Big Chuck Asks: “How Did We Know It Was a Snow Day in the 1950s and 1960s?”

I have always wondered about this.

How did we know that there was no school because of snow "back in the day."  The only radio station we listened to in Sidney was WDLA in Walton, but obviously on a storm day reception was bad.  So no radio.  The only local TV station we had was WNBF Channel 12 in Binghamton.  I doubt if that TV station was that sophisticated to broadcast school closings as far up as Sidney was.  So no TV.

So how did my mother know not to send us to school on a snowy day, say back in 1958?

Some have suggested parents used a "phone tree."  Nope.  Never had one.  Others suggested that we simply walked to school and saw a CLOSED sign on the front door and turned around and went home.  Others said that if no buses showed up to pick up our friends in Sidney Center and Masonville they also turned around and walked home.

So how did we do it back then?

Today, of course, everyone gets a text message on their personal phone.

Just curious....