Dear Diary,
This morning I heard a loud noise coming from somewhere in the town. It sounded like RING!
RING! RING! RING! RING! It was the sound of the school bell! Quickly I raced out of bed, ate
my flapjacks, and sprinted to school. Right as I walked in, there was a loud hoot of laughing. At
first I didn’t know what was going on but then I looked at what I was wearing. I was still in my
bloomers, my worsted slippers, and my filthy blouse! I was so shocked I started to cry. “Dry those
tears up,” my teacher whispered in my ear. I was happy to hear her voice. She saw my bright red
face, and told the class to quiet down or they would get smacked with the switch. After they heard
that you could hear a pin drop. Next, she got me some clean clothes, and the day went on. We did
some writing with our nib pens. Next some arts and crafts, we had our spelling bee and then it was
time for recess. At recess we played “Honey do you love me?” After recess we had more writing,
social studies, and reading. Then it was time for dismissal. I ran home as fast as I could. I opened
the doors to my cottage, darted up the stairs and wrote in my diary. Now, I’ll always remember to
never sleep in again. That’s how my day ended, how was yours?
Sincerely,
Andreana
10-4-1900
Dear Diary,
Today my teacher Miss Hill punished me for being late! Oh, it was so embarrassing to stand in front
of everyone with her hitting my knuckles with the wooden stick that I could practically feel my face
turning as red as a tomato! Diary, I hadn’t meant to be late, but eating my delicious cornmeal cake
with molasses, then helping mother with the dishes seemed to take forever. When writing time
came I used the nib pen so well that Miss Hiss showed the whole class! Can you believe it? It’s
almost too good to be true! Thank heavens that my desk is in the front row, because I don’t have to
worry about the person in front of me wiggling and messing up my writing. I could tell my mother
was being nice, because at lunchtime I discovered a maple sugar candy wrapped in shiny silver
paper! My little brother, Frederic and Alanzo and my big sisters and brother, Lara, Alice, Mary and
Royal were jealous. At recess my friends and I played “Honey, Do you love me?” and “Numbers
up.” Now Diary, this is how you play Honey do you love me?” Everyone who is playing make(s) a
circle around 1 person. The person in the middle tries to get someone to laugh by going up to them
and saying “Honey, do you love me?” in a funny voice or doing funny movements. Then the other
person has to answer without laughing or giggling, “Yes, but I just can’t smile.” If you laugh or
giggle you’re in the middle and you have to ask people if they love you until someone smiles or
laughs. Then Mill. Hill called us inside for the spelling bee. Everyone but me groaned a loud, long
groan. After the spelling bee, Miss Hill announced the winners. I was one of the winners. Finally,
Miss Hill announced it was the end of the day, and I politely said good-bye. I skipp(ed) merrily
toward home, swinging my poke bonnet in one hand and my lunch pail in another. I was thinking it
was a lovely day. That was what my day was like.
Sincerely,
Josephine
Dear Journal,
I woke up one morning. I was wondering what would (I) do today? I heard my dad’s call. I have
to feed the horse. I moaned. After that I went to school. Now I am going to tell you what Bill did
today. Something strange, something girl-like! Bill was not paying attention in class. The teacher
called him up. She tried to whack his ankle but….he was wearing huge boots so guess what? She
made him hold out his hands, just like a girl! She whacked him across the knuckles. Guess what?
It hurt! I smirked, then got back to work with my nib pen. What a day! I went home. It was
freezing cold. After that I got warm by mothers flannel sheets. I blew out the candle and went to
sleep.
By J.T.
A Good Day a Hundred Year(s) Ago
By Kasia
I woke up, got dressed in my bonnet, blouse, and my long skirt, and I ran down stairs. Then I
finished my breakfast and my yucky cod liver oil. I finished milking the cow and feeding the
animals in the barn yard. I ran off for school and ran through Amber’s yard to catch up to her. Her
old bull, Sugar, saw me and left me alone, because she knows me. I remembered I forgot to feed
the chickens! But then I remembered it was my brother’s day for that chore. Our teacher was
ringing the bell just when we got to the one room school house. My best friend Amber and I went
to sit in the desk farthest from Miss Twiss. We stood up to say the Pledge of Allegiance. It took a
long time. Then we started penmanship, but we got interrupted by Robert. He was talking to his
friend. He got whipped on the ankles. He didn’t talk for the rest of penmanship. At recess Amber
and I played a really fun game called Honey Do You Love Me? for half of it. For the rest we
played in a forest close by. It was a fun recess. The rest of the day was good too, but Bill had to
throw a toy in the fire stove because he was caught playing with it. At the end of the day, I got
home just in time to do all my chores. But first I had to put all my school stuff away. I finished that
and did my chores, feeding the horses, pigs, chicken(s), cows and the rooster. When I finished that
I did my school work, ate my dinner and went to play outside with Amber until dark.
My Day
By Connor
Dear Journal,
I have a real hard day. I bring fire wood in for the stove in class and for my house. I have to walk 4
miles to go to school and 2 extra miles to get to the farm and the farm was 28 acres. I skip(ped)
breakfast to go to the farm to milk the cows. I go to school and (write) essays, math, practice with
(a) nib pen. It is real hard. I dip it every two words. We use chalk boards for work sheets. That’s
the best part about my day. There were two lines a girls line and a boys line. My dad brought me to
the Shoddy Mill where he works. He introduced me to his friends. I had to clean up after them. I
had to walk home because my dad had to work late hours. I walked 3 miles on my way home. I
stopped at Wellwood’s Store and got Oreos and Kellogg’s Cornflakes and beans and fire wood. I
stopped at my one room brick school to deliver the wood for the stove. I went home very tired. I
went to sleep.
Dear Journal,
Today was a fun day because I got to wake up at 5:00 and go to Wellwood’s store. When I got to
the store I bought candy. When I was done with that I went back home and milked the cows and
when I was done with that I headed to school. When I got to school (which took 1 hour to get there
from my farm) and when I got into the brick schoolhouse the teacher told me I had to bring wood in
the fire. Some of the kids were being bad so they got his on the ankles and knuckles with the switch
and of course I wasn’t bad so I didn’t get hit. Next we did arithmetic and we did that for one hour.
Next we did penmanship with a nib pen and that took one hour also. I had to dip in the jar ever few
letters. After that I had to bring more wood in for the fire. After that we had lunch and recess. I
had a sandwich and a few Oreos. It was very good. At recess we played games like ”honey do you
love me” and ball toss. When the school day was over I walked 3 miles to my house and when I got
to my house my brother told me I can go to sleep because he can bring the wood in. I was asleep
for 2 hours. When I woke up I felt the fire and it felt good. It was a hard but fun day.
Sincerely,
Matthew
September 27, 1913
Dear Journal,
I just got up. I put on my waist and my worsted skirt and went outside to do my chores. I collected
the eggs. Milking the cow wasn’t easy because she almost kicked me. I gave mom the eggs. She
made an omelet and my brother scrambled eggs. It was delicious, after that I went to the garden to
get the potatoes, corn and carrots (for) supper. I looked at the time. I was going to be late for
school! I told my mom I had to go and I ran outside. It started to rain. I was almost to school
when. SPLAT. I landed in the dirt road face first. The road was no longer dirt but mud. I thought
to myself, mom’s going to be so mad. This is my brand new waist. I walked the rest of the way to
school slowly. Suddenly I heard Miss. Hall ring the bell. I ran as fast as I could and made it just in
time. Everyone was already in line. Miss. Hall sent the girls first. I put my lunch on the bench and
then sat down to do the pledge. There were five bells. The first one meant stand up. The second
one meant put our hand over our heart. Then we did the pledge on the next bell. When we said “To
the flag,” we put out our hand and then we put it back on our heart when we finished. Miss. Hall
rang the bell again and we put our hand down. She rang it one more time and we sat down. Next
was handwriting. We used a nib pen. It was hard, especially getting the right amount of ink on the
pen. I kept scratching the paper, but after a while, I got it. In geography we learned about the
Cedar Street Pioneers. They were traveling to San Francisco for the gold rush. The men and the
luggage took two separate boats. The luggage had a longer trip, but it got to California first. The
men had a shorter trip, but had to make a lot of stops. The men got blown off course 200 miles.
The landed on St. Thomas and had to make repairs. Then they had to wait for another boat. Miss
Hall paused. All of a sudden she looked at (her) watch and gasped. Then she said, “Kids, its lunch
time. Go get your lunches. We’ll finish this after lunch and recess. If you finish your lunch before
everyone is done, you may study for our test next week.” She sent the girls to get lunches first and
then boys. I was the first one done with lunch so I studied with another girl. Then we asked Miss
Hall if we could have recess now since we finished studying. She said, “Yes” so we went outside
and played. When Miss Hall rang the bell it was time to come in. “We’re having our spelling bee
now,” announced Miss. Hall. I felt hot because I didn’t get to study very much. The spelling bee
turned out alright. I even won because I got the same word 3 times in a row. I had to spell
chambray. After we finished it was time to do recitation. I was the 2nd person to recite my poem. It
was called “Grandpa Dropped His Glasses.” I thought it was a bit funny. We finished and then we
did arithmetic. It was all about food prices. There were certain foods that we had to use. The foods
we used were hard bread, salt beef, coffee and raisins. The first couple of problems were easy but
the last one was hardest. We probably add at least 8 or 9 numbers together. Then Miss. Hall said,
“Start packing up. It’s time to go home!” Everyone started to yell except me. We started to walk
home. I raced my friend home, she won. When I was almost home I remembered that I had to get
my mom from work. I ran quick as I could to the wool factory. When I got there mom had oil all
over her. I was 20 minutes late. I’ll never be that late again I told mom. She said it was ok as we
walked home. When we got home I couldn’t believe that my dad was already home. I ran and
jumped into his arms. The reason I was so happy is because I rarely get to see him. He was always
working at the factory in Maine. I ran inside and Sable started jumping all over me. I told her to
sit, but she was being really defiant. I gave her a bone and ran upstairs to my room to finish sewing
my yoke to my nightgown. Then I finished reading the last 45 pages in my book, A Dog’s Way
Home. Mom called me downstairs to help make dinner. We mad mashed potatoes, corn and
carrots. It tasted so good. After dinner we played chess. I learned how to play when I was only 7.
My dad taught me. When I was done I put on my nightgown and fell fast asleep. I dreamed about
the rough day ahead of me tomorrow and all of the things that I had to do.
Bye,
Samantha
September 27, 1913
Dear Journal,
I woke up one morning and I had to get ready so I put on my poke bonnet and my waist and at last
my worsted wool long skirt. I had to put on my cowgirl boots too. Since I was working on the
farm, (I called,) “Come here little May and Moe, Larry, Taylor, and Alyson. I need your eggs for
my breakfast. Poor Moe you still can’t get any eggs our?” When I got all the eggs I ran inside to
ask my mom if she thought Moe was sick or maybe he had diphtheria. “No, I don’t think he is sick.
He’s just tired with all the racket last night,” said Ma. “Now go get some bacon from the pigs
please.” When I went back outside all of the pigs were gone! “Ma! Ma! Ma!” I hollered, “All of the
pigs are gone!” “What, what do you mean?” We both ran outside. When she saw what had
happened she started to cry. “Mom do you hear?” “What me crying?” “No, no all that oinking!”
We ran to the side of the barn. All the pigs were there! I looked at the time and I was going to be
late for school. Good thing we had a horse. I hitched myself on it and we rode all the way to
school. I got off and started to walk. I heard the bell ring from Mrs. Twiss. I ran so fast to get in
my line, but it was too late. The girls were already inside the Brick School house. I tried to sneak
by, but Mrs. Twiss caught me! She asked me where I was. I told her all about what happened to
the pigs. She understood why I was late, but I still had to do my morning work at recess. Mrs.
Twiss wanted me to stay in because we had to do our handwriting with the nib pen. Nib pens are
the type that angle down. The catch is that you have to use ink to write. Usually we do geography
next, but instead we did Recitation first today. I had to read a poem in front of the whole class. I
was really elated. I practiced without the paper and I aced it! It was called “Sea Joy.” I liked it
because it calmed me when I was trying to fall asleep. I’m very good at geography and luckily it
was next. We read a book called the “Cedar Street Pioneers.” They were going to San Francisco,
California. They were going there to get a lot of gold. The luggage got there before the men and
the men even took a short cut. I was very excited because Mrs. Twiss had been telling us all about
the story. She rang the bell and said, “Class it is time to start our class Spelling Bee. We are going
to do some words that related to clothing in the 1900s and fabric from the 1900s as well.” I was
pretty calm because I studies really hard. Mrs. Twiss said, “As long as you try your best, that’s all
that matters.” When I got one-hundred I tried to act tranquil, but in my head I said, “I’m so elated.
Hurray!” At last it was lunch and mama packed me a pineapple, jello, carrots, and tomatoes. It was
very good. I wanted to eat healthy thing for lunch. I also like grapes, but they didn’t grow this
year. Next it was recess. We played a game that was close to follow the leader. One person had to
do a movement and they would tag someone while you’re dong the move. It was a good game for
me because I didn’t get tagged. We still had fifteen minutes left of recess so we played another
game called, “Honey do you love me?” I was picked and I laughed. It’s so funny the way some
people do it. I got no one out. Some people are so good at it. The bell rang and I jumped because
it was so sudden. “Time for arithmetic everyone,” said Mrs. Twiss. For arithmetic today we
learned all about food prices. The foods we used were hard bread, salty beef, coffee, and raisins.
We had to add different pounds and ounces of each one. The hard bread cost 20¢ a pound. The
salty beef was 19¢ a pound. Coffee on the other hand cost 30¢ a pound. Last but not least raisins
cost 35 cents by pounds. I got stuck on one problem because I had to add…20¢, 19¢, 30¢, and 35¢
altogether. Next it was time to get back into shape and go to the Porter Library. I said my good
byes and walked to my horse. When I got there, my horse was gone! I searched all around the area,
but I couldn’t find her. I sat down in the wet grass and sobbed for what seemed like a half hour. I
thought whoever too my horse is not going to be happy. I walked home very unhappy. I didn’t
want to go to the library anymore. Instead I went to the factory where my daddy works. He was
sad for me when I told him what happened. I also told him I think Moe is sick. He suggested that I
go home and milk the cow and stack the hay. I asked him if I could have some stew. He said, “Yes
you can.” I stacked the hay and almost fell off the hay stack. Thank goodness I got hold of a rope
before I landed on the ground. After that I had to milk the cow. Luckily that was quick and easy. I
poured some for me and ma. I still didn’t tell her what happened about the horse. Right then and
there she said, “Honey, where is the horse?” I said, “Okay, I was coming out of school and she
wasn’t there.” She told me to go read for 10 minutes and then we would look for her in the
morning. I put on my flannel pajamas and fell fast asleep. What a long day!
Love,
Karlee
By Sophia
October 4, 2012
I woke up early one fall day in the town of Coventry, Connecticut. I ate a big bowl of
cereal, then got dressed in my best poplin dress and hurried off to school. I got there just in time
and I lined up right away. I dashed to the desk in the back next to the wood stove. I felt the cozy
warm feel of the fired and smelled the wood stove burning. After that my teacher started to talk to
the class. She said, “It is time for penmanship”. She handed each one of us a nib pen and our ink
wells. She told us to write what was on the board. The board said George Hershey Robertson’s son
went to the California Gold Rush. Soon after that we went outside for lunch because it was a sunny
fall day. In my lunch pail, I found three Oreo cookies, peanut butter and jelly, and a tub of jell-o.
After lunch we had recess. We played Honey do you love me? We also frolicked around catching
colorful leaves that fell from the trees. The bell rang, everyone lined up happily. All the girls and
all the boys were also lined up from the shortest to tallest.
Next, we did our math lesson. We had to add the cost of food with prices from the 1900’s. I
got every problem right. We also practiced our poems. I liked my problem and I did a good job
reciting it for the class. I heard my mom outside waiting for me. My teacher, Mrs. Kingsbury
announced that school was out. I ran outside. My mom hugged me and said, “Let’s go home”.
When we got home I did my chores. I had to milk the cows, and gather the hen’s eggs. After we
had dinner we had fresh bread, corn, steak, and for drink I had iced tea. It was delicious. My mom
told me to go get into my pjs and brush my teeth. I went to bed but I had to read. After that I fell
asleep.
By Reagan
October 11, 2012
A Day at the Brick School House
I woke up this morning and I was so excited for the field trip to The Brick School House!
When I got there, I got my picture taken by the sign. Once I heard the bell, I lined up in the boys
line toward the back of the line because I am taller than most of the boys in my class. I found my
seat on the wooden bench where I waited for class to begin. Our class said The Pledge of Allegiance
to the flag. This pledge was interesting because the two words, “under God” were missing. I went
over to do the craft, a 3-D model of the Brick School House. After that, I practiced my penmanship
with nib pens. It was super tricky because I had to dip the pen into ink. I even put a hole in my
paper! I wrote about Coventry history and learned that the Indians spelled Connecticut like
Quenetegut. Next I learned that Elijah Robertson went to California to find gold. Finally, it was
lunch time. It was a beautiful fall day. The leaves were changing colors and falling from the trees.
During recess we tried to catch the leaves and played a new game called, “Honey, do you love me?”
We went back inside after recess. We had 5 math problems to solve. We were asked to add the
prices of food, coffee, raisins, steak, and bread. Then we had recitation. I recited my poem called,
“Block City” in front of the class. Finally, I got on the bus and Ms. Dilk told stories. My favorite
story was when she told about the eighth graders being in charge and how the kindergarteners didn’t
listen. When I got back to school I got ready to go home after our spelling bee. When I got home, I
told my mom all about my day. I had a great day at the Brick School!
By Jakeb
October 11, 2012
A Day at the Brick School House
When I woke up I dashed down stairs because school was going to start in a half an hour and
I still needed to go to the Wellwood Store to pick up groceries. I got dressed and jumped on my
bike and I dashed to the Wellwood Store. Once I got to the store, I bought milk, eggs, and Kellog’s
Corn Flakes. I got the groceries and I flew to school by walking fast. When I got there I was there
right on time. The bell rang and I quickly got into the boys line. I was at the back of the line
because I was one of the tallest kids in my class. The boys sat on the bench and the girls sat at the
desks. We got ready for The Pledge of Allegiance. It was different from our Pledge. We practiced
penmanship by learning about how to use the nib pen. The class used maps to figure out where
George Hershey Robertson’s father sailed to San Fransisco, California. Finally, it was lunch time!
Lunch time was different because we needed to go outside to eat. Dead leaves were falling off the
trees. We tried to catch them as they fell. We played a game of “Honey, do you love me?” during
recess. It made me laugh! During math we pretended to add the grocery list our parent’s made.
We had to buy coffee, loaves of bread, and milk. The day was finally over. I had a great day! My
favorite part was when we played, “Honey, do you love me?”