From 8-year old Hilda’s diary:
On Monday mornings the whole school must go to the auditorium and sing ugly songs. The ugliest of all is “The Star Spangled Banner.” It has notes that no one can reach, not even the principal who has a very nice voice and you can hear him over all ours and the other teachers’ voices too whenever we sing. I don’t like national songs so much and I don’t like flags either. Every morning we must salute the flag and then put our hand over on our forehead like soldiers do and say a piece about being true to our country. I do it but I do not like it. I don’t really understand it all or why? Anyway, my favorite songs are in German and Grandfather sings them. One is called “Die Lorelei.” She is a mermaid who stands on a rock in the middle of a river and combs her hair. Only I don’t see how she can stand up on a tail. Also, it isn’t very polite of her to comb her hair in public, I am never allowed to come out of my room until my hair is combed.