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Past Years:

I might have written parts of this in earlier paragraphs. This is a short idea of what life was like during the nineteen-forties and early nineteen-fifties when I was a young boy.

Most schools didn't have air conditioning. On hot days the windows were opened to cool the classrooms. And most secular schools boys wore dress pants, dress shirt, shoes, no gym shoes were allowed and no blue-jeans. Some schools, especially high schools, girls had to wear a school uniform every day. The boys had to wear dark blue pants and a dress shirt. Some schools demanded ties and jackets for the boys. During the nineteen forties every desk had an ink well, and it was expected that the students have their own an ink blotter. Ink pens were used for writing. When the original Ballpoint pens were invented students were not allowed to use them because they skipped a lot. When the calculators first arrived almost all schools refused to allow students from using them. Grammar school curriculum usually consisted of reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography, and one ten minute milk break in the morning, none in the afternoon. The Catholic schools also taught a Religion class. They had a forty five minute lunch break.

Detention was used in high schools whenever there was an infraction of rules such as, Fighting, cussing, smoking, disrespect, not wearing proper dress, late homework, stealing etc. Detention was usually and extra hour of school each day for either a week or a month depending on the infraction. During the extra hour various tasks were allotted to the student to be completed. Other punishments were to sweep rooms, clean windows, pick up trash outside on school property. Police weren't needed in schools back then. Teachers and parents taught respect to the children.

In the cities, the Grade schools were located within walking distance of student's homes. The majority of students walked to and from school every day. Most also walked home for lunch and back to school after lunch. When a child learned to ride a bike, many would ride their bike to school. Grade schools didn't have lunch rooms so the students carried their lunch to school, and were expected to have their lunch at their desk. Very few schools had a cafeteria. A few schools had a gym and there were no organized sports, no teachers night, no consulars, and no air condition. Almost all schools, Grade and high schools, were built on two floors. Some even had a third floor .

Many grade schools held paper drives. The kids collected newspapers from neighbors, tied them in bundles and brought them to school.. Later a truck arrived, and the papers were loaded in the trucks and taken to recycle yards.
Computers and computer games and personal phones didn;t exist. Only land line phones. There were many small booths scattered around towns and cities with a telephone inside, for public use. To use it, a person put a coin in the phone box and dialed the number. Some telephone booths were located near gas stations, or shopping areas, or train and bus stations, or air-ports, or churches. It is rare if you see a phone both today.

There were ice-men that delivered blocks of ice to every house in the neighborhood. The ice was used for ice boxes. Refrigerators replace the ice boxes in the late 1940s or in some cases in the early 1950s. In the hot summertime, When the ice truck came down the street, many kids ran in the street and asked for chips of ice. Most often the ice-man threw a few hands full of ice chips on the street. They were as great as ice cream to the children. Most people had milk delivered to their homes just like mail delivery. The people would leave a note for the milk man in an empty, glass bottle if they wanted to change their delivery items. Glass bottles were used then, there were no plastic bottles.

Also, once or twice a summer a man came down the street with a monkey and a music box. A person would put a nickle in a tin can that the monkey was holding and the monkey turned a crank mounted on the box, and it played a musical song. It was great fun watching a real live monkey playing a musical instrument. The kids followed the man and his monkey sometimes for many blocks before going home.

Some days a man would walk down our street with a waffle cart. He sold waffle ice-cream sandwiches. They were the greatest treat that a kid could get in summertime. He had a waffle maker that seemed to take forever before it was ready, then put a slice of vanilla ice cream on it. I can almost taste it now.

A couple of summers, a man walked down the street with a small, brown and white shetland pony, and for a fee, took a picture of you sitting in the saddle on the pony, holding the reins in your hand. What a thrill. I remember, I was the proud owner of a picture once.

Also, during the spring and summer months a man walked along the street pushing a small cart. He would have a bell that he rang ever so often as he walked along. He would be a knife sharpener. People from everywhere stopped him and had their kitchen knives sharpened. He also sharpened any scissors that a person needed to have sharpened. Most young boys watched him wanting to learn how he could put a sharp edge on even the most stubborn knife.

Young high school boys sold good-humor ice cream in the summer months. They had a bike, and on the handle bar there were small jingle bells connected to it. They would ring the bells as they rode down the street. There was a small cart built on the front fender. It had hot-ice inside to keep the icecream bars cold. They came many years before the ice-cream trucks traveled the streets with all the icecream and music .

Another business that is popular now was also popular then. It was collecting scrap iron. The scrapper drove down the alleys. They drove very slowly and would call out loudly, "rags and old iron". They picked up any iron, rags, newspapers, stoves, boilers, tires and anything that we recycle today. They threw the items in their truck and even paid the people a few coins in return. During the war, almost everything was recycled. All metals, newspapers and magazines, tin cans, all glass bottles, tires, batteries, etc. It was all used for the war effort. Nothing was wasted. As a matter of fact, small bottles had a two cents refund if returned. Beer bottles and large bottles carried a five cents refund. We kids spent many hours walking the streets and alleys looking for empty bottles.

Most homes were heated with coal and forced air. The home would have a room in the basement for winter coal. In autumn a coal-man would drive a truck to the house and unload coal, into that room from floor to ceiling, with a wheel-barrel. Hopefully it would be enough coal to heat the home until spring. When spring arrived every wall and ceiling in every room of the house had to be washed with soap and water. Everyone in the family helped clean every day for about a week. It was hard work yet every one seemed to have fun while working. This was called spring cleaning week. Today it is called Spring Break except there is nothing to do except play every day.

Instead of computers and television, kids as well as adults, listened to radio. During the morning until late afternoon there were soaps that had an audience of housewives. From late afternoon until evening, about seven o'clock, there were mysteries, westerns and comedies aimed for young children. And adult programs such as comedies, mysteries, drama and news were heard from seven o'clock until late in the evenings, and were aired for working people to enjoy.

You might wonder what kids did years before computers and I-phones etc. Well during the summer months they walked to a neighborhood swimming pool and swam an hour or two a week. There were pools in every neighborhood usually within walking distance. They could take a bus to the lake, walk to nearby ponds or go to a forest preserves. Boys and girls spent many enjoyable summer days fishing or just hiking these areas. Boys and girls played baseball, touch football and countless games after school and during the summer months . Winter they were outside playing in the snow. Most kids loved the snow. Children and teens alike enjoyed the winter snow. There were the common snow men to be built, snowball fights that lasted forever and were a great afternoon pastime. All kids, young and teens ice skated. Almost every kid had a sled, and they spent hours sledding in the street or sidewalks.Young children had to be home by supper time and teens were expected to be home by about ten in the evening. After a zero cold spell, the fire department sent firemen to empty lots in many neighborhoods. They connected their huge white fire hoses to the fire hydrants and flooded the lots. By morning the teens and kids had a nice ice skating pond.

High school and college kids had other pastimes. Most went dancing once or twice a month. Some went dancing more than that. Many neighborhood high schools held Friday or Saturday evening dances. A great place for teens to meet other teens. It usually cost a quarter to a dollar admission. Most kids started part time work when they entered high school or earlier and these were their evenings to relax and have fun.
There were no shopping malls, just lines of stores on a busy street as some streets are today. Young boys and girls in high school enjoyed walking to the stores and shopping there, especially at Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and New Years. As of today, they were an exciting place for everyone to shop .

Most busy streets had coffee shops. There were always a few near high schools. During lunch or directly after school hours teens would stop there, and buy a cup of coffee or a soft drink. These coffee shops also had a soda fountain where a person could have an ice cream soda. There was always one large jukebox at one end the store. At each table there were remote boxes. They would place a nickle or dime or quater inside, and it played one or more popular record. Often the teens would dance to their favorite song. It was allowed and accepted then. There are still a few coffee shops in the large cities, but they are not the same.