Taken from Teutopolis Press dated August 31, 1988
The following 6th grade students were directed in the project by their English teacher, Mrs. Marge Wiessing.
Clothing In The Olden Days
By Brad Deters
The clothing that the settlers of the Teutopolis area wore was very different from the fashions people have today. These pioneer people wore what they had made by hand. People had to save money instead of going to a store and buying a dress or sweatshirt that was in fashion, according to my Grandma Opal Bussman.
The settlers used basic materials that were cheaper. The basic materials were cotton and wool. Girls had about two dresses in their wardrobe, one for working outside and one for church on Sunday. The main colors for clothing were blue, black, gray, and green. Since socks didn't have elastic bands in them, settlers used garters to keep their socks up. Socks were very thick so settlers could keep their feet warm. Every settler in the Teutopolis area wore wooden shoes before the Civil War. After the Civil War many people wore leather shoes that went up their leg above the ankle to keep their feet warm.
Through the years, settlers kept the same design of clothing pretty well. Boys wore knickers until they were thirteen years old, and then they could wear long pants. Girls wore long dresses with long sleeves, and girls also wore a bonnet to cover their head. Men wore suspenders instead of belts to keep their pants up, because settlers made pants by hand and so pants didn't have elastic bands in them. When the early settlers of the Teutopolis area moved here from Germany, the custom of the wedding outfit was to be married in it and buried in it.
Our ancestors sacrificed a lot for their stay in the new country. The many items that have been passed on through the family have told us the way our ancestors lived back then between the years 1839 and 1900.
Wooden Shoes
By Stacie Funneman
In the 1900's adults usually wore wooden shoes. According to Mary Funneman they usually received two pairs of wooden shoes in their adult life. The reason for this is that the shoes would last a long time.
George Deyman was the one person who carved the shoes in Teutopolis. He sold them at his shop and so did Wessel's grocery store. One pair of wooden shoes usually cost them around fifty to seventy-five cents.
Adults did not wear the wooden shoes very often because they would give them sores. Today in the world there are only a few places where people make wooden shoes.
The Procedure of Making Soap
By Mandy Ruholl
"Soap was made by hand in the early 1900's," remembered my great-grandmother. Helen Miller said that she, her brothers, and sisters would make the soap at home.
Lewis lye and tallow were the two main ingredients for making soap. Leis lye was bought at the store in tin cans, and the tallow was always saved at home.
First grandma mixed 1.5 cups of Lewis lye with 1.75 quarts of water of water in a glass dish. Two tablespoons of borax and a half cup of tallow, or fat drippings, were added to the ingredients. Then, she placed a cloth over the dish to let it cool. The soap was cut into squares. When my grandma and her family made the soap, it only took a half an hour, counting the time it needed to harden. "The soap was placed in the basement where we washed our laundry. It was only used for washing clothes," grandma pointed out. When the soap was ready to be used, grandma cut three-quarters of the bar into tiny pieces to clean the wash. A batch of soap would last about three months. "The process of making soap was easy," grandma stated.
Fly Traps
By Dean Drees
Fly traps were about the same in the early 1900's as today. My grandpa Frank Drees told me this. There were two kinds of fly traps.
One fly trap was made out of a jar. First he would find a jar and fill it with very strong soap water. Then my grandpa punched a big round hole in a lid and screwed it onto the jar. Finally, he would find a piece of bread, cover it with molasses, and put it inside the hole of the lid. The flies would eat the molasses with the soap water on it and then die. This was one fly trap he used.
Grandpa said that he also bought fly traps. They were made out of a black poisonous paper that came in rolls. First he would take some of the black paper, shred it up, and put it on a saucer. Finally, he would pour water on the paper. When the flies drank the water and poison together, they died.
These neat and cheap fly traps listed above helped me know how people killed flies years ago. Also, I thank my grandpa for sharing with me his past about fly traps.
The following was written by Larry Kingery in 1990 when he was in the 5th grade. It was submitted by Dolores Kingery:
I think this world is going to get worse. But I believe that it can get better. I think morals should be brought back. That killing of babys and old people isn't right. I think these last two and youthNAsia (Euthanasia) is turning America to Nazism. I think government shouldn't have a hand in what parents should control. I think that with the more laws passed, the more we turn to communism. That God should be put back in America, whatever religion it is and that Atheism shouldn't overpower and take over public things like school and business. I'm not saying go to an extreme. But whenever religion is outlawed, then it's bad. I think that it's better to have a wing and a prayer, than just hang on. I think we don't need civil laws no more, but Idealistic laws. That is that people shouldn't complain that they didn't get a Job cause of they're Religion or color, but that people should be judged by they're Ideals and morals.
Teutopolis, Ill. —
