WINTER SCHOOL BUS
Backwoods Blog;
in the woods and on the road…
In the winters of ’31 and ’32 my father drove school bus for the Littleton school system. Back in those days the driver also had to supply the bus; which in my Dad’s case was a 1920s flat-bed farm truck with a box, or a cab, he had built to set on back of the truck with benches and a wood stove. This version was used in the Spring and the Fall. In winter, when the roads were closed, he slid the box/cab off and mounted it on a long sled (that’s when the wood stove really came in handy). My Dad called it the “school-hack” and he got a dollar a day, which was good money for those times. My Dad put up with no shenanigans. He made it clear there would be no horsin’ around on his hack; zero degrees or minus 40 below, they would be hoofin’ it! There was a small slat window he had cut in the box-cab so he could keep an eye on things, and sure enough, one day a couple of the boys were getting into it. Dad stopped the team, went around to the back of the school-hack, hauled the boys out and tossed them into the nearest snow bank. Dad said that was the last he ever heard about that.
In the photo above you will see a slightly fancier version of a winter school bus from the same era. If you look closely, I think there is a stove pipe coming out the roof near the back of the box/cab. Unfortunately, in my father’s design the driver sits outside in the elements. I hope he had a hot thermos of coffee…
In the woods,
Dave
January 5, 2022
Thanks so much for this Dave.
I remember my Mom telling us about the “school hack” and I had a hard time believing there was a wood stove on board. Well
this proves she was right!
posted by Paula S.
Enjoyed your story. Your dad was quite a guy, wasn’t he? I was wondering if you ever did anything that merited getting yourself tossed into the snowbank? Of course, those were the days when we actually got some serious snow……
I do remember the time we were coming home from Houlton one July 4th after watching the parade and we pulled into our driveway. I was about 4 years old and my father used to let me drive the car (sitting in his lap). I would place my hands on the steering wheel and help him him steer. Of course there were no children seats back in those days and we didn’t even use the seat belts, but I thought I was all grown up helping my Dad drive. We made the turn into the driveway, which was no small feat, and I can still remember all four of our arms trying to turn the wheel fast. Well, for some reason ( I have no idea where this came from) I reached down and turned the ignition key off just as we were coming up the driveway. I guess I thought it might be funny, but my father didn’t think so. I think that was the maddest I ever saw him get at me, but he didn’t say or do anything. If there had been snow that time of year, perhaps he would have rolled down the window and thrown me into the snow bank. I never drove the car again…