Hand-me-downs and Graduation
An oldest daughter usually gets new clothing, especially if her mother sews. But the Great Depression changed things. Townspeople dropped off boxes of clothing, even curtains and other items. When a donated dress fit Doris, she’d remake it so that schoolmates couldn’t point out whose dress it used to be. She missed the first two weeks of classes of her senior year, in order to work at the local canning factory, preparing ears of corn from neighboring fields, from early morning until the loads quit arriving. She earned $6.50 in her first paycheck, enough for a class ring. This first female graduate in her family also earned enough to pay for senior expenses, including a new dress, that no one else had worn before, for her senior picture. ----- Meadowlark Songs: A Motherline Legacy