So I finished my first eight grades of school at the Lutheran hospital in Fort Dodge. I was there eleven days I think and once past the crucial fourth or fifth day I made steady improvement, and a couple of weeks after I returned home I was pretty much back to normal. I believe there were some return visits with the surgeon for removal of stitches etc. but they were perfunctory in nature.
Looking back on my elementary schooling I would say it was certainly adequate, and in many ways as good or better than present-day schooling. I think the main way in which it was better was that it really did not regard schooling as something to be liked or enjoyed. Perhaps it reflected a more puritan or frontier ethic. If it were enjoyed or liked that was fine, but the goal was proficiency in the basics and a good grounding in such subjects as history, geography, hygiene. School was work in a way and if it needed drudgery, practice, repetition for achievement so be it.
Along with the academic goals there were the associated goals of developing good study and work habits and diligence in performing work and exercises that seemed uninteresting in nature, at the time, or even from the pupils’ point of view, pointless.
As I’ve indicated Gowrie was a somewhat larger school than the rest of the schools in the county except for the Fort Dodge system, so it possibly attracted somewhat better teachers. During the pre-Depression days it also had in connection with the first eight grades, a class called the opportunity room. This was essentially a remedial class for students of below-normal achievement. It was handled by a Miss Moffett. I remember her as past middle age, fairly tall and thin, austere and awe-inspiring and a dedicated individual well suited for the assignment.
My contact with her was limited to such times as when she had noon or recess duty, but Vivian actually had her as the teacher one year. Not that Vivian was a non-performing student, but one year her class was so large that some of the class was assigned to Miss Moffett. My dim recollection is that Vivian enjoyed the year or so she had Miss Moffett as teacher.
When the Depression came the opportunity room was a casualty. For a time during the worst Depression years, the teachers received only part of their pay in cash; the rest was in the form of some sort of warrants. I presume these were retired as the property tax collection improved.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Local Sports
During my elementary school years I and some of my siblings would be allowed to attend the high school basketball games when they were held in the Gowrie gym. I suppose this was where some of our weekly allowance would go. I recall that my father had a complimentary ticket to all the games because of his service on the local school board. It seemed to me that we could not use his ticket — my father virtually never did use the ticket as he was typically occupied with other evening activities, such as his bookkeeping work at the Johnson lumber company.
Often the countywide tournament in basketball would be held in the Gowrie gym because of its size. The tournament was limited to the smaller high schools in the county. Fort Dodge being so much larger was excluded. There would be perhaps eight schools competing — Lehigh, Dayton, Burnside, Lanyon, Callender, Moorland, Duncombe plus Gowrie. Gowrie being somewhat larger tended to dominate this group, though Lehigh was often a strong competitor.
Lehigh was a town east and north of Gowrie, near or on the Des Moines river and a coal mining community. The town had a reputation for “hard-ball” type of play, how justified I don’t really know.
One year, aunt Laurine provided Clarice and me with a tick for the entire tournament, a much appreciated gift. The games were all played on a single Saturday, so it was quite a day of playing and watching. I think the tournament tickets cost $1.25 which was a great deal of money in our young lives. I wonder now if my aunt Laurine didn’t teach at Gowrie for a few years; why she would have been around to know of our wanting to attend the tournament otherwise I can’t imagine.
Most of the competitive athletic activity was in basketball on the high school level. Originally there was just boys’ basketball but girls’ basketball was introduced later — this may have occurred when I was in high school but I don’t remember for sure.
To the west of the school building there was a large grassy expanse and here there were two softball diamonds, used in elementary school play (and games with nearby towns as I indicated above).
During my later elementary school days Gowrie had a coach who was interested in track and built up the sport, but there wasn’t much public support for track and the sport collapsed as soon as he left. His departure was largely the result of his basketball team not being successful enough and the pressure by the more rabid local rooters (principally businessmen). I’ve heard that the coach who succeeded him profited by his development work in the basketball area as the tea, was quite good for several years thereafter.
Out behind the school bus garage there were two tennis courts but I don’t recall ever seeing anyone using them. It seems there was the net(s) strung up so someone must have used them.
There were also about four horseshoe facilities and these were used during noon hours by pupils for recreation while eating lunch. One group of four boys were a common sight here during the noon hour when weather permitted as in spring and fall months. Vernon Telleen, Marvin Telleen, Howard Nelson and my cousin Clifford Strand comprised the group. Clifford had an atypical style of throwing horseshoes, sort of end over end, instead of a slowly turning horizontal style.
My cousins Leonard, Floyd and Clifford all attend country school through eighth grade, but came to Gowrie for high school — I suppose the rural district paid tuition for them. After our move to the farm so that we had lunch at school on a regular basis I’d play horseshoes sometimes at noon, perhaps with John Woodard. The other foursome was a quite tight-knit group and seldom if ever played with anyone else.
Often the countywide tournament in basketball would be held in the Gowrie gym because of its size. The tournament was limited to the smaller high schools in the county. Fort Dodge being so much larger was excluded. There would be perhaps eight schools competing — Lehigh, Dayton, Burnside, Lanyon, Callender, Moorland, Duncombe plus Gowrie. Gowrie being somewhat larger tended to dominate this group, though Lehigh was often a strong competitor.
Lehigh was a town east and north of Gowrie, near or on the Des Moines river and a coal mining community. The town had a reputation for “hard-ball” type of play, how justified I don’t really know.
One year, aunt Laurine provided Clarice and me with a tick for the entire tournament, a much appreciated gift. The games were all played on a single Saturday, so it was quite a day of playing and watching. I think the tournament tickets cost $1.25 which was a great deal of money in our young lives. I wonder now if my aunt Laurine didn’t teach at Gowrie for a few years; why she would have been around to know of our wanting to attend the tournament otherwise I can’t imagine.
Most of the competitive athletic activity was in basketball on the high school level. Originally there was just boys’ basketball but girls’ basketball was introduced later — this may have occurred when I was in high school but I don’t remember for sure.
To the west of the school building there was a large grassy expanse and here there were two softball diamonds, used in elementary school play (and games with nearby towns as I indicated above).
During my later elementary school days Gowrie had a coach who was interested in track and built up the sport, but there wasn’t much public support for track and the sport collapsed as soon as he left. His departure was largely the result of his basketball team not being successful enough and the pressure by the more rabid local rooters (principally businessmen). I’ve heard that the coach who succeeded him profited by his development work in the basketball area as the tea, was quite good for several years thereafter.
Out behind the school bus garage there were two tennis courts but I don’t recall ever seeing anyone using them. It seems there was the net(s) strung up so someone must have used them.
There were also about four horseshoe facilities and these were used during noon hours by pupils for recreation while eating lunch. One group of four boys were a common sight here during the noon hour when weather permitted as in spring and fall months. Vernon Telleen, Marvin Telleen, Howard Nelson and my cousin Clifford Strand comprised the group. Clifford had an atypical style of throwing horseshoes, sort of end over end, instead of a slowly turning horizontal style.
My cousins Leonard, Floyd and Clifford all attend country school through eighth grade, but came to Gowrie for high school — I suppose the rural district paid tuition for them. After our move to the farm so that we had lunch at school on a regular basis I’d play horseshoes sometimes at noon, perhaps with John Woodard. The other foursome was a quite tight-knit group and seldom if ever played with anyone else.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
A Lucky Catch
I’ve also mentioned I believe the softball games we played in physical education and how there were occasional games played with teams from neighboring schools. Participation on these teams required satisfactory academic performance and sometimes fielding a team involved reaching down to the “bottom of the barrel” in softball playing prowess.
Characteristically I would be placed out in right field where balls were seldom hit, with the implication that if I failed to perform the damage would be minimal. My one moment of glory occurred in a softball game played in Gowrie. I was in right field of course and a looping fly ball came in my direction. I ran towards what I thought would be its fall to earth, arrived at the proper moment, and miraculously caught the fly ball. This feat permitted an additional player out because he had raced from third base toward home plate anticipating that I would not catch the fly ball.
After I caught the fly ball I had to be prompted to throw the ball back to the infield for the further play. At that point I was in a bemused state, not quite yet aware of what I had accomplished. In the report of the game that appeared in the Gowrie News, my feat was noted as being an important factor in the outcome of the game.
I might mention one additional thing. Out in right field there was a concrete post sticking up — for use as a finishing line when the area was used for a track meet. I was aware of its presence as I ran to catch the fly ball and my fear of running into the post was only matched by my fear that I would err in catching the ball.
Characteristically I would be placed out in right field where balls were seldom hit, with the implication that if I failed to perform the damage would be minimal. My one moment of glory occurred in a softball game played in Gowrie. I was in right field of course and a looping fly ball came in my direction. I ran towards what I thought would be its fall to earth, arrived at the proper moment, and miraculously caught the fly ball. This feat permitted an additional player out because he had raced from third base toward home plate anticipating that I would not catch the fly ball.
After I caught the fly ball I had to be prompted to throw the ball back to the infield for the further play. At that point I was in a bemused state, not quite yet aware of what I had accomplished. In the report of the game that appeared in the Gowrie News, my feat was noted as being an important factor in the outcome of the game.
I might mention one additional thing. Out in right field there was a concrete post sticking up — for use as a finishing line when the area was used for a track meet. I was aware of its presence as I ran to catch the fly ball and my fear of running into the post was only matched by my fear that I would err in catching the ball.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Eighth Grade
In eighth grade I recall sitting in two places — both in the row of desks nearest the windows, either about in the middle (front to back) or very close to the back. It was also the grade where I had Annabelle Strough sitting either in front of behind me the rest of the time in the Gowrie school (doubtless because we were being seated alphabetically).
My most vivid impression of Annabelle was that she always just missed being tardy — almost invariably she would arrive in a flurry and panting about 8:59 a.m. or one minute before 1 p.m. when the afternoon part of the school day was about to begin. She had an older brother, by name Carleton, but his nickname was “Turkey.”
Eighth grade is memorable to me as it was at the end of that year that I had my operation for appendicitis. As a result of this I missed all of the final tests (which I might have been excused from anyway) and probably the last couple of weeks of school but I was passed on to high school nonetheless. I also missed the eighth grade class play in which I had a minor part; Everett Johnson took over the role I had. It was the only time I was ever cast in a school play.
[I’m not sure that my dad is remembering this accurately. In his papers, I found a script for a play called “Spring Fever” by Glenn Hughes. The copyright date is 1937, the year my dad turned 17. On some of the front pages are inscriptions by some of the cast members. None are addressed to my dad by name, but they are clearly addressed to the individual who played Professor Virgil Bean. — Laurel]
My teachers in eighth grade were Mrs. Knapp, the new principal, and Miss Nagel, who was the replacement for Miss Wood. Mrs. Knapp was a widow; I think she had one child, and being without a husband met the qualification for a teacher in the Gowrie school. She was I suppose 35 years of age or so, and a very conscientious (perhaps too much that way) teacher. This kind of teacher would ultimately run into trouble in the Gowrie school — the community wasn’t all that interested in academic excellence. Just sort of get the real basics and let it go at that. I liked her even though I found her a bit “too concerned” at times. It seems to me that I had her for history in high school — I wonder if she moved on to being a high school teacher later on.
Miss Nagel was a tall, rangy Nordic-type individual and she was one of the two teachers I respected most during Gowrie days. I guess that she was what makes a good teacher — interested in her students and capable of presenting material, a no-nonsense person but nonetheless tolerant of human frailty, mostly objective in approaching teaching but subjective enough to show emotion and realize what problems a student had personality-wise. Demanding of performance, but cognizant and appreciative of effort and results. The sort of teacher that some large school would soon located and hire, and she was in Gowrie not more than a year or so.
I recall vividly one incident in eighth grade. Toward the end of the year in connection with arithmetic, Mrs. Knapp gave me some material related to algebra — whether it was just something to read or a special assignment I don’t recall. Whatever it was it didn’t related to the class as a whole. I remember I was entranced by this new aspect of mathematics, like a big new Erector set. I can still see myself in a seat near the back of the room by myself delving into this newfound delight.
Then, as nowadays, there were spelling bees. There was some sort of state competition sponsored I believe by the Des Moines Register and Tribune newspapers. First there were the contests at the individual schools, then at the county seats, next at the state level and finally I suppose come competition at the national level. Mrs. Knapp pushed this project and I think she expected me to merge as the contestant from Gowrie but I was eliminated when there were still several contestants remaining. I guess I was just as happy; this sort of competitive situation really didn’t, and doesn’t, appeal to me.
Before the contest we studied the pages of words that the paper published as having been used or likely to be used in future bees. I’m all for spelling more or less correctly, but spelling it arbitrary by nature and there is nothing intrinsically right or wrong with any given spelling. As long as the intended meaning is conveyed, so what? I guess that I have the same attitude toward the meaning of words — meaning aren’t determined by dictionaries but by how people use them. I recall having a discussion with Tom Baron (later president of Shell Development) on this, his viewpoint being that usage should follow the dictionary. I was a little nonplussed at his adopting this viewpoint.
One incident I remember from eighth grade was in the music instruction with the teacher who came around to the classes for this part of the educational program. The boys in the class had been separated out from the rest of the class and we were singing away up near the front of the assembly room. Perhaps my voice was changing or something; anyway I was singing not the same notes as the rest, but some sort of “part” which I was I guess making up. She detected this and to my embarrassment had me repeat (solo) what I had been doing.
The whole incident now seems strange to me. I’m not, by range of voice, able to detect proper pitch, or liking much inclined to vocal music and what motivated me to experiment as I did on this occasion is a mystery to me.
I’ve mentioned that I took piano lessons from aunt Ruth, and when I was living in San Pedro I stated to take piano lessons but dropped it after moving to the Bay Area. I like piano (and organ) music but I haven’t the physical control or dexterity to play with any degree of proficiency. Rather similar in a way to my vocal music talents.
My most vivid impression of Annabelle was that she always just missed being tardy — almost invariably she would arrive in a flurry and panting about 8:59 a.m. or one minute before 1 p.m. when the afternoon part of the school day was about to begin. She had an older brother, by name Carleton, but his nickname was “Turkey.”
Eighth grade is memorable to me as it was at the end of that year that I had my operation for appendicitis. As a result of this I missed all of the final tests (which I might have been excused from anyway) and probably the last couple of weeks of school but I was passed on to high school nonetheless. I also missed the eighth grade class play in which I had a minor part; Everett Johnson took over the role I had. It was the only time I was ever cast in a school play.
[I’m not sure that my dad is remembering this accurately. In his papers, I found a script for a play called “Spring Fever” by Glenn Hughes. The copyright date is 1937, the year my dad turned 17. On some of the front pages are inscriptions by some of the cast members. None are addressed to my dad by name, but they are clearly addressed to the individual who played Professor Virgil Bean. — Laurel]
My teachers in eighth grade were Mrs. Knapp, the new principal, and Miss Nagel, who was the replacement for Miss Wood. Mrs. Knapp was a widow; I think she had one child, and being without a husband met the qualification for a teacher in the Gowrie school. She was I suppose 35 years of age or so, and a very conscientious (perhaps too much that way) teacher. This kind of teacher would ultimately run into trouble in the Gowrie school — the community wasn’t all that interested in academic excellence. Just sort of get the real basics and let it go at that. I liked her even though I found her a bit “too concerned” at times. It seems to me that I had her for history in high school — I wonder if she moved on to being a high school teacher later on.
Miss Nagel was a tall, rangy Nordic-type individual and she was one of the two teachers I respected most during Gowrie days. I guess that she was what makes a good teacher — interested in her students and capable of presenting material, a no-nonsense person but nonetheless tolerant of human frailty, mostly objective in approaching teaching but subjective enough to show emotion and realize what problems a student had personality-wise. Demanding of performance, but cognizant and appreciative of effort and results. The sort of teacher that some large school would soon located and hire, and she was in Gowrie not more than a year or so.
I recall vividly one incident in eighth grade. Toward the end of the year in connection with arithmetic, Mrs. Knapp gave me some material related to algebra — whether it was just something to read or a special assignment I don’t recall. Whatever it was it didn’t related to the class as a whole. I remember I was entranced by this new aspect of mathematics, like a big new Erector set. I can still see myself in a seat near the back of the room by myself delving into this newfound delight.
Then, as nowadays, there were spelling bees. There was some sort of state competition sponsored I believe by the Des Moines Register and Tribune newspapers. First there were the contests at the individual schools, then at the county seats, next at the state level and finally I suppose come competition at the national level. Mrs. Knapp pushed this project and I think she expected me to merge as the contestant from Gowrie but I was eliminated when there were still several contestants remaining. I guess I was just as happy; this sort of competitive situation really didn’t, and doesn’t, appeal to me.
Before the contest we studied the pages of words that the paper published as having been used or likely to be used in future bees. I’m all for spelling more or less correctly, but spelling it arbitrary by nature and there is nothing intrinsically right or wrong with any given spelling. As long as the intended meaning is conveyed, so what? I guess that I have the same attitude toward the meaning of words — meaning aren’t determined by dictionaries but by how people use them. I recall having a discussion with Tom Baron (later president of Shell Development) on this, his viewpoint being that usage should follow the dictionary. I was a little nonplussed at his adopting this viewpoint.
One incident I remember from eighth grade was in the music instruction with the teacher who came around to the classes for this part of the educational program. The boys in the class had been separated out from the rest of the class and we were singing away up near the front of the assembly room. Perhaps my voice was changing or something; anyway I was singing not the same notes as the rest, but some sort of “part” which I was I guess making up. She detected this and to my embarrassment had me repeat (solo) what I had been doing.
The whole incident now seems strange to me. I’m not, by range of voice, able to detect proper pitch, or liking much inclined to vocal music and what motivated me to experiment as I did on this occasion is a mystery to me.
I’ve mentioned that I took piano lessons from aunt Ruth, and when I was living in San Pedro I stated to take piano lessons but dropped it after moving to the Bay Area. I like piano (and organ) music but I haven’t the physical control or dexterity to play with any degree of proficiency. Rather similar in a way to my vocal music talents.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Seventh Grade
Each class through sixth grade had its own separate classroom but in junior high (seventh and eighth grades) the two grades were together in a large assembly hall. There was an adjacent classroom which was used when the grades were separated during the specific classes. The assembly hall was the first place that attached desks were used, instead of the movable ones.
My teachers in seventh grade were Miss Hayes and Miss Wood. Miss Hayes was the principal and had been in the position only a couple of years at most — previously she had been the sixth-grade teacher and I believe Clarice had her there. To me she was notable for being able to snap her fingers louder than any other person I have known. This was of course an attention-getting and disciplinary tool and in her case quite effective; I suppose her no-nonsense approach and her strong character helped.
My impression of her is that she had been teaching for some years, at any rate; she seemed to be older than Miss Loe, Miss Arndt of Miss Wood. I didn’t have her in eighth grade — she left teaching and married one Clarence Norberg, a farmer who farmed north of the Peterson farm somewhere.
About a year ago (1990) Vivian sent me a clipping of her obituary — she was a I recall well up in her 80s. If she was 85 when she died in 1990 that would make her 27 years old when I had her in 1932 — which I suppose would qualify in making her an “older” teacher in my eyes at the time. Miss Wood was around for only a year or so.
Of my seventh grade I cannot specifically and definitely recall any incident. I also don’t recall where my seat was. There was one incident that may have been in seventh grade, but more likely in the eighth grade. It involved a class question period in the room next to the junior high assembly hall. Oddly the question related to geography and I wonder now if my recollection that we took the county test in geography in sixth grade was correct — on reconsideration maybe it was the test in hygiene that was taken then. The answer to the question was “yarn” and I seem to tie it to some South American country and its agriculture. Only one boy and student in the class got the answer correctly — he was the son of the local florist and horticulturalist so maybe he tended to pick up this kind of reference more readily.
My teachers in seventh grade were Miss Hayes and Miss Wood. Miss Hayes was the principal and had been in the position only a couple of years at most — previously she had been the sixth-grade teacher and I believe Clarice had her there. To me she was notable for being able to snap her fingers louder than any other person I have known. This was of course an attention-getting and disciplinary tool and in her case quite effective; I suppose her no-nonsense approach and her strong character helped.
My impression of her is that she had been teaching for some years, at any rate; she seemed to be older than Miss Loe, Miss Arndt of Miss Wood. I didn’t have her in eighth grade — she left teaching and married one Clarence Norberg, a farmer who farmed north of the Peterson farm somewhere.
About a year ago (1990) Vivian sent me a clipping of her obituary — she was a I recall well up in her 80s. If she was 85 when she died in 1990 that would make her 27 years old when I had her in 1932 — which I suppose would qualify in making her an “older” teacher in my eyes at the time. Miss Wood was around for only a year or so.
Of my seventh grade I cannot specifically and definitely recall any incident. I also don’t recall where my seat was. There was one incident that may have been in seventh grade, but more likely in the eighth grade. It involved a class question period in the room next to the junior high assembly hall. Oddly the question related to geography and I wonder now if my recollection that we took the county test in geography in sixth grade was correct — on reconsideration maybe it was the test in hygiene that was taken then. The answer to the question was “yarn” and I seem to tie it to some South American country and its agriculture. Only one boy and student in the class got the answer correctly — he was the son of the local florist and horticulturalist so maybe he tended to pick up this kind of reference more readily.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Sixth Grade
My sixth grade teacher was Miss Arndt, also a rather willowy person (like Miss Rice in first grade and like my aunt Ruth). She too was around for only a year or so.
My seat was in the row furthest from the windows and near the back of the room. Near me sat a boy by the name of Laurence Larson, whose parents lived on a farm. I believe his father had died and his mother had remarried. At any rate I recall the impression that her second marriage didn’t match her first in quality and Laurence realized this.
He was only an acquaintance in sixth grade; he vanished from my life thereafter and I have no memory of him from an earlier grade.
The other clear recollection I have from sixth grade was in connection with a fictional assignment that Miss Arndt considered good enough so I was invited to read it for the class’ attention. I have no memory of what I had written.
In sixth grade was the first of the county tests. I don’t know if these are still given; I’d guess probably not. These were tests designed to ascertain if pupils had achieved the level of performance so that the county system would certify that they had successfully complete their elementary training (i.e. through eighth grade). They may well have been a carryover from the time of rural schools, when a substantial fraction of the county’s students attended these one-room institutions.
The test in sixth grade was for geography, and after that we no longer had a class in it. This was a subject in which I remember how the first text started out — in the region of Mesopotamia which is fitting enough as the cradle of civilization, although I certainly didn’t realize it at the time.
I suppose the subject was introduced in third or fourth grade and by the time sixth grade was complete the whole globe had been covered and the time for the county test was appropriate.
I think one or two county tests were administered in the seventh and the remainder in eighth grade. Each of the tests consisted of perhaps a dozen questions, all of which I seem to recall were essay type or what I call “actual answer” questions. That is , they were not true/false or multiple choice so that guessing was not an alternative to knowing the answer or the subject of the question.
Grading them must have been quite a task for the county staff. Satisfactory completion of the tests was a criterion for entry into high school. My friend John Woodard was admitted into high school on this basis. The Gowrie system had decided to retain him in the eighth grade for a repeat year, but since he had passed the county tests he was allowed to go on to ninth grade.
Annie Lines, who was at the time caring for the orphaned Woodard boys, was the individual who gave the impetus to John’s advancement in this way. Had it not been for she I suspect he would have been retained behind me.
While on the subject of tests I might mention that from the fourth or fifth grade on through the senior year in high school, the school year was divided into two semesters, each having three six-week periods. After the first two of the six-week periods there were “six-week” tests in all subjects which all the pupils took. At the end of the semesters there were semester tests, and in the case of these, students performing at a prescribed level and with satisfactory deportment were exempted.
I don’t recollect taking a single semester test in the elementary grade of high school. In retrospect I think this was a disservice, although I certainly didn’t regard it in that light then. I think the practice in taking tests would have been a valuable experience and incentive all through those school years.
In the grades through sixth, there was no physical education classes, at least I don’t remember any. There was instruction in vocal music; this was provided by the music teacher who came around periodically for a 15- or 30-minute period. I don’t think it was every day but maybe 2 or 3 times a week. The music instruction continued on, on some similar basis in junior high, but there were from seventh grade on specific physical education classes. Often these consisted just of play in the school gym in the winter or of organized softball games outside in fall and spring. However, occasionally there would be calisthenic instruction — I remember them being led by Mr. Leistra the school superintendent. Gowrie was a small school (even though it was the second largest school in the county) and the teachers, even the superintendent, had to fill in the gaps and niches in the instructional makeup. The teachers, for example, were on a rotating schedule to provide someone in charge during the noon hour, and probably during the recesses.
My seat was in the row furthest from the windows and near the back of the room. Near me sat a boy by the name of Laurence Larson, whose parents lived on a farm. I believe his father had died and his mother had remarried. At any rate I recall the impression that her second marriage didn’t match her first in quality and Laurence realized this.
He was only an acquaintance in sixth grade; he vanished from my life thereafter and I have no memory of him from an earlier grade.
The other clear recollection I have from sixth grade was in connection with a fictional assignment that Miss Arndt considered good enough so I was invited to read it for the class’ attention. I have no memory of what I had written.
In sixth grade was the first of the county tests. I don’t know if these are still given; I’d guess probably not. These were tests designed to ascertain if pupils had achieved the level of performance so that the county system would certify that they had successfully complete their elementary training (i.e. through eighth grade). They may well have been a carryover from the time of rural schools, when a substantial fraction of the county’s students attended these one-room institutions.
The test in sixth grade was for geography, and after that we no longer had a class in it. This was a subject in which I remember how the first text started out — in the region of Mesopotamia which is fitting enough as the cradle of civilization, although I certainly didn’t realize it at the time.
I suppose the subject was introduced in third or fourth grade and by the time sixth grade was complete the whole globe had been covered and the time for the county test was appropriate.
I think one or two county tests were administered in the seventh and the remainder in eighth grade. Each of the tests consisted of perhaps a dozen questions, all of which I seem to recall were essay type or what I call “actual answer” questions. That is , they were not true/false or multiple choice so that guessing was not an alternative to knowing the answer or the subject of the question.
Grading them must have been quite a task for the county staff. Satisfactory completion of the tests was a criterion for entry into high school. My friend John Woodard was admitted into high school on this basis. The Gowrie system had decided to retain him in the eighth grade for a repeat year, but since he had passed the county tests he was allowed to go on to ninth grade.
Annie Lines, who was at the time caring for the orphaned Woodard boys, was the individual who gave the impetus to John’s advancement in this way. Had it not been for she I suspect he would have been retained behind me.
While on the subject of tests I might mention that from the fourth or fifth grade on through the senior year in high school, the school year was divided into two semesters, each having three six-week periods. After the first two of the six-week periods there were “six-week” tests in all subjects which all the pupils took. At the end of the semesters there were semester tests, and in the case of these, students performing at a prescribed level and with satisfactory deportment were exempted.
I don’t recollect taking a single semester test in the elementary grade of high school. In retrospect I think this was a disservice, although I certainly didn’t regard it in that light then. I think the practice in taking tests would have been a valuable experience and incentive all through those school years.
In the grades through sixth, there was no physical education classes, at least I don’t remember any. There was instruction in vocal music; this was provided by the music teacher who came around periodically for a 15- or 30-minute period. I don’t think it was every day but maybe 2 or 3 times a week. The music instruction continued on, on some similar basis in junior high, but there were from seventh grade on specific physical education classes. Often these consisted just of play in the school gym in the winter or of organized softball games outside in fall and spring. However, occasionally there would be calisthenic instruction — I remember them being led by Mr. Leistra the school superintendent. Gowrie was a small school (even though it was the second largest school in the county) and the teachers, even the superintendent, had to fill in the gaps and niches in the instructional makeup. The teachers, for example, were on a rotating schedule to provide someone in charge during the noon hour, and probably during the recesses.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Fifth Grade
Fifth grade for me was taught by Miss Loe. Whereas some teachers were long time fixtures in the school and most stayed several years I think Miss Loe was only in Gowrie for one year. I think she may have been newly graduated; at any rate she was I think somewhat inexperienced but nonetheless quite conscientious. I seem to recall some comment to that effect by y aunt Lillian who was at Gowrie for one year (I’d guess the year before she married). I believe aunt Lillian taught sixth grade that year but I’m not at all certain about that.
In fifth grade my seat was in the row next to the windows, about in the middle (front to back). As with the other grades I’ve retained only a few memories. In this case one was that I sat behind a girl by the name of Marian Hunt. She was part American Indian — at least her mother was. Her mother was short and overweight, and of course dark in color. Whether she was of mixed ancestry I don’t know. Her father was elderly and rather slight of build, stooped and gray. They were only in Gowrie for a year or so, and lived I think in the old Munday hotel, which by then no longer served transients but rented out apartments.
One time I had been sent by my mother to the Leader store on some errand during the noon hour and while I was in the store Marian came in with a nickel or dime, seeking to purchase some beans I believe for her mother to cook. I got the impression that they were to be prepared for lunch that day, and I remember wondering how the lunch could be prepared and eaten in time for Marian to get back to school by 1 p.m. I also remember some uncertainty as to what she could get for her 5 or 10 cents and that she was at a loss as to what to do — sort of caught between her mother’s dictum and what the clerk indicated was possible. I felt sorry for her.
She was indeed sort of a pathetic figure; she was sort of a non-smiling waif, being between two cultures and hardly belonging to either one. She was bright enough in her schoolwork but she was always diffident and hesitant in speaking and in her relations with the other pupils. Since I sat right behind her and was close enough to notice that there was always a sort of unwashed fragrance enveloping her, I wonder how often she had a bath or her clothes were washed.
She disappeared after fifth grade; I wonder how her life turned out.
As nearly as I can make out it was about the time of fifth grade that I became sexually aware — certainly in a quite preliminary and incomplete way but definitely aware. There were a few incidents prior to this time that I failed to understand at the time; perhaps they started the process of understanding.
The first of these actually involved Vincent. He had apparently heard some story at school and wished to relate this newfound information to someone, so we were seated on the floor in the kitchen of the little brown house, in the nook beneath the place where the telephone was, near the doors to the bathroom, dining room and back bedroom. My mother overheard what was being said and reprimanded Vincent.
I don’t have any recollection at all of what Vincent said or was about to say, so I am only inferring from the surreptitious nature of Vincent’s approach and my mother’s reaction to what she heard that the story had some sexual implication. The incident occurred at noon and the essential parts of it remain quite vivid in my memory. In a way the incident points out the characteristic of my personality that I am slow to start or react and others, younger as Vincent was, “catch” on sooner than I.
A second incident occurred when I hay have been in even second grade. A boy at school, whom I cannot picture at all now, had a hand-copied poem which he showed to me, again in a somewhat furtive approach. I read it, but my recollection is that I didn’t understand what its import was. It was a poem of considerable length, of four-line verses. Again it is only in light of later reflection that I surmise that the poem and the incident had specific sexual connotations.
The third incident involved a playground physical contact between a girl and a boy by the name of Franklin. Whether the contact was entirely accidental or partly premeditated I don’t know. At any rate there was some conversation regarding the incident by onlookers in which another boy made the comment that Franklin was trying to “f–––” her. This was unintelligible to me and I tried to elucidate the meaning of the comment (actually I believe with Hollis, the older brother of Franklin). Sensing that I was naive I guess, Hollis was evasive in his answer and I left with my question unanswered. Again it is only in retrospect that I can reconstruct the incident, but it was certainly vivid enough at the time to impress it on my memory.
I do not recall ever having had any discussion regarding sexual matters with either my father or mother that elucidated such basic biological events. What I learned was by “osmosis” I guess, perhaps piecing together bits of information from such incidents as I described above with an instinctive reaction to my gradual adolescence.
I think by the fifth grade I had the concept that babies were born from mothers and not “gifts from heaven” but it was not firmly embedded in my thinking. What crystallized it in my mind was an event once when I was wiping the dishes as my mother was working (in the little brown house). For some reason I commented that babies when they arrived were clean and immaculate, to which she replied that they were characteristically bloody.
I was somewhat taken aback by the terseness and intensity of her comment and it had a decisive effect on my thinking. Basically however it was a comment that really assumed that I had a knowledge of what the birth of a child implied and constituted, without my mother having had any reason for the assumption that I would know. In a way I fault my parents for this lack of instruction, not so much for the lack of knowledge as for the vague feeling of inhibition in sexual matters that I gained from their attitude.
One last recollection from fifth grade. One of my boyhood chums was Harris Magnuson, he of the paper route with whom I tagged along occasionally when he was delivering papers or on his weekly collection. Miss Loe, as part of her assessment of student deportment had a little tally sheet posted on which merits and demerits for each pupil were marked up. Harris and I were together in the classroom for some unrecalled reason — Miss Loe was absent and I believe it was after school. Harris looked at his record and opined that a demerit he had received was not warranted and it should be removed with the present opportunity. Somehow or other he inveighed me into doing this.
The upshot of this was that I received a demerit — at least there appeared a mark on my record shortly thereafter to which I could ascribe no other reason. How Miss Loe detected this action of my part remains a mystery to me to this day. Harris, I have decided much later, was for all his easy-going personality, a person of rather flexible principles and a not entirely reliable model. Although he was in my class at school through fifth grade he was retained a year at some point and was not in my class in high school, nor I think in junior high.
In fifth grade my seat was in the row next to the windows, about in the middle (front to back). As with the other grades I’ve retained only a few memories. In this case one was that I sat behind a girl by the name of Marian Hunt. She was part American Indian — at least her mother was. Her mother was short and overweight, and of course dark in color. Whether she was of mixed ancestry I don’t know. Her father was elderly and rather slight of build, stooped and gray. They were only in Gowrie for a year or so, and lived I think in the old Munday hotel, which by then no longer served transients but rented out apartments.
One time I had been sent by my mother to the Leader store on some errand during the noon hour and while I was in the store Marian came in with a nickel or dime, seeking to purchase some beans I believe for her mother to cook. I got the impression that they were to be prepared for lunch that day, and I remember wondering how the lunch could be prepared and eaten in time for Marian to get back to school by 1 p.m. I also remember some uncertainty as to what she could get for her 5 or 10 cents and that she was at a loss as to what to do — sort of caught between her mother’s dictum and what the clerk indicated was possible. I felt sorry for her.
She was indeed sort of a pathetic figure; she was sort of a non-smiling waif, being between two cultures and hardly belonging to either one. She was bright enough in her schoolwork but she was always diffident and hesitant in speaking and in her relations with the other pupils. Since I sat right behind her and was close enough to notice that there was always a sort of unwashed fragrance enveloping her, I wonder how often she had a bath or her clothes were washed.
She disappeared after fifth grade; I wonder how her life turned out.
As nearly as I can make out it was about the time of fifth grade that I became sexually aware — certainly in a quite preliminary and incomplete way but definitely aware. There were a few incidents prior to this time that I failed to understand at the time; perhaps they started the process of understanding.
The first of these actually involved Vincent. He had apparently heard some story at school and wished to relate this newfound information to someone, so we were seated on the floor in the kitchen of the little brown house, in the nook beneath the place where the telephone was, near the doors to the bathroom, dining room and back bedroom. My mother overheard what was being said and reprimanded Vincent.
I don’t have any recollection at all of what Vincent said or was about to say, so I am only inferring from the surreptitious nature of Vincent’s approach and my mother’s reaction to what she heard that the story had some sexual implication. The incident occurred at noon and the essential parts of it remain quite vivid in my memory. In a way the incident points out the characteristic of my personality that I am slow to start or react and others, younger as Vincent was, “catch” on sooner than I.
A second incident occurred when I hay have been in even second grade. A boy at school, whom I cannot picture at all now, had a hand-copied poem which he showed to me, again in a somewhat furtive approach. I read it, but my recollection is that I didn’t understand what its import was. It was a poem of considerable length, of four-line verses. Again it is only in light of later reflection that I surmise that the poem and the incident had specific sexual connotations.
The third incident involved a playground physical contact between a girl and a boy by the name of Franklin. Whether the contact was entirely accidental or partly premeditated I don’t know. At any rate there was some conversation regarding the incident by onlookers in which another boy made the comment that Franklin was trying to “f–––” her. This was unintelligible to me and I tried to elucidate the meaning of the comment (actually I believe with Hollis, the older brother of Franklin). Sensing that I was naive I guess, Hollis was evasive in his answer and I left with my question unanswered. Again it is only in retrospect that I can reconstruct the incident, but it was certainly vivid enough at the time to impress it on my memory.
I do not recall ever having had any discussion regarding sexual matters with either my father or mother that elucidated such basic biological events. What I learned was by “osmosis” I guess, perhaps piecing together bits of information from such incidents as I described above with an instinctive reaction to my gradual adolescence.
I think by the fifth grade I had the concept that babies were born from mothers and not “gifts from heaven” but it was not firmly embedded in my thinking. What crystallized it in my mind was an event once when I was wiping the dishes as my mother was working (in the little brown house). For some reason I commented that babies when they arrived were clean and immaculate, to which she replied that they were characteristically bloody.
I was somewhat taken aback by the terseness and intensity of her comment and it had a decisive effect on my thinking. Basically however it was a comment that really assumed that I had a knowledge of what the birth of a child implied and constituted, without my mother having had any reason for the assumption that I would know. In a way I fault my parents for this lack of instruction, not so much for the lack of knowledge as for the vague feeling of inhibition in sexual matters that I gained from their attitude.
One last recollection from fifth grade. One of my boyhood chums was Harris Magnuson, he of the paper route with whom I tagged along occasionally when he was delivering papers or on his weekly collection. Miss Loe, as part of her assessment of student deportment had a little tally sheet posted on which merits and demerits for each pupil were marked up. Harris and I were together in the classroom for some unrecalled reason — Miss Loe was absent and I believe it was after school. Harris looked at his record and opined that a demerit he had received was not warranted and it should be removed with the present opportunity. Somehow or other he inveighed me into doing this.
The upshot of this was that I received a demerit — at least there appeared a mark on my record shortly thereafter to which I could ascribe no other reason. How Miss Loe detected this action of my part remains a mystery to me to this day. Harris, I have decided much later, was for all his easy-going personality, a person of rather flexible principles and a not entirely reliable model. Although he was in my class at school through fifth grade he was retained a year at some point and was not in my class in high school, nor I think in junior high.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Fourth Grade
Fourth grade was taught by Miss (Juanita?) Johnson. I have a somewhat clearer picture of her than of Mrs. Wood or Miss Geddes. Miss Johnson was a short, stocky person with dark, somewhat curly hair.
I can remember only one incident directly related to fourth grade. One of the teaching devices that Miss Johnson used on teaching arithmetic was a contest between students to see who would do some problem correctly the fastest. In some cases at least this contest was done at the blackboard in the front of the classroom and with two contestants only. The rest of the class simply watched. On one occasion I was competing with another boy in the class, Bill Jones, and it was a close contest but I prevailed.
Bill was the oldest child of a sort of shiftless farmer and though he kept up with our class (he was in our graduating class) he did not have any further schooling beyond high school. What would have happened to him with a more auspicious upbringing I have sometimes wondered. I think he ended up in some sort of trucking business and had died before the time of our 50th class reunion in 1988.
Blackboards were an indispensable part of all the classrooms in the Gowrie school, including the high school assembly hall. They were the old-fashioned slate boards and were black, not the present day green color. Frequently the class instruction would be at the blackboard, perhaps to conserve paper or maybe the teacher could sort of combine her instruction with her grading process.
I seem to recall that there were some housekeeping functions connected with the blackboards that the pupils took care of — such as taking the erasers outside the building and knocking them together to get the chalk dust out of them, or staying after school to wash the blackboards.
I can remember only one incident directly related to fourth grade. One of the teaching devices that Miss Johnson used on teaching arithmetic was a contest between students to see who would do some problem correctly the fastest. In some cases at least this contest was done at the blackboard in the front of the classroom and with two contestants only. The rest of the class simply watched. On one occasion I was competing with another boy in the class, Bill Jones, and it was a close contest but I prevailed.
Bill was the oldest child of a sort of shiftless farmer and though he kept up with our class (he was in our graduating class) he did not have any further schooling beyond high school. What would have happened to him with a more auspicious upbringing I have sometimes wondered. I think he ended up in some sort of trucking business and had died before the time of our 50th class reunion in 1988.
Blackboards were an indispensable part of all the classrooms in the Gowrie school, including the high school assembly hall. They were the old-fashioned slate boards and were black, not the present day green color. Frequently the class instruction would be at the blackboard, perhaps to conserve paper or maybe the teacher could sort of combine her instruction with her grading process.
I seem to recall that there were some housekeeping functions connected with the blackboards that the pupils took care of — such as taking the erasers outside the building and knocking them together to get the chalk dust out of them, or staying after school to wash the blackboards.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Jacks, Lunches, and a Close Call
I have strayed considerable from my review of recess activities (induced by my thinking of the mumble-ti-peg game and its association in my mind with Bible school). But back to recess.
Jacks was a girls’ activity but I remember playing the game with my sisters. During the winter months recess would be held in the gymnasium. This would also be where the children who brought their lunches with them (principally the rural children) would play during the noon hour after having eaten their lunches.
Lunches were eaten in a large room across the hall from the gymnasium. Once in a great while when we were still in the little brown house if the weather was inclement we would take our lunch to school. I remember once when Clarice and I, thinking that the day was going to be cold and snowy, badgered my mother into providing us with lunches to take to school. As it turned out the weather changed and the day became sunny and bright. We carried our lunches that day in some small tin pails, probably the containers for some corn syrup that my mother had bought.
Normally the only fare the children had for lunch was what they brought with them. But there was a period in which some hot dish was prepared and served. This may have been a project carried out by the home ec classes and it may have entailed a small cost to the students. The program may also have been a victim of Depression economics.
At this point I want to write about an event that occurred when Clarice and I were small children. I think both of us were involved directly although it may have been only Clarice. I have no personal recollection of the event, my information is all secondhand, and even then it may be faulty, as when I am not sure that it only concerned Clarice or the two of us.
One morning as we, or only Clarice was walking to school, the day was rainy with thunder and lightning, such as the Midwest can generate on occasion. For some reason Molly Rosene called to Clarice (or to us) to come back to her back porch to wait out the storm for a short time. During this interruption in the walk to school, lightning struck one of the two large cottonwood trees in front of the next house. The strike tore off part of the tree and sent it flying across the sidewalk and against the house where it broke a large glass window.
Had not Molly delayed Clarice (us) she (we) would have been in the vicinity of the tree when it was struck. What would have happened to Clarice (us) could have been quite serious I suppose.
Jacks was a girls’ activity but I remember playing the game with my sisters. During the winter months recess would be held in the gymnasium. This would also be where the children who brought their lunches with them (principally the rural children) would play during the noon hour after having eaten their lunches.
Lunches were eaten in a large room across the hall from the gymnasium. Once in a great while when we were still in the little brown house if the weather was inclement we would take our lunch to school. I remember once when Clarice and I, thinking that the day was going to be cold and snowy, badgered my mother into providing us with lunches to take to school. As it turned out the weather changed and the day became sunny and bright. We carried our lunches that day in some small tin pails, probably the containers for some corn syrup that my mother had bought.
Normally the only fare the children had for lunch was what they brought with them. But there was a period in which some hot dish was prepared and served. This may have been a project carried out by the home ec classes and it may have entailed a small cost to the students. The program may also have been a victim of Depression economics.
At this point I want to write about an event that occurred when Clarice and I were small children. I think both of us were involved directly although it may have been only Clarice. I have no personal recollection of the event, my information is all secondhand, and even then it may be faulty, as when I am not sure that it only concerned Clarice or the two of us.
One morning as we, or only Clarice was walking to school, the day was rainy with thunder and lightning, such as the Midwest can generate on occasion. For some reason Molly Rosene called to Clarice (or to us) to come back to her back porch to wait out the storm for a short time. During this interruption in the walk to school, lightning struck one of the two large cottonwood trees in front of the next house. The strike tore off part of the tree and sent it flying across the sidewalk and against the house where it broke a large glass window.
Had not Molly delayed Clarice (us) she (we) would have been in the vicinity of the tree when it was struck. What would have happened to Clarice (us) could have been quite serious I suppose.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Vacation Bible School
The Bible school was held in the public school building and was specific to the Lutheran congregation. Whether the Methodists had a summer Bible school I have no idea. By the time I was on an age to go to Bible school there were only two active congregations in Gowrie, the Congregationalists and the Baptists having ceased to function.
The Congregational church was still in usable condition at the time when the new Lutheran church was being built in the early 1930s. It was used for some of the church functions while the new structure was being built, such as evening meetings of the church group, choir practice, etc. It was not large enough for Sunday morning services so those were held in the gymnasium of the school building.
I don’t know if the use of the school building in this way, for the vacation Bible school and for Sunday morning services would be looked on with favor in the present day and age but then I knew of no public reaction of a negative sort.
Where Sunday school was held during the construction of the new church I have no specific recollection (oddly enough) but I’d surmise that they were held in the old Congregational church. It was only about a block and a half away from the school building. As to the services in the gymnasium I recall only one — a Christmas children’s program in which my part was to recite the first chapter of St. John’s gospel and I remember being up on the stage all alone.
Vacation Bible school was I suppose a continuation of the Swedish school that my mother’s family participated in during the summer, probably using the public school house in use during the fall, winter, and spring months. Sessions were held only in the mornings and lasted perhaps two weeks, though it could have been longer. The instruction was pretty serious business, rather different in character and extent than I have perceived the activity to be in recent years.
There was instruction in the catechism, church history and related subjects. There were however some more recreational activities. I remember making some papier mâché tablets representing the ten commandments. This particular project was carried out in what was normally the sixth grade classroom. Other instructed was centered (for me at least) in what was the junior high room though I suspect there were other classes also.
The instructors were typically elementary school teachers who had roots in the community and would perchance to be in Gowrie during the vacation months. My aunt Laurine served in this capacity I believe as well as a Ms. Larson. Usually the congregation would employ a seminary student as sort of an intern during the summer months and he would carry part of the Bible school teaching load. The intern would also conduct the regular Sunday morning services while the regular pastor was on vacation which was usually in August.
One indelible impression remains from Bible school, of warm, sunny days, but not yet the real heat of summer. The school windows would be open and there would be the soft, coolish breeze of the morning hours, with the somnolent sounds from outside of insects chirping and the occasional song of a bird. The view across the street would be screen in part by the foliage of the trees lining the street along the front of the school building. A sensation that all was well with the world, though I might not have been particularly interested in what the teacher was saying.
The Congregational church was still in usable condition at the time when the new Lutheran church was being built in the early 1930s. It was used for some of the church functions while the new structure was being built, such as evening meetings of the church group, choir practice, etc. It was not large enough for Sunday morning services so those were held in the gymnasium of the school building.
I don’t know if the use of the school building in this way, for the vacation Bible school and for Sunday morning services would be looked on with favor in the present day and age but then I knew of no public reaction of a negative sort.
Where Sunday school was held during the construction of the new church I have no specific recollection (oddly enough) but I’d surmise that they were held in the old Congregational church. It was only about a block and a half away from the school building. As to the services in the gymnasium I recall only one — a Christmas children’s program in which my part was to recite the first chapter of St. John’s gospel and I remember being up on the stage all alone.
Vacation Bible school was I suppose a continuation of the Swedish school that my mother’s family participated in during the summer, probably using the public school house in use during the fall, winter, and spring months. Sessions were held only in the mornings and lasted perhaps two weeks, though it could have been longer. The instruction was pretty serious business, rather different in character and extent than I have perceived the activity to be in recent years.
There was instruction in the catechism, church history and related subjects. There were however some more recreational activities. I remember making some papier mâché tablets representing the ten commandments. This particular project was carried out in what was normally the sixth grade classroom. Other instructed was centered (for me at least) in what was the junior high room though I suspect there were other classes also.
The instructors were typically elementary school teachers who had roots in the community and would perchance to be in Gowrie during the vacation months. My aunt Laurine served in this capacity I believe as well as a Ms. Larson. Usually the congregation would employ a seminary student as sort of an intern during the summer months and he would carry part of the Bible school teaching load. The intern would also conduct the regular Sunday morning services while the regular pastor was on vacation which was usually in August.
One indelible impression remains from Bible school, of warm, sunny days, but not yet the real heat of summer. The school windows would be open and there would be the soft, coolish breeze of the morning hours, with the somnolent sounds from outside of insects chirping and the occasional song of a bird. The view across the street would be screen in part by the foliage of the trees lining the street along the front of the school building. A sensation that all was well with the world, though I might not have been particularly interested in what the teacher was saying.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Marbles and Mumble-ti-peg
Recess, when out-of-doors, was also characterized by such activities as playing marbles or mumble-ti-peg for the boys and playing jacks for the girls — although I suppose the latter could just as well be played indoors.
Jacks was not a boys’ game, although I remember playing the game with my sisters.
Playing marbles was an activity that came and went. There would be a spate of involvement, then it would die away for awhile. The marbles consisted of a shooter, which might be an agate, i.e. a stone carved to a spherical share and given a high gloss, or it might be a “glassie” which was the second-class marble. These came in different sizes, colors and design configurations. Then there were the lowly “commies” which were clay spheres with surfaces somewhat irregular. An agate might cost as much as 25 cents at the local drug store, which I seem to recall as the source of marbles locally.
There were two configurations of the game layout. The first was a single ring perhaps 15–18 inches in diameter within which each played placed an agreed-on number of marbles. To begin the game the players would stand some distance away from the ring for the “lagging” which consisted of the players tossing their shooter marbles toward the ring. The player whose marble was closest to the ring got to “shoot” first, with the rest in order of increasing distance from the ring.
The object of the game, was to propel the shooter marble by a hand/finger motion and cause it to hit one of the marbles in the ring. The hand/finger motion is a little hard to describe in words. The marble was held between the thumb above the top knuckle and the forefinger. The marble would be propelled forward by a sudden straightening of the thumb. If a player who was shooting knocked a marble out of the ring, he could continue until he failed to do so, when the next player in order would take his turn.
The game could be played for “keeps” in which the played kept all the marbles he shot out of the ring or I believe there was an alternative in which each player retained his own marbles (though I don’t recall the details of how this was handled, and it was not the usual alternative). More than two players could play, but two was most common and the number of players usually did not exceed three or four.
The other configuration of the game had two rings — a small central ring in which the marbles were placed and a concentric larger ring maybe three or four feet in diameter. There was also a straight line for the “lagging” part of the game.
The player lagging his shooter closest to this line started the next part of the game, with the other players in order. I don’t recall for sure in either configuration from what position the player made his first shot, or his subsequent ones.
In the second configuration I’m fairly sure that the first shot was made from the outer ring, at a position on the ring selected by the player. As in the other alternative, playing for “keeps” was the most common alternative. Glass marbles were the kind mostly used, but I recall one episode in which two of the better and more avid players played a game for keeps with agates. In addition to the school yard, a popular place for play was on a sandy area adjacent to the street along the west side of the city park. This would be the scene of games as boys went home for lunch, or returned before school began.
Mumble-ti-peg was played with a pen knife and the object of the game was to complete a series of maneuvers with the knife, each maneuver being successfully accomplished if the knife blade entered the ground so that the knife was more or less erect, when the knife was flipped in a certain way. I think the criterion if the knife was erect as it entered the ground was if two fingers could be placed superimposed on each other between the end of the knife and the ground.
Which player started first I don’t remember or how many players there usually were. A player completing one maneuver could continue on to the next until he failed to complete one successfully. Then the next player in order would take his turn. The player finishing first had the reward of shaping a small pointed stake which he would drive into the ground with three hits of the knife handle (the knife being held by the end of the blade). The loser then had to pull the stake out of the ground with his teeth.
Needless to say the game was usually played on a grassy area where the soil was reasonably moist so that the knife blade could fairly easily enter and stick in the soil.
I don’t remember this game much from public school — my recollections are mostly from vacation Bible school The name of the game doubtless came from the act of pulling the little stake out of the ground with the teeth.
Jacks was not a boys’ game, although I remember playing the game with my sisters.
Playing marbles was an activity that came and went. There would be a spate of involvement, then it would die away for awhile. The marbles consisted of a shooter, which might be an agate, i.e. a stone carved to a spherical share and given a high gloss, or it might be a “glassie” which was the second-class marble. These came in different sizes, colors and design configurations. Then there were the lowly “commies” which were clay spheres with surfaces somewhat irregular. An agate might cost as much as 25 cents at the local drug store, which I seem to recall as the source of marbles locally.
There were two configurations of the game layout. The first was a single ring perhaps 15–18 inches in diameter within which each played placed an agreed-on number of marbles. To begin the game the players would stand some distance away from the ring for the “lagging” which consisted of the players tossing their shooter marbles toward the ring. The player whose marble was closest to the ring got to “shoot” first, with the rest in order of increasing distance from the ring.
The object of the game, was to propel the shooter marble by a hand/finger motion and cause it to hit one of the marbles in the ring. The hand/finger motion is a little hard to describe in words. The marble was held between the thumb above the top knuckle and the forefinger. The marble would be propelled forward by a sudden straightening of the thumb. If a player who was shooting knocked a marble out of the ring, he could continue until he failed to do so, when the next player in order would take his turn.
The game could be played for “keeps” in which the played kept all the marbles he shot out of the ring or I believe there was an alternative in which each player retained his own marbles (though I don’t recall the details of how this was handled, and it was not the usual alternative). More than two players could play, but two was most common and the number of players usually did not exceed three or four.
The other configuration of the game had two rings — a small central ring in which the marbles were placed and a concentric larger ring maybe three or four feet in diameter. There was also a straight line for the “lagging” part of the game.
The player lagging his shooter closest to this line started the next part of the game, with the other players in order. I don’t recall for sure in either configuration from what position the player made his first shot, or his subsequent ones.
In the second configuration I’m fairly sure that the first shot was made from the outer ring, at a position on the ring selected by the player. As in the other alternative, playing for “keeps” was the most common alternative. Glass marbles were the kind mostly used, but I recall one episode in which two of the better and more avid players played a game for keeps with agates. In addition to the school yard, a popular place for play was on a sandy area adjacent to the street along the west side of the city park. This would be the scene of games as boys went home for lunch, or returned before school began.
Mumble-ti-peg was played with a pen knife and the object of the game was to complete a series of maneuvers with the knife, each maneuver being successfully accomplished if the knife blade entered the ground so that the knife was more or less erect, when the knife was flipped in a certain way. I think the criterion if the knife was erect as it entered the ground was if two fingers could be placed superimposed on each other between the end of the knife and the ground.
Which player started first I don’t remember or how many players there usually were. A player completing one maneuver could continue on to the next until he failed to complete one successfully. Then the next player in order would take his turn. The player finishing first had the reward of shaping a small pointed stake which he would drive into the ground with three hits of the knife handle (the knife being held by the end of the blade). The loser then had to pull the stake out of the ground with his teeth.
Needless to say the game was usually played on a grassy area where the soil was reasonably moist so that the knife blade could fairly easily enter and stick in the soil.
I don’t remember this game much from public school — my recollections are mostly from vacation Bible school The name of the game doubtless came from the act of pulling the little stake out of the ground with the teeth.
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