MPT Part 5: Third Grade, Pudding, and Progress

This is the fifth in a series of blogs I'm writing for Mommy's Piggy Tales .  Janna has provided a forum for members to write and share stories from their youth. Believe me, this is a lot of fun!

Third Grade, Historic Pudding, and Progress

Third Grade in our elementary school was upstairs...big deal, in my eyes!  My teacher was also the principal, the dreaded Miss Corners.  She was the stereotype stern spinster school teacher who scared most children (and their parents).   I didn't have any problems with her, but I tried my best not to test her patience!  Since she was the principal, she had more "student helpers" than other teachers...for jobs like answering the school phone (in a booth in the stairwell half a flight downstairs), taking notes around the building to all the teachers and waiting for an initial (no intercom in those days), and everyone's favorite -- operating the "lost and found."  Now these may not seem like huge tasks, but 3rd graders were eager to help on a rotating schedule.   All 3rd Graders were learning to be good citizens in the school community!   In fact, these responsibilities are my most vivid memory of school that year. 

My mom (far right) and siblings who loved pudding in1920s.

Throughout our school days, we always went home for a delicious lunch.  A real treat was having warm cornstarch pudding.  Sometimes Mom made red circular "moons" on top of each bowl which reminded her of her own childhood in the 1920s.  I loved the old stories she told and the pudding too.  Similarly, our children enjoyed cornstarch pudding and now I share it with our grandchildren.  I smile thinking that  four generations have had the same favorite lunch dessert.  My grandmother used cherries for the red color.  Mom and I turned to food coloring.  Our granddaughter has suggested a swirl technique.

2010 version of the moons (left).  Granddaughter prefers a swirl pattern.  Gotta lick the bowl, too.

In the 1950s our small Nebraska town was really progressing with two new technologies.  The first was dial telephones that replaced the old switchboard system.  When I picked up the phone, the operator would say  "Number, please."  And to call my cousin, I'd say very clearly  " Five two one" not five hundred twenty one.  "Thank you."  "You're welcome."  Telephone etiquette was very important!  Otherwise, you might get the wrong number.  Our home phone was 469; Grandma 403, St. Joseph's Church 345, the Farm 1731.  Rural numbers were party lines and had four digits.  Our farm was 1731.  The area was "17" and our ring was "3 longs and 1 short."   Why do I remember these things??? 

And the other technology was of course, TV!  The larger cities like Omaha and Lincoln had TV stations, but reception was weak in towns like ours. People installed an outdoor antenna and it helped if you had a higher elevation.   My grandparents were among the first to get a TV set, a Zenith with a round screen. Fortunately, they lived at the top of a hill.   My grandfather was eager to try latest thing.   My grandmother was totally delighted because  suddenly they had more frequent visitors like their sons(!), cousins, and friends.  She wasn't that interested in the shows, but the company was fantastic. Popular shows were "What's My Line?"  "The Ed Sullivan Show" and everyone's  Monday favorite, "I Love Lucy."

1951 birthday, the day of TWO parties.  Ages 12 and 9.

My sister and I turned  12 and 9 on our November birthday, 1951.  Our house remodeling was completed.  Here we are seated on the painted radiator with a padded cover that Mom made.  Again, my cake had to be bigger that M's.  I loved my dress, a navy blue with flower appliques.  This year we each had a party.  Mine was with 3rd Grade friends in the afternoon.  M had a sleepover that night with junior high classmates.  Now that was a full day!   Over the years, we had several birthday parties, but not each year. 



On a serious note from this era (1951-1953),  I remember how frightened parents and children were by a national epidemic of polio, also called infantile paralysis.  In our town, two girls slightly older than my sister, were stricken and disabled the rest of their lives.  A boy one year behind me in our grade school had his arm paralyzed, and he wore an unusual brace for some time.  But by the time we got to Junior High, he had regained his strength.   The radio newscasts had daily updates on the scary number of cases. I recall overhearing my mother and aunt talking about polio and both were in tears.  How could they protect their children?   People thought the disease might be spread in swimming pools, so we did not swim one summer. They may have actually closed the pool for a while.   Incredibly by the end of the decade, the Salk vaccine was available as a shot and a few years later we had the Sabin oral polio vaccine.  Thankfully, this crippling disease was effectively eradicated by the end of the decade.