Riding the Michigan School Bus, 1900-1948: How it Used to Be

I never had to take the bus to school. Nope...the school was just a block away, so all I had to do was jump the backyard fence, cut through a neighbor's front lawn, get yelled at, cross the street, and I was there. When I arrived, there was that familiar lineup of yellow school buses, dumpin' the kids off in front of the school.

I also recall the perseverance of those bus drivers. When there was a bad snowstorm, you'd see the buses lined up anyway - the drivers had already gone out, picked the kids up, and dropped 'em off. And then moments later, the superintendent finally got out of bed and off his butt, and declared school to be closed due to heavy snow. It impressed me that the bus drivers didn't give a whit about deep snow...they made their way through to do their job and get the kids. And then had to turn right around and take them back home, thanks to a sleepy, late-waking superintendent.

It's not like that now. School gets called off when there is MUCH less snow, and sometimes gets called off the day before.

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I only rode a school bus once - when I was in elementary school, a bus driver loaded up the kids and took them home, so a friend of mine and I went along for the ride and was dropped off at the school afterward. That was the only time.

The gallery below shows some great vintage school buses from all over - horse-drawn, covered wagon, taxi school bus, and some rickety ones going back to the early 1900s!

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