Monday, August 27, 2012

"Here and There" safety textbook from Windsor Township school

"Here and There" was a 1938 textbook focused on safety that was published by the American Book Company.

All of the authors were Cleveland-area school officials:
  • Horace Mann Buckley, Assistant Superintendent of Schools
  • Margaret L. White, Supervisor of Elementary English
  • Alice B. Adams, Assistant Superintendent of Cuyahoga County
  • Leslie R. Silvernale, Supervisor in charge of safety education
This copy was once property of the Windsor Township School District, which is now part of the larger Red Lion Area School District here in York County. It was used regularly in the 1950s, as evidenced by this sticker on the inside front cover:


So, the students who used the book more than a half-century ago included Gary Geesey, George Lighty, Larry, Robert, Jim Bender and Laurie. In addition, the name Tammy Hite appears on the adjacent page. Whatever schoolhouse they were attending in the 1950s must have had at least eight classrooms.

The chapter titles in the textbook include The Path to School, The School Bus, Rules for the Bus Patrol, How to Prevent Fires, The Careless Chimney Sweep, Grandmother1, Clean Walks and Steps and Safety on the Farm.

Here are a couple of the book's neat illustrations that are focused on the school bus and the safety patrol...



There is a long section on the danger of live wires across the road. These are the things you should do when you a see a live wire, according to the book:
1. Guard the wire and do not let anyone come near it.
2. Ask someone to call a policeman.
3. Telephone the electric company.
Meanwhile, other than the obvious stuff, one of the noted jobs of the bus patrol is to "tell the bus driver is anyone on a bicycle, roller skates, or a sled tries to hold on at the back of the bus."

Fire safety is also stressed heavily in the textbook. Here are two of those illustrations...



Footnote
1. I wasn't sure why a textbook on safety had a chapter titled "Grandmother." But it contains tips for fending off grandmothers who are coming in for an unwanted hug. Children are supposed to respond by telling Gramma to lie down in their name and in the name of her father. So, for example, you would state, "Lie down in the name of Hastur!" Handy stuff, this book.

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