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Mabel's Red Dress

Story by Hazel K. (Quint) Parsons, written 1972

My sister, Mabel, has a wonderful memory and recalls many incidents of her childhood. While visiting with her in October of 1972 she related the following incident. When she was in second grade she often practiced spelling at home as her teacher gave "head marks" for the best spellers in the class. That is, when one student missed a word, and another student spelled it correctly, this student was given a mark on her record called a "head mark" and she moved to the head of the class.

At the end of the term this second grade teacher gave each pupil a penny for each "head mark" on their record. Mabel received a little sack with 30 pennies of which she was very proud. Mother took her to town to spend her 'fortune'. She bought 3 yards of red calico at 3 cents a yard and spent one penny for a bright red pencil. She said she could still remember that dress of red calico with a little white figure, and she wa always so careful when she washed and ironed it so it would not fade. She doesn't remember how she spent the balance of the money, but she always remembered the pretty red dress.