I once fixed a box in the shape of a ladies shoe – pink and white – with a draw-string at the top and also a pink bow – a very pretty and different box! No one was to ever tell whose box it was. The man would sit with the lady whose box he bought and eat the packed lunch. Besides the fellowship, the auction also brought in money for the district school supplies.
When my box was held up for auction, a school board member, Harvey Hahn, bid on it first. Immediately my boyfriend gave him competition because he then knew it was the teacher’s basket. Believe me they bid that box to the unbelievable amount of $14.25! My boyfriend was the highest bidder.
(Incidentally, he is now my husband of 60 years and we still chuckle about that box social. My daughter has the basket yet, although it was made in 1929.)
Hazel Hill
Polk, Nebraska
Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then Capper’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from Capper’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.
