One thing school taught me was how to save money. I learned a valu- able lesson in doing this. My whole class was encouraged to save. We took dimes and placed them in card slots, which we turned into the bank for deposit after collecting a dollar. My memory is vague on this, but I recall the thrill of an account that slowly came near to ten dollars! Upon graduation from elementary school, I moved on to Dewey Jr. High School; it was on the other side of the playground. Even though it was still just around the corner, it was still a big step for me. I was now one of the upperclass- men on the school grounds at the ages of 13 and 14! The Parent-teacher night was the biggest event during those years. I was always proud if I could get one of my parents to show up. Both schools are gone today, and the buildings have been torn down; they are just empty lots. All just memo- ries and a few photos. Chester itself fell into blight after World War ll. These properties are still empty as of this writ- ing in 2013. Looking back, I have warm memories of all those years, including all the usual teenage traumas.
Herman with book bag
I always wore a type of short pants called knickers to school. My father made them for me. I wore these with long socks that went over my knees. Those socks were often darned. Mother wasn’t about to throw out perfectly good socks just because they had a few holes in the toes. My underwear was a union suit, a one-piece garment with a buttoned flap on the back and buttons in the front. Women wore bloomers. Nothing had zippers. I don’t think they had been invented yet. Regardless, no matter how I dressed, my mother, would look at me and yell, “Slob,” as she used to run after me with a comb. Every morning, rain or shine, I’d be off to school early, getting there just before the bell rang. I’d meet up with my playmates, line up outside and march in. During recess, we would shoot marbles, play group sports, or run around the schoolyard like wild Indians.
Fly-Leaf table hand built by Herman(13-14) junior High School, 1938
115
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease