Wistful Wednesday : 1958-1959

Recently one of my husbands classmates shared this old photo.  It was the third grade class in 1958-1959 at the Osage School.  Mrs. Stearns was the teacher.  She was also my third grade teacher.  ( I was in second grade when this photo was taken.)

We have identified all but two or three of the students.  I dated Bobby ( loud plaid shirt) in the back row, he died in 1972 from injuries sustained in a snowmobile accident. Ken died in 2005 he is next to Bobby.   Rhonda is in the front row, third from the left with the scarf, she died in 2009 from MRSA and complications from MS, gosh I miss her.  Johnnie fourth from the right in the front row died in 2005 from sleep apnea.  In the middle row is Diane (white blouse) who died of cancer in 1995.

Several of us…including Bill in the back row second from the right commented on Gary the ladies man (plaid shirt front row) being between Rhonda and Gloria.   Far Guys cousin Alaska Guy is on the left end of the front row.

A few days after seeing this photo Gary with the plaid shirt in the front row died.  He was awaiting a lung transplant.  He had some kind of hereditary lung disease.   We  visited with Barb (Gary’s wife) just two days before his death, she was getting her ducks in a row to head to Mayo, she said Gary was sick and had been up all night coughing…the next day she took him into the ER.  

Gary and Barb got married right after Gary turned 18 in February 1967.  They were both Juniors in High School at the time.  They were madly in love and got married in the church across from the High School.  They were married 47 years. 

Back in 1967 you could not be married and be in High School.  You could be pregnant and a tutor was assigned to you but if you were married and not pregnant you were not allowed to attend.  ( Perhaps being married and having sex would rub off on other students…)

I remember when it was announced that the school officials found out about the marriage and kicked them out of school. (I believe we were in Biology class when they came and got Barb and she came back crying saying she was kicked out of school.)   None of us thought it was fair.  After that there were a few more marriages…but secret ones…announced right after the graduation ceremony…the school officials couldn’t do a thing about it then.

Students should have the right to learn and attend a high school …married or not.  I think it was a form of discrimination which is probably no longer acceptable. 

 

Wistful Wednesday:1958/59

This is a photo taken in the old farmhouse where I grew up.  It was taken late in 1958 or very early 1959.  My Mom took the photo.

That is me with my hand on my waist.  My cousin Evelyn is holding her oldest daughter Christine who was born in October of 1958.  My baby brother looks on.

In this photo we get a peek into the pantry that was at the west end of the kitchen.  I can see dishes on the shelves and what appears to be a curtain on the window. ( I do not remember a window in the pantry.)

On the wall is the little bluebird with a hat that held potholders, a “Last Supper” plate..and on the right side of the photo a basket of something.  The white enamelware coffee pot is on the stove.

Evelyn is my oldest cousin on my Dad’s side of the family. She will be 74 in a few months.  This photo was taken when Evelyn was 20 years old.  No doubt she was over to visit one Sunday afternoon to show off her beautiful little girl.

People don’t visit on Sunday afternoons like we used to back in the 1950’s and 1960’s:)

Wistful Wednesday :1958

In the school year 1958 to 1959 I was in second grade.  My teacher wrote this on my report card.  “She is doing good work in all subjects.  She does beautiful written work and is very conscientious about finishing her work.  But sometimes she talks too much in the lunch room.”

Just when I was doing no wrong..my big mouth got me in trouble. 

My second grade teacher was Minnie Zauche,  I adored her.  Her husband was a Forest Ranger.  Because of them I became interested in flowers and trees.  They lived just a short bike ride away.  They had extensive gardens and an orchard, in the summer something was always blooming and Mrs. Zauche was happy to show you something in her gardens. Many years later Mrs. Zauche retired and I was chosen to represent our class and present her with a red rose.  She got one rose from every class she taught..she had a huge bouquet!  

They had a daughter named Becky. Sometimes she would babysit for me and my baby brother.  She would lay on the couch, my brother and I would take turns laying on the back of the couch or on the floor and we would scratch each others backs. She would call for a switch and my brother and I would trade places, since she remained on the couch her back was always being scratched!  Sometimes I would ride on the back of her bike..one time I got my heel in the spokes of the bike..and we both cried. She was the best babysitter we ever had.  Since she had no brothers or sisters she liked taking care of us..at least I think she did.

My favorite dress from the second grade.

It still looks pretty good for being 53 years old.  It is another one of those treasures tucked away in the trunk:)

Wistful Wednesday: 1958-59

I had the occasion to scan some very old photographs.  They are from Jackie.  She was gracious enough to share so that we could make copies for the museum.

In 1958-1959 Far Guy was in third grade.

He is in the back row..second boy from the right.  I asked him what the teachers name was.  He does not recall.   Perhaps blog reader Ann knows, she is in the second row fifth from the left..with the poufy hair!  Jackie is the gal next to Far Guy..he had to take turns..between he and his friend Mark they are standing next to Jackie in many of the old class photos.  There were several class sections per grade.

This photo was taken fifty-three years ago..most everyone in this photo is retired or thinking about it.   We spoke with Betty the other day..the little gal in the second row sixth from the left..she is counting the years and the days until she is 65.

I asked Far Guy what he remembered about third grade.  He said “ I don’t recall the teachers name or anything that happened that year.”

My third grade memories:

Third grade seems so long ago..I remember it as the year that I learned how to do long division.  I struggled and struggled with it..until one day the light must have come on, from then on I could do long division.

My Teacher was Mrs. Stearns..a neighbor lady who died just last year. She was a wonderful teacher.  She had beautiful dark hair and wore red lipstick.  We said The Pledge of Allegiance in the morning and prayed before going for lunch in the cafeteria/gym.

I can almost feel the hard desk seat that swiveled to the side and see the desk that had a top that lifted up to expose where all my books and supplies were neatly stored.  The stub of a pencil is posed over my math paper, when I am not forming numbers I am making teeth marks in the outer shell of the yellow pencil.

Do you have any third grade memories that you would like to share today? :)

Wistful Wednesday: Cousins 1958

This is a photo taken in 1958 or 1959.  It is Far Guy and some of his cousins. It was taken at Uncle Ronald and Aunt Beryls house on the mill pond at Osage.  There are two older cousins not in this photo, they must have been away at school, or off doing teenage boy stuff.  It is fun for me to look at these kids,  I only have known them as teens/adults..Far Guy is the kid in the front row with the vertically striped shirt.  The little girl on the far left, died in 1969,  I met her only one time at the State Fair in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1968.  She died from Malignant Hyperthermia during a routine surgery.  There was also an elderly Aunt who died from the same thing. It seemed to be a familial thing..only affecting women.

Far Guys Dad took this photo, he loved the Polaroid cameras, he always had it along with him.  He would wait the appropriate amount of time after taking a photo, checking his watch, then he would rip off the covering and put the goop on.  The photographs were all in boxes that were in the front closet. Many of them were curled up, you have to uncurl them to look at the photo.   He would get them out and look at them in the evenings, a few photos found their way into photo albums...most of them stayed in those boxes.  I have always wondered what happened to them, and had hoped that one day we would find them.  We never did, that closet was directly beneath a valley in the roof and one year the ice and snow caused a dam on the roof and there was a leak down into the closet.  The photos could have been water damaged and thrown away.  We have very few photographs of Far Guy after he was fourteen.  No Easter photos and no Christmas photos..the 1964 to 1968 photos are few and far between.

Reasons we don't have photos.

1. Someone forgot the camera, or even worse, they forgot the film for the camera.
2. They took lots of great photos and they were lost at the developers.
3. They thought the camera was loaded with film, when it was in reality ..empty..this happened to me in 1994 at Jennifer's Graduation.  A hard pill to swallow.  I still feel guilty about it, I was able to get a few photos from my Mom, and one from a friend. So we can still remember that day..but it just isn't the same.
4. Photos are destroyed, or simply tossed away..because they are not perfect.  To me an imperfect photo is better than no photo.
5. While leaving a Gas Station someplace in Wyoming, the camera that was sitting on the dash..flew out the window and landed in the street:)