School’s In! Reminiscences From The Good Old Days

By | September 12, 2017

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Summer always seemed to come to an end with the local fair or carnival and it was unheard of to go back to school before Labor Day. Strangely enough, anticipation of the first day of school was almost as exciting as the last day! Of course, in preparation of the new school year, there were always certain rituals that played out year after year.

Prior to the first day of school, a new wardrobe was a must! Unfortunately, there was no internet or Walmart for our convenience. The closest department store was “downtown” and often required a public transit bus ride since Dad took the family’s only car to work each day. Mom made you try on the dungarees and dresses (that’s right, dresses). New shoes were purchased from a shoe store where the salesman measured your foot to make sure you had a proper fit. It was so much fun to watch the old shoes go into the shoebox and wear the new ones home. If you bought a pair of shoes, you were automatically entitled to one of the pretzel rods kept next to the cash register.  

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Also, necessary, was the long list of school supplies required to be prepared for a successful school year. Items included those denim blue loose-leaf binders, rulers, Elmer’s glue, No. 2 pencils, erasers, pencil cases, bookbags or book straps (no backpacks). Book covers were fashioned out of brown paper bags. Younger kids carefully contemplated which lunchbox they wanted; after all, it reflected your personality. Lunchbox choices were endless; from Speed Racer and Evil Knievel to Wonder Woman and Charlie’s Angels. The lunchboxes always came with a glass-lined thermos which promptly shattered, after being dropped, by the end of the first week of school. Older kids brown-bagged it. Neither the lunchbox or paper bag, with our baloney and tuna fish sandwiches, contained an ice pack and somehow, we didn’t die of salmonella. If you were lucky, you could buy your lunch in the school cafeteria on “pizza days.” The “hot-plate” lunch usually cost somewhere around $.50 - $.75 and came with that delicious peanut butter fudge!