Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Time Before Electronics

My Grands probably do not remember a time where nobody had a cell phone or an iPad or any other hand held device with a screen.  So I am here to show them what life was like for a kid way back then...

We played outside, summer and winter.




The year those pictures were taken, a blizzard had roared through Willmar, leaving a snowdrift about three feet deep in front of the house where my family lived.  My sister, the little one on the sled, stepped off the front porch and promptly disappeared from view in the snow.  Dad dug her out and after she realized she wasn't hurt, she wanted to do it again.

The neighborhood boys would play hockey on the ice rink at the local elementary school.  There was a small shack at the edge of the rink that had a small potbellied stove in it and when toes and noses became numb from the cold, they would all pile into the 'warming house' to thaw out before resuming play.


Every kid had a bike and we rode them all over town.  Parents today often consider that to be a dangerous activity.  Kids now wear helmets and often knee or elbow pads.  We just rode and bandaged up skinned knees when we got home about suppertime.  Parents today have to worry about their children being snatched up by bad people, but then we all knew who the crazies were and we stayed away from them.


Sometimes Dad would set up an old Army tent he had and we would camp out in the back yard.


Doors were never locked, so if the boogie man got too close, we could make a mad dash for the back door and safety.


Little girls had dress-up boxes where their mothers would toss discarded skirts, dresses, purses, high heeled shoes and any number of other articles of clothing suitable for the world of 'pretend.'  One of the neighbor girls had a playhouse, which made clomping about in high heels even more fun.  I have to admit that occasionally I would play dress-up, but most of the time found me involved in a ball game or dashing down the sidewalk on roller skates.

We knew about wildlife.


We could tell the difference between a chipmunk and a squirrel and could most times tell what kind of bird was in the tree by the sound of its song.


Nearly every backyard had a swing set.  They weren't the fashionable wooden sets we see today, but were more lightweight metal ones.  As we grew older, the goal became to get the swing going high enough to pull the legs of the swing set off the ground.

I don't begrudge my grands their electronics.  After all, I realize that we live in different times, even though their Grandma is probably the only civilized human on the planet who doesn't own a cell phone.  I just want them to know it is possible for a kid to have fun without staring at a screen.


18 comments:

  1. Vicki, this is one of my favorites of ALL your posts since I began following your blog! It is MY story as well as yours. My childhood was as close to perfect as anyone could possibly imagine. My parents didn't have much but they gave my younger sister and I a great life! Thank you so much for the great pics and memories!

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    1. CW...Thanks for your kind words. I think the difference is in the freedom you and I had as kids without the necessity of a parent in attendance at all times. I read an article just the other day about a woman who was in trouble with Social Services for allowing her 5 year old child to play in the back yard alone. At that age I was riding my bike all over town with the only rules being to stay away from the highway and be home for supper. I think you and I likely had the best of childhoods. :)

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  2. Yep, sure brings back memoirs. Dinner during the summer took 30 sec so we could get back outside. Now days when we go back to the old homesteads the blocks seemed much smaller. I was thinking about the last few posts, I bet your families went through Cokato via driving or train.

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    1. Rob...There is something to be said about the 'good old days.' At least kids were allowed to just be kids.

      My Grandmother lived in St. Paul, so when we went to see her, we took Highway 12 right through Cokato. For years some of our family reunions were held in Dassel. Some of my ancestors homesteaded a little further north in the Eden Valley area. I may still have relatives there, but nobody stays in touch any more. Sad, that.

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    1. Yes they were, Gorges...And I seem to be stuck in a place of nostalgia lately. Guess there are worse places. :)

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  4. I think we had that same swingset in our yard.

    I still only have a flipphone for my cell phone and no one has the number. I just feel better having it with me in case something goes wrong like last year when my battery died in my car.
    Cheers, SJ

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  5. SJ...I think everybody had that same swing set in their yards. :)

    If I were still able to be out and about alone, I probably would have a cell phone, too. Except that I don't care about text messages. I want to hear a voice instead of read a text. I'm just old-fashioned that way. :)

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  6. Happy New Year Vicki! Most of these things I did as a kid too, but then I also remember when we got the internet at our house and my first cell phone. 2 different times for sure.

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    1. Happy New Year back at ya, Jenn...You had the best of both worlds, I think. I love my computer and the ease of accessing information. All I had for that when young was a set of encyclopedias and the public library. On the other hand, I tire of seeing kids nose to screen so much of the time. Can't have it both ways, I guess. :)

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  7. We were free range kids in those days. I had scabs on my knees until I was 15 and stubbed toes from going barefoot all summer. Great times, those.

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    1. Tewshooz...I had the same knees and toes as you did. I highly doubt that my grands will ever know that kind of freedom and I find that sad. We learned self reliance and street smarts and how to take care of ourselves. I am willing to bet that very few of my generation were living in Mom's basement at age 30!!

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  8. Wow grandma, times have really changed. I am glad to see this story of your life. -Maddie

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed this post, Maddie Mae. Love, Grandma

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  9. Love all the photos. Think I might have had a bike like that also. Also road barefoot and helmets weren't even a consideration. Can you imagine?

    Hope you are busy with your crochet hook and staying cozy. We had lots of rain last week and then yesterday was amazing. Not a cloud in the sky and sunshine. The plants are confused. Hope the patient is recovering.
    Cheers, SJ

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    1. SJ...Yep. The shoes were taken off in the spring and except for church, stayed in the closet until fall. We would have been teased unmercifully had we worn helmets!! These days parents would be hauled up in front of a judge for allowing what was normal behavior then.

      I finally finished the latest crochet project, but put the hook down for a few days of idle laziness. It was necessary. Back at it, working on the next afghan now. We have had basically warm (low 40's), cloudy days. The snow is about gone. I think Mother Nature is confused.

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  10. I remember a time when my son was young and called his grandparents house. He hands me the phone and says it's making a weird buzzing noise, LOL. I said that's a busy signal, LOL

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    1. One Family...That's funny!! I remember rural party telephone lines - I think there were eight other families on ours. Mother spent time yelling at me, then a teenager, to stop hogging the line talking to friends. :)

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