Background

What was life like growing up in a small town in the heart of the anthracite coal region during the 1940s and 50s? In a word — magical! This was a time that covered two wars, the birth of television in the average person’s home, the beginning of true Rock ‘n Roll, one-car families, and stay at home mothers.

What follows are some of the reasons gathered from many sources that tells why it was so good growing up then. This is not to say the same is true for current generations because circumstances are different. But it is how we lived.

• As infants and children, we rode in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
• Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
• We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
• We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.
• We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren’t overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing...that’s why!
• We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day—and, we were OKAY.
• We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
• We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
• We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from those accidents.
• We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse.
• A single income earner could support a family so one parent, usually a mother, stayed at home.
• We had one automobile, no garages, and went everywhere as a family.
• We ate meals the same time every day, no fast food, no meals in school, and we ate as a family.
• We ate worms, and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
• We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.
• Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!
• The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
• The past 75 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
• These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever.