TimesareaChanging

Boy oh boy are times ever changing. Born in 1915 I don't remember anything about the first five years of my life. But my sister was born when I was five and I remember my father taking me to the factory where he worked, as a tool and die maker, to share the news of the new baby girl with his fellow workers and passing out cigars at the same time. Our means of transportation was by street car and train. The trains were pulled by steam engines. We went by the Fire Fly, as the Rock Island lines train was called, back to Buffalo, Iowa where my grandparents lived, from Moline, Illinois where we lived, and of course by streetcar to the Depot.

I remember the first radio we ever owned. It was a little box about six by nine inches in size with a crystal on top that you moved a little bit and we had ear phones that we could hear music from WOC, Davenport, Iowa. A few years later my grandfather bought a superhetrodyne radio with a loud speaker and everybody in the room could hear the music and news broadcasts. What an advancement. Television came much later and only in black and white for several years.

The first car I remember was a model T Ford and to start it you had to get out in front and crank it to get it started. Sometimes it was obstinate and wouldn't start. And almost always when you went any distance you would stop by the side of the road and repair a flat tire. The tires had inner tubes that punctured easily. All the roads were dirt and the dust flew everywhere. There were no side windows so when it started to rain you had to stop and put up the side curtains that had little isinglass peep holes in them. It was difficult to go any distance on these dirt roads, for if you got caught in a rain storm, you would almost be sure to get stuck. Then everyone but the driver had to get out and push.

There were only a few trucks in those days and they were small and had solid rubber tires. Nor were there any motorcycles, or scooters then.

There were no paved roads. The city streets were brick and they weren't very smooth. There were no stop signs, traffic lights, yield signs, no passing zones.

Gas was pumped by hand and you changed your own oil when it was needed.

When you wanted a picture taken you went to a photographer. I remember the first box camera my parents purchased. It was a Kodak and used roll film and took black and white pictures.

There were only a few moving picture theaters in the larger cities, and some of them also had live shows.

A few homes had hand cranked record players and player pianos. I enjoyed going to my relatives and using them.

We lived in an upstairs apartment and the lights were gas lamps. That was an improvement over kerosene lamps that were the usual means of lighting.

There were a few hand cranked telephones and party lines, but we didn't have one.

Indoor toilets and bathrooms were largely unknown.

Farmers did all their work with the aid of horses. There were no tractors in those days.

Lawns were mowed with push mowers.

There were no professional sports to go to. Baseball was the first and it was unheard of to go to Chicago or St Louis for a baseball game.

The handicapped had it hard in those days, no electronic hearing aids, no wheelchairs, or walkers. No specialized hospital care.

There were no McDonalds or other fast food places. It was a real treat when we went to Davenport, Iowa by street car on Saturday night to shop and to eat at a cafeteria.

Life was more family oriented and very few women worked outside of the home

Community life centered around the school and the church.

There were no gangs when I was growing up. Only the boy scouts, church activities, and the like.

I'VE SEEN THE FOLLOWING TAKE SHAPE IN MY LIFETIME

The coming of transportation by air that eliminates so much time.

The amazing changes in communication. The TVs, the Computers, the VCRs and DVDs, and Cell phones.

The interstate highway system and high speed travel.

The social security program inaugerated in 1935 along with Medicare and Medicaid.

I've witnessed on TV the space program develop including men walking on the moon.

The change from the reliance on trains to the 18 wheelers. What trains remain are high speed Diesels.

The transition from the local Mom and Pop grocery stores to the Giant Chain food stores.

The change from the old Ice boxes to the electric Refrigerators, along with all the other kitchen appliances, vacuum cleaners and such.

The drug problem was unknown during my youth and middleage.

There have been four wars during my lifetime with the military equipment greatly changed. Tanks, bombs, missiles, automatic weapons, radar and submarines have all come into use, and of course the atomic bomb. I'm not sure these weapons of mass destruction have added anything to our world.

So that is part of what I have seen in my 90 years on this old earth. I just wonder what the next generation will be like?