Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article
Historic Treasure of the Week -
April 28, 2002
By Betty Stroup Wright
Vigo County Historical Society
Recalling childhood with Mother Goose
Books are a window to the world. From the time I was small and listening to Mother Goose rhymes, I have been fascinated with the written word.
Before nap time I would be read to from “The Mother Goose Story Book.” I then was expected to recite back to my mother what she had read to me.
In first grade, there were Dick, Jane and their faithful dog Spot who helped us to sight-read. At home waiting for me was a McGuffey reader which taught me phonics.
By third grade, I was advanced enough in reading that I was chosen to orate the story of the Ugly Duckling to several different classrooms. Thus the teacher encouraged me to become a storyteller, enabling me to reach some students that didn’t have access to literature in their homes. This was during the Depression but somehow my parents found the $6 to order a subscription to “National Geographic” magazine.
During the summer after my fourth-grade year, I drew a picture of the grandfather clock from “Hickory Dickery Dock” and was awarded a blue ribbon in the county fair. In the sixth grade, my father, who belonged to the American Legion went to St. Louis for a convention and brought me back two books--”Tom Sawyer” and “Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates.” What a treasure. I kept those books for years.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, the class would be read to for 15 minutes each day, both morning and afternoon. Thus in the early grades I can recall the actions of the Bobbsey Twins, and in the seventh grade there was “Robinson Crusoe” and “Treasure Island.”
Mother Goose holds over even to this day in the form of social events. How many times have you been to a party and someone starts “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”?
Mother Goose has affected all our lives in one way or another. As my children grew, they kept company with Mother Goose as I had painted the walls of one bedroom with nursery rhyme figures such as Humpty Dumpty and that one old woman who happened to live in a shoe.
You may visit Mother Goose at the Vigo County Historical Museum.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The Web site: http://web.indstate.edu/community/vchs.