Money

Money was always in short supply when I was growing up. I remember my Aunt Francis telling my mom, "Just wait until your children are in High School, it is so expensive."

At that time we couldn't imagine how. After all in grade school, the only expense we had was clothes, shoes, and food. The school provided dental, eye-checks, paper, pencils, books, work books, and, oh yes, teachers.

In high school, it was a different story. We had to provide our own paper. Our own pencils/pens. We were requested to use a typewriter if possible for our essays. Typewriters were not something that every home had. And clothes. Well, it wasn't like in grade school -- one or two dresses, a pair of shoes, a pair of sneakers, and several pairs of socks and underwear. No, in high school something ugly cropped up -- peer pressure.

I couldn't wear the same dress everyday to school. I mean most girls had at least six outfits.

So, what were we to do. Well, that's when mom taught me to sew. I know, I had to learn to sew in Home Ec -- a required subject for all freshman girls -- but I was fortunate enough to have a mother who had taught me the summer before I started in high school. So, I sewed my own clothes. Patterns cost 25 cents, and most material was only $1 a yard. One yard of material, one zipper, one spool of thread, and one pattern -- total cost for a skirt, $2. Blouses cost about the same.

And then there was the expense of those wonderful gym suits -- one-piece jumpsuits -- short, not long. (The picture shows it in blue, mine was red.) As I recall they cost $12 -- not much money you say. It was for our family. And personal products were required to be in our gym bags (another expense) like deodorant, and those monthly woman's supplies. And, we had to have a certain kind of gym shoe. Keds, white. And they had to be clean. No scuffs or dirt. Yes, we had inspections in gym class. The suit had to be ironed, and the gym shoes had to be clean.

And who could forget the high-school sweater. Ours were red, with three blue stripes. The goal was to get a "letter" to sew on the sweaters. At the time I purchased mine they were $30 -- that was a lot of money, a lot of saving. It took me almost two years to get enough to buy one -- late in my sophomore year. I never opted for a high-school jacket. I wanted a leather jacket instead. Another thing I had to save for. Those bottles we could turn in for two cents or five cents were my main source of income.

Back then I was a size zero (although the smallest size in any store was a size 5), so I nipped and tucked everything, to get it to my skinny size.

Do you know I was called "Olive Oyl" because I was so thin? Hard to believe, isn't it. I was so thin I wore three slips (on non-gym days) so I'd look heavier. I refused, however, to stuff my bra with non-human materials -- no tissues or cotton or handkerchiefs for me. So, I was a flat-chested young woman with a home-sewn wardrobe, which I would add to as often as I had time.

And another expense of high school was trips -- I never went on any. The class ring. The annual year books. Lunch was cheap -- 35 cents for a full lunch. Back then you either got the whole lunch or you got nothing. You didn't have to eat the full lunch, but you couldn't just buy the pizza. And there was never anything other than milk or water to drink. No soda, no fruit juice. Milk came with the lunch.

So, Aunt Fran was correct, high school did become an expense which mom and dad bore, as much as possible, and after me they had three more to "put through." Then started college. Another tale for another day.