Catholic Schooldays--1950

What was Catholic gradeschool like back in the late 40's and early 50's? Here are some memories.

1. Tuition at the Catholic grade school was $1 per month, with a lower cost for families with 3 or more children. One family in our school had 18 children.
   
2. Only sisters in full habit taught in the school, and most seemed quite young.
   
3. The sisters lived in a convent house owned by the parish and they cooked their own meals, often with food donated by parishioners. Finally, they needed another house because so many nuns came, and they rented one across the street. One or two nuns had to crawl up the ladder and sleep on mattresses in the attic because no other sleeping space was available.
   
4. The sisters had no car and they did not drive, so they relied on a volunteer woman driver (one of my aunts) to take two of them to the grocery store and the department store once a week. I got to go along at least once and it was lots of fun being with the sisters in the crowded car.
   
5. A lot of the sisters were good artists in that they painted holy cards, signs for the classroom with wonderful script, and made decorations with Easter palms. [Later, I once borrowed some of their handmade script patterns to make pro-life signs.]
   
6. We girls were especially interested in whether the nuns had blonde, brown, or black hair. Only rarely did a wisp of hair peeking out from under her headpiece reveal the actual color. One day we were astonished to learn that our teacher had a sunburn on her arms because she rolled up her sleeves to to wash her clothes.
   
7. Handwriting was a very important skill to practice and learn.
8. The English textbooks with stories and associated artwork had already changed from the Misericordia readers series by the Sisters of Mercy to English readers that were not nearly as good. [Perhaps the influence of John Dewey and his friends.]
   
9. Occasionally, we were allowed to buy candy and gum during school from a Sister who made money for the nuns by selling a candy bar or a pack of gum for 5 cents each.
10. We had three recesses each day, 15-min ones during the morning and afternoons and an hour-long recess at noon. We ate our lunch rapidly so we could go outside and play. Softball, tag, volleyball, and other games were typically non-structured.
    
11. School started only after Labor Day and we were finished by about May 20.
    
12. Organ music was played in church--only from the balcony to the rear.
13. The kneelers in church had no padding and we knelt on wood. Our church, like almost all, had no air conditioning during the summer, so early Sunday Masses at 6:00 am or 8:00 a.m. were best. No microphone either, the priest was expected to preach loud enough to hear.
14. On First Fridays, the mothers fixed us hot chocolate and doughnuts after Mass. That morning, the school water faucets were covered with brown paper bags because we were not allowed to drink water after midnight if we wanted to receive communion.
    
15. Father X always passed out the report cards--looking carefully at each one and making us very nervous because he saw our grades first.
16. The Baltimore Catechism and a small gray Bible history were our religion textbooks. And we memorized the answers.
    
17. We students especially looked forward to the color comic book that came once a month, Treasure Chest.
    
18. I was confronted during a visit to the Blessed Sacrament during recess by the pastor who asked why I wasn't wearing something on my head. I responded it was recess and the visit was unplanned. I remember asking the priest whether it was better not to make a visit if I didn't have a head covering. He responded by leaving me to pray alone in the silent church.
    
19. I knew only one child of divorced parents during my entire time in grade school.