“Thirty-six Four-H Club members at Ranger School participated in the Club’s sewing project and modeled the clothing they made, last week at the club meeting. Dresses, blouses and aprons were made with the young ladies pictured above, judged as having the most outstanding garments. The photo includes Sue King, Helen McAfee, Brenda Truett (Granny’s cousin), Louzine Jenkins (Granny), Mary Rogers (Granny’s niece), Ann Payne, Barbara Haney, Christine Gladson, Sue Anderson, Annette Wallace, Wilma Jean Voyles, Pauline Rice, Donnie Hawkins, Jean Sneed, and Sarah McHan. (Scout Photo)”
—Cherokee Scout
Hard for me to believe summer is almost gone. When the girls were young, and even when I was young, I marked the end of summer by the time a new school year started.
Granny adored school. She loved everything about it. When she was in high school she developed rheumatic fever and had to miss a month of school. She hated missing school as much as she hated being sick.
Chatter and Chitter never really enjoyed school. When they were small they cried not to go and when they were older they tried to hurry it all along so they could be done with it.
I guess I was somewhere between Granny and the girls. I certainly didn’t like it as much as Granny, but I sure didn’t hate it as much as my girls did.
Paul’s school had their annual prayer walk over the weekend in preparation for the start of school. Prayers were said for a good school year as well as for anyone who may need prayer in the school community and beyond. We didn’t do anything like that when I was in school but I like that Paul does it every year. It’s not mandatory of course, but I think for the folks who attend it starts the year out on a good foot.
I love all the girls’ handmade attire in the photo above, but I can’t help but think Granny’s is especially pretty. She made many of our clothes when my brothers and I were little as well as her own. She made many matching outfits for her and me to wear. I have the polyester green and white dresses she made for us. Although I can’t remember wearing the smaller version I treasure both garments.
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This post brings alot of different topics/memories to mind. I loved the actual ‘school’ part, as I loved to learn. But the social part was tough, due to the fact that the town kids were very hard on us ‘farm kids’ that came in from the outlying areas of the district. I live in the geographically second largest school district in the whole state of NY. The town is a very small % of kids, but their parents were the teachers, business owners, etc… and they usually had a much higher standard of living & the ‘right’ last names. Many of us rural kids were very smart & worked hard, but often weren’t handed the opportunities w/in the district that we deserved. Even so, I did my best and always maintained very good grades & loved most of my teachers. But one place I did not excel in school, was home ec. I look at that particularly lovely outfit that your mother sewed & know I could never have done that in school! It was the only class (besides math) that I almost failed every time. Now, I cook, bake, sew, knit, can, etc… This gives my mom a laugh, because she remembers the hideous projects I would bring home & all the tears that accompanied them. But we also were not making such detailed & pretty items, either. Home Economics & Careers (as it was called in my school) focused more heavily on the ‘careers’ end, because nobody’s mother stayed home anymore. We made pretty much useless projects, like embroidered canning jar fabric covers. No one’s mother was canning anymore (not even mine, who did stay home). And we made toast and orange julius. Pathetic. My aunts and grandma would talk about the complicated things they did in home ec. I sometimes wonder if I was just bored & did not see the point. If something seems pointless, I just will NOT do it, just part of my personality. I have to say your mother was the prettiest girl in the photo! Natural beauty.
Hi all. I stayed to myself in school, but loved it!
Made a lot of my own clothes in my late 20’s and 30’s. Several of us women in church lead children and parents (moms) in sewing class. They buy simple machines to bring. We collected old blue jeans and made purses and satchels. Fun had by all! God bless
It’s plain to see that you and your girls have inherited great beauty of all sorts from Granny! I agree, her outfit is the prettiest!
The picture of your mother!! She is so beautiful! No wonder you and the girls are such Lookers! You three look just like her! So very very pretty.
I know that this of year for teachers is hectic time, getting ready for classroom setup, lesson plans an new challenges with new students. The first job I had after finishing my doctorate (in invertebrate zoology) was teaching high school science at a boarding coeducational school in Mississippi (from Oregon State University to rural Mississippi in 1973). I was trained with the hope to get a college position and to further my research interests. I found I was woefully underprepared to deal with lesson planning; keep in mind I had never had a course preparing me to be a high school teacher. Consequently, I probably dreaded getting ready for the new school year as much as many students do. After fours years I finally obtained a college position in Alabama, and later in Maryland. I didn’t dread the beginning of the new terms. Ironically, I finished my teaching career teaching high school science, again at a coeducational boarding school in Idaho. In all my years teaching high school with students, many of whom (at least the Freshman students) were away from home for the first time, we had some special problems. I don’t really miss getting ready for the new high school year to begin. By the way, Granny and those young ladies look like they did well in their sewing projects.
Granny was, and is, pretty. I like seeing pictures of what people looked like when they were young. Thanks for sharing this picture. I enjoyed school but was really happy when I graduated. There were 26 people in my graduating class; they were more like brothers and sisters rather than classmates. I had been in the same class with them from the first to the twelfth grade.
This has nothing to do with Granny’s picture but I enlisted in the Army 55 years ago yesterday; August 22, 1967 (it was my 20th birthday). Where has the time gone. Dennis Morgan
When I was in high school in the late 60’s, I had signed up for short hand but the class was full, so the counselor put me in advanced Home Ec. That was a disaster because I had never even sewn a button on & my Mom didn’t sew. The first semester was cooking & I never ate anything we cooked because 2 girls in my group always had dirty fingernails (I’m OCD so I couldn’t eat the food). I constantly got grade cuts for refusing to eat the food. The second semester was sewing & that was even worse for me. Since it was an advanced class, the girls were making even prom dresses. I made the ugliest white dress with big yellow polka dots with huge yellow buttons shaped like lemons. I was ashamed of it. I had long black hair way down my back & when I was leaning over the table to cut my pattern out for that ugly dress, I was not paying attention to cutting the pattern because I was talking & laughing with a friend, and my long hair fell over the pattern & I cut a large piece of my hair off. Making the same dress, which was suppose to have sleeves, I couldn’t figure out what some of the pattern pieces were for so I threw those away. Unfortunately those pieces were for the sleeves. So in summation, I hated Home Ec & school in general except being in the band & being a majorette. It is sad that I only got interested in growing veggies & being more domestic when I was about too old to succeed. Y’all have 3 generations of beautiful ladies! Granny, you & the girls look just alike.
What a great clipping! Those outfits are not easy sewing projects. Grannys’ is definitely the most beautiful.
My Mom sewed all her life & taught many others, including me. Every Christmas, Easter & prom outfit for my sister, me & in later years for my daughter, her only granddaughter. I loved how she always let us pick out the pattern & the material.
She also made curtains, bedspreads, tablecloths & placemats.
I can still remember the sound of that sewing machine foot pedal going late at night, when she finally had time to herself.
What a great newspaper picture and article for Granny and you to treasure. I love their skirts and aprons. I was in 4-H in 5th grade and made several sewing projects from their sewing workbook. In fact I still have that 4-H sewing workbook and I keep it in my sewing room among my sewing books.
I had a love/hate relationship with school, but it was not the school or the homework, it depended on who the teacher was at the time. I loved most my teachers throughout my school years, however I had a few that I just dreaded going into their classroom. How a teacher treats their students can make a big difference if a student loves school or hates it. I’ve always been thankful for all the teachers who had a true passion for teaching because it showed in how they taught and how they treated their students.
HEY HEY Miss Tipper! I surely have missed you and the BP&A blog! I’ve been down and out about 5 days with a flu like I’ve never had. I honestly didn’t know if I’d make it back here alive again. I’m so thankful to God He saw fit to save me. I loved the photo of the pretty young ladies in the 4 H showing off their cleverly attractive handwork. I’m going to have to agree with you that Granny’s outfit is the most beautiful and she surely was a beautiful young lady back then too! It’s easy to see the apple (pretty and sweet you and your girls) doesn’t fall far from the Granny tree!!! I too send prayers out for a safe school year for America’s children where they can learn and grow without fear or brain washing. I think kids today need to learn some skills like sewing, cooking, fishing and hunting as opposed to sitting like a bump on a log becoming brain dead, fat and lazy. Now that’s child abuse!
Such a great picture,especially her smile. I still make most of my clothes, and I dressed my two girls from infancy through high school. I sew for my youngest daughter, because she lives in town, and occasionally for my oldest, who lives in New York City.
Granny is beautiful! It looks like all of them did a mighty fine job with their sewing. My mother use to make a lot of my dresses, even made my prom dress one year and also made matching dresses on occasion for my niece and me when we were young. I miss young ladies dressing up, now days it seems like anything goes. I love that a lot of schools do the prayer walk. I think it’s so important that we pray for the children and their leaders and also our country now more than ever.
Thanks for sharing. Granny looks great in the picture. She certainly has a lot of talent. I loved some classes in school certainly not all.
How’s the community center doing?
Thank you for another interesting story. Back in the 60 s when I was in high school, the smell of new blue jeans was very prevalent during the first days of school. Of course back then the schools were not air conditioned , which created a better atmosphere for the smell which I will always remember.
Your mother looked lovely, they or their mothers were skilled seamstresses. I enjoyed school for the most part, but had a rough patch starting in high school as I was nervous about starting at the much bigger high school as several towns regionalized in the mid 70s. I got over it though. My daughter, an only child was thrilled to start school but had a less pleasant time in high school. Things had changed for the worse in public schools here in Massachusetts by that time. Were I able to do it over I would home school.
Yes, there is an ‘end of summer’ look beginning to.show up in nature and there is that feel in the air. I’m sure I have posted this before but an old man I worked with years ago called the late summer flowers the “farewell to summer” flowers. I am seeing goldenrod budded up to bloom and some of the trees look yellow-green.
I am sure we lost several things of value when the small country schools phased out. When I was still in grade school there was a mix I think. I rode a bus into the county seat town but that bus also served a small country school along the way that must had been for lower grades. But there were other schools that had already been closed. I read somewhere once that the effort was to have schools spaced about every six miles apart so kids walking to school would not have to walk more than 3 miles. Just think, they got their exercise every day to.
I do remember “Home Ec” being a high school class. I guess it also went away not long after my time. It was always a standing challenge among us guys for some one of us to take it. We thought it was a big joke. But looking back, I wish I had. The truth is that without my wife I would be a helpless babe in the woods about several things. I would likely mix colors with whites and use hot water!
Tagging on…my youngest full sister had rheumatic fever in?’62 or ’63. When there’s a change in her medical status, she’s right on it. They have new fangled antibiotics these days but penicillin is what still works for her.
Kinda funny, but one dr prescribed a couple for me and I had a reaction both times so the dr put them on my ‘allergy list’. This last time, I asked for penicillin cause it’s a simple thing comparatively. And, it worked!
I loved school mostly cause it got me out of chores at home. I was first born and was assigned 95% of all responsibilities.
When my kids were small and just moved into a very small rural area, I volunteered as a 4H Leader in order to meet people and took my kids even though they were too young to join. They met people and grew up in 4H. They learned to make speeches (a requirement) and took on responsibilities of raising an animal, met so many good friends, learned to follow-through with commitments, and had a great time learning. I can’t praise 4H enough. I volunteered and parents helped out. There were no funds for this from school or county – just people wanting to learn. I volunteered to teach a quilting class but people who came had to pay for the services (to pay for rent of building) but so many people loved to come and learn and socialize. The county made it clear that it had to pay for itself and we all wanted to make it possible. My son learned early about raising a pig then selling it to a butcher – hard lesson. My daughter learned to sew then model her efforts. In order to earn the 4H pin for work accomplished, the child had to complete a workbook, demonstrate some aspect to all the other students, then enter some competition for final completion. It was lessons learned to last a lifetime! In your photograph, I noticed that some of the girls were wearing large black elastic bands as ‘belts’ and remember wearing these as the latest and greatest fashion accessory. Girls were not allowed to wear pants back then and in Wisconsin, it was VERY cold during the winter while we walked to school , home for lunch, back to school then home after school – in slush and ice and snow and snowballs aimed by naughty boys hiding behind snow forts. So we wore pants under our dresses and were so very thankful that during our last years in school they began allowing girls to wear pants. Progress/change is difficult.
Tipper, you and the girls look so much like Granny when she was young. She was beautiful then and still is. It’s so good to know that Paul’s school is getting started with a prayer walk. It would be a blessing to see more school leaders do the same thing. School didn’t start until after Labor Day when my girls were young. I read that students are given an excused absence if they want to attend the state fair this year.
Those are some good genes and I can see so much of her in you and your girls! Thanks for sharing.
Granny’s love of Happy printed fabric is evident now and in this beautiful picture of her and the students! Loved the Mom-Daughter matching outfits of the ’50s-’60s … … many fun photos of my talented seamstress Mom and her daughters, all look-alike for special occasions and Sunday Go-To-Meetin’.
I agree, your granny’s is the prettiest. She’s also the prettiest girl in the group with her beautiful dark hair.
I admire Paul for doing the prayer walk. All schools should do this; a great way to start the school year and MUCH needed. Although I did like Home Ec class, I’m like the girls, I didn’t like going to school either and was SO glad when it was over. Love the picture of the girls in their home made dresses, aprons, etc. Now days I suppose there aren’t too many who sew their own clothes.
Granny visually reminds me of Corie. We get so many traits from our kin folk.
Granny is beautiful in this picture. Notice she gave her apron some personality by adding a ruffle at the bottom We made plain white aprons our first year in Home Ec. Teacher did let us add some color yarn through the stitches at the waist. Glad Paul is passing on the prayer walk.
Father Time has sure beat me up with the ugly stick in my ripe old age, but I have to say, Granny was quite the looker in her day! Beautiful inside and out!
I’m with your Granny; I loved school, every bit of it. My aunt taught me how to sew and I made my own jumpers for school. Every school year she would give me some fresh fabric to make my new outfits. Pleated jumpers were all the rage and I became quite good at making those pleats. I never did like putting in sleeves though!
I sewed when I was younger. I loved being able to take a piece of material and creating clothing from it. I sewed for years then I quit. I think I was just tired of it.
I’m with you, Tipper, I can’t quite believe summer is almost gone.
Granny sure looks nice in her new homemade outfit! Granny is still creating with her hands, now it is crocheting…she is always busy!
It is interesting, I also had rheumatic fever. I was young when I had it. They told me that all my fingernails and toenails came off because my fever was so high. I’m glad that I do not remember it!
Granny is a beauty. I love to see females of all ages dress like females. I think we lost that in the late 50’s when ladies began wearing ‘trousers’. Seems ladies don’t sit the same with dresses on as they do with pants or shorts or the like. Thanks for sharing Tipper…ok, I will get off my soapbox. Have a Bless day everyone and God Bless.
The elementary school is across the road from our church and parsonage. We met last night to pray for the upcoming school year that will begin on Monday. So grateful these prayer meetings were held at all schools in our county. I’m glad to hear others are doing this as well.
Iremember those mither and daughter dresses. My momma and I never had them, but I thought they we so wonderful.
Tipper,
I noticed “anklets” were being worn by all the young ladies?
I am so glad that you still have those happy memories.
I also did not like school, but that was nothing compared to how much my daughter hated school from the very first day to the last day of high school.
What a lovely article and I can certainly see where your beauty comes from.
I wanted to add to my comment already here, that I wish communities offered more, and better, affordable classes for adults. Many offer English as a second language, and that is wonderful, but I wish they would offer classes beyond flower arranging, or pottery, too. Not that those classes don’t have people interested in them – but there are so many other interests and skills that would be fun to learn. Sometimes I contemplate about moving, and when I think of a city I might be interested in, the first thing I start looking online for are the adult learning opportunities in that area. One thing I have been toying with is to get my doctorate in history. I may or may not do this eventually. But I think about doing it just because I can. It’s not a career move, it’s simply a desire because of my passion for learning and knowledge. And honestly, it would be absolutely cool to earn a doctorate in history! You should never stop challenging your brain.
Donna. : )
I don’t know if home ec is still offered in schools anymore. By the time I was in high school, it was pretty much phased out. So many classes and after school activities had been eliminated altogether due to California laws (no funds given to support them), and kids not being interested in them anymore. When I see articles like the one your Mom is in, and see all the girls in the group, it makes me so sad that society thinks so little of homemaking skills. As an adult, I was amazed to find out there use to be a sister program to FFA called Future Homemakers of America. I would have been very active in that program had it still been around when I was in school. I love everything about homemaking.
I think it is wonderful that Paul does the prayer walk every year. I participated this year, even though I wasn’t there in person, I prayed during the time the walk was going on at his school. I think it is very important to cover our school staff and students in prayer everyday. My grandmother was a school principal, so I grew up understanding how important schools, and education in general, really is. I love learning to this day, and have taken a lot of classes that are offered by adult education programs through community colleges, school districts, parks programs, museums, etc.. We should never quit expanding our knowledge. It’s good exercise for the brain!
Thank you for this great post!
Donna. : )