My memories of the place are a little sketchy, but I recall making the trip at least twice. There was one trip with my family. My sister was very young and the only photo frame in my brain's photo gallery is our group walking toward the big round barn for a meal.
Just four years after the largest outdoor musuem dedicated to rural life opened, my best friend and I rode our bikes from Janesville to Eagle. A thirty mile trip, I remember our ride and our stay in a small roadside motel in Eagle.
In my memory, we rode to Eagle to visit the park, spent the night, and rode home the next morning. We would have been in high school at the time and riding lots of miles, so the round trip wouldn't have been a problem for us.
Less clear in my mind is how we carried our stuff. At the time I had one very small bike bag on my ten speed. The two of us did a lot of long rides, but an overnight trip was unusual. The park was in its early years back then - just a fraction of the 60 buildings that now adorn the grounds.
Years rub away as you enter the museum. The interpreters look appropriate for the 19th century. They act appropriately, but really, how would I know?It was a pleasant surprise to find shuttles to provide a ride out to the Norweigen, Dane, and Finnish sections of the grounds. That's a nod to modern times of which I approve.
The school house came from the northernmost part of Wisconsin, in Bayfield County. It was taken apart piece by piece. Each board counted and inventoried so the school could be built again for new classes of kids.
The teacher told us the school was used 17 years and had 17 teachers. Teachers were young women about 16 years old.
It wasn't uncommon for male students and teachers to get married and who could be older than "normal" because of class time lost to farm work or labor, to fall in love with their teacher. True love and happiness meant unemployement for the young teacher. I'm guessing she found plenty to do with a move to the farm. Most teachers in north Wisconsin lived with a family as part of their compensation. Imagine the fun of looking across the kitchen table to see your teacher and hear "her" report about your day at school! Yikes.
The one room school house served multiple grades. Some kids had to bring young pre-school aged siblings with them. There was a place in the corner for them with a few toys. The teacher was expected to work on their ABCs when she had time.
You know, after getting the fire started - cleaning the floor - preparing the lesson - and disciplining students. One method demonstrated in our class was drawing a circle on the chalkboard just above nose level. The student had to be on tip-toes to put his nose in the circle and had to hold the position until released.
There were chairs ready in the corner for naughty kids and, as last resort, a switch for a quick slap across the large knuckles. "Yes, teacher. I'm sorry. I'll behave."We were dismissed after an interesting session. The teacher's other students, her own children who volunteered for the day, forced to stay behind. Out of school, we skipped down the path heading for the homesteads of early settlers from Norway.
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