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Costumes made from crepe paper!! Mrs. Knox very first kindergarten class in Searcy Arkansas!

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Advantage

Knox first class

Yesterday's blog showed the class of 1952, Mrs. Knox's kindergarten class in Searcy AR.  There were lots of beautiful children and one of my readers sent me this photo!

This photo shows the very first class that Mrs. Knox had. The White Country Historical Society says in one of their newsletters that at the end of the school year, the Child's Haven Kindergarten presented a program at the American Legion Hut on the Court Square in Searcy Arkansas.  This photo was so early, however, that the program was held in the front room of her house.

Girls wore crepe paper dresses and bonnets made by Mrs. Knox!! Look at the intricacies of the dresses! One of the kids said that they were instructed not to get their fingers wet or do anything to wet the paper dresses or they'd have dye all over themselves!

The boys wore appropriate shirts and pants.    I even have the names of this group.  Left to right is Rose Mary Bradley, Gloria Eddy, Charels Ray Kibbee, Marcia Bagarella, Ronnie Moye, Ann Sowell, Billy Benz, Sherry Quattlebaum and Ernest Salkeld, Jr.

Thanks Sherry Quattlebaum Person for letting me use this picture!

Show All Comments
Anonymous
Sherry

Mrs. Knox Child's Haven Kindergarten was one of two kindergartens opened in 1949.  Our classroom was in the front of this house. 

In Dr. Muncy's book, Searcy, Arkansas, you can read that Mrs. Knox trained us in the Bible, safety, science, arithmetic, music and patriotism.

Mrs. Knox did all the teaching and our music was taught with the piano and the  xylophone.  The xylophone was the largest instrument I had ever seen.  It was special and we were not allowed to touch it.

The nine of us remained close friends from kindergarten through high school.  Several of us stay in close contact today.

Sherry Quattlebaum Person

Apr 22, 2009 02:30 PM
#1
Anonymous
Anita Fuller

Marcia's name is Bagarella, not Baz.....that's the down side of writing folk's names, misspelling.   Her married name is Williams now and she reads your blog and has commented before.

Anita Fuller, self-appointed editor of Barbara's blog.

Apr 23, 2009 01:07 AM
#2
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Sherry, thanks for supplying more info about the kindergarten.  She must have been a very loved teacher.

Anita, thanks for pointing it out.  I've changed it.  Is she still in Searcy?

 

Apr 23, 2009 01:31 AM
Anonymous
Billy Benz

I still have many of the things we made in Mrs. Knox's Kindergarten.

I can still taste the grape juice and cookies, and occasionally soap.  

The world needs more great, Godly women like Mrs. Knox.

Apr 23, 2009 02:48 AM
#4
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Hi Billy, I assume by "soap" you mean she'd make rowdy kids wash their mouths out with soap?  That's funny.  Thanks for commenting on the blog and letting me use your picture.  (I noticed you're in the group.)

Apr 23, 2009 02:55 AM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

I love old nostalgic photos like that!  I also remember working with crape paper back in the 1950s.  We made indian and pilgrim outfits from it for Thanksgiving.  I got caught in a rainstorm, and it turned my clothes underneath, black and brown. . .My mother was UPSET:-)

Apr 23, 2009 02:36 PM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Myrl, it amazes me that people could do so much with crepe paper.  I wonder whether she used the costumes over and over.  I even wonder if many people sew anymore.  Things are so cheap at Wal-Mart.  Who needs to sew?

Apr 23, 2009 02:56 PM
Elizabeth Bolton
RE/MAX Destiny Real Estate Cambridge, MA - Cambridge, MA
Cambridge MA Realtor

Hi Barbara ~ These are wonderful photographs - what fun! As a former archivist and lifelong sentimentalist I've often been sad that schools - I'm usually thinking about public schools - don't do a better job of keeping archives.  It's such a huge part of everyone's memories and would be a treasure for generations of former students.  You can tell from the wonderful comments all the memories that photos like this generate.

My mother tells stories like these about her early grades. Amazingly enough (she graduated high school in 1956) her first two years in school were in a one-room schoolhouse in Natick, Mass. I'm still trying to find a picture of it - it was torn down years ago - but have heard so many tales about Miss Clahan, the teacher and the fun they had in that little school.

Great stuff!

Liz

 

Apr 24, 2009 01:07 AM
Debbie Walsh
SHAHAR Management - Middletown, NY
Hudson Valley NY Real Estate 845.283-3036

What a fabulous photo!  I love that they are all in crepe paper.  Thanks for sharing!

    

Apr 24, 2009 02:41 PM
Suesan Jenifer Therriault
JTHIS-Professional Home Inspection Team - Blakeslee, PA
"Inspecting every purchase as if it were my own".

Wow Barbara, that's pretty awesome. About the only things I can make out with crepe paper are flowers. I sure as anything know I can't make costumes.

Apr 25, 2009 02:43 PM
Barbara S. Duncan
RE/MAX Advantage - Searcy, AR
GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR

Liz, the older we get the more we appreciate the old pictures and savor the memories.  I've really begun to like them.....too bad because that's a sign of being old.  LOL

Debra, I look at all those little ruffles and wonder how on earth they did them out of paper!!

Suesan, I forgot abut the crepe flowers!  What is crepe paper used for now!! 

Apr 25, 2009 03:02 PM
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