Flowerfield is a school in Banner County, Nebraska, that teaches kids what it was like in 1888. Before our class went to Flowerfield we had to prepare. First, we had to figure out what we were going to wear.The ladies had to wear dresses, but not your average dresses.The dresses were very vintage, plain in color, and long. Some also had flower prints.The gentlemen had to wear a long-sleeved button up shirt with a pair of blue jean pants.
The next challenge was getting our lunch put together. There were no lunchboxes, freezer packs, Ziplock bags, aluminum foil, Lunchables, miracle whip, or Takis. So, to say the least, we had our work cut out for us.We learned in school that children in 1888 wrapped their food in some form of cloth. Some of my classmates used handkerchiefs. I used cheesecloth. I wrapped homegrown beef jerky, freshly dehydrated apple chips, packed a few plums, and caramel hard candies and tied them up with twine. Some kids used tin cans with handles made of string.
Learning was very different in 1888. Each student had their own chalkboard, or feather dipped in ink. Most learning was done in a small room where we sat in pews.The teacher had all of the students participate in a spelling bee.We had to line up boys and girls and go to the front and spell the word she told us to. I won the spelling bee and got a certificate for the word “Halloween.”
