Today would have been my wife and my 60th wedding anniversary so I was looking through some old papers that are stored here and there in the house and just doing a little reminiscing. I found these few pages that she had penned, when we were writing her life story many years ago. I thought they were interesting as they showed what life was like in the 1940's in a small town in America. If this brings back memories of your life in a small town, please feel free to make a comment.
Wally Baldwin 4 Feb 2016
JUST
REMINISCING
I want to make a list
of a few things that have come to mind as I have tried to think about my life
while writing this personal history.
How many people do you
know that bribed the driver’s license instructor to get your driver’s license,
by giving him a stack of comic books.---I did!
How many people
remember ironing with an old flat iron that you had to heat on the top of the
stove before ironing? (They also made great foot warmers when heated and
wrapped in a towel on a cold winter night.)---I do.
Who can remember using
a hand cranked cream separator to separate the cream from the milk, after
milking your own cow?---I do.
How many people know
what a coal bucket is and what it looked like?---I do.
How many people going
to the post office every day during Work War II to see if there was a letter
from your Uncle or Brother who was in the thick of the fighting?---I do.
Can any of my children
or grandchildren imagine me bowling on an organized bowling league and being
one of the star bowlers?---I was.
Can you imagine anyone
cooking ten pounds of dried beans for one meal for two people?---I did.
How many people do you
know that were excused from school for the day in High School to go help herd
cows?---I was.
How many people are
fortunate enough to have their children bring their friends home, to their
house to play and have fun?---I was.
How many girls can
recall having their hair put up in “rags” and sleeping on them, so they would
have ringlets in the morning to go to school?---I did.
How many people can
remember making their own butter in a churn that was operated by hand, and do
you remember how the churn worked?---I do.
How many people can recall
when they saw TV for the first time and were they fascinated by it? ---I can
and I was.
How many mothers
remember the fad of their children putting their hair up using empty juice cans
to make the curl the right size?---I do.
How many parents have
said, Use it up---wear it out---make it do? ---Mine did.
I laugh when I imagine
my children or grand children wearing a skirt made out of a feed sack. However
I did. Feed came in sacks of various colors and designs and some even had
pictures on them. They would be made into a full skirt gathered at the top and
we thought they were really neat.--- I wore some.
I wonder how many in MY
FAMILY learned TO DRIVE on a tractor?---I did.
How many people
remember licking ration stamps and outing them in a book for gas, tires, coffee
and sugar?---I do. ( We did the same thing with SAVINGS STAMPS.)
How many people recall
laying on the floor and WATCHING the radio shows (like we watch TV today)---
The Green Hornet, Superman, Amos & Andy, Fibber McGee & Mollie, Fred
Allen, Jack Benny and all of the big bands and crooners of the day?---I did.
Do people of today
remember when you had to crank a handle on the side of the telephone to get the
operator and have her say”number please”? ---I do and I did.
I am not sure many
people remember a penny post card and mailing a letter for 3 cents. ---But I
do.
Does anyone remember
what V-Mail was?---I do.
Did anyone else use an
inkwell and pen tips attached to a wooden handle like a pencil. You had to keep
blotting it with an ink-blotter so it did not smear?--- I did.
Do you think people actually
saved their rags and made rag rugs to use on their floors years ago? ---I did.
Do any of my children
or grandchildren believe I wore spurs and boots, not just for looks, but for
working with the cows?---I did.
Could any of my family
spend 8 or 10 hours a day in a saddle, several days in a row, without getting
saddle sores? ---I did.
Has anyone had to make
lye soap over a bon fire in the back yard? You had to stir the pot for what
seemed like hours?--- I did.
How many girls have
helped with the branding of calves, and be able to stand the smell of burning
hair and the bawling of the calves?--- I HAD to.
Has anyone ever been
stuck in an Emery County ALKALI mud hole, better known as Emery County Snow?---Oh
yes I have.
I’ll bet no one else in
my family gathered eggs and took them to the store to trade for penny candy.---
Yes I did.
I am sure most kids
from the country have taken corn or potatoes or tomatoes from someone’s garden
(without asking)—(not stealing of course) for a cookout. Ours was always cooked
in the (hollow) and ---yes I did.
Has anyone ever broke
an ankle while snowmobiling, but had to walk back to the car, because their
husband said it was only a bad strain?---Of course I did.
I often wonder if there
is anyone over 65 who still believes in Santa Clause?---Perhaps I do?
I am sure all of my
children remember my old wash line in the back yard, but when I was young we
had one there because there was no such thing as a clothes dryer. We used the
wash line out .of necessity because there was no other way to dry clothes,---
Oh yes I hung them in the winter also.
Would any of my
children or grandchildren allow someone to squirt milk in their mouth right
from the cow?--- I did.
How many people
remember a hand cranked ice cream maker? When it got hard to turn the ice cream
was ready.--- I remember.
Do any of you know what
a sunbonnet is and what they looked like, or better still has anyone ever wore
one?--- I did.
Do any of you know what
a “party line” on the telephone was? Or did anyone have the opportunity to
quietly pick up the phone and listen in to someone else’s conversation? I might
have?
