Mama Kat Thursday: First Day of School

-


Me, 1963
The Mama Kat Prompt topic for today is
"First Day of School."

You have to set the way-back machine for 1963: my first day of school.
My Dad captured the moment in black and white. I remember I was embarrassed to have a camera aimed at me, that's why I was pointing.
In 1963 only dresses were worn to school. If it was cold, you could wear pants under your skirt, but you had to take them off once you arrived at school.My Mom made this outfit, as she sewed the majority our clothes.
(And made clothes for our Barbies, I might add.)
I wore a short hair cut with bangs until I got to high school and could take of my hair myself. That was generally the rule on hair, though I seem to recall a few home-perms happening along the way. Oddly, my naturally wavy hair lays quite straight when cut short.

We lived way out in the country along a state road surrounded pretty much by trees. There were no neighborhood kids to play with. Being the oldest, I mostly just had my parents to associate with and I only knew the woodsy world around me: the wild birds, the flowers, trees and the garden plants.

That being the case, when the first grade teacher started taking attendance, calling out each child's name, and said,"Robin," I literally twisted my head this way and that looking around the room for an actual bird!
I was in the first row and it was only after I heard a meek, "here,"  from somewhere behind me did I realize this "Robin" was a girl!
I distinctly remember feeling embarrassed by the incident, though only I knew my mistake.

My naivety led to many unexpected adventures in grade school.
You can read another, called "Big Time Liar," here.

Comments

Allison said…
How special that you have a picture from your first day of school. I think there is a lot to be said for growing up in the "country" with the "woodsy world." I grew up in a very small town, but I feel like I was lucky to be able to live in a place where we were safe to play outside all day exploring and getting dirty. Thanks for sharing!
Sep 5, 2013, 12:25:00 PM
Dyanne @ I Want Backsies said…
I need to find my first day of school picture from kindergarten! I was wearing a yellow dress (it was 1965). And I remember having to wear dresses to school! We could do the pants under the dress thing when it was cold, too, and had to remove them when we got to school (it was easy to remove them - they were knit with a seam down the front of each leg). I think I was in 5th grade before we could wear pants to school all day.

And I absolutely LOVE the "Robin" story. LOVE. IT.
Sep 7, 2013, 11:26:00 PM

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment!

Popular posts from this blog

Good Eating Monday: Apple Cranberry Sausage Stuffing!

-
Image
Now this some wicked good dressing!  I tried it for Thanksgiving this year and everyone loved it! I've been looking for just the right dressing and I may have finally found it!  It's also healthy with a tasty combo of fruit, veggies and a mix of white & whole wheat bakery breads. It will fill a  fill a 9 x 13 pan.  You can use fresh or dried herbs. I've included the measurements for both. Just remember dried seasoning is more concentrated in flavor because it is dried, so you need less of it then fresh herbs. I have fresh Parsley growing outside and this was a great use for it! I found leftover over stuffing wonderful heated up and topped with a over-easy egg for lunch!  Apple Cranberry Sausage Stuffing Ingredients:  5 1/2 cups fresh European style or sourdough bread, white, sliced and cubed 2 1/2 cups wheat bread, whole grain sliced and cubed 1 lb ground pork or turkey ( I used Jimmy Dean's Turkey Crumbles, which was 8 oz and that worked great! ) 1 1/2
Read more

Good Eating Monday: Peach Cobbler Dump Cake!

-
Image
Yes, I tried another new Pinterest recipe and this one is a winner! The primary dictionary definition of a "Dump Cake," is an easily made cobbler in which cake mix is dumped over canned fruit or pie filling.  This recipe was pinned from Del Monte, which means it's been a recipe that's been created & tested in a corporate test kitchen. That's one benefit of all those label, can & box recipes provided by manufacturers on their product packaging. You can even buy cookbooks featuring nothing, but package & label recipes of which many are vintage. The only changes I'd suggest is add one more 15 oz can of fruit. It can be more peaches, cherry fruit cocktail, regular fruit cocktail or whatever you want. (So, I've noted 4 cans of peaches in the recipe.)   It just needs a little more volume on the fruit quantity.  And stir a teaspoon or two of cinnamon into the fruit! Otherwise, this is an excellent, quick dessert you can serve hot with v
Read more

Mama Kat Thursday: Backwoods Indiana Memories: Laundry Day

-
Image
Wringer Washing Machine I remember while growing up in rural Indiana in the 60's and 70's, doing laundry was an all day event. My clearest memories of  "laundry day," come from summer time, when we were out of school.  Mother had a certain day of the week she did laundry usually. I liked to sleep in and I recall waking up around 9:30 to the chugging rhythm the wringer washer already at work.  I'd see all the dirty laundry sorted into piles around the utility room floor: whites, light colors,  medium colors, dark colors and heavy darks, like jeans. (The photo is one I found online of a Kenmore wringer washer quite similar to the last model I remember Mother having in the 70's.) You have to understand, wringer washers only do the washing part. S he'd start with whites, then once the washer finished it's wash cycle, it would stop. Then she'd, by hand, pull each item of clothing out of the washer and feed it through the wringer rollers
Read more

Garden Pic Wednesday: Bachelar Buttons!

-
Image
Garden Pics today: A Profusion of Bachelor Buttons!  Sometimes they are called Cornflowers. I've never had such a thick and prosperous bunch! These I planted last fall from a random leftover box of Wild Flower type seeds and successfully protected them from the December deep freeze. I favor the blue, but they also come in shades of pink and white. My newest Garden addition: This green ceramic frog now sits amongst the Golden Creeping Jenny! I found him at the Dollar Tree.  
Read more

Wednesday Garden Pics: Petunias & Bi-color Hibiscus

-
Image
Since for July 4th, 2012, I thought this pic of my red and white petunia's would be appropriate! You can also see my pretty miniature roses below it. (The petunia's are in a pot; the rose is in the ground next to it.) Petunias need frequent dead-heading and tend to get long and leggy as they bloom out.  I snip those legs and "train" them to be bushy with a limited drape. This forces them to sprout new growth. The next photo, below, is a shot of one of my Hardy Hibiscus I have in the front yard next to the parking spot. Notice one bloom is red and the other, pink. Yet this is one plant from a single root. It's uniquely bi-color. The pink portion of the plant didn't bloom last year, so I didn't know. I plan on trying to save seed from this Hibiscus to see if I can luck into more.
Read more