MRS. KIDDER

"'MRS. KIDDER LET A POOP INTO THE TOMATO SOUP!" is a 'poem' or rhyme I created in Third Grade while attending South Cornish Elementary School, a one-room affair with grades 1-4, where Mrs. Kidder taught. The tomato soup was part of the hot-lunch program set up during WWII and which eventually became a nation-wide program and now a 'right and necessity',perhaps an 'entitlement' for all school children. The tomato soup was probably the only thing I liked that Mrs. Kidder cooked or had. Her concoction of 'veg-all and eggs' I could not really stomach and it was so bad that I had my grandmother write a note to Mrs. Kidder to excuse me from eating it. I nearly gagged on the stuff. Of course, all the other pupils soon repeated my verse but I am not sure if Mrs. Kidder ever knew about it. Also at the time, the Maltex Cereal Company was urging pupils and school kiddies to eat a 'hot' cereal for breakfast every morning. Myself, I didn't really like Maltex or Hot Ralston,but I did like Cream of Wheat and a lot of cold cereals, like shredded wheat, cheerios, kix, quaker puffed rice or wheat, and sometimes PEP (which sometimes had pins and prizes) or FORCE (which had 'gold coins'). I tried most every cereal at one time or another and can't recall all the brands,etc. right now. Mrs. Kidder ruled the school with what might be termed, 'an iron hand' and I suppose I should be most grateful to her for stirring me up from my 'daydreams','fantasies' and 'personal thoughts and problems' udner her tutelage,since she had some 'unique' methods for doing so. If she saw you or thought you were so doing, not doing your lesson(s) or concentrating on the books in front of you or whatever, she would come slowly, silently by and YANK YOU OUT OF THE SEAT,SHAKE THE DAYLIGHTS OUT OF YOU, AND GRAB THE SOFT FLESH UNDER YOU CHIN, PINCHING IT TIGHTLY AND LOOKING ANGERILY AND INTENSELY INTO YOUR EYES AND SAYING: "Are you going to pay attention?" I was the recipient of this many times than I can recall but I never told my grandmother about such until years later. I think we were all 'shocked ' into submission by her. However, this was not the entire story. There was a girl, whom I shall call, "PATSY" who lived in the house across from the school and eventually came to class,first grade,maybe,because she was what was known in those days as 'RETARDED' and there were no special classes, schools or programs,etc. for such persons in those days. I recall one day when Mrs. Kidder escorted Patsy into the hallway-entrance,which was not in view of the school and carried with her a thick-looking yardstick(wood) and from our seats we could hear the 'whacks' across her body or legs and the girl being punished for not grasping what Mrs. Kidder had been trying to perhaps 'teach' her, 'cram down her throat' or whatever. The girl came back in the room with tears in her eyes, of course. I suspect she took her out of the room, not to spare the girl embarrassment but to vent her fury on her out of sight with no real witnesses to see what happened,although I am sure, the others, like myself, well knew. I mention this because when Mrs. Kidder retired after many years she was feted, congratulated, eulogized, and so forth being considered 'a great and dedicated' teacher,etc. and various testamonials perhaps were given,but I don't know. I wasn't there at the time. But in years I realize that Mrs. Kidder, childless, with a lazy husband, as many teachers of those days seemed to have if they were married, and, undoubtedly sexually frustrated, found herself going nowhere in life and doing a tiring,frequently difficult job,etc. But she could be most pleasant and smiling at times and give some lessons that were 'academic' and 'needed'.

THE FRONT SEAT KID

If you are reading this and have perhaps noticed that the address of this blog is 'the front seat kid, you may wonder about this. I consider myself a 'front-seat kid' because I grew up in an era of more freedom from certain restraints than children now can experience. I was free to have jackknife, a hatchet, to walk and wander the streets and woods, buy tobacco and cigarettes,etc. for others, have bows and arrows, hold guns and sometimes shoot them, do chores that involved manual labor of sorts, and to go to movies,etc. but I also was able to sit on the front seat of cars and trucks when cars and trucks were simply cars and trucks and not the type of today. I was free from being strapped into cars like an astronaut and cars were far more comfortable and ran fast but not at the speeds of today and the highways were not conducive to such speeds or races or 'hurry-ups". I will have more to say on this at a future date.

CARNIIVALS

LANCASTER FAIR

RUTLAND FAIR

HARTLAND FAIR

SOME OF MY COUSINS