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Home > What's New > Education > Curriculum Units: Dreams of a Barefoot Boy > Work & Play

Curriculum Units

Dreams of a Barefoot Boy: 1890 - 1911

In the furnace room there were three large fire-tube boilers. We used slack (almost powdered) coal, and clinkers formed. With a slice bar, twelve feet or so in length, I would push the burning coal to one side, loosen the clinkers from the grates, then haul them out with a hoelike tool while another man turned a stream of water on the clinker. In this small inferno, life lost its charm but the job led to another promotion.

--Dwight D. Eisenhower

     Children and young people in the early years of the twentieth century worked and played much the same as they do today. Early in life, children learned the value of work firsthand. "These were the days when children had real chores to do and did them as a matter of course."¹ Parents taught them how to cook, wash and dry dishes, and clean. They helped to wash, hang, and iron laundry as soon as they were old enough to be taught.

     Out-of-doors, children were responsible for the care of pets and livestock. Stalls and pens were cleaned, the garden was hoed and weeded, and the cow milked twice a day. Local farmers or small business owners hired older boys to work in the summer. Many jobs required long hours of physical toil for very modest pay.

     During the school year, some students had after-school jobs in downtown businesses or local industries. Many had summer jobs that required hard physical labor. When they were in their early teens, some girls worked as "hired girls," doing household chores for another family in exchange for room, board, and a small wage.

     Life for children in 1900 wasn't all work. After chores and schoolwork were finished, children enjoyed playing and having fun. Most little girls had a rag doll and perhaps a "penny" doll, a miniature china doll. "Nickel" dolls were larger and nicer. One popular brand of oatmeal contained a pattern for a cloth doll that mothers sewed and stuffed for their daughters. Every little girl dreamed of receiving a life-sized doll with a porcelain head, real hair and lashes, and moveable eyes. Little boys preferred a cloth bag of prized marbles which they carried around in their pockets. On the first warm day of spring, they gathered outside, testing their skill and luck with their friends. Older boys were allowed to carry jackknives and competed at a game called "Mumblety-peg" in which they took turns flipping the knife blades into the ground.

     Outside games were as popular as they are today. Children organized themselves to play "hide-and-seek," "ring-around-a-rosy," "drop-the-handkerchief," and "follow-the-leader." Baseball was not considered a proper game for girls; however, it was a favorite sport for boys, along with football, boxing, wrestling, and foot races. The hayloft in the barn out back was the perfect place to practice gymnastics and put on amateur shows and circuses.

     This was a time when children freely explored the countryside. In summer, the local creek became the community swimming hole and, in winter, an ice-skating rink. Homemade kites flew in the summer sky, and many Sunday-afternoon, horse-and-buggy rides ended with a river-side picnic. The river was a perfect setting for fishing, boating, and camping. Hikes and hayrides were other typical outdoor activities in pleasant weather. When there was enough snow in the winter, children hitched their sleds behind a wagon or horse and thrilled to a slippery ride down country roads.

     As early as 1890, every town had at least one drugstore with a soda fountain or ice cream parlor. Young people met their friends "downtown" for sodas, sundaes, and malted milks, already American favorites. Another popular activity for young people was to go to one another's homes in the evenings. All gathered around the piano or organ in the parlor for a sing-along to the musical hits of the day. "Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight," "Whippoorwill Song," and "Over the Garden Wall" were among the most requested.

     Every town had at least one band; most had several. By far, this was the most popular of all local music entertainment. Dazzling uniforms, the flash of silver instruments, and snappy high-stepping young men were a reflection of the town's own spirit and pride. Girls who wanted to play had to organize their own bands.

     Every "progressive" town boasted an Opera House where traveling troupes performed plays, musicals, and light opera. By the early 1900s, opera houses were being converted to movie theaters at a rapid pace. It was the age of the three-reel, silent picture. Regular admission was 15 to 40 cents, but most fans waited for the Saturday ten-cent matinee to view popular films such as Trip to the Moon and The Great Train Robbery.

     County fairs and carnivals featured exhibits, horse races, pulling contests, hot-air balloon rides, and games of chance. The occasional medicine show that pulled into town was a magnet for a curious, and sometimes gullible, crowd. Summer Chautauqua shows entertained the community with a week of lectures, speeches, and musical performances. Nothing, however, compared with the glamour of the circus. For Midwesterners, who had limited contact with the outside world, exotic animals, death-defying acts, and chariots made the day the circus came to town a major event in small town life.

     When Dwight Eisenhower was growing up in Abilene, Kansas, the greater part of the ordinary person's day was spent working. Life was no different for the Eisenhowers. As soon as her sons were able to help, Ida devised a weekly schedule of rotating chores. That way, each boy learned every job in the busy household. Because there were no Eisenhower daughters, even what were traditionally "girls" chores such as cooking and sewing were mastered by the six sons. After school and in the summers, Dwight and his brothers worked at a variety of jobs including farm and factory work. With his earnings he bought treats and athletic equipment and took dates to the "picture show" at the Seeyle Theater.

     After high school graduation, Dwight began working fulltime at the Belle Springs Creamery. He and his brother Edgar devised a plan to put each other through college. Dwight would remain in Abilene to work and pay for his brother's education. After a couple of years, Ed would drop out to work for a time so Dwight could attend college. Dwight's appointment to West Point changed all that.

     Like young people today, Dwight enjoyed himself when he had the time. He thrilled at pistol-shooting contests down at Mud Creek by men who actually knew Wild Bill Hickok. Now and then, they allowed him to practice. Baseball and football were his passion, and he enjoyed boxing and working out in a make-shift gym at the back of a print shop downtown. He and his friends swam and skated at nearby Mud Creek. With Bob Davis, as guide and teacher, Dwight fished, flat-boat paddled, camped, and learned how to win at poker on the Smoky Hill River. W.C. Parker's Amusement Company was only a few blocks from his home, but the people and activity of downtown Abilene were often entertainment enough for a small-town boy growing up at the turn of the century.

     Recommended Reading from At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends: 73-75, 68-71, 83-86, 88-92, 94-95, 97-98, 102-104.

     Deane Malott, Growing Up In Abilene, Kansas: 1898-1916 (Abilene, KS: Dickinson County Historical Society, 1992), p. 14.

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