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Column by Lexi Bainas published in The Lake News RULES FOR TEACHERS A Lower mainland teacher has certainly brewed a tempest in a teapot with publication of a titillating picture of herself in a recent girlie magazine. While I have no intention of entering the debate on the rights and wrongs of her action, I did wonder this week what would have happened to her had she made so bold at the turn of the century. The reason for my musings was a clipping given me by a friend, which listed teaching conditions in upper New York state about 1910. What would a modern labor union type teacher think of these requirements: "Teachers are expected to keep the schoolroom clean and neat
at all times by: b) Scrubbing the floors once each week with hot water and lye soap; c) Cleaning the blackboards daily; d) Starting the fire at 7 a.m., so that the school room will be warm by 8 a.m. Teachers will not dress in bright colors. Dresses must not be more than two inches above the ankles. At least two petticoats must be worn, The petticoats will be dried in pillowcases. Teachers will not marry or keep company with men during the term of their employment. She will not get into a carriage or automobile with any man, except her brother or father. Teachers will not loiter at ice cream stores. Teachers are expected to be at home between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless in attendance at a school function. The teacher will not smoke cigarettes or play cards. She will not dye her hair under any circumstance. It is understood that the teacher will attend church each Sunday and either teach a class at Sunday School or sing in the choir. The teacher will not leave town at any time without permission of the chairman of the school board." Those ice cream dives must have been quite the hang-outs early in this century. I would love know what went on in them, but what I'd really like to know is how they discovered if the poor school marm really washed her petticoats in a pillowcase. Feb. 6, 1985
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