School Days, School Days

The good ol’ Golden Rule days.

Most English speakers are familiar with a catchy 1907 (!!!) tune that still delights with its singsong melody and nostalgic text. The two vocalists are a mature couple who are

reflecting sentimentally on their childhood in elementary school. This duet – School Days – was featured in a Broadway show of the same name and has been recorded many times over. The words go like this:

School days, school days.

The good ol’ Golden Rule days. ’Reading and ’riting and ’rithmetic

Taught to the tune of a hickory stick. You were my belle in calico.

I was your bashful, barefoot beau. We sat on a bench and I loved you so. When we were a couple o’ kids.

What can these lines offer us today? First off, what is the Golden Rule? It’s the principle of treating others as you would like to be treated yourself. This tenet appears in all

world religions, but you don’t need spirituality to abide by it. The Golden Rule comes

in various formulations – some complicated, some downright archaic, e.g.: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Or:

“Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them.“In any case, you get the gist.

Line 3 lists the three core subjects of the day: reading, writing and arithmetic. These

became reading, science and math as the years progressed. Nowadays, educators talk about MINT: Management of Innovation and New Technologies; the acronym STEM pops

up now and then (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Writing seems by and

large to have gone by the wayside, especially if we’re talking penmanship. Texting and keyboarding are the new writing.

Line 4: Good heavens – a hickory stick? Yes, folks, it’s about corporal punishment – swatting learners with a hickory stick, aka a switch – to keep order in the classroom.

The teacher kept the hickory stick on hand to flog kids on their bottoms or the palms of their upturned hands. Why hickory? The

wood is light and, due to its flexibility, does not easily snap. These sticks were later replaced by wooden yardsticks (also painful).

Line 5 refers to the girl and her dress. My “belle” is French and sounds extra special. A “belle in calico” is a contrast, as calico was a coarse, inexpensive fabric – readily available to early Americans. It could be brightly dyed and sewn into charming, full-skirted

dresses. (No slacks, jeans, sweatpants, jumpsuits, jeggings or leggings permitted in those days!)

Line 6: The singer describes himself as bashful, or shy. Being shy is a universal feeling; it transcends all generations and we’ve all felt it. Going to school barefoot is another matter but was common back then. Rural

boys and girls ran barefoot whenever the weather allowed. Their feet were calloused and just needed a good scrubbing at bedtime.

Line 7 depicts the two on a bench – par for the course in a one-room schoolhouse. Kids sat on long benches, not individual chairs. “We sat on a bench” is sometimes sung as “We wrote on a slate” – referring to small slates, written on with chalk and often

used to practice math. Nowadays, kids encounter whiteboards (with the erasable

markers) or smartboards (connected to the teacher’s computer).

School days have certainly evolved in over 100 years – but one thing can never, ever change and that is the excitement of waking

up and getting ready for your first day of school. Is everybody good to go? We all want

to wish our children a very successful, productive and happy school year!