Uffdaphil
8 January 2018, 03:23
Keeping alive some memories of a different era. A time when people my current age were telling tales of WW1 and even pre-automobile life.
Smaller towns had ditches instead of storm sewers. 95% of our candy money came from collecting bottles tossed in ditches for the 3 cents deposit. Littering was only mildly frowned on.
Crank telephones with separate ear ear and speaker horns were still in use in rural areas. The operator in my grandparent’s tiny town moonlighted writing the local gossip column. Always a thrill to read about our visits - who we saw, where we ate etc. We city slickers had rotary dials that were rented from AT&T. No one owned a phone. “Party lines” were common - if you picked up the handset and heard someone talking, you had to wait for them to finish to make your call. Long distance was expensive and cause for panic if the callee did not rush to take the call. You could not direct dial, but dialed 0 for the operator and told her (never heard of a male) the number.
Only the rich had air conditioned cars. Our first was a 1966 Dodge with an aftermarket unit hanging under the dash. Also our first with power windows. You could not pump your own gas. Every time you filled up the attendant would offer to check the oil, water and clean your windshield. The first self-serve gas station I ever saw was out west about 1971.
The same song might be recorded by many different singers. The biggest music show on television pre-Elvis was “Your Hit Parade” where the same cast would sing the latest new hits. Much of kids programming was westerns and film shorts from the silent era through WW2.
Many rural areas still had no running water. For a city kid the hand pump was fun. Using the outhouse at 30 below was not. Clothes were washed in a hand filled electric washer with rollers to squeegee out water. Farm wood stoves were common and heat was from a mammoth oil fired space heater in the living room. The only heat for upstairs was an open grate in the floor. In winter we huddled 3-4 in a bed with parkas, long johns and 3-4 quilts.
Only cities had in-town school buses. At age five I walked alone a mile to kindergarten over railroad tracks and through downtown. Almost no parents drove their kids. Most women were marooned at home while hubby took the car to work.
That’s all for now. Other oldsters fell free to add memories of differences from today.
Smaller towns had ditches instead of storm sewers. 95% of our candy money came from collecting bottles tossed in ditches for the 3 cents deposit. Littering was only mildly frowned on.
Crank telephones with separate ear ear and speaker horns were still in use in rural areas. The operator in my grandparent’s tiny town moonlighted writing the local gossip column. Always a thrill to read about our visits - who we saw, where we ate etc. We city slickers had rotary dials that were rented from AT&T. No one owned a phone. “Party lines” were common - if you picked up the handset and heard someone talking, you had to wait for them to finish to make your call. Long distance was expensive and cause for panic if the callee did not rush to take the call. You could not direct dial, but dialed 0 for the operator and told her (never heard of a male) the number.
Only the rich had air conditioned cars. Our first was a 1966 Dodge with an aftermarket unit hanging under the dash. Also our first with power windows. You could not pump your own gas. Every time you filled up the attendant would offer to check the oil, water and clean your windshield. The first self-serve gas station I ever saw was out west about 1971.
The same song might be recorded by many different singers. The biggest music show on television pre-Elvis was “Your Hit Parade” where the same cast would sing the latest new hits. Much of kids programming was westerns and film shorts from the silent era through WW2.
Many rural areas still had no running water. For a city kid the hand pump was fun. Using the outhouse at 30 below was not. Clothes were washed in a hand filled electric washer with rollers to squeegee out water. Farm wood stoves were common and heat was from a mammoth oil fired space heater in the living room. The only heat for upstairs was an open grate in the floor. In winter we huddled 3-4 in a bed with parkas, long johns and 3-4 quilts.
Only cities had in-town school buses. At age five I walked alone a mile to kindergarten over railroad tracks and through downtown. Almost no parents drove their kids. Most women were marooned at home while hubby took the car to work.
That’s all for now. Other oldsters fell free to add memories of differences from today.