Warm Clothes, Cold Days, 1950's

Brrrr it's cold outside today. I bundled up, even for the quick dash to the mailbox. Long pants, no question about that.

But for girls at this grammar grade school in the 1950's the cold brought about a different challenge. They had to wear dresses, no arguments, that's just the way things were. To add insult to injury, they didn't just dash from the bus to the school. They had to wait outside in the cold until the bell rang.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then cold is the sister of resourcefulness and resourceful these girls were. They'd wear flannel pajama bottoms under their skirts and push them above their knees during class. They'd wear jeans under their dresses and slip them off when they went inside. The older girls would huddle behind the wellhouse. The younger ones would run and play and sweat and be plenty warm when they finally went inside.

They grew up strong and sturdy and rarely sick.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen