The Benoit Chronicles
Second episode of two about my experiences in grade school in the 1950s.
Following kindergarten, I found grade school to be all-consuming in my life. The authority of the classroom teacher was preeminent. She controlled the way your life went for many hours each day. She alone determined what was taught, whether you succeeded or failed, and how discipline was dispensed. Everything from the lunchroom to the playground had its own sociological landscape, and when we lined up for shots, we shuddered in fearful anticipation. We children were pretty much on our own to learn the survival skills needed to negotiate the challenges we faced, but we had no power or authority to control the way events would unfold from day to day.
School Daze
My first day of kindergarten in 1949 was all new to me. I had no conception of how to go to grade school. The other kids were strangers, who acted strangely in some cases. One girl poked me in the ribs with her elbow when she thought I was not observing the rules…as she understood them.
My first day of kindergarten in 1949 was all new to me. I had no conception of how to go to grade school. The other kids were strangers, who acted strangely in some cases. One girl poked me in the ribs with her elbow when she thought I was not observing the rules…as she understood them. The urinals in the boys’ room loomed higher than my head, and they called the boys’ room “The Basement.” But I survived.
Podcast vol 1, No 7
As kids in the 1950s, we were allowed to roam freely through the neighborhoods of our village without the close parental supervision that today’s children endure. We created our own things to do, which frequently entailed a certain element of risk that routinely put us in harm’s way.
As kids in the 1950s, we were allowed to roam freely through the neighborhoods of our village without the close parental supervision that today’s children endure. We created our own things to do, which frequently entailed a certain element of risk that routinely put us in harm’s way. Left to our own devices, however, we mostly survived the dangers we encountered with little damage to body or soul. Along the way, we learned valuable lessons about coping with the capricious existence that we encountered in our daily lives.
Ducks and Donkeys
Local community events were the highest form of entertainment imaginable for us kids in 1950s Adams Center, New York. In this episode, listen to my stories of about donkey basketball and a carnival game where you could win a live duck to take home with you.
Local community events were the highest form of entertainment imaginable for us kids in 1950s Adams Center, New York. In this episode, listen to my stories of about donkey basketball and a carnival game where you could win a live duck to take home with you.
Amusing Ourselves in the 50s
Entertainment was not easy to come by in my small town of Adams Center, New York in the 1950s.
During the 1950s entertainment options were few for kids in our small village in upstate New York. With the help of radio, local minstrel shows, and Army troop convoys, though, we were routinely able to come up with enough things to see and do to keep us busy and amused during long summer days and in the snow wonderland that was winter.
Sign for This Train, Lieutenant
The Army’s system for signing for property is notorious among junior officers in that branch of the military. Some examples in this episode show how bizarre the process is and the lengths to which it is deployed.
The Army’s system for signing for property is notorious among junior officers in that branch of the military. Some examples in this episode show how bizarre the process is and the lengths to which it is deployed.
Snowbound in The Family Car
On a cold winter’s night in 1952, my father, mother, brother, sister and I became snowbound in the family car on a stretch of highway in Northern New York State. AWe spent all that night in the car. The following morning, local residents shoveled their way to our car and took us into the home of a nearby resident.
On a cold winter’s night in 1952, my father, mother, brother, sister and I became snowbound in the family car on a stretch of highway in Northern New York State. After spending all night in the car, local residents shoveled their way to our car and took us into the home of a nearby resident. We spent the day waiting for the snowplow to clear the highway while we got to know the other travelers who were stranded with us.
The Great Fire of 1954
This is the story of a fire at my father’s business in a small upstate New York village. Heedless of any danger, we children rushed to the scene and began carrying items from his and the other affected businesses to the lawn adjacent to the store.
Podcast Volume 1, Number 2 is titled The Great Fire of 1954. It is the story about a fire at my father’s business in Adams Center, a small village in upstate New York. We kids rushed to the site of the fire and joined other members of the community, carrying items from my father’s store and placing them outside on the lawn. No one from the fire department tried to keep us from running in and out of the burning building until nearly everything was removed. The fire was a day of excitement of us kids, but not so much fun for my parents.
Radio Days
This is a reminiscence about a young man’s obsession with radio broadcasting. I take you behind the scenes at a small local radio station in rural Northern New York State. As the only person in the station, I alone determined what hundreds of listeners listened to on the air during some long Sunday afternoons in the early 1960s.
Podcast Volume 1, Number 1 is titled Radio Days: This is a reminiscence about a young man’s obsession with radio broadcasting. I take you behind the scenes at a small local radio station in rural Northern New York State. As the only person in the station, I alone determined what hundreds of listeners heard on the air during some long Sunday afternoons in the early 1960s.