^ Children had no television or video games, but there were stories and music to be heard on the radio.
^ Man had not gone to the moon and only dreamed of it in science fiction tales and comics.
^ There was no McDonald's, Burger King, or Kentucky Fried Chicken. People rarely ate french fries. And nobody in Aroostook County had ever heard of pizza!
^ Movies were in black and white, never in color.
^ Dads made $7 a week or less and most mothers were at home working. Grammie Muriel did laundry, cooking, and housecleaning for those who could afford such luxury. It cost 25 cents or less for a gallon of gas (I know that because I can remember when gas was 25 cents a gallon in the 1940s). When you could afford to by an ice cream cone, it was 5 cents. Mothers made many of the clothes their children wore. Hats, scarves, and mittens were often made at home. There were no disposable diapers for babies. Those were made of flannel -- usually hand-sewn -- and were washed for re-use. Most baby food was made at home. And mothers usually nursed their babies. When a bottle was needed, there were no fancy bottles. Mothers usually bought packages of rubber nipples that would stretch over the opening of a soda bottle.
^There were not automatic washing machines or dryers. Clothing was hung outside or on racks indoors to dry. Everything had to be ironed because there was no "permanent press". My grandmother used to make her own laundry soap.
^ Many people still traveled in horse-drawn vehicles. And those who had cars could drive at a top speed of about 45 miles per hour. In the earlier days of the automobile, drivers did not have to be licensed. By Grammie Ruth's time, one needed a driver's license. She remembers Uncle Lawrence going with her to Caribou for the test and learning to drive along the way. She didn't realize there was a test over the laws, but when she got there the officer gave her the book to study for about ten minutes. So much for driver's education in the 1930s! She passed, but the officer told her he was only giving her a license because he never wanted to ride in a car with her again. That must have been a tough pill for my Mom to swallow.
^ Many houses in rural areas did not have electricity or running water. That meant lighting the house with candles or oil lamps. Some people had gas lights, but that was rare. That meant no refrigerator, so they had to use ice boxes. People would cut chunks of ice from the lakes (hard work) and stack them in a building or even outside. They were covered with sawdust to keep them from melting too quickly. I remember being amazed at Grampie Jim's ice blocks still available in the summer. They were melting and the sawdust was wet, but he was still able to go out and get some ice for use in the ice box.
^ Most houses had no furnace, and in the winter time it was very cold in the morning before the fire was restarted in the stove. In those days, children could "see their breath" inside the house on a cold morning. They would grab their clothing and dress under the covers quickly, then run downstairs and stand near the stove to be warm. On mornings like that, there was heavy frost on the windows much like frosted windows on cars that have been parked outside on cold nights.
^ Coke and soft drinks were available, but people didn't drink them very much. There was not as much junk food. But what kids loved to do was stop at the store and buy "penny candy". The various candies were a penny apiece and some were even two or three for a penny! But they didn't have money to buy that very often, either. Treats at home were more often popcorn, fudge, cookies, and cakes.
^ Children didn't hang around the house. They were usually found outside, summer or winter. They played games of tag, kick the can, capture the flag, king of the mountain, hide and seek, red light - green light, cops and robbers, and other things that took few or no pieces of athletic equipment. As children still do, they liked to build snowmen and snow forts in the winter. And they played a tag-like game called fox and geese. Of course, they rode bikes, used sleds, skis and toboggans. They played baseball or soft ball in good weather. A basket ball hoop on the side of someone's barn was a rare luxury. At night or on rainy days, children played games with their family: Button, Button; guessing games; card games; puzzles. And they listened to the radio or to the record player.
^ Reading was very important. Parents read to their children in the evenings from the Bible, Classical Books, magazines, or children's books. The comics in the paper were beloved as cartoons on television were to later generations. As children got older, they read from the various series available -- Ruth Fielding, the Hardy Boys, and others.
^ Children always had chores. In my mother's case, the children helped feed the chickens, shovel the snow, and weed the gardens. Mom tells how Grammie Muriel used to assign garden rows for weeding and how the children had to finish their jobs before they could play. It seems Uncle Lawrence had a Tom-Sawyer-like place in his neighborhood. Some of the boys didn't have as many chores at home and they tended to show up to get "Walkie" (Uncle Lawrence) to play with them. He steadfastly refused to leave his work and so the desperate boys pitched in and helped him finish his weeding so they could play with their friend. My mother remembers watching with dismay as the guys ran off to play and she still had work to do.
^ Usually elementary schools had only one or two rooms and in the country, most of the children walked to school or their parents drove them. Your great grandmother and her siblings walked about a mile to school. And when they arrived in the winter time, the school was very cold. The teachers was already there and (she, usually) was building the fire in a wood or kerosene heater. Until the room was warm enough, the children gathered around the stove to keep warm. It may interest you to know that in 1949 when I started school, it was at the same, two-room school house that my mother and her brother and sister had attended. It still had a wood stove, no running water, and an "outhouse" attached to the woodshed (so no bathroom). The teacher kept water in a tea kettle for when we wanted a drink or needed to wash our hands. When they ran out of water, one of the older boys was sent to her house to fill it again.
^ Children had "opening excercises" in school. That included Bible reading, the Lord's prayer, the flag salute, singing "My Country 'Tis of Thee", and maybe some other songs. Teachers often inspected the children for clean nails -- and periodically for head lice. The children were taught "The Golden Rule" -- that is a saying of Jesus, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Children had outdoor play at recess time twice a day and after lunch unless it was raining, then some indoor games and exercise gave the children a break.
^ Children had to wear shoes to school -- no tennis shoes or sneakers. Those were for sports or work. Girls were required to wear skirts or dresses. Boys had to wear regular pants, no jeans. Denim was for work, not for school. In the winter, since they walked to school, children usually wore ski pants over their regular clothes but those were removed and left hanging on a hook until it was time to go out for recess or go home.
^ Most families went to Church together, and even those who did not seemed to be respectful of the fact there is a God. I remember some men smoking and swearing. But in general, people used polite language -- sometimes potty language was to be heard, but the very rude language used so freely today was not heard. And if kids were caught swearing at school, they were punished for it. Back then, teachers used a ruler on the palm of the hand or on the bottom.
^ Nobody was abusing drugs or alcohol in school. And there were not such social problems among boys and girls in elementary school and early high school. Children were allowed to be children and did not live with the drama that we see all around us today.
Today, you have privileges that your great grandparents, your grandparents, and even your parents did not have. And you have many challenges that we did not face. Oh, kids got in trouble because they were sinners, too, but not to the extent that we see today. My advice to you is this: 1. appreciate your privileges but do not abuse them.
2. stand up to the challenges, but do not try to do it alone. You have God and your parents to help you. 3. Root your life in the Lord Jesus, read the Bible, go to Church, and live by what you learn. 4. Love your neighbor as yourself and don't be selfish. Remind yourself that you are not the center of the universe.
We love you and pray for you. And we want you to know we are here for you if you ever want to talk or if you have a need.
-- Pictured above is Uncle Lawrence and other children in the Harrigan School, Littleton. He is the outstanding blonde boy in the middle of the picture! I'm guessing this was taken around 1930 when he was seven.
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