Nostalgia - A Giant Leap

This technology got us chatting in the office last week..and here's my Nostalgia question for everyone this week:

Tell us about the biggest lifestyle changes in your lifetime..

Tell us how things changed for you from how your Mum lived..

Like most of you, when I was growing up none of the technology we have today was around. I remember having a black and white television and a telephone but our phones were very different. They were large, black and had rotary dials. Just about everyone had a 'party' line because who could afford a 'private' line? A party line meant that your house and a bunch of other houses in the neighborhood shared the same phone line. If you picked the phone up to use it (which we didn't all that often), chances are you would hear one of your neighbor's conversations going on. You would have to wait until they got off the phone to use it. Unless you had polite neighbors who remembered they were sharing a line, you could have to wait quite a while for them to finish their calls. The other unfortunate thing about a party line was, if your neighbor was nosy enough, they could stay on the line and listen to everything being said. It could be quite annoying.

Since there were no cell phones, I remember when you traveled by car on vacations, etc., if you needed to call someone in case of an emergency or trouble, you had to find a telephone booth somewhere to call for help. It could be quite nerve wracking if you had a flat tire or something. Then of course, you had to have the correct amount of change (coins) to use the phone. I remember my very first cell phone which was huge. You didn't have chargers for the batteries either. When they ran out you had to replace the battery which was expensive. I think I have gotten totally spoiled by having an iPhone where I can do just about anything as if I had a computer with me.

Speaking of computers, how did we ever learn anything before they came along? LOL?? A good part of my working life was using manual typewriters. The kind where you used carbon paper for extra copies, always kept an eraser close, and prayed you didn't make too many errors. Then they came out with the electric typewriter. I thought they were awesome! When they upgraded the electric ones to have a correction tape included, I knew life was good. Imagine my happiness when the first 'word processor' came along! I could type a paragraph, read through it to make sure there were no errors, and then hit the 'print' button and all of my words magically appeared on the paper. The next thing I knew, we had full fledged computerized word processors where you could actually see everything you had typed on a full screen. Then computers morphed to what we have today. We can find out everything we need to know about everything and everybody with just the touch of a button. Amazing! Computers sure made my working life much easier.

Growing up, I wanted to be just like my Mom. I wanted to be a stay at home housewife. I wanted to cook, clean and take care of my family. Most of my time growing up was spent with my Mom doing just that. She was there to get me off to school in the mornings and then there when I got home from school. I loved it. I wanted to do that as well. I did get to stay home with my kids some of the time but as the world changed and inflation hit, I had to go to work full time and my children became victims of the dreaded 'latch key' phenomenon. I didn't want that to happen but didn't have any choice.

In my Mom's day there were no microwaves, crockpots, dishwashers or electric clothes dryers. She had none of the conveniences that we have today. They had 'ice boxes' that held a huge block of ice to chill the food. They didn't even have indoor plumbing (meaning toilets, etc.). I remember visiting my great grandmother in West Virginia and having to go out back and use her 'outhouse' to go to the bathroom. My Mom would bathe us in a large galvanized tub on her back porch where the water had been heated on the stove. Times have changed tremendously and I am glad my Mom got to experience a lot of these changes before she passed away.

We played outside until dark or when our Mom's called us in. We climbed trees, swung on an old burlap bag swing, and played tag. Back then it was safe to run around your neighborhood and be curious about the tadpoles turning into frogs and catch lightening bugs in jars. If I had young kids today I don't think I would feel safe with them being outside without me being there to keep an eye on them. There are just too many crazies out there anymore. I don't feel it is safe anymore.

I could probably go on for years about this subject but I am going to stop now. I am adding a couple of pictures of the grandsons as usual. They are after all, IRRESISTIBLE! LOL!

Zach earning his second degree camo belt.

Henry being silly and Spencer chewing on a teething ring. He now has one bottom tooth.

Everyone take care. xxxx