First Day at School 1960’s
Do you remember what the first day of school was like in Minden back in the sixties and seventies? I have such a terrible memory but some things always stick in my head. The first and the last day of school are there somewhere in the fog of my brain.
The first day of school to me seemed to be filled with anticipation and apprehension. I can remember going to Richardson Elementary and how much fun it was. The first day your mom would go with you and the teachers would give you the list and you would rush to West Gibson’s or the TG&Y and wait in line till they opened the doors. It was like the first day after Thanksgiving is today. A sea of anxious mothers with little girls with tight pulled pig and pony tails and little boys with slicked back hair would race up and down the aisles grabbing Big Chief notebooks, those black and white speckled notebooks, pencil boxes, child proof scissors, construction paper and new boxes of Crayola Crayons. I would always go to the book bags first; you wanted to get a cool book bag. I tried to get one every year; so in order to do this you had to totally destroy the one from the previous year. My all time favorite was an orange bag with a huge green frog on it.
After you got your purchases you stood in line for what seemed like days to get out of the store. When you finally did get home you got all your stuff out and got it ready for the next day, the real first day of school. This was the day you got left by your mom and you didn’t see her again until 3:00. This always seemed to traumatize a few kids every year. You always had a few wet pants and throwing up episodes on the first day. After that things would settle down. I guess I did ok with my mama leaving me. It was only later when she tried to work part time that I fell apart. Her working career didn’t last long because I cried
myself sick everyday till she would have to come home.
My brother-in-law David Stahl was tortured one year in school with a Walton’s Lunch Box. I guess you could say, to David the Walton’s didn’t quite rank up there with the Dukes of Hazard lunch box, or one of the other boy favorites of the era. He was determined not to carry it, so everyday he would kick it to school. Needless to say he only lived across the street so the lunch box survived longer than he would have liked. Many years later it would come back to haunt him when his parents moved. I now am the proud owner of the thermos out of David’s lunch box. It sits with my own Walton’s Lunch box, John Boy plus all the other family member dolls and my Walton’s game.
One thing I loved when I was in school at Richardson was music. Mrs. Slay would come to your room once a week and bring an autoharp and we would sing Streets of Laredo (which if you look at the words to this song, it is a little strange for preschoolers to sing) and Skip to My Lou as she strummed the harp across her lap. I was fascinated by this instrument. For a few years I would pick one out of the Sear’s Christmas Catalog for Santa to bring me. I guess Santa knew that I was musically challenged because I never got an autoharp. Kids today sure miss out by not having music at school. It is a shame! I think music should be in all schools.
The other favorite was the small bottles of milk and the rolls that you got in the lunch room. I bet there isn’t a human alive that didn’t try to get your neighbors roll at lunch. Do you remember the Chocolate Cake? Did you know they made that with mayonnaise instead of milk and butter! I got the recipe once from a retired lunch room lady.
Well as much as I liked school it did interfere with Captain Kangaroo at 8:00 AM. I was always a little sick till about 9:00 AM if I could manage it. I loved the Captain and Mr. Green Jeans, Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose. They don’t make shows like they used to and that is probably the biggest shame of all since kids today watch so much T.V.
School has changed a lot and so have kids sometimes it would be nice to go back to what I call the good ole days. Maybe one day this old world will get straightened out. Until then I’ll be remembering and going on down the road.
1937 Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
[A depression cake that substitutes mayonnaise for butter and milk]
2 cups flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup Hellmann’s real or light mayonnaise
1 1/3 cups water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bottom of 2 9-inch round cake pans.
In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and baking powder; set aside.
In a large bowl with mixer at high speed, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in mayonnaise until blended. Add flour mixture in 4 additions, alternately with water (begin and end with flour). Pour into prepared pans.
Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove; cool completely on racks. Frost as desired, or use Seven Minute Icing (see below).
Seven Minute Icing
[a recipe popular during the 1930s.]
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/3 cup cold water
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Mix egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, and water in top of double boiler. Set over barely boiling water and beat with electric hand mixer 4 to 7 minutes, until mixture peaks stiffly. Begin at low speed, then medium, then high.
Add vanilla and continue beating to good spreading consistency. [NOTE: this can be done with an old-fashioned crank type hand beater, but it takes longer and is quite tiring. This icing doesn’t age well, so plan to eat the cake up rather quickly.]
Do you remember what the first day of school was like in Minden back in the sixties and seventies? I have such a terrible memory but some things always stick in my head. The first and the last day of school are there somewhere in the fog of my brain.
The first day of school to me seemed to be filled with anticipation and apprehension. I can remember going to Richardson Elementary and how much fun it was. The first day your mom would go with you and the teachers would give you the list and you would rush to West Gibson’s or the TG&Y and wait in line till they opened the doors. It was like the first day after Thanksgiving is today. A sea of anxious mothers with little girls with tight pulled pig and pony tails and little boys with slicked back hair would race up and down the aisles grabbing Big Chief notebooks, those black and white speckled notebooks, pencil boxes, child proof scissors, construction paper and new boxes of Crayola Crayons. I would always go to the book bags first; you wanted to get a cool book bag. I tried to get one every year; so in order to do this you had to totally destroy the one from the previous year. My all time favorite was an orange bag with a huge green frog on it.
After you got your purchases you stood in line for what seemed like days to get out of the store. When you finally did get home you got all your stuff out and got it ready for the next day, the real first day of school. This was the day you got left by your mom and you didn’t see her again until 3:00. This always seemed to traumatize a few kids every year. You always had a few wet pants and throwing up episodes on the first day. After that things would settle down. I guess I did ok with my mama leaving me. It was only later when she tried to work part time that I fell apart. Her working career didn’t last long because I cried
myself sick everyday till she would have to come home.My brother-in-law David Stahl was tortured one year in school with a Walton’s Lunch Box. I guess you could say, to David the Walton’s didn’t quite rank up there with the Dukes of Hazard lunch box, or one of the other boy favorites of the era. He was determined not to carry it, so everyday he would kick it to school. Needless to say he only lived across the street so the lunch box survived longer than he would have liked. Many years later it would come back to haunt him when his parents moved. I now am the proud owner of the thermos out of David’s lunch box. It sits with my own Walton’s Lunch box, John Boy plus all the other family member dolls and my Walton’s game.
One thing I loved when I was in school at Richardson was music. Mrs. Slay would come to your room once a week and bring an autoharp and we would sing Streets of Laredo (which if you look at the words to this song, it is a little strange for preschoolers to sing) and Skip to My Lou as she strummed the harp across her lap. I was fascinated by this instrument. For a few years I would pick one out of the Sear’s Christmas Catalog for Santa to bring me. I guess Santa knew that I was musically challenged because I never got an autoharp. Kids today sure miss out by not having music at school. It is a shame! I think music should be in all schools.
The other favorite was the small bottles of milk and the rolls that you got in the lunch room. I bet there isn’t a human alive that didn’t try to get your neighbors roll at lunch. Do you remember the Chocolate Cake? Did you know they made that with mayonnaise instead of milk and butter! I got the recipe once from a retired lunch room lady.
Well as much as I liked school it did interfere with Captain Kangaroo at 8:00 AM. I was always a little sick till about 9:00 AM if I could manage it. I loved the Captain and Mr. Green Jeans, Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose. They don’t make shows like they used to and that is probably the biggest shame of all since kids today watch so much T.V.
School has changed a lot and so have kids sometimes it would be nice to go back to what I call the good ole days. Maybe one day this old world will get straightened out. Until then I’ll be remembering and going on down the road.
1937 Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
[A depression cake that substitutes mayonnaise for butter and milk]
2 cups flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup Hellmann’s real or light mayonnaise
1 1/3 cups water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bottom of 2 9-inch round cake pans.
In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and baking powder; set aside.
In a large bowl with mixer at high speed, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in mayonnaise until blended. Add flour mixture in 4 additions, alternately with water (begin and end with flour). Pour into prepared pans.
Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove; cool completely on racks. Frost as desired, or use Seven Minute Icing (see below).
Seven Minute Icing
[a recipe popular during the 1930s.]
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/3 cup cold water
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Mix egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, and water in top of double boiler. Set over barely boiling water and beat with electric hand mixer 4 to 7 minutes, until mixture peaks stiffly. Begin at low speed, then medium, then high.
Add vanilla and continue beating to good spreading consistency. [NOTE: this can be done with an old-fashioned crank type hand beater, but it takes longer and is quite tiring. This icing doesn’t age well, so plan to eat the cake up rather quickly.]
