1960s Childhood Memories - Grade School / Grammar School Years

FLOOR SCOOTERS

Sometimes our teacher would get out wooden scooters for us to play on. They were square wooden boards attached to four small wheels. You sat on the scooter, held on with your hands and scooted with your feet. We often had races scooting forward or scooting backward. You could go a lot faster by going backwards, although sometimes you went so fast you fell off your scooter.

Other times, we'd lie on our stomachs on the scooter with our feet up in the air, and move by pushing along the floor using our hands. We used sort of a paddling motion, like swimming. You had to keep out of the other kids' way or you got your hands run over.

It was fun flying around so fast. If we crashed, we got banged up a little - but nothing drastic since we were so close to the floor.

DODGE BALL

When we played dodge ball, we divided up into two teams and each team had a certain number of balls to use to try to hit kids on the other team. If you were hit by a ball, you were out and had to leave the area. The remaining kids kept playing until only one person was left. The balls were red, about the size of a soccer ball, but softer. It didn't hurt to be hit by a ball, probably because the gym room wasn't very large and we weren't throwing the balls all that hard.

EXERCISES

We also had to do exercises such as jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-ups, touching our toes, jumping rope, or running laps around the gym. Sometimes the teacher pulled out floor mats and we did somersaults and cartwheels, or tried to stand on our hands.

ROPE CLIMBING

There were two large ropes hanging from the ceiling and we were expected to climb to the top. One rope had huge wooded balls (or knots) for you to put your feet on to rest as you pulled yourself up. That's the rope everyone started on.

The other rope was just a rope. You had to have strong arm muscles to pull yourself up on this one, although you could use your feet or knees to grab hold of the rope if you could get a good grip. Once you reached the top, you had to climb down slowly or you'd get rope burns on your hands.

WALKING TO SCHOOL

Our school was close to a mile away and on nice days, it was fun to walk back and forth. We didn't have to carry big backpacks like kids do today.

Girls had to wear dresses to school and it was miserable in extremely hot and cold weather. When it was hot, our legs would be sweaty and we'd stick to the seats of our desk. In the winter, our legs would be cold and turn beet red. They'd hurt and then itch until they finally got warm.

In the winter I had to wear black rubber boots with buckles on them, but I took them off at the top of the hill and left them behind some bushes. I didn't want to wear them to school, because most of the girls had pretty white, yellow or red colored boots.

When we got home from school in the winter, we ran to a heat vent and sat on it to warm up.

RECESS

We had recess twice each day unless it was raining. We even had to go outside when it was freezing cold. Our playground had some big concrete culverts that we used as tunnels. When it was really cold, we huddled inside until the teacher ran us out. They wanted us to get fresh air, even when it was cold air!

Nothing was organized on the playground - we just played. Sometimes we played tag, jumped rope, played hopscotch, or played on the playground equipment. There was a huge slide, monkey bars, merry-go-round, chinning bars, and swings. To go really fast down the slide, we sat on wax paper that we brought from home. Whew!

There were tetherball poles, too, and I loved to play. A ball hung from a rope and was attached to the top of a metal pole. Normally, two kids played and they stood on opposite sides of the pole. Each kid tried to hit the ball one way; one clockwise and the other one counterclockwise. If you missed the ball, the rope swung around the pole and each time you missed, the rope got shorter. When one kid managed to wind the ball all the way around the pole so that it is stopped by the rope, he won. If you didn't have anyone to play with, you could play alone. You hit the ball, turned around and hit it again; back and forth until you got tired.

Photo by Originality Since 1994 Photography on Flickr

When I was a kid, there were three television stations; ABC, CBS, and NBC. In the evenings, we watched whatever my dad watched. On Saturday mornings, we kids watched about 3 hours of cartoons and then went out to play.

On Saturdays, I liked cartoons such as Huckleberry Hound, Popeye, Quick Draw McGraw, Mr. Magoo, Mighty Mouse, The Flintstones, Road Runner, Tom and Jerry, and Yogi Bear.

In the evenings, I remember watching The Lucy Show, Gomer Pyle, USMC, Petticoat Junction, Get Smart, The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, Hogan's Heroes, I Dream of Jeannie, The Monkees, That Girl, Green Acres, Mission Impossible and Gilligan's Island

Many of my experiences could have taken place anywhere, but certain ones are only of St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS GATEWAY ARCH

We got to see the Gateway Arch being built. You could see the arch from such a long distance, so it was easy to keep track of the progress. We couldn't see it from our house, but we lived close enough to St. Louis to often be in an area where it was visible.

It was neat to see the ends put in place, then it was built a little higher, and then higher again, until finally there was only a gap between them at the top. It was so exciting when the two ends finally met and the arch was complete. Construction of the arch started on February 12, 1963 and was completed on October 28, 1965. It opened to the public on July 24, 1967.

I didn't get to go up into the arch until years later because my family moved out of the area in 1968. You just can't imagine the size of the arch until you stand on the ground and look up. The view from the top is great, but the ride is cramped.

Gateway Arch Facts

BUSCH BASEBALL STADIUM

We were all St. Louis Cardinal fans. My dad always listened to the games on the radio. I remember Stan Musial, Lou Brock and Dizzy Dean. Before each game, everyone in the stadium sang the chorus to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.