I Stuck My Neck Out For You Kids

Longfellow photo courtesy of the Erie School District.

"I stuck my neck out for you kids," said the giraffe.

"Why do you always have your nose in the air? Do you think you're too good for this class?" said the gorilla.

"You seem nice, but a tiger never changes its stripes," said the elephant. 

OK, enough of the corny one liners. The kids who are sitting on the floor painting were students at Longfellow Elementary School which was located at 509 West 8th Street in Erie, PA. The subjects, from left to right, include a gorilla, a tiger, an elephant and a giraffe. The students... who knows.

This scene reminds me of the art class that I used to take in the basement at the Erie Public Museum in the mid-seventies. We met at a nearby school for one summer. We used to listen to the radio while we worked on projects and there is one incident that sticks in my mind. The Charlie Daniels song "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" came on and one of the Borczons jumped up and started singing. This was pretty funny, but we were in hysterics when he played the air fiddle. He would have been a YouTube sensation if only we had a video camera (or access to the Internet). Then again, if I had this incident on video, I probably would have forgotten it long ago. 

Find more frivolous facts about Erie, Pennsylvania at: Old Time Erie

Planes, Trains, Good Looks and Brains

A cute little girl coloring working on an art project. Photo courtesy of the Erie School District.

"I hope that cute little Fran Schanz will come over and teach me to draw. Hey, is he even watching me?" 

Of course I have no idea what this doe-eyed little girl is thinking, but it's fun to look at old pictures and try and imagine a scenario. It looks like this Erie School District student was studying planes, trains and automobiles, along with other modes of transportation like tricycles. Maybe her family was about to move far away because there is a 1955-era Allied Van Lines truck just to the right of her head. There might even be a '56 Chevy Nomad and a '56 Corvette pasted on the board. 

I remember decorating boards like this at the end of the hallway when I was in elementary school. I would bring in magazines like Woman's Day and Family Circle after my mom was done reading them, and use the little safety scissors to hack away and try to cut out a proper shape without lopping off an important piece of the picture. The next step was to apply an evenly spread layer of Elmer's glue to the back of the picture and try to stick it to the butcher's paper without wrinkling it or dropping it on the floor. 

It never failed that the little white container of Elmer's had a layer of caked on glue dribbled down the orange cap. I'd peel off the residue, twist the cap, squeeze, and get NOTHING! Then I'd have to untwist the entire cap, run it under water in the little sink, and hope the weird kid didn't have enough time to drink all my glue. 

OK, where was I? Oh, yeah. Being transported back in time to the days when I would peel off the wrappers and melt the crayons on the cast iron radiators next to the windows. 

Discover more weird and wonderful tales of Erie, Pennsylvania at Old Time Erie