A Time From the 50's

 No2 pencils, fat crayons, Big Chief tablets, scissors labeled with your name with first-aid tape, pink erasers, these are some of the school supplies to start school in the fall in 1957.
 Walking with my Mother through the door of Black Elementary that first day of kindergarten, clutching my brand new rug for rest period, was scary and exciting once I sat down on the circle and met other kids and Mrs. Ford, people who shaped our  lives forever. Finding my cubby, then learning class rules and of course the long awaiting taste of paste, then recess, then rest while Mrs. Ford played her delightful piano before our half day school session was over.
 My brother in 3rd grade walked home with me for lunch everyday, as most kids did back then.

It was quit a treat to pack a lunch for a rainy day and play Seven-up during recess. There were some times for a small cost you could order a basket lunch consisting of a hot dog, carrot or celery sticks, chips and an orange drink carton. Shortly before the lunch bell rang, a man would deliver a wooden laundry basket by our door and it was exciting to have activities like that. Memories of those simpler times mingle with being proud to donate a dime to the Red Cross and getting a metal clip that folded down over your collar, later lost in time but found in my junk drawer and tossed out to make room for Valentine's.

 Free lunches or lunch tickets were unheard of, nor missed. Not until junior high did we get cafeteria food and it  was so good and we paid daily and got to choose. A lot of food was bought for .50 and since we paid, I don't remember food being thrown out.
 After my brother returned to school from lunch, my afternoons were filled with playing with my drink n wet dolls and my mother letting me iron pillowcases and tablecloths.
 I would think the world be kinder if mothers were back in the home, tending to the housework and nurturing the family. It's things like making a grilled cheese just the way you like it and no one else can or kissing a boo boo as it happens, cleaning gravel from a skinned knee instead of taking pictures and going to a hospital. Wearing a band-aid was big stuff!

 Imagine how today's generation would handle a black telephone with a short curled cord, a few feet from the the wall.  Rotary dial, no call waiting, no speed dial, no texting. no privacy either. Plus a party line and no matter how hard you tried not to breathe the other line knew you were listening in.

 Life went on amongst Girl Scouts and Sock Hops and conferences and I cherish my youth of living in the 50's/ 60's in Wichita.

Joyce Montague
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