In the summer after first grade, I believe my sister and I spent a great deal of time outside under our shade trees. We had a swing set, and we took our little wooden table, dolls, etc. outside to play house in our huge yard (We didn't call it a lawn in the country). Since we had no air conditioning, I assume it was more pleasant out there. The only thing I missed was more children to play with. During those years, parents were fearful of polio because the Salk vaccine had not been developed yet. Therefore, we had to go in and take a rest period in the afternoon so that we wouldn't get too tired and/or too hot. Doctors and parents believed that made children more susceptible to the disease. I didn't like to "rest", but I did love to read, and I think I was allowed to do that.
Second grade began much as first grade had because I was still in Mrs. Pritchard's room. I liked school and always did well academically, but I especially enjoyed being around all of my classmates. My teachers usually commented to my mother that I liked socializing too well because I talked too much in the classroom.
In November of that year, my next sister Kim was born. I remember staying with someone else while Dad took Mom to the hospital to have our sister. Paula and I didn't see Kim until they brought her home because we couldn't go to visit. Hospitals believed that children brought too many germs and too much noise, I guess.
I think we bought our first television when I was 5. The local stations didn't start broadcasting until later in the afternoon. I can remember sitting excitedly in front of the TV and watching the test pattern while we waited for "Howdy Doody" or whatever other black and white kids' shows we watched. When I was older, I stayed up until the stations went off the air, usually with a jet soaring through the air and music in the background...no 24-hour TV back then.
One of the chores my mom gave me to do was churn butter, definitely NOT one of my favorites. Since we drove to our neighbor's dairy to buy our pasteurized but un-homogenized milk, the gallon containers had 3-4 inches of cream on top. When we needed butter, my mom skimmed off the cream and put it in the churn. I had to crank the handle until it turned to butter. I can remember nagging my mom to check and see if it was about done because my arm was so tired. (The next time you are in a museum look for the glass butter churn with a handle on the outside and paddles in the container.)
I remember sitting up watching TV until the Jet soared - signaling the end of the day as well! When I was little, we had the only milk cow in town and provided milk to most of the town - the cream made the best ice cream! While we didn't churn butter, I remember having to sit on the ice cream maker while someone turned the crank. Took forever! Thanks for posting this!
ReplyDeleteI love your stories!!! I know my mom had a similar experience in the polio years, they closed all the swimming pools and whatever. I can't believe you churned your own butter--thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful remembrances! I've never churned butter, but that sounds just like me turning the crank on homemade ice cream. LOL My mom told me stories about the polio scare. She had a friend that got sick and was sent to the hospital in the city because she had polio and then everyone was pretty much confined to their homes in fear they would get it too. Scary times. Thanks for sharing your story.
ReplyDeleteLoving your stories, thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI love the perspective you have. It's interesting hearing about things I've read about in books,but never experienced, like polio scares and butter churning. I've seen those churns. They look interesting, but I definitely wouldn't want to use one!
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