Learning about life in early Orange County

Stick a sock in it? Put it through the ringer? Ring up a friend?

Our third grade classes had the opportunity to take a field trip the Heritage Museum and Kellogg House in Santa Ana. Five generations ago, Hiram Kellogg was one of the first influential architects in our local area. He was one of the first to have electricity in his home and loved boats. He designed his house with many ship themes, including using a ship mast as the center point of his house. The Kellogg house was passed down from generation to generation prior to being made into a museum for students to learn about our community’s past.

On this trip, students learned that life was very different back 100 or so years ago. Entertainment was playing a piano or organ, or listening to music on a phonograph. But phonographs wouldn’t stop on cue, so you would ‘stick a sock in it’ to mute the sound. Washing clothes was done by hand, and then ‘put through the ringer’ to squeeze out the water before hanging up to dry. Talking on the phone required a landline, and you would have to know the correct code/pattern to ‘ring up a friend.’ This trip was a fun experience for our students, as they got to discover our local history in a very tactile and hands-on way. The Heritage Museum and Kellogg House allowed these students the opportunity to through hands-on experience. Learning reinforced beyond the traditional classroom walls.

By: Jeff Courvoisier, 3rd Grade