Letters from North
America
Everyone
seems to be up in arms
over this global warming
thing. I suppose there
isn’t any doubt that the
Earth has been heating
up these past several
years, but personally I
think that we are going
through a normal cycle,
one that has repeated
itself year after year
for thousands of years.
This is my opinion and
you can have yours, but
I’ll still think you are
wrong and I’m right.
While temperatures do
seem to be warmer than
they were when I was a
kid, I can only think of
one reason why I may be
more aware and that is I
hear about it almost
every day. When I was a
kid growing up in the
fifties, who ever heard
the weather forecast or
paid any attention to
how hot it was outside?
In my hometown, if you
wanted the temperature
you had to call a number
where they would give
you the correct time and
the current temperature.
I can’t recall doing
this a lot, I was too
busy playing or riding a
bicycle or something….
but not on the phone
asking someone how hot
it was. I knew how hot
it was by going outside.
When it got so hot you
couldn’t spit, you knew
it was time to find some
shade. You drank a lot
of water, there wasn’t
anything like an energy
drink, and water was
good for you. Heat was
relative.
I don’t think I had air
conditioning until I was
in high school. Our
family had attic fans.
For those of you who
aren’t familiar with
this concept, a attic
fan was located in the
ceiling of the hallway
and sucked air in
through all of the open
windows. At night you
would scoot your bed
over to the open window
and let that hot breeze
wash right over you and
put you to sleep. The
monotonous whoomp-whoomp
of the fan blades in the
hall were enough to
knock anyone out like a
light. Generally you’d
wake up about three in
the morning shivering
and freezing since the
sheets and the bed had
gotten damp from the
humidity and the breeze
was still coming in
strong. You could always
tell where someone had
their bed placed even
from the outside of the
house since that window
screen would be the one
most covered in bugs. In
arid areas they used a
water cooler of ‘swamp’
fan that used water
flowing over straw to
cool your house. The
trick there was to talk
into the fan and hear
your voice change.
Remember this is before
television and game boys
so you had to get your
amusement from wherever
you could find it.
There wasn’t much
concern over recycling
since none of us had
anything to recycle. You
used your shoes up and
had them resoled when
they wore out on the
bottoms, the only way
you got a new pair was
when you outgrew the
others. Everyone got new
shirts and jeans for the
start of the school
year, but other than
something from your
grandmother at
Christmas, that was
about the extent of your
wardrobe planning. Jeans
and shirts for school,
sport coat and slacks
for church and a pair of
dress shoes, a pair of
school shoes and a pair
of play shoes and you
were all set. What kids
spend on a pair of
tennis shoes today would
pay for your entire
wardrobe for a whole
year. You’d go to Sears
or ‘Monkey Wards’ a week
before the start of
school and get
everything in one fell
swoop. Sears used to
have an x-ray machine in
the shoe department
where you could stick
your feet (or hands or
whatever) in, press a
button and see where
your feet fit into your
shoes. Google ‘shoe
fluoroscope’ if you
don’t believe me. No
telling how many shoe
salesmen got some form
of illness from being
around all of that
unprotected radiation
everyday. Amazing that
the kids seemed to have
survived as well.
No one had a clothes
dryer, we had clothes
lines. Here’s a practice
that we could bring back
today and save some
energy, except most
subdivision rules won’t
allow you to have your
clothes drying on a
line. Jumping into bed
and smelling sheets that
had been taken off the
line earlier in the day
was an experience you
would never forget. Sun
dried sheets are a treat
our kids have not gotten
to live through.
We lived through those
years and came out fine.
Our parents and
grandparents lived
through harder times and
did just fine as well. I
always say that what
doesn’t kill you only
makes you stronger.
