In 1951, I was 9 years old and in Mrs. Lewis's 4th grade in Kasson, MN. I really enjoyed school that year because one of our projects was to make paper models of the Columbus ships the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Another one of our daily (or weekly) exercises was for each child to stand before the class and read a paragraph or two out of a text book. When it was my turn to stand and read, everyone in class started giggling and I didn't know why, I thought I was reading the material quite well. Then I noticed a buddy staring at the wide open zipper in my trousers! Fortunately Mrs. Lewis politely excused me and said I could sit down. I quickly remedied the situation and the giggling stopped. My "incident" must have happened during the winter months because I remember wearing corduroy* trousers and I remember how the ribbed fabric legs on those pants made a noise as they rubbed together when I walked. I find it curious that of all my childhood memories, this particular one stands out in my mind. Maybe it is because of the great embarrassment it caused a young boy who only wanted to be liked and accepted by his classmates.
*From Answers.com: Corduroy pants are trousers or jeans made with corduroy fabric, a cut-pile fabric like velvet with ribs (narrow, medium or wide). From a distance, narrow wales corduroy pants look like velvet pants. Such pants or jeans are usually called corduroys. The word "corduroy" was inspired by the French words "corps du roi" which meant it was an garment of the king. Nowadays, French call that fabric "velours côtelé". Translated in English word for word, it would mean "corded or waled velvet". Corduroy is usually 100% cotton."
Grade School in Kasson, MN
(Photo taken by Humble Blogger in April 1980
