Days Gone By
The other day I was shopping in a local natural food store when the cashier asked me if I wanted a plastic bag or a paper bag. I said I wanted a plastic bag, because we use them for just about everything. She looked at me strangely and said that paper would be more environmentally friendly. I smiled and switched to paper.
As I was leaving the store I flashed back on my childhood growing up in the 50's and smiled.
In those years milk was delivered to our home in bottles. When finished we would leave them on the back porch for the milkman to pick up where they were sent back to the milk company to be washed, sterilized and refilled and delivered.
Back then stairs everywhere were norm. Escalators were not in every store, and an elevator was run by a elevator person that did more than just push a button andgo to the next floor. I remember in Shillito's Department store a black lady worked the elevator, and she would have leather gloves on. I asked my mom why she had gloves on, and she said for safety reasons. That makes sense. She would announce each floor and tell what the floor contained. It was really cool. If we needed groceries we would walk to the store instead of driving a couple of blocks and spending a fortune on gasoline (27cents a gallon.) Our butcher on the corner would always give me hot dogs to eat and there was this big scale where I would weigh myself. Mothers used to wash diapers because throwaways had not been created yet.
After clothes came out of the wringer washing machine, if you were affluent enough to own one, the clothes were hung on a clothes line to dry in the sun and wind instead of a super powered dryer that created havoc on the electric bill. In the spring, summer and fall I still hang my clothes out on the line. I love the smell of the freshly washed clothes being air dried by the sun. Also it brings me closer to those wonderful days when our family was soooo close. My mother had 7 sisters and 3 brothers. We were together all the time. Picnics, Coney Island, Zoo and going to each others houses.
When television came out we finally got one and only one. In our kitchen the only electric appliance was the refrigerator. Each room had one electrical outlet and we used extension cords like crazy.
To get exercise we played hopscotch and jump rope. Going to school was at least 3 miles and I would walk each day whether rain, snow or whatever.
Our moms were stay at home moms and were there everyday when we got home from school.
What I remember the most and the fondest memories were that we always respected our parents and always listened to them. The two things that were never lacking were the love and discipline. It was what made family a family. There are times that I really wish I could go back to the days gone by. It was a lot simpler then!
