Speaker 1: I remember we played a lot in the summertime, hide-and-go-seek behind the- the haystacks. The- the- oh, (inc) stooks- Speaker 2: Stakes. Speaker 1: Stooks of hay, eh? Is that (inc)- Speaker 2: Yeah, (inc)- Interviewer: What's a stook of hay? Speaker 1: Coils of hay! Co-- behind the coils, yeah. Speaker 2: (inc) cut the hay. Speaker 1: Of hay, yeah. Yeah. Speaker 2: And then you rake it- Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: And you make a- Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: A sto-- ah, well a stook would be- that's when you (inc)- Speaker 1: Stooks would be grain, yeah.

Well you -you have a binder and it goes around the field and ah it auto-- it binds the sheathes and takes them out as you go around and then you'd have to come around and- and pick the sheathes off the ground and stook them in- in ah against each other. So you may put so you put four, five, six stooks or- or sheathes in a stook and they go in rows around the field, I don't know if you've ever seen that problem not in your lifetime but-

Well you -you have a binder and it goes around the field and ah it auto-- it binds the sheathes and takes them out as you go around and then you'd have to come around and- and pick the sheathes off the ground and stook them in- in ah against each other. So you may put so you put four, five, six stooks or- or sheathes in a stook and they go in rows around the field, I don't know if you've ever seen that problem not in your lifetime but-

Well your- things were a little more strict then, yeah. And you can get the strap at school- ... I don't think they do that anymore.

Interviewer: Did you ever get the strap? Speaker: I got the strap and then when I got home I got the strap. ... So I was sort of like a little more incentive not to get in something to get the strap again.

Well me I ended up ah, getting strap ... Yeah I went in ah- I was one of- one of the ones that got the strap and uh, I went home and I told my mother about it. And my mother had called up the school and I guess she blasted them but damage was already done ...

At that time, there were all nuns teaching us. ... And ah, they were cross. They could give you the strap. When you got it, you deserved it but- ... You got it pretty good.

Speaker: ... one man teacher, which I hated. ... every time I made a mistake, I'd get the strap. A spelling mistake, every spelling test, every s-- I got a s-- whack on my hands for every mistake I made.

Interviewer: Yeah, what would they do to discipline you? Speaker: Well, stay in at recess. ... That was our punishment. ... Interviewer: Oh, so they didn't have the strap. Speaker: No, that hurt worst than the strap because then you didn't get outside to play (laughs).

But I'll never forget the humiliation of- and the frustration of knowing that it didn't matter how long I went through that garbage, I was never going to find that note so that was just some of the little punishments that we did. But at least she never strapped anybody.

Everybody was on the same page. Teacher, parent, you get your ass kicked. Two angles, you-know? ... And then they had the strap when I was in school too. ... You got sent to the office, you pulled out your hand, they pulled out this big leather strap and (non-lexical sound, 'paf')

You-know you thought, "Mm, if I do that, I'm going to get in trouble at home, trouble with the teacher, go to the office and get the strap ... n-- I don't I'm going to do that."

Interviewer: We heard stories about ah the strap you'd keep in your back pocket. Speaker: No, I sometimes carried that around. ... It was quick to do something when somebody hit somebody going in the door, it's quicker to get them one crack with the strap when they open their palm than to go into (inc) and it- the boys thought this was great, you-see? Because ah you got strapped and you didn't- nothing. Well, it wasn't anything either, you weren't out to kill them or-anything.

So, no I ah- strapping died out considerably ah, i-- was a real way of disciplining way back when I first started, but ah it- it die, it ah- you-know? Actually the people that can make the big change in the kids is the parents if they want to, but unfortunate the parents have done nothing and the kid has gone to school.

Interviewer: We heard stories about ah the strap you'd keep in your back pocket. Speaker: No, I sometimes carried that around. ... It was quick to do something when somebody hit somebody going in the door, it's quicker to get them one crack with the strap when they open their palm than to go into (inc) and it- the boys thought this was great, you-see? Because ah you got strapped and you didn't- nothing. Well, it wasn't anything either, you weren't out to kill them or-anything.

I was a real good speller, but for one re-- I don't know what happened one day. So we were having a spelling-bee and I had seven mistakes and she gave me the strap (laughs). ... And you got it. You-know you put your hand out and she'd hit you with that leather strap they had then.

Interviewer: Was that the only time you ever got the strap? Speaker: Yes.... My brother used to get it quite often (laughs). ... He had a different teacher. ... she was really cross and ah, he used to get the strap every once and a while.

Interviewer: Do you remember any class clowns in elementary school? Speaker: Not really. Interviewer: You guys were pretty well behaved? Speaker: We had to be. That was the day of the strap

Interviewer: Really? We've been hearing so many stories about the strap. ... Someone told us that b-- girls didn't get the strap, is that true? ... Speaker: Girls got the strap, same as the boys. ... I was fearful.

Interviewer: How- how would they discipline you, like if you did something wrong? How- what would they do? Speaker: Well then, the strap (laughs). ... They used to (inc) the strap then, a great big thing like this. And if you- if you would have stepped out of line, they would ah call you up and you get the strap in front ...