Life was much different and a lot more simple in the days when brothers Jim and Gary Jacobson were students at Lawton School. "You could walk all the way to school when you were 5 years old," remembers Gary (Class of 1947).
Speaking at the school's centennial tea celebration on March 27, the brothers also remember that the neighborhood wasn't the same place as it is today - literally.
"It was more the poor side of the hill," said Jim (Class of 1944). "They did not call this Magnolia back then," said Gary, who added that the area was called either Lawton or Salmon Bay.
The class distinctions really came into play when the Lawton students went on to attend Blaine, where most of the students came from more affluent families, remembers Lawton alumna Doreen Gaerisch (Class of 1953).
All in all, life was good in the 1940s. The Jacobsons remember growing up on the water on the Ship Canal near what was to become Fishermen's Terminal. "Dad had his own boat," Gary said. The two also used to play pirates on the sailing ships moored in the area, he added.
"We used to have a footbridge to cross the railroad tracks," said Jim, who remembers he and his brother took the opportunity to breath the coal smoke from passing locomotives. "Then we came to school," Gary smiled.
The Jacobsons weren't exactly impressed with the quality of their education at Lawton, though. "I am the world's worst speller, and so is my brother," Gary said. "What does that tell you?"
Some memories of the school made more of an impression than others. "The biggest thing I can remember is the cloak rooms and the dark wood (paneling)," Gaerisch said.
One reason for that might be the fact that students were paddled in the cloakrooms for misbehaving back in those days. There were also two kinds of paddling punishments, and each had its own euphemism she said.
"Pink Tea" referred to getting smacked on the hands, while "Red Tea" referred to getting hit on the butt, Gaerisch said. "I got spanked for talking too much in class, so I've become very quiet," she said.
"I got three spankings when I was there," chimed in Jim. Gary only got one paddling at the school, but that was doubled up at home when his mom found out about it, he said.
Spankings aside, the three alums all seemed to have fond memories of the time they spent at a neighborhood school that just reached the 100-year mark. "I kind of miss it," Jim said. "I didn't realize how good I had it back then."
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