This is for you Bobbin

[Mojo]

Off topic...........

Bobbin, I ran across this and wanted to share these photos with you. I knew you would more then likely appreciate them, especially since some are from your part of the country. I believe you have an appreciation for history like I do.

I am always amazed at just how hard our parents and grandparents had it back then. We sometimes forget that many of our parents and grandparents grew up in times of new electric, no refridgerators, crude means of transportation. When I look at historical photos I rarely breeze through them. Instead I study them looking for hints as to how life was back then. These photos will show how hard life really was ( and these were all taken after the great depression ).

I enjoyed seeing the period clothing that men, women and children wore. I especially enjoyed seeing the signs and billboards on store fronts. The hard labor involved in doing jobs back then, etc. It is all an eye opener.

Enjoy the photos. here is the link:

http://extras.denverpost.com/archive/captured.asp

For Dennis, Doyle, Gene and Ed, I am sure there will be things you see that bring back some fond memories. You guys were all alive and kicking back then right ?........:)

Chris

[bobbin]

Chris, my brother sent me those photos a few months ago! they're incredible.  

What really struck me was that "dirty" kids with bare feet were commonplace.  The dirt washes off easily and why buy shoes for the summer when money is scarce and you can forestall the price of new shoes until fall??  I'm 54 and I remember when you could go into a store with bare feet, and take your dog in, too!

I also noted the awnings on buildings... no air conditioning.  Remember when the heat of summer was "part of the bargain" and no one whined about it because whining did no good and there was no alternative?

Mum and Dad both remembered when the coal man, the rag man, the ice man, and the milk man came buy in carts pulled by horses (1930-1940).  They had fond memories of picking up ice shards covered with sawdust and putting them in their mouths on a hot day.  They both remembered the smell of the abbatoir hanging in the air on humid days when they'd pass by.  

[sofadoc]

Great photos. I kept looking for Gene.......finally found him.......last one, #70.

I'll bet those people REALLY plowed through the slip covers. ;)

We still sometimes refer to the refridgerator as the ice box, because that's all it was back then. Just a big insulated box where you stored a huge block of ice to keep everything around it cool.

My grandmother told me that the ice was delivered by a horse-drawn truck. A huge block was only a nickel. But few homes could afford it. The driver didn't have to tell the horse when to stop. He stopped automatically, only at the houses that regularly bought ice.

BTW I wouldn't say that the depression was technically over when these photos were taken. They just had bigger things to worry about.
As Gen. Patton said, "War is good business". 

[Mojo]

I can remember my parents telling me the same stories. My dad said the milkman had a horse that knew his entire route. he would grab bottles and butters and creams and head down the yards and the horse would follow him out on the street.

One of the most fascinating stories is to hear about the times and living conditions back during WWII. Could you see our spoiled society living through rationing of anything these days ? They rationed gas, metal, sugar and a host of other items. They had war bond drives, scrap metal drives and many other events that centered around the war effort.

I think this is why I have always felt that these time periods created the greatest generations in our society.

Chris

[bobbin]

Adversity was shared.  War was not an abstract thing (undeclared) and carried out by a volunteer army... it was "real" for all.  I think there is a lesson there!

[sofadoc]

And we piss and moan about Obamacare. The only health plan they had back then was "Eat when you can......try not to die".

We expect a health plan that will guarantee us to live to be 100, while on a strict diet of burgers and pizza.

Speaking of pizza, we have our share of hardships too! Just the other night, the Domino's tracker was broken, so I had no idea whether or not it was time to put on my pants to answer the door. Then, the auto-finish on my I-phone quit working. I was forced to type out ENTIRE WORDS!!!

Think the people in those 40's pics could deal with some of these "First world problems"? ;)

[bobbin]

Worry less about Obama-care, hike up your drawers, and remember to tip the delivery guy!

[Mike]

I remebr seeing the air conditioned signs as the one awninged  café in co.
and I remember RC cola and prince edward are they still around
my dad grew up in malden mass with those triple tecker he called then like the kids in Brockton photo tenement.


its like with me and most of us I remember black and white tv no remotes. the beginning of
hbo. AM radio WAS THE BIG THING.  rotary phones and no cell phones. anf computors and the invention of the internet. and I walked to school. or at least the bus, today I see tons of cars lined up at schools dropping off kid at at the bus stop waitiung for the kids geeze they cant walk home

 boy im OLD

[JuneC]

You're not old Mike, I remember Karo cane syrup (photo #17) on my waffles and french toast.  It was really good - came in a big can, I think it was 1 or 1.5 quarts, with a lid like a paint can you had to pry off with a screwdriver. 

June

[gene]

Hey! That's me and my older brother in picture #4. I remember that. Pa told us to pour that basket of potatoes into the root cellar barrel.

We were looking at the dead opossum in the bottom of the barrel. It was covered with thousands of maggots. Pa told us to pour the potatoes in, so that's what we did.

All winter Pa and Ma would comment on the 'sharp' taste that the potatoes had that winter. My brother and I didn't mind the new taste because we had no catchup and any new taste was welcome over plain boiled potatoes.

When Spring came and we got to the bottom of the barrel, Pa took one look and threw up. That's the only time I can remember him throwing up. He was sick a lot and coughed up a lot of really nasty stuff from his lungs, but this was the only time I remember him throwing up.

He just could not figure out how that old opossum had crawled under all those potatoes. Pa even mentioned once to Ma that his boys would never be so stupid as to pour potatoes onto a dead opossum.

We never told.

Sincerely,

gene

PS: Once you can fake sincerity everything else is easy.   ;D

[sofadoc]

Pic# 13:
The brother on the left looks really pissed that he got stuck with the ugly girl.

Pic# 16:
The 4 younger kids all look like mom. The older girl took after dad, and it didn't work out well for her. 

[byhammerandhand]

Gene,

Was that you?   Mama said you ran off to join the circus.   I didn't mind so much because I got the bed to myself and didn't have to eat the chicken gizzards no more, I got a couple of wings instead.

[gene]

That was me, only I didn't run off. Mama sold me for a nickel to the circus so she could get a block of ice for the ice box.

It was a small circus. We mainly did our show in parking lots or behind big buildings. We were always ready to pack up and run off if the police showed up.

And it was fun. When I got old enough I got to play the bearded lady. I played the worlds tallest midget. I played the worlds weakest strong man. We didn't have an elephant so we used a Saint Bernard and called it the worlds hairiest toy elephant.

gene

[kodydog]

Ha, don't need Friday funnies when Gene tells childhood stories.

Pic # 1 looks like my wife and me about 20 years ago

Pic # 26 looks like Live Oak as it stands today