The Washington Post newspaper has begun to run retrospectives in honor of its 125th anniversary. One section in particular caught my eye: selected bits from a special Sunday page for children that ran between 1891 and 1944, titled variously "Good Reading for the Little Folk", "Our Children's Page", and "The Post's Boys and Girls".

For example, from the 4 March 1906 "Conundrums":

If you were on top of a church steeple with a goose for a companion and there was no ladder, no rope — in fact, if there were no possible means of descent — how would you get down?

Ans. — Pick the goose and get down.

(Well, I like that sort of riddle!)

More seriously, the 19 December 1926 winner of a $1 prize for the best New Year's Resolution list was Sarah Richardson. She wrote:

I PROMISE —

• I am going to be very obedient.
• To get dressed quickly in the morning.
• To get up as soon as I am called (earlier if possible).
• To control my temper.
• To eat all vegetables that can be eaten.
• Take more time in drawing.
• To stop biting my fingernails.
• To take disappointments pleasantly.
• To save my money.
• To study my lessons harder.

(I ought to sign up to those resolutions today ... especially #8.)

TopicHumor - TopicLife - 2002-06-05

(correlates: PickwickPapersWidthAndWisdom, PeepingSam, AggressiveAggregation, ...)