THE GOOD OLD DAYS
Penny For Your Thoughts By: Nancy Whitaker
There are times I just like to look back at the early years and think of how things have changed.
Living with my mom, grandma and grandpa, life seemed simpler then. Living in the country, I would stay busy with paper dolls, reading, teaching myself to play piano and going to church.
One thing I think was probably difficult was mom and grandma doing the laundry in a big old Maytag with a wringer. Water had to be brought in and heated on the stove before laundry could be done. The washer would agitate back and forth and then they went through the wringer.
Grandma had a starch tub in which she starched almost everything. I don’t believe my grandma ever had a clothes dryer, but oh the sheets and clothes smelled so good after hanging up to dry in the sun.
Another appliance we never had was an air conditioner. In the hot days of summer we opened up the windows and let a breeze blow through. In the winter the upstairs wasn’t heated and sometimes in the morning we would see where snow had blew in on the window sill. But we were covered in big feather comforters and they kept us warm.
One thing we had was an outside outhouse. There were many accidents that happened in the outhouse, such as bees making nests in there. That was scary because whoever was using the outhouse saw bees, you could surely see them running down the path to the house batting off bees.
Yes, on Saturday nights we took a bath. We had a big old tub in which we heated water on the stove and took turns getting our weekly baths. Ha! Did we stink? Well I never smelled anyone so I guess we were clean enough.
One thing my mom or grandma never had was an electric hand mixer. I remember potatoes being mashed with a wooden handled tool with a round end on it and we would mash those potatoes by hand. There was also an egg beater which you cranked and that was used to make cakes.
Coffee was made in a plain old pot on top of the stove and toast was made with a weird looking toaster that had 2 sides with little doors that pulled down.
Grandpa worked on the railroad and he used to buy and bring home black colored bananas. I hated those things and thought all bananas were black until I was older and saw a yellow one.
Oh, no cell phones. Our phone was on the wall and it had a handle you turned and I remember our ring was 2 longs and a short. We all knew each others rings and when someone got a call you could hear everyone picking up their receivers to listen in.
We didn’t think we were poor. We had plenty to eat and a big old farmhouse to live in. Back in those days we did not know about all the modern things that would appear through the years.
The memories of those days aren’t sad or scary because God blessed us with so much. There are times I want to go back there for a day and help granny snap green beans, smell those sun baked sheets and yes even bathe once a week.
Do you remember any of these things or doing these daily chores? Did you have an out house? Those were the days!! If you recall these memories let me know and I will give you a Penny For Your Thoughts.
