I was born in the early 1940's and grew up in the 50's and 60's. You hear a lot of jokes about our childhood. They just have no way of knowing how it really was.! I remember some kids and their parents coming to our house sometime in that time frame. They were cousins from another state and must have been a big city. They thought we were so dumb and backward. The kids went with us to gather eggs in the hen house. They asked so many questions that Brenda and I looked at each other and made the crazy sign. Are they ripe? Did you put those eggs in the nest? Where did the chicken go to get the egg. How did that chicken carry a egg. Same with the milk. Pappa told them that brown cows made chocolate milk and they wanted to know if we fed the cows cocoa.
The annual salary then was less than 3,000 dollars in the early 50's. For Daddy it was a lot less. Yet, most of the time, only one parent had to work. Mamas stayed at home with a big smile to meet you when you got off the school bus. Grandma had a sorghum cake usually.
It was safe to send a six year old to the store to get a loaf of bread. We walked about a mile to Hall Parks store to get the bread. For a quarter, we could get the bread and enjoy a candy bar on our way back. That wasn't bad at all.
We didn't have air conditioning, so you left the windows and doors open. And you weren't afraid to do so. You knew every person in the community and their children. When a neighbor needed help, the neighborhood was there to lend a helping hand. When both parents did need to be away for a while, childcare meant leaving them with grandparents and aunts and uncles.
You had teachers who really cared and parents who were thankful for those teachers. If you got a paddling in school, you knew you were going to get another one when you got home. You could go to school and not worry about someone having a gun. And the only drug you had to worry about was being "drug" out of bed in the morning. Ah, those fresh sun dried sheets felt so good.
You could go down to the theater and watch a Gene Autry movie, enjoy a coke and candy bar, all for 25 cents.
Sunday's families went to church together, enjoyed the afternoon "Together". Kids played outside and parents relaxed inside.
Your Mamma knew how to make a cut knee feel fine (after the burn) and Daddy could fix anything that needed to be fixed.
You enjoyed fresh veggies from the garden, and the chickens ran loose in the yard. You gathered the eggs and milked the cow and harvested the garden right along beside your Parents.
Parents were respected and their rules were the law. Kids didn't talk back without suffering the consequences of a switch to the backside or bare legs. Kids were taught to have respect for our elders and those in authority. Kids were taught to show manners in their walk and talk. Please, Thank you.
Neighbors and friends corrected each others children.......and it was appreciated. They cared! You were taught patriotism and Christian values in school. You had prayer and the teacher read from the Bible. We had the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. It was a wonderful and grand time in so many ways! If you got a switching there was no child welfare poking around claiming child abuse.
We wore bell bottoms, and hip huggers after I went to high school. Did I say we? The word would be they. Daddy wouldn't have let me wear them even if we could have afforded it. I wore a dress that my Grandma made for me and I was as pleased as punch about it.
Each family had only one car if they had one at all. Families visited and knew the neighbors. A handshake constituted a legal and binding contract. You kept what money you had in your pocket. We walked everywhere we went. Teens didn't have a car or the most of us didn't even have a bicycle. We went bare foot most of the time in the winter and all the time in the summer. Our shoes were for “Dress Up or school” and we kept them nice.
Things have changed a lot in my 65 + years and I've seen it all. I've been here for all the new fangled things that my Mamma and Grandma never even thought of. I don't much like change. Things are changing too fast now and I'm struggling to stay still. I want things to be simple, warm, and safe the way they were. Wouldn't it be nice to stop time! Silly thought I know but it will be that way when we get to Heaven won't it?
Tags: Simple 40s& 50 S
