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Working Americans Vol. 4: Their Children

1904 Profile: 9-year-old Public School Student from Vermont

Middle Class

For months, the Shlake family of Burlington, Vermont, has been planning a trip to Coney Island. It is a dream-come-true, especially for nine-year-old Edna.

Edna has been looking forward to visiting Coney Island for years.

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Life at Home

  • Nine-year-old Edna Shlake and her family live outside progressive Burlington, Vermont, in the community of Winooski.

  • Edna’s father claims it combines the best of all worlds—the joy of being in the woods along with the convenience of a modern city— and Edna agrees with her Papa.

  • She thinks her father looks very distinguished in a beard, and she just knows she is his favorite; after all, her older sister is such a brat, no one could like her.

  • If they had to wait for her sister to be good so they could take a holiday at Coney Island, it would never happen.

  • Edna had been disappointed recently to learn that the school she attended from the first to the fifth grade will be closing.

  • All the one-room schools in her area are consolidating into one to provide better education; Edna doesn’t want a better education, she just wants her school back.

  • Many of the young teachers at her school come fresh from the nearby University of Vermont, which has a reputation for supporting public education across the state.

  • Edna wishes they also had a commitment to being nicer to her when she can’t keep quiet in class any longer and simply has to talk.

  • Last Christmas the family got two collections of stereograph cards for viewing—one featuring faraway lands, and the other all about children.

Looking at stereoscopic cards is a treasured pastime.

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  • On cold days, she loves to pull out the stereoscope and spend hours pulling the pictures in and out of focus, always marveling at the way the images pop into three dimensions when perfectly aligned.

  • When she is blue, a picture of the little child with the cat always makes her feel better; the picture of the boy having his pants re-sewn makes her laugh.

  • On Saturday afternoons, after Papa gets off work, they try to visit the Fletcher Free Library, which he says is one of the libraries funded by Mr. Carnegie.

  • Saturday is always special if Papa has time to take them to the library, which has thousands of books, many with pictures of people from around the world.

  • Sundays are spent at the Congregationalist church; with 210 churches, it is the largest denomination in Vermont.

On Vacation: Coney Island, New York

Edna thinks her Papa looks distinguished in a beard.

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  • Everyone has dressed very carefully for the train trip and two days at Coney Island.

  • Papa is wearing his best jacket with his Sunday tie and hat, while Momma has bought a new dress with matching parasol for the outing.

  • No new dresses were purchased for Edna or her older sister, but great care was taken in ironing their outfits so they looked just right.

  • Both girls did, however, receive new summer straw hats for the trip; Edna’s is trimmed with a bright red satin ribbon.

  • For months she has been looking forward to this trip to Coney Island; she has seen pictures of the Steeplechase Race, and Papa has said she could ride.

  • She cannot wait to climb on the mechanical horse and gallop down the rail to the finish line—she is sure she will be first!

  • Papa has also promised that she can go on the Ferris wheel if she dares; secretly, he thinks it is too high, even for the world’s bravest nine-year-old.

  • She knows that each ride costs a dime and she must not spend up all of Papa’s hard-earned money, although she knows there is much to do.

  • Friends have warned Edna about the Blowhole Theater, where concealed compressed air jets send hats and skirts flying upward.

Swimmers and their clinging bathing costumes are a bit embarrassing for Edna.

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The beauty of Coney Island surpasses Edna’s vivid imagination.

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  • She does not want strangers to laugh at her and has made Papa promise three times not to go near the Blowhole.

  • But it wasn’t until she arrived at Luna Park on Coney Island that her fantasies were fulfilled; Edna literally rubbed her eyes in disbelief when they arrived at Luna Park, the heart of Coney Island—not that she isn’t an experienced traveler, of course.

  • On a previous trip, they took a train to Niagara Falls in the middle of the winter to see the sights.

  • Edna was surprised that so many people would come out in the cold just to witness falls frozen like giant icicles, she says every time she tells the story.

  • Yet, Coney Island surpassed her vivid imagination; everything was so beautiful, and she had never expected to see this many people all at once.

The real magic starts when night falls and a quarter of a million lights spring to life.

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  • The developer of Luna Park, Frederic Thompson, was a former architectural student whose vision for a pleasure park included grand buildings with rich ornamentation that shut out the rest of the world.

  • So much was going on at once, and so fast; Edna felt as though she were on a gigantic stage set and it was her job to be part of everything, not just to watch.

  • Almost breathless, she and her family went from the Venetian city, complete with gondoliers, to the Japanese garden, then the island village, the Eskimo village, past the Dutch windmill and on to the Chinese theater.

  • The real magic started when night fell, and the entire sky was transformed by a quarter of a million electric lights springing to life, outlining the buildings and exhibits with a soft glow.

“The New Coney Island,” by Albert Bigelow Paine, Century Magazine, August 1904:

Once inside, the crowds “discovered an enchanted, storybook land of trellises, columns, domes, minarets, lagoons and lofty aerial flights. And everywhere was life—a pageant of happy people; and everywhere was color—a wide harmony of orange and white and gold…. It was a world removed—shut away from the sordid clatter and turmoil of the street….

Tall towers that had grown dim suddenly broke forth in electric outlines and gas rosettes of color, as the living spark of light traveled hither and thither, until the place was transformed into an enchanted garden, of such a sort as Aladdin never dreamed.

  • At home, the streets are lit with gas, and her house by electricity—but rarely more than one bulb per room; this many lights were overwhelmingly beautiful.

  • Momma has collected a dozen picture postcards of Coney Island and plans to write all her neighbors immediately; she wants the cards posted quickly so they will arrive back home before the family does.

  • Only a few years ago, the post office began allowing picture postcards to be sent through the mail, and now everyone sends them.

  • At her older sister’s insistence, they visited the iron pier where people were swimming.

  • Hundreds of people were in the water playing in the waves, making their bathing costumes wet; Edna was embarrassed that Papa might see the women’s swimming dresses clinging to their limbs that way.

  • On the second day they got to see the sideshows; although Edna didn’t like the barkers talking about Little Egypt dancing the hootchy-kootchy for everyone to see, she loved feeding the elephants.

  • She only agreed to ride the elephant when Papa said he would come, too.

  • It was bumpy and fun and scary, and she can’t wait to tell her friend, Iris.

Coney Island Barker on the “Streets of Cairo,” 1904:

This way for the Streets of Cairo! One hundred and fifty Oriental beauties! The warmest spectacle on earth! See her dance the hootchykootchy! Anywhere else but in the ocean breezes of Coney Island she would be consumed by her own fire! Don’t crowd! Plenty of seats for all!

Edna plans to write a story about her adventures at Coney Island.

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  • The most amazing sight was the re-creation of the fall of Pompeii, including the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the death of 40,000 people; right after that, Edna watched a four-story building set ablaze while firemen heroically battled the inferno.

  • She is sure she will include Mount Vesuvius in her school report about her summer vacation, as well as the elephant and the Ferris wheel and the train trip and the new hat.

  • If she works hard enough on her report she could even get another Reward of Merit from her teacher.

Life in the Community: Burlington, Vermont

  • The Shlake family lives outside Burlington, Vermont, whose population has reached nearly 19,000.

  • As the principal city on Lake Champlain, the community has been a magnet for new industry during the past several years.

  • With the addition of heavy manufacturing to its employment base, Burlington’s reliance on lumbering has decreased.

  • One of these manufacturers, the Porter Screen Company, is America’s largest window screen company, producing 9,600 window screens each day.

  • Their custom-made screens are stretched to drumhead tension, making a smooth and beautiful finish.

  • The Baldwin Refrigerator Company, also located in Burlington, is currently shipping its product worldwide, including China, Africa and South America.

“The Consolidation of Rural Schools,” Editorial Department, The Educational Era, April 1904:

Of all the plans for the improvement of rural schools, the establishment of the township central graded and high school we believe to be the most promising. The theory is perfectly intelligible, and as a practical scheme, is supported by success where it has been tried …

An article in The School Journal (June 27, 1903) gives a full account of the successful working of the plan in Ohio, where nearly 40 townships up to that time had adopted it. A few extracts from this article will supplement:

The local schools are abolished under this system. A school in a central position is selected. The pupils are transported at the public expense from their homes to the school. The general result is better schools, more interesting schools, increased attendance and decreased expense.

This solution to a troublesome problem is all the more satisfactory because the system is practically applicable everywhere. In Ohio, for instance, there are probably no townships that support any system of subdistrict schools, which could not support a system of centralized schools.

The first effect of the consolidated schools visible to the taxpayer is the increased size of the schoolhouse. What a contrast the centralized school building of two stories, many rooms, steam heat and commodious stables is with the log or slight frame district school, with one room, a stove and lean-to shed!

The contrast has been well-illustrated in Green Township, Ohio. Before 1900 there were seven or eight boxlike, one-room structures distributed over the township. The township is five miles square, 11 miles from one railroad and six from another. A central school was voted in, and a two-story brick structure was built. It contains six schoolrooms, a library, and an office. A basement is equipped as a laboratory and gymnasium. There are three acres of land around it. Shade trees, schoolroom decorations and a library are a few of the things unknown before its appearance. Here, eight wagons bring the children of the entire township where they enjoy the benefits of sanitary seating, lighting, heating and ventilation.

The attendance of transported pupils is almost perfect, for it suffers little from the weather, and it is a great increase over the number enrolled in the old schools. This is a logical result of the plan.

The item of expense has been the great stumbling block in the way of the expansion of the system. It means that a new schoolhouse must be built, and transportation provided. It has worked out that the expense of the separated schools is only a small amount less than with the central school; there is, for instance, a saving of a large amount of fuel, and the expenses of repairs on fences, pumps, walks and roofs are reduced 75 percent.

The educational advantages of the scheme are self-evident. Classification of pupils is possible. Larger classes stimulate interest. Progress can be made by the pupils. Better teachers can be engaged.

Such are the advantages claimed for the township high school … the main argument in favor of this consolidation and grading of the rural school is that, with little or no increase of expense, incalculably better schools will be provided. The children of the country shall have as good opportunities as the children of the cities.

  • On the market for 30 years, the Baldwin Refrigerator uses dry air circulation, zinc, porcelain and opal glass-lined interiors, and a hardwood finish to create a thoroughly hygienic refrigerator.

  • Corporation taxes pay all the expenses of the state; recently, Vermont eliminated all other direct taxes.

  • In addition to being the home of the largest patent-medicine factory in America, Burlington is also the site of one of the four oldest universities in New England, the University of Vermont, founded in 1791.

  • Focused on continued growth, the university recently completed construction of a new medical building, considered one of the most perfectly equipped buildings of its kind in the country.

  • A writer assigned to describe the town said, “We feel justified in saying that, not excepting Boston itself, Burlington is one of the least provincial cities in New England.”

  • Battery Park is located along the lakefront, an attractive green commemorating the site of a fortification that resisted an invading British fleet in 1812.

  • The stability of the town has been assured by the three quality banks, including Burlington Savings Bank, which was chartered in 1847; currently, it has $12 million in deposits, making it one of the largest institutions of its kind in New England.

  • According to a bevy of magazine authors, Vermont itself is best known to the world at large for its pretty girls and fine horses.

  • It is also the state that gave America Ethan Allen, maple sugar, Clark of the Oregon and the Green Mountain Boys, and was the first state to abolish human slavery.

  • Vermont has 860 licensed automobiles, 26 public libraries, nine newspapers and 65 brass bands.

  • Several years ago, Vermont experimented with the prohibition of liquor, but abandoned the effort and eventually repealed the law; however, Burlington, the biggest city in the state, continues to be dry.

Vermont is known for its pretty girls.

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Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
"1904 Profile: 9-year-old Public School Student From Vermont." Working Americans Vol. 4: Their Children, edited by Scott Derks, Salem Press, 2016. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=WA4_0022.
APA 7th
1904 Profile: 9-year-old Public School Student from Vermont. Working Americans Vol. 4: Their Children, In S. Derks (Ed.), Salem Press, 2016. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=WA4_0022.
CMOS 17th
"1904 Profile: 9-year-old Public School Student From Vermont." Working Americans Vol. 4: Their Children, Edited by Scott Derks. Salem Press, 2016. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=WA4_0022.