Golly, I am a star !

[Bill Blansett]

I see I have done something to get a star. It takes me back to 1st grade, 1940-1941. I had the meanest teacher a kid could have. She made a big poster with all the kids pictures and overlaid it with little windows over each photo. Daily, each morning she would do a hygine inspection of hair combed, no egg on face, clean behind the ears, properly dressed, shoes shined, and lastly CLEAN FINGERNAILS ! Well, I could usually pass all but the clean finger nails and shined shoes. Only had one pair and they had to do tripple duty. The fingernails were something else, as I must have been destined to be a mechanic and they never looked too good. This teacher would proceed to get a wooden ruler and turn your palms up and spank the daylights out of the inside of your hands. To top that off, my little window stayed closed. Those that passed a week had a silver star on the inside of the window, Then it progressed to gold stars. I am now on my way!

Well, here it is 65 years later and my cub greased hands would still not pass muster with that teacher. Sounds like she was harsh, but we learned real well, as I have never forgotten her. Thanks for listening to an old man's rambling. Bill

[Eugene]

Sounds familiar. The teacher always had one of those city kids do the inspection. I never could pass on the clean hands specially in the fall. We would pick up black walnuts. Walnut stain would soak into the skin and remain for weeks.

Eugene

[beaconlight]

Hey I was a city kid but got the same treatment. Mud was made for boys to play in. My favorites were my grand fathers and they worked in a grease world. I loved it.

Bill

[Russ Leggitt]

Hi Bill,

As Bob Hope would say, "thanks for the memories". I think every country
school kid had a teacher that graduated from the same "Charm School".
I was in the first grade in 1950 and I had a teacher like that, Mrs Gardner.

Funny how you can remember things like that and forget your wife's
wedding anniverseary and birthday and dress size.

Oh well at this age blame it on..........., what is that disease again?

[George Willer]

I was in two different first grades... different schools, in 1940. Miss Phillips and miss Brady. Of course, we didn't have pre-school or kintergarten so I couldn't print my own name. It was printed on a card taped to my desk. I was worried I'd be found out, so I learned to do it on my own the first day.

That makes Bill B, Elvis, and me the same age.

[Eugene]

Actually that city kid was a girl - really smart - teachers pet. The same girl every day. How's a county boy wearing patched pants, with a big red handkerchief hanging out of his pocket, with walnut stained hands, supposed to impress a city girl?

Eugene

[Merlin]

Shoes shined? Shoes? You had shoes? If you had shoes before the 5th grade you were affluent. Then the only time you could wear them was on Sunday.

[allenlook]

I skipped the first grade, but I went to a two-room schoolhouse so it was the same teacher for grades K-4, and the same teacher for grades 5-8.

She had a hot wheel track section she would use on the back of bare thighs. Blueberry season (like the walnuts mentioned earlier) usually nixed passing the hands part, but we didn't get the hot wheel track for that, usually you had to be quite a twit to get whacked.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

Hot Wheel track alen? hot wheels had been invented yet when most of us were in grade school.

[George Willer]

Hot Wheel track alen? hot wheels had been invented yet when most of us were in grade school.

Sure they were, John... they just didn't come from a store, and they were metal instead of plastic. I was the envy of the neighborhood with my tricycle with the frame turned over. I had to help a few other kids make theirs. This was probably in 1941 or 1942.

[Larry in IN]

Sure is enlightening to see what you "old guys" wen thru -Ididn't start 'til much later -1942
Our second grade teacher, Mrs. Anna Britt, was teaching her fourth generation when she retired. After retirement, she made a second career of attending class reunions of students, several over 50th year.
Everyone remembers her, and she did them.
Happily, they hadn't discovered Ritalin in those days. Anna just tied us to the chair

[Brent]

Bill,

I remember the hygiene checks to except my new first grade teacher took it one step further and did a belly button check. Don't think she was really looking at belly buttons. I can still remember being mad because it was during the winter and I had to unbutton all the buttons on my long johns. Happened to mention it to my mother and I guess some other kids did to because we never say the new teacher again.

[allenlook]

Well Brent, that's a whole different use of the terms "innie" and "outie"

['Country' Elliott]

In First Grade (Mrs. Shultz)...I remember being "sent in" during recess a lot of times for "Rough-housing" with Benny & Ronny Fritz. We always thought it was fun and releived tensions ...Mrs. Shultz thought otherwise!

I also fondly remember clothes pinning old playing cards to our rear bicycle frames so the tire tines would strike them and make a sound. These were our "Motor Cycles" and all the neighborhood kids would have races up & down the gravel roads. Sounded like a swarm of "Killer Bees". I guess they don't play Dodge Ball or Kickball anymore in schools today...too violent.

Growing up...our town had 1 Police Officer...Newt Byram. Old Newt was dressed up like a motorcycle cop with high top boots (must have taken him hours to lace them up). The one and only Police car was a 1949 Ford...BLACK with a huge, chrome siren & red light combination that was attached to the left front fender top. Newt was a fast-draw expert,(as my Father told me) and he demonstrated that at a party one night by twirling his gun outta his holster. When someone asked if it was loaded...Newt said "No" and pointed his gun torwards the ceiling and proceded to shoot a hole in the livingroom ceiling!!! AAaaaaah...the fond memories of youth!

[phantom]

miss la follette made me and dallas taylor sit in the back of the room 'cause we had no shoes.