Many changes occur from generation to generation! Things that folks take for granted in 2009 didn't even exist back when I was growing up. We didn't know what we were missing - or not!
I don't remember ever eating in a restaurant when I was growing up. There was no such thing as "fast food" places. Normally, we ate at home in the kitchen with all of the family sitting down together. Breakfast was the only meal we might not all eat together.
When I was really little, we took baths in a wash tub in front of the open oven door - the oven was turned on to take the chill off the air. The water wasn't changed after each person either! This was a Saturday night ritual.
My parents took out a loan to build our home. I remember the day Daddy came home with the mortgage papers marked "paid in full." That was worth celebrating!
My folks saved money until they had enough to buy what they wanted - a car, furniture, etc. There were no credit cards. They worked hard and saved. Daddy worked at the post office and Mom worked at home. He "brought home the bacon" and she fried it!
Working at home meant cooking, baking, cleaning, washing the clothes with a ringer washer, hanging the clothes outside on the clothes line to dry, roning those clothes and anything else that needed to be done.
We weren't allowed to wear slacks or jeans to school because they weren't considered ladylike. This changed when I was in high school. We didn't wear tee-shirts with stuff written on them. We didn't roll our skirts up at the waist to make them shorter - if we had done that, our skirts would probably have been a couple inches below the knee. So there was no point to it!
We learned to do math using our brains as there were no calculators back then - unless you counted on your fingers (and toes). We also learned to count change. Even with the cash register, we had to use our heads and not depend on the cash register to tell us that the customer should get 75 cents back or whatever amount it was. Now, when someone counts change back to me, I am always really pleased.
I think I saw my first TV set when I was a freshman at Kansas State in 1953. We gathered in the rec room and watched Fess Parker as Davy Crockett and other shows that were on TV then.
We had a phone until Daddy died. Our phone number was "one o" or 10. Mother had the phone service cut off because so many people called and she could not deal with it. So I never had an opportunity to talk for hours on the phone when I was growing up. Nor did I ever get asked out on a date by a phone call.
When we went to the "filling station," a man pumped the gas, checked the oil and water, and washed the windsheild. We paid about 25 cents a gallon for gas. The man did the other stuff for free - this was definitely "customer service."
We had an electric clock plugged in over the kitchen sink and an alarm clock in the bedroom. The alarm clock wasn't electric. We had to wind it to keep it running. There were no LCD clocks or LCD watches either. Daddy had a pocket watch on a chain that he kept in the watch pocked in his vest.
We didn't have "boom boxes" back then. There was a "console radio" in the living room with Mom's rocker setting in front of it. The radio was probably 3-4 feet tall. As I got older we also had a portable radio that we could plug into the wall outlet inother rooms or in the basement. We didn't have air conditioning so when it was hot in the summertime, we would go down to the basement where it was cooler. We did have an oscillating fan to move the air around.
I don't know that we had it hard back then. I just know that it was very different.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
California Trip 1953
My brother Bob, his wife Inez, their son nearly two-year-old Richard, Mom and I drove to California to visit relatives. It was a long drive so we all had a turn at holding and/or keeping track of Richard - and keeping him entertained.
We spent time with Mom's mother Grandma Carrie, one of Mom's sisters, and several brothers and their families. Mom and I stayed with Uncle Charlie and his family. He took me sailing in the ocean in a very small boat. I don't remember being scared but I really got sunburned. Some vinegar helped take out the burn.
We spent time on the beach and at the Santa Monica pier. We went on some of the rides - the Log flume, bumper cars, and the carousel with Richard. I really liked the bumper cars but not the log flume so much because we all got very wet.
We saw Grauman's Chinese Theater and looked at all the hand prints and foot prints of the Hollywood stars on the Star Walk. We visited Forest Lawn Cemetery where many Hollywood stars were buried. If I remember correctly, they had a rendering of the Last Supper - a statue-type of thing. It was beautiful.
We also visited Catalina Island. We rode on a glass-bottomed tour boat there. It was interesting. We saw the ballroom there where Lawrence Welk and his orchestra often played.
I'm not sure whether it was this trip or not but we did visit Knott's Berry Farm. We enjoyed eating there. The berry jellies and jams were delicious!
I don't believe I recognized it them but I am a real flatlander! The ocean and the mountains are beautiful but all that water and the heights make me nervous.
It was a pleasant trip and the last time I saw Grandma Carrie. Grandpa Burt died in 1952 and Grandma Carrie died in 1957.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
One of Life's Lessons
We always think it would be great to have everything in our lives go smoothly and remain on an even keel. We don't remember that to enjoy and appreciate the mountaintop view, we must first descend into the valley. I love rainbows but to truly see their beauty, it takes both the rain and the sun.
When I was 54 and single, I interviewed for a different job. The interview went well and I was offered the job. I started sometime in the early spring of 1989. It turned out the man who interviewed me was my boss' boss. This was not stated at the interview. My boss turned out to be fresh out of college and she seemed very immature to me. I won't go into detail about the job because that isn't the important part. Briefly, I was considered professional staff and so I had two years probation. At the end of 18 months, I was given the opportunity to resign - or be fired.
I have never been a quitter so I chose to be fired. I had never ever been fired. The dastardly deed was done Friday afternoon.
Monday morning arrived with rain. It rained inside, too, because I cried. I didn't know what I was going to do. I had purchased a condo after I got this job. So here I was in my lovely condo with no job to pay the bills.
When I finally quit crying, I walked from the bedroom down the hallway. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining. When I was even with the kitchen doorway, I saw rainbows reflected on the carpet. I went into the living room and there were rainboqws all around. The rainbows helped me know everything would be ok.
Now logic told me the rainbows came about because the butterfly with crystals in its wings was hanging in the kitchen window. I do understand about sun shining through crystals.
I had been living in the condo for about 18 months. The butterfly had been hanging in that window all that time - and I had never seen the rainbows reflected on the carpet, on the walls, reflecting off the mirror over the fire place. I know the sun had been shining on lots of those days I had lived there.
Isn't it interesting that when I needed to know everything would be all right, there were rainbows all around?
When I was 54 and single, I interviewed for a different job. The interview went well and I was offered the job. I started sometime in the early spring of 1989. It turned out the man who interviewed me was my boss' boss. This was not stated at the interview. My boss turned out to be fresh out of college and she seemed very immature to me. I won't go into detail about the job because that isn't the important part. Briefly, I was considered professional staff and so I had two years probation. At the end of 18 months, I was given the opportunity to resign - or be fired.
I have never been a quitter so I chose to be fired. I had never ever been fired. The dastardly deed was done Friday afternoon.
Monday morning arrived with rain. It rained inside, too, because I cried. I didn't know what I was going to do. I had purchased a condo after I got this job. So here I was in my lovely condo with no job to pay the bills.
When I finally quit crying, I walked from the bedroom down the hallway. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining. When I was even with the kitchen doorway, I saw rainbows reflected on the carpet. I went into the living room and there were rainboqws all around. The rainbows helped me know everything would be ok.
Now logic told me the rainbows came about because the butterfly with crystals in its wings was hanging in the kitchen window. I do understand about sun shining through crystals.
I had been living in the condo for about 18 months. The butterfly had been hanging in that window all that time - and I had never seen the rainbows reflected on the carpet, on the walls, reflecting off the mirror over the fire place. I know the sun had been shining on lots of those days I had lived there.
Isn't it interesting that when I needed to know everything would be all right, there were rainbows all around?
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Senior Year 1952-1953
Forty-three of us returned to school, seniors at last. Our sponsors were Harry and Edith Linn. Four of our classmates chose to get married and did not finish school with us; five moved away; and we gained two new classmates.
My classes were English IV with Mrs. Linn, Typing II and shorthand with Miss Brungardt, and American History with Mr. Linn. We were required to take Phys Ed all four years. Classes were interesting and took a certain amount of effort to do all that was required. I liked school and was a good student.
Acitivites including band, clarinet quartet, mixed chorus, glee club, Y-Teens, yearbook staff selling advertising and cheerleading kept me busy. I continued working at Rexall Drugstore after school and on weekends.
The WKEA conference massed concert band clinic was held in Ness City and the WKEA massed chorus vocal clinic was held in Scott City. These were always fun because all the schools in the conference participated. The directors came to us from some of the Kansas colleges and universities.
I had a bit part in the senior play - the bratty tomboy little sister, of course. I always had stage fright. Eight of us presented a radio drama at speech contest; seven were seniors and one junior were in the cast. It was fun.
Freshman initiation was fun since we were the "distinguished" seniors. The boys had to dress like girls. I'm not sure what we forced upon the girls. It was a fun day for us.
The 1952 football team was undefeated in WKEA play. Only Dodge City defeated them. In ten games the team scored 320 points vs. 49 points for their opponents.
The basketball team took 3rd place in the WKEA tournament. The track team placed 2nd in the WKEA league meet. Dean Lyon, a senior, was undefeated in the 440.
The principal of 20% of the people do 80% of the "work" is very true in small schools. The guys who played football were also the ones on the basketball team, the baseball team and/or the track team. Many of the same guys and gals were involved in vocal and instrumental music, sports and drama. Some were more active than others and did it all. Others participated in a few things.
We sold our cow and what we made on the cow helped pay for our senior sneak trip to Rockaway Beach, Missouri. We chartered a bus and were gone about a week. Rockaway Beach was a fun place. Many schools went there for their senior trips. We swan, sunned, toured, danced and had a great time from the moment we set out until we returned home.
Graduation was held after we returned home. All in all, high school in that little town was a great experience. Many of my classmates are life-long friends.
The photo above was taken that spring in Dodge City. It is not the photo in our yearbook but Mom and I considered this my "senior" picture.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Guys in My Life, part 2
There were others guys in my life during those elementary years but I don't really remember any one special - except for one. He was the brother of one of my good buddies. He gave me his sophomore picture and across the back, I wrote "Cute, isn't he?" More about this guy will be in a later blog!
My first boyfriend in high school was a blond blue-eyed boy. My twin brothers teased me about his "baby blue eyes." I didn't like for them to tease me. We hung around together most of my freshman year. I couldn't really go out on dates so we'd meet at the movies and hold hands.
Things changed for me so much in my sophomore year with Daddy's passing. Mother let me date and go to teenage dances and the Saturday night dances at the Legion Hall. Elvira, a classmate who worked at Rexall with me, taught me how to dance. It wasn't unusual to see two girls dancing together because we liked to dance and the guys didn't always want to dance. So rather than sit on the sidelines, the girls danced together. I really liked to dance.
The blond blue-eyed boy from freshman year wasn't around. I think he found a new girlfriend. That felt like abandonment, just as Daddy's death left me feeling abandoned.
All the month of October that year, I went with a guy who graduated in May 1950. Some of the older girls in school warned me that he had "Russian hands and Roman fingers." He never exhibited that behavior with me. We saw each other nearly every day in October - and then he disappeared from my life. I shed some tears over that -being a moody 15-year-old. I learned later that he dated other girls the same - he would see them every day for a short period of time and then drop them. That probably didn't make me feel any better at the time!
The rest of my sophomore year I dated a foorball running back for a while. I had a huge crush on him. Then I dated a brown-eyed boy in the spring. He was an athelete who stole my heart. We didn't have much opportunity to go out together. We saw each other at school events. Our parents didn't want us to date because we were of different faiths. My Mother didn't forbid it but his parents did. This was very hurtful for me because I was a nice girl who couldn't really understand this.
We continued to care about each other in the next school year, even with our parents' opposition. We went to Jr.-Sr. prom together.
There was another boy who liked me a lot during sophomore and junior year. I went out with him once in a while. Six of us went to Dodge City to the Lamplighter night club. All the guys kept buying him drinks until he was really drunk. On the way home, we stopped in Jetmore to get a bite to eat - just before we went in, he got the dry heaves. It was the last time I went with him anywhere. He came over the next day to apologize. Later I realized the guys were buying him drinks because they knew I was a "tee-totaler" and they thought it would be funny to get him drunk!
My senior year - all the senior boys were dating the younger gals - I dated a couple of junior boys - one dark haired boy who could really roller skate - so I did lots of roller skating. The other was a blond with curly hair. Both were much taller than I. The blond took me to prom. Both were very nice guys.
My senior year I had a few dates with an Air Force guy and a sailor. These guys were friends of local fellows who had gone into the service, came home on leave with buddies. I was pen pals with these fellows for a while.
My first boyfriend in high school was a blond blue-eyed boy. My twin brothers teased me about his "baby blue eyes." I didn't like for them to tease me. We hung around together most of my freshman year. I couldn't really go out on dates so we'd meet at the movies and hold hands.
Things changed for me so much in my sophomore year with Daddy's passing. Mother let me date and go to teenage dances and the Saturday night dances at the Legion Hall. Elvira, a classmate who worked at Rexall with me, taught me how to dance. It wasn't unusual to see two girls dancing together because we liked to dance and the guys didn't always want to dance. So rather than sit on the sidelines, the girls danced together. I really liked to dance.
The blond blue-eyed boy from freshman year wasn't around. I think he found a new girlfriend. That felt like abandonment, just as Daddy's death left me feeling abandoned.
All the month of October that year, I went with a guy who graduated in May 1950. Some of the older girls in school warned me that he had "Russian hands and Roman fingers." He never exhibited that behavior with me. We saw each other nearly every day in October - and then he disappeared from my life. I shed some tears over that -being a moody 15-year-old. I learned later that he dated other girls the same - he would see them every day for a short period of time and then drop them. That probably didn't make me feel any better at the time!
The rest of my sophomore year I dated a foorball running back for a while. I had a huge crush on him. Then I dated a brown-eyed boy in the spring. He was an athelete who stole my heart. We didn't have much opportunity to go out together. We saw each other at school events. Our parents didn't want us to date because we were of different faiths. My Mother didn't forbid it but his parents did. This was very hurtful for me because I was a nice girl who couldn't really understand this.
We continued to care about each other in the next school year, even with our parents' opposition. We went to Jr.-Sr. prom together.
There was another boy who liked me a lot during sophomore and junior year. I went out with him once in a while. Six of us went to Dodge City to the Lamplighter night club. All the guys kept buying him drinks until he was really drunk. On the way home, we stopped in Jetmore to get a bite to eat - just before we went in, he got the dry heaves. It was the last time I went with him anywhere. He came over the next day to apologize. Later I realized the guys were buying him drinks because they knew I was a "tee-totaler" and they thought it would be funny to get him drunk!
My senior year - all the senior boys were dating the younger gals - I dated a couple of junior boys - one dark haired boy who could really roller skate - so I did lots of roller skating. The other was a blond with curly hair. Both were much taller than I. The blond took me to prom. Both were very nice guys.
My senior year I had a few dates with an Air Force guy and a sailor. These guys were friends of local fellows who had gone into the service, came home on leave with buddies. I was pen pals with these fellows for a while.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Making Memories 2008
If there has been any sequence to these posts,this one doesn't follow where it should be. However, I still want to share it now.
We celebrated Christmas at our home with my children, grandchildren, spouses, and great-grandkids. It was a pleasant time with everyone enjoying the fellowship, food, and the fun of watching 4-year-old Lynsie open her many gifts. We all enjoyed 4-and-a-half-month-old Teygan, too, getting our "hold the baby" fix. We also had fun taking in all the work Don did with his Clouston-Kincaide Christmas Village with the houses, the skiing and sledding hill, the farm and all the people in the village.
Christmas is a family time filled with love and laughter. It is a time for making memories and taking pictures. There were three digital cameras recording the events of the day.
And, yes, my Santa Claus was hanging on the tree as you will see from the photo. He hangs on the tree courtesy of the hanger Don rigged up. When we looked at the photo Don said it looked like Scotch tape around Santa's middle. We took him off the tree to look - and it was Scotch tape used to hold the hanger on Santa!
When we are around little ones like Lynsie and Teygan, we know God hasn't given up on the human family. It gives us even more reason to remember God loved us all so much that He sent His Son to take on the sins of the world, to die and to rise again so we can share eternity with him.
Friday, December 19, 2008
The First Guy in My Life
I suppose the first boys in my life were my three brothers. I've already written about them. I want to write about the guys in my life who were not related to me.
The first guy in my life was my neighbor, Jim. We spent lots of time together from the time I was two until I was about 12. Then he and his family moved to a bigger house in town.
He would wait on the porch until I finished my piano practice. He knew I couldn't come outside until the practicing was done. We climbed a big tree beside our driveway - even got on the roof of his home. Of course, we got in trouble for that!
Daddy almost ruined our friendship when he had a load of rocks put on our driveway. Now, this wasn't gravel - but rocks! When we'd get mad at each other, we would throw rocks across the driveway at each other. I think I hit him more than once! He claims he still has the bumps on his head to prove it!
We also listened to his victrola - we would crank it and then listen to "Hallelujah! I'm a Bum!" It is the song we liked best. We would laugh and laugh about this guy singing he was a bum.
Then there is the story of the two of us "swimming" in the big pickle barrel his Dad brought home from their grocery store. We probably smelled like dill pickles!
We lived at the north edge of town. There was a draw across the street north of us. We always took our sleds there. It was a perfect place to sled. We were told not to go there if it had rained heavily. I remember we went over there once after a heavy rain and got really wet. We also got in plenty of trouble for doing this.
We played together nearly every day - in the summer, we played together from morning to night. We always had a good time together. We liked to look for four leaf clovers in the grass, lay on our backs looking up at the clouds and deciding what they looked like, and play marbles.
We went all the way through school together and have remained friends.
The first guy in my life was my neighbor, Jim. We spent lots of time together from the time I was two until I was about 12. Then he and his family moved to a bigger house in town.
He would wait on the porch until I finished my piano practice. He knew I couldn't come outside until the practicing was done. We climbed a big tree beside our driveway - even got on the roof of his home. Of course, we got in trouble for that!
Daddy almost ruined our friendship when he had a load of rocks put on our driveway. Now, this wasn't gravel - but rocks! When we'd get mad at each other, we would throw rocks across the driveway at each other. I think I hit him more than once! He claims he still has the bumps on his head to prove it!
We also listened to his victrola - we would crank it and then listen to "Hallelujah! I'm a Bum!" It is the song we liked best. We would laugh and laugh about this guy singing he was a bum.
Then there is the story of the two of us "swimming" in the big pickle barrel his Dad brought home from their grocery store. We probably smelled like dill pickles!
We lived at the north edge of town. There was a draw across the street north of us. We always took our sleds there. It was a perfect place to sled. We were told not to go there if it had rained heavily. I remember we went over there once after a heavy rain and got really wet. We also got in plenty of trouble for doing this.
We played together nearly every day - in the summer, we played together from morning to night. We always had a good time together. We liked to look for four leaf clovers in the grass, lay on our backs looking up at the clouds and deciding what they looked like, and play marbles.
We went all the way through school together and have remained friends.
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