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This month we have 2 holidays to observe. The first is Columbus Day, and the second is Halloween! Columbus Day is October 13th and Halloween is October 31st.
We are taking our little stories from the 1913 schoolbook Stories of Our Holidays by Isabel M. Horsford. She was a teacher in William E. Endicott School in Boston, Massachusetts. My copy is a discarded library book from West Tisbury Free Public Library. West Tisbury is a town in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Our first entry will be about Columbus Day. There are three parts to this one. It is entitled Christopher Columbus.
Christopher sailor friend strange Columbus learned captain listen Italy guide storms questions
Christopher Columbus
I
Christopher Columbus!
Isn’t that a long name?
I think I can remember it. Can you?
Columbus lived a long, long time ago.
His home was in Italy.
Italy is a sunny country.
The sky is very blue there.
The water too is blue and pretty.
Columbus lived near the sea.
He liked to play in the sand.
He liked to watch the boats.
I think he made some play-boats, don’t you?
He said, “Some day I shall be a man.
Then I will have a boat all my own.
I will sail away over the sea.
Do you think I shall be afraid??
Oh, no, I shall be very, very brave.”
Columbus had much to learn.
He was going to be a sailor.
So he learned all about the stars.
He learned their names.
This would help him to sail his boat.
The stars would be his guide.
He learned how to make maps.
Some day you will learn to make maps.
He made a map of his city.
He made one of his country.
He made one of the world.
Nobody knew about our country then.
So Columbus did not put our country on his map.
Little Columbus had a sailor friend.
His friend was a sea captain.
What stories that captain could tell! — stories about the big blue sea, stories of storms and stories of sunshine, stories of strange people and strange lands.
Oh, how Columbus would listen!
Columbus was like all other boys.
He asked his friend many questions.
Sometimes his friend would sail away.
Columbus would say good-by to him.
“Some day I will go too,” he would say to himself.
At last there came a happy day.
Columbus was fourteen years old.
How many years is it before you will be fourteen?
Columbus had a chance to go to sea.
His sailor friend took him away in his boat.
Columbus had still much more to learn.
So he worked hard and he studied hard.
He learned about ships.
He learned about the sea.
At last he grew to be a wise and brave captain.
II
India nobody crazy brought money Spain ocean enough Isabella
In those days sailors went to India.
They brought back many things from India.
It was a long, hard trip.
Columbus thought that he could find a shorter way.
The other sailors always went to the east.
Columbus wanted to sail to the west.
What do you think they called the ocean on the west?
They called it the “Dark Sea.”
Nobody knew anything about it.
Columbus wanted to find out about it.
He wanted to look for a shorter way to India.
But he was a poor man.
He did not have money enough to buy a boat of his own.
He asked his friends to help him.
They shook their heads.
They thought that he was crazy.
At last he found help in Spain.
The Queen of Spain helped him.
Her name was Queen Isabella.
She gave him money enough to buy three ships.
That made Columbus very happy.
III
present surely beautiful branch ahead Indians floating October America
One day these three ships sailed away from Spain.
They sailed to the west.
They were going where no one had ever been.
They were sailing on the “Dark Sea.”
People said that they would never come back.
Columbus told them that they were going to find a shorter way to India.
They sailed for many long days.
The sailors thought that they were lost.
They tried to make Columbus turn back.
Columbus was very brave.
He tried to make his sailors brave.
He said, “Sail three days more.
I will give a present to the man who sees land first.”
A flock of birds flew by the ships.
The branch of a tree came floating by.
There were red berries on the branch.
Surely and land must be near.
One night a sailor saw a light ahead.
In the morning they saw the land.
How glad Columbus was!
How glad the sailors were!
They all went ashore.
It was October twelfth.
They had come to a beautiful land.
Columbus thought that it was India.
So he called the people Indians.
Now we know that it was not India.
It was our own dear land, America.
The above story is interesting in that some of the details are fictionalized, especially the part about his sailor friend. There is no evidence of this so-called ‘sailor friend’. Apparently, this is made up for children to relate to. The specific details about his making play-boats is creative storytelling, as well. There is also no record of him making a map of his city (Genoa, which became part of Italy). It may be interesting to note that Columbus didn’t actually think he was in India, which is commonly taught, even now. He thought he was near the East Indies, not mainland india. He was actually in the Bahamas, not what we now call the USA.
OK, now on to Halloween!
The Pumpkins’ Story
pumpkins spread queer tried autumn Jack-o’-lanterns poked happen Hallowe’en wondered
Can pumpkins tell a story?
Oh, yes, we surely can.
Once we were little seeds, little hard white seeds.
We were planted in the ground.
Oh, how very dark it was!
Something told us to grow.
So we tried as hard as we could.
We pushd up, up, up.
One day we poked our heads above the ground.
It was a beautiful bright day.
How good the sunlight seemed!
We liked it better than the dark ground.
We liked the warm sunshine.
It was pleasant to see the blue sky.
We kept on growing and growing.
Our leaves grew big.
Our vines spread over the ground.
We had pretty yellow blossoms.
When the blossoms went away, pumpkins began to grow.
At first we were very little.
The sun and rain helped us.
We grew big and round and fat.
All summer long we grew.
Now the autumn days have come.
Farmer Brown looked at us and smiled.
He said, “My pumpkins have done well.”
That made us feel very proud.
His little boy was with him.
He said something to his father.
His father laughed and said yes.
We knew that something was going to happen.
We wondered what it could be.
Now we have found out.
The little boy picked us off the vine.
He cut out all the inside part.
See what big round eyes he made!
See our queer little noses!
Look at our funny mouths.
Inside you will see little candles.
After dark they will be lighted.
Do not jump when we look in at the window.
Do not be afraid when you see us on the steps.
Do not run if you see us on the fence.
We are Jack-o’-lanterns now.
We shall have a merry time.
To-night is Hallowe’en.
