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Everyone talks about the difficulties lefties had when leaning over their writing to reach the ink well. But if you remember, there were fewer lefties in those days. I was told that kids back then who wanted to write with their left hand were still trained to write with their right hand, and strongly discouraged from using their left. Is that true?
And BTW (by the way), these reminiscences are so interesting to read. Keep them coming.
Yes and no. Some were some weren't. As a leftie, I was always allowed to write with my left hand. I know others my age (69) I have met who attended other schools who where forced to used their right hands to write.
I believe it's mostly people who went to Catholic schools who have told me they were forced to make the switch. I also have a friend around my age in the UK who remembers the lefties in her class who were made to write right handed.
I remember using fountain pens that sucked up the ink and then ones that had cartridges. I liked the cartridges ones better because they were a lot less messy.
I loved fountain pens, and remember everyone being excited when the cartridges came out for less mess. My favorite was the peacock blue ink you could get. Imagine... this was before the invention of Sharpies.
omg, I remember the peacock blue! Wow, what a blast of the past memory!
My green plaid Catholic uniform hangs on a hook in my office along with my plaid beret. My Brownie uniform is on another hook.
We loved to play jump rope on that wonderful blacktop playground.
I wonder why the girls didn't wear nylon or better, silk stockings. In the depths of the Chicago winter I don't ever recall hearing a complaint from a member of the fair sex of any age.
It would have been unthinkable for girls to have worn anything but a skirt. I never heard a girl express a desire to wear anything else. In those days a young woman was proud of the fact.
I'm almost afraid to ask, but what do they do?
We wore leggings in Ohio. They were sort of bulky trousers you put on, with your dress over them, to go outside to play in the cold.
Yes and no. Some were some weren't. As a leftie, I was always allowed to write with my left hand. I know others my age (69) I have met who attended other schools who where forced to used their right hands to write.
I believe it's mostly people who went to Catholic schools who have told me they were forced to make the switch. I also have a friend around my age in the UK who remembers the lefties in her class who were made to write right handed.
My father, born 1903, attended Catholic schools in both Utah and Illinois. He always wrote with his left hand.
The left hand was the evil side traditionally. The Latin word for left is sinister although it had no pejorative meaning in that language as it does in English.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minervah
I remember using fountain pens that sucked up the ink and then ones that had cartridges. I liked the cartridges ones better because they were a lot less messy.
I've never had a cartridge pen. I still fill mine from the bottle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Windwalker2
We wore leggings in Ohio. They were sort of bulky trousers you put on, with your dress over them, to go outside to play in the cold.
In the Chicago area only very young girls, first and second grade, wore these. Older girls just wore socks, probably cotton.
For a place with very cold winters, people in the Chicago area have some strange habits. While they wear heavy coats few wear hats. In fact, wearing a hat still invites ridicule. I'm glad that I never cared about the opinions of others.
My wife, 74, is a leftie, was never forced to use her right hand. She went one year (6th grade) to a Catholic school and was never made to change hands.
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For a place with very cold winters, people in the Chicago area have some strange habits. While they wear heavy coats few wear hats. In fact, wearing a hat still invites ridicule. I'm glad that I never cared about the opinions of others.
Hmmm ...
Maybe you were observing the people downtown who were trying to be stylish. In the outskirts of Chicago, we all wore hats in winter, I assure you! As well as wool scarves around our necks and noses. And, yes, leggings under 'school skirt' uniforms (which could not be modestly removed ).
Nostalgia be d**med! I was always cold during winter, and hated being cold for that long a time. I'm sooooo glad to be living in SoCal now!
Maybe you were observing the people downtown who were trying to be stylish. In the outskirts of Chicago, we all wore hats in winter, I assure you! As well as wool scarves around our necks and noses. And, yes, leggings under 'school skirt' uniforms (which could not be modestly removed ).
Nostalgia be d**med! I was always cold during winter, and hated being cold for that long a time. I'm sooooo glad to be living in SoCal now!
I'm talking about the whole city and everyone except small children and old people. Men mostly didn't wear warm hats because they didn't want to look like sissies. My father had some ear protectors that fit under his fedora; people commented about those.
I assume that girls over seven abandoned leggings because of modesty.
I hope that Minervah will let us know what she remembers.
Wore tights like the above all through grade school winters and put leggins on top of them when it was really, really cold.
Luckily when I was in high school, panty hose were developed!
I worked in the Loop for many years. While many men did not wear hats, a lot did use ear muffs. Don't know why they were more acceptable to men. As a female, I always wore hats, ear muffs or a scarf but my ears were always covered!
Wore tights like the above all through grade school winters and put leggins on top of them when it was really, really cold.
Luckily when I was in high school, panty hose were developed!
I worked in the Loop for many years. While many men did not wear hats, a lot did use ear muffs. Don't know why they were more acceptable to men. As a female, I always wore hats, ear muffs or a scarf but my ears were always covered!
I don't think those had been invented when we used to walk to school. When I was in elementary school I remember being driven to school in the freezing cold winter but riding my bike otherwise. In junior high (no such thing as middle school back then) and high school girls wore knee socks. They weren't that warm and they were annoying because they kept sliding down around your ankles.
With the knee socks there was a cold zone between the top of the socks and the hem of your skirt. Right around the knees your skin would be red and sore from the cold.
We wore wool hats, gloves and scarves. Warm jackets or coats. It was never warm enough for the walk to school. I can't remember what we wore for hats but we must have worn something to keep our heads warm and our ears from falling off.
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