Schaab,+Audrey+Transcript

Audrey Schaab, May 27, 2010 Interviewed by: Brinique Woodcock and Andrea Fietsam AF: What year did you graduate from Belleville West? AS: 1946 B: What is your best memory from your high school years? Or something funny? AS: Don’t get caught in the front garden. AF: Would you care to explain that? AS: Well, it was off limits. It was called the “sunken gardens” and you weren’t supposed to be in there. If you were slow to catch the bus or something, you had to take the bus because we didn’t have cars, you would run right in the middle of that, and you got in trouble for that. But it was fun because we knew we were going to get in trouble. AF: So you did it on purpose? AS: That’s right. You had to catch the bus. B: How many buses were there? AS: There weren’t really school buses. You had the St. Louis bus, buses like that. AF: Were you involved in any clubs, activities, sports or something? AS: No. AF: None? You’re lying to me. AS: No I am not. AF: Yes, you are because I looked in the yearbook. It said you were in the Home-Ec Club. And something else your senior year. AS: I don’t remember. B: What was your favorite class, and who taught it? AS: My favorite class was Bookkeeping, and Mr. Bennett taught it. B: So, what is bookkeeping like? AS: Bookkeeping was like….if you go into a job you learned debits and credits. What the company does with that money. That’s what you learned. AF: Are you still friends with any of your friends from high school? AS: The three that we were friends with….the one died, and the other one ended up with Schingles real bad. The other one lives out of town. Her brother lives here. But he just had a heart attack, so I don’t see much of him either. B: Did any major events happen while you were in high school? AS: We had the war. World War II. B: What did you want to be when you grew up, when you were in high school? AS: Bookkeeper. AF: So what did you end up doing? AS: Stenography work. I worked at Commercial Transport, basically doing bookkeeping and keeping their payroll. You were classified as a secretary. AF: And then you babysat? AS: I used to clean some lady’s house on Saturdays. Oh and I worked at the Dutch Girl. It was an ice cream parlor. AF: What was your favorite thing to do after school? Did you go hang out somewhere? AS: No, not really. If my dad was on day shift at the brewery, then we would walk over to the brewery and he would take us home. AF: Ah…so did you have any drinks while you were over there? AS: No, well, no. Well maybe just one. We didn’t drink like the kids do now days. B: What type of clothing was in style during your high school years? AS: The only thing I remember is, we were jeans, but then we were men’s style white dress shirt, and then roll the sleeves up. B: What was popular when you were in high school? AS: I don’t remember anything popular like what the kids have nowadays. B: What tv shows were popular? AS: We didn’t have television all the while. I don’t remember getting a television until after I graduated from high school. Nobody really had televisions. B: Did you guys have radios? AS: Yes. B: So what did you listen to on the radio? AS: Some kind of music and spooky stories. I had brothers so that is what I had to listen to. AF: What as the school mascot when you attended school? AS: I don’t really remember one. I guess we were the Maroons. I really don’t remember. We only had the one school. B: What were the dress code restrictions? AS: No body every really said anything about them. We didn’t have any restrictions. I would say that if you would come to school in something a little bit raunchy, then they might say something. Nobody was ever bitching or complaining about what there were wearing because they didn’t have to. B: How big was your graduating class? You don’t have to have an exact amount. AS: I don’t remember. Over 100. B: Would you say there were more girls than boys? AS: I would say it was kinda equal. A lot of the girls went with the guys, and a lot of them got married. But some of them finished school and the men went off into the service. AF: Were there any racial tensions in the 40’s, still? AS: No, not really. AF: Were there any black people that went to West? AS: There were, but I don’t remember their names. B: Did you choose to go to Belleville West? AS: Kinda. I didn’t want to go to Notre Dame. They wore uniforms there. B: What were their uniforms like? AS: There were blue skirts with white blouse. B: Where did you go to school before West? AS: St. Luke’s School, Belleville B: How much did lunch cost? AS: .30 A lot of kids brought their lunch. They had a very nice cafeteria. AF: Were their any food fights? AS: No I don’t remember any fights. It was all joking. AF: Our last question is…Do you like that we are preserving the Belleville West history with interview and yearbooks? AS: Yes, I think this is a very good idea. Because if you kids don’t start doing something about history, we’re gonna be in a hellava shape!