This is another ancestor story based upon real characters in my family's history. I am sharing as much as I know of their personalities and family circumstances, but the accounts of these incidents are purely fictional. If it upsets you to read of children receiving spankings as punishments for their misbehavior, please do not read this. Spanking children was a common method of discipline in those times. Please do not use this story without my permission.
Linda and Beatrice 1900 by Gigi
Linda and Beatrice were aunts of mine. They were brought up in Ohio in a well-to-do and respected banker's family. At the time of this story, Linda was eight, and Beatrice was nine. There were twelve children in the family, the eldest being off in college, and the youngest a toddler. The family was a busy one, and only came together as a unit at dinner time, which the father took very seriously. This was a time when accountability was paramount. What happened at school? Recite this poem; speak in French; discuss this philosopher's point of view; quote this Biblical passage; or discuss some worldly important event. Table manners were enforced, and the time was considered very formal.
Linda and Beatrice were very close, and they sat across the table from each other on that fateful night. For some reason, Beatrice was asked to recite a poem, which had been required for school. She swallowed her potatoes and started the poem, glancing at Linda. That was the mistake.......... Linda grinned at her, and Beatrice "lost it". She clapped her hands over her mouth and looked at her father, knowing that she had done something wrong, and Linda looked at her lap. Their father glared at Beatrice sternly. "Start again, please...". he said coolly. Beatrice began the poem again, and again looked at her sister, who began to giggle. Linda was trying to get a hold of herself, but was losing the battle. Beatrice fell silent and then began to giggle as well. Their father stopped them and said," Girls, we will have NONE of this at the dinner table. Now, you have one last chance to get yourselves together."
Beatrice and Linda sat silent and looked at their laps, as the other children watched their mother and father. "Stand up, Beatrice, and recite the poem, please," said their father. She stood and went behind her chair to hold the back of it and look at a painting instead of Linda. Again, she began the poem. Linda put her napkin over her mouth and tried to suppress uncontrollable giggles with no success whatsoever. This caused Beatrice to put her head down on her hands upon the top of the back of her chair and explode into laughter.
Suddenly, their father stood and slammed his napkin down on the table. All of the children gasped. He strode over to Beatrice and took her by the arm and went around the table to Linda. He took her and pulled her from her chair as well, and excusing them and himself, he marched them out of the dining room into his study. When there, he closed the door and sat them on the couch. Standing back, he folded his arms across his chest and began to confront them about such unlady-like and forbidden behavior at the table. He also scolded them for disobeying him when they were reminded, and he said that they would be punished for this. He said that since they thought things were so funny together, they would now cry together.
He pulled out an ottoman and told them to lie over it side-by-side. Weeping, they did. He reached over and raised up their skirts and pulled down their underwear to their ankles, so that their bare behinds were right next to each other. Then he went to the closet and took out the strap. Neither daughter had felt that strap before. It had only been used on the boys, and they started to cry when they saw it. Their father slapped it against his hand as he lectured them, and how they cried now! Suddenly, he turned and returned the strap to the closet. "I think that eight and nine year old girls need something different than a strap", he explained. "You deserve this, you know, but I have changed my mind. I will save it for when you are older. In the meantime, I think we will do this."
He left Linda on the ottoman and took Beatrice to his chair, where he proceeded to put her over his knees. He took a paddle from his drawer and began to smack her bare bottom with it, instructing Linda not to move an inch. Beatrice was screaming. She kicked and protested, but he paid no mind to her. "You will not become silly at dinner again, young lady, do you understand?" Through her tears, Beatrice nodded as the paddle turned her bottom to a very bright pink. He was bouncing up and down on his lap with each smack of that paddle.
When he had finished, Her father pulled up her underwear and told her to stand in the corner. He then got up and went to get Linda. Linda was terrified. She rolled away from him, but, he flipped back on her tummy and began to spank her right there on the ottoman. "If this is where you want to be, then so be it.", he said. He kept his hand on the small of her back, so she couldn't move. And, there with her face right near the floor, her up-turned bare bottom became as rosy as her sister's.
When it was all over, he called his daughters to him and stood one on each side of him as he sat in his chair. With his arms around each, he pulled them close and kissed each one. "Do not make me do this again," he said, " I love what you share at dinner. I want to know of your wonderful ideas. I know that it is important to laugh, but not the way you did. Do you understand that?" Tearfully, they nodded and leaned against him. Holding the hand of each child, he walked with them back to the dining room, where the family waited in silence. Each girl returned to her seat and sat down carefully and tenderly. "All is well, my family"., their father announced. "Let us see who has some news to share.."