OK, kiddies. I have to admit that I WAS in school in the 1940s, well,
1948-50, any way.

We never heard of middle schools. Indeed, our elementary school was so full,
grade 7 and up were part of the high school. No school buses, either. Rows
of desks, cast iron and wood, glass inkwells and straight pens (to develop
one's "hand"), Dick, Jane and Sally, not to mention Spot and Puff, all
living the very comfortable US upper middle class life style in the white
frame two-story house.

Morning prayers and pledge to the flag (Union Jack, not some rebellious
thing with stars and stripes on it!). In grades 5 and 6, compulsory army
cadets in uniforms from the pre-W.W.II period. Well, it got us out of
classes for a couple hours each week! No talking in lines and a principal
who was always ready with the strap to enforce it. "Witch Hazel" we called
her. As ever, I was a talkative little brute so was on the receiving end
fairly regularly.

Public transportation or take your bike or walk (about 1.5 miles. A bit hard
in Quebec City winters with their incredible cold and snowfall (much milder
these days, of course, you young 'uns wouldn't believe what it was like! A
local store with the most wonderful vanilla ice cream which always tasted
better in the dead of winter. No field trips, no woodworking, pretty basic
stuff. Lunch in a bag, eaten in a large room filled with trestle tables and
the smell of oranges. A pint of milk if you signed up and paid in advance.
Girls all in a blue jumper and white blouse, boys neatly dressed (no jeans,
etc.). In winter most of us wore heavy woolen breeches and long stockings.

BUT! No guns. No knives. No violence - and only one school bully who really
wasn't up to much, as I discovered when blows came to blows, and teachers
whose names and faces I all remember.


Harry

"De l'audace, et encore de l'audace, et toujours de l'audace!"

                                            - Danton

Harry Needham, M.A., CFE, etc.
President
Harry Needham Consulting Services Inc.
Training & consulting services for heritage institutions - and others!
74 Abbeyhill Drive
Kanata, Ontario K2L 1H1
Canada
email: [log in to unmask]
(Voice) +1.613.831-1068
(Fax) +1.613.831-9412
----- Original Message -----
From: David Hupert <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2000 1:12 PM
Subject: Re: School in the 1940s - question


> At 11:52 AM 11/21/00 -0700, you (Audra Oliver) wrote:
> >Hello Mark
> >I'll have to join the rest of my colleagues with the disclaimer that I am
> >much, much, too young to have attended school in the 40s!  From the sound
of
> >it, none of the people from the 40s survive. ....
>
> Sorry, Audra, I just didn't have the time to go to the funeral that you so
> kindly arranged for me.
>
> School in Brooklyn in the forties was just that: school, Elementary or
> High.  No middles, lowers or uppers. I went to PS 226 (I hear all the
> cheers from my schoolmates on this list). The back of each classroom had a
> wardrobe with sliding doors designed to hide coats and furtive trysts.
The
> City was just starting to experiment with Jr. High Schools, but I went
> directly to Lafayette High School with 4,000 students (I can't hear much
> cheering from this group) and the only private space you had was your gym
> locker.  Boys took a class in woodworking and girls had homemaking.  It
had
> a great soccer team before soccer was popular in the US (many immigrants
> from Europe) and Sandy Koufax was a year ahead of me.
>
> No school busses except for the handicapped, who were for the most part
> kept out of sight, as everyone was expected to use public transportation
> and run up and down four flights of stairs.  We were not bothered too much
> by wandering dinosaurs but living through the ice age was a bit tough.  It
> taught us to persevere.
>
> David Hupert
>
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