Great stories - as usual. Mickey's shirt seems to have stretched a bit ... or did they sew an extra panel in back, do ya figger? ole joyful

Thanks, moonie for getting it going. I had a funeral to go to this a.m. Any time I'm not around, anyone should feel free to start the thread...it's not mine, but ours. So if I haven't gotten it going, have at it and enjoy! I'll catch up eventually. ----------------- Father O'Seamus, at the pulpit told us that the end of the world is near, and we must be prepared. He said, "Stand up, all those that want to go to heaven." Of course, we all stood up right away. And he said, "Stand up, all those that want to go to hell." Nobody stood up except Muldoon. Father said, "Muldoon, do you want to go to hell?" He said, "No father, but I didn't like to see you standing there by yourself." -- Hal Roach

If you did not follow #5, you might not be able to adhere to #3 as well. In 1914, the modes of travel were by train, automobile at 30 to 40 mph tops, horse back, horse and light weight 2 wheeled cart, horse and buggy, or walking. School let out a 4pm and you were supposed to be in bed by 8pm. This is a 4 hr window to have a meal and make a trip out of town and get back to be in bed by 8pm. It was not advisable to travel on public roads after dark by horse unless you had a well lighted carriage. In those days, most owners of carriages did not have lighting gear. Apparently, these were sexist rules. When you read the full set of these rules, these were aimed at female teachers. I doubt that male teachers wore petticoats. I wonder how the city limit could apply to the popular country grade schools. There were no city limits in rural farmland. Also, school districts could exist partly in two counties crossing the county line. (I attended such a school.) This must have been a set of rules for a city school, and apparently, the school board was a controlling dingbat. However, there may have been a reason for placing a tight rein on female teachers. One problem did exist in those old schools and that was distrust of a possible romantic encounter of a teacher with a student. The teacher was the sole adult present all day. Early pairing of couples were common at that time. Some girls married by age 16 and boys by age 18. The normal age for a boy to complete the 8th grade was 14, but this did not happen in all cases in rural, 1914, farmland USA. Boys were needed in the fields as early as age 10. Depending on the circumstances of a family, a boy might use 3 years to complete the 8th grade, if he completed it at all. Therefore, it was possible to have a 17 yr boy in the 8th grade with an 18 to 20 yr old teacher. In 1900 in rural areas, the only requirement for a grade school teacher was to have finished 8th grade herself and be in good standing with the community. I believe that by 1914, most schools required that the teacher would have some schooling beyond the 8th grade. (I'd have to research this know the specifics. I'm quoting from some findings from my family's genealogy.)

A little girl was sitting on her Grandfather's lap. She gazed at him carefully and asked, " Grandpa, did God make you?" "Yes, God made me," her Grandfather replied. "Did he make me, too?" she asked. "Yes he did," he said. The little girl thought for a minute, then said, "He's getting better, isn't he?"