79. Just A Can Of Pears For Breakfast

(Blog post by Mick.) 

Winchester Herald, Dec. 1947

By Bob Kist. 

  Two children boarded a school hack this morning-one a boy in the fourth grade, the other his sister in the third grade. The fact that they went to school isn't out of the ordinary, but the story is that their breakfasts consisted of canned pears, and that's all. They have another brother, in the second grade, who was taken to Riley hospital Tuesday for a mastoid operation, and there are two more little brothers at "home"-ages two and four.

  "Home" to these kids is nothing but a made-over No. 3 Ward township school bus, bought for $30 by the parents.
  Located one mile north and one mile east of Winchester, this old worn out school hack is home for the father and mother and five children and when they are home at the same time, it's mighty crowded.
  Pears for breakfast, "a few I'd canned," the mother said today. Asked what else there was to eat in the "house," she answered "about twelve potatoes."
  The family came from Tennessee where the father was born, the mother being a native of North Carolina. The father isn't able to do any heavy work due to a back injury and has continual headaches.
  The youngsters have plenty of clothes and there is ample bedding, thanks to kind-hearted people and the welfare department -but there's no food to feed seven hungry mouths.
  Since before Thanksgiving on which day the family of seven ate heartily of all the good things furnished by these same kindhearted people and representatives of the welfare department, the family has just existed on what food was taken.

  And, now to add to all this disaster is the possibility that the family may be ousted from their school hack home.
  In this country, state and county of plenty that there exists such a case is almost unbelievable. But, it's true for we were there this morning, in company with a welfare worker, heard and saw just what we have written above.
  The taking up of a collection to send this unfortunate family back to Tennessee seems the only hope of correcting this unfortunate circumstance.

Photo for reference what would have been a 'new' bus for the school system.
A photo of a bus in the early 1940s. This would have been 'new' when this article was originally written. 
What was referred to as a 'hack' would likely be from the turn of the century and not as enclosed.