lila and Aunt Ortella.
When we were able to buy winter clothes, I got two pairs of long legged underwear and long legged stockings. I was at a fast growing stage and it wasn’t long before my underwear were too short in the crotch. I felt they were cutting me. I never told my mother because I knew she had no way to replace them. When the weather warmed in the spring, we would roll the underwear up and the long stocking down. Can you imagine how our room smelled, with all the kids in that underwear that we only changed once a week, when we took a bath.
The only “F” ever received on a report card was in penmanship. Anyone that didn’t have their book by report card time would receive an F. AT the end of the school year the kids would buy their books for the following year from the kids in the grade ahead. We didn’t go to school that spring so we didn’t have any books. And we couldn’t buy any used books. My folks couldn’t afford school supplies. I was furious to think a teacher would do that. My work was the best in the class. It wasn’t fair
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