I don't remember gas at $.32/gallon, or the Model A/T's being common. I lived about 30 miles from town. We carried our fresh well water in a pail, and it was the best water I've ever had. Our town eventually got a blinking yellow traffic light, and moved the stop sign. We raised our own food. Parking was never a problem, because there was space, and you parked wherever you wanted to. There wasn't really much reason to go to town. We did buy dog food, and food for some of the livestock, plus spices, condiments, flour, oatmeal, and sugar. We often went months without going into town. Usually whenever we needed shoes, we went in. We had a chapel somewhat closer.
We knew all the store owners by name, and they knew us. The store owners often personally helped you.
You could show up unannounced at someone's house, and they'd set a place for you at the table. I was 13 the first time I remember us locking our door. I remember, because we couldn't find the key.
Charity was different. Everyone contributed in some way. Disabled people often watched kids, or told stories. Sometimes, they cooked. The people who couldn't do anything usually died. My great-grandma was bed-ridden for the last 40 years (died at 102). She knitted and crocheted and sold her things for an annual salary that exceeded that of most able-bodied young men. Another grandma sold her cooking in her later years, and made more than secretaries at that time. After 80, my great grandpa retired. He had lots of ailments, so he set up a wood-working shop, and doubled his previous salary, working only part time as he was able. I had a great-great grandma that had 11 children that lived. There is some disagreement about her age, but she was injured somehow, such that she couldn't walk, so she became a sort of mother goose. She wrote and sold many books. There weren't drawn-out illnesses. People may not have lived as long, but they lived. When they couldn't do, they died, because there was no point. Most of my family has lived past 80, and several past 100. Doctors came to our house when needed.
My mother made fresh bread 5 days a week, and we ate it fresh. Nothing like the smell of fresh bread coming out if the oven. Hot biscuits or pancakes for breakfast, and hot bread for supper.
Yes, we didn't worry so much about clothes and shoes getting dirty or being fashionable. We took baths once a week on Saturday nights. Yep, we stunk. We washed clothes and dishes by hand. There were no disposable dishes. We had colored metal drinking cups that were formerly ice cream containers. Most of our table dishes were glass, silver, or corningware.
Christmas presents were hand-made, from the heart.
Clothes were made in the US and lasted for years. Or, we made our own clothes.
We butchered our own animals. Hunting was a-purpose. We canned and froze our own fruits and vegetables. We had freezers and a whole cooler for meat. I could cut off a chunk from the quarters hanging from racks in hooks. We made our own jam, jelly, cottage cheese, butter, buttermilk, etc. We had fresh milk and eggs every meal.
We had to start our tractor with a crank. Later, it got a battery and a starter. Some of the equipment was powered by a wheel on the side of the tractor.
If rabid animals, coyotes, or other wildlife problems arose, we handled them. Fire, too.
If there was a drouth or other disaster that wiped out our crops, it was on us. No government to bail us out.
We delivered pigs and cows ourselves, and gave the livestock medicine as needed.
We didn't have electronic gadgets to play with. Heck, some neighbors didn't have electricity. We had rotary phones, and party lines. Film was developed by mailing it in and waiting a few weeks.
Dogs and cats were farm animals. They weren't decorative or useless. They were as valuable as anyone on the farm--particularly the dogs. A dog in the brush was worth 2 or 3 men. Herding, too. The dogs were like family, but no spas or any of that ridiculousness. My dogs won all the competition awards.
All food was organic. We rotated fields, and the chickens were open range. We branded cows and pigs.
Eggs were packaged in cardboard, rather than styrofoam that they use now--oh, wait, they brought back the cardboard.
We built our own houses and performed our own repairs. Houses were our homes, built to last and be proud of. The average person could and did work on their own vehicles. We took pride in our work.
We had to fell trees (about 8 cord per year), cut them up, split and stack them. We had to bring in wood from the cold, and get up early in the cold to start the fire, then go out in the cold to care for the livestock. We had to cut holes in the ice on the ponds. We worked from 5am until 9pm in the winter, but until sometimes 2am in the summer and fall.
We respected each other. Children behaved. There was no TV or video games. We played cards and board games.
Healthcare? Whatever you paid for. It usually didn't cost much, but it was effective. There were no pharmaceuticals to cause health problems. No clunky equipment. No outrageous bills or health expenses. The doctors made a living--not a killing. The doctors took the hypocratic oath seriously. Yes, there were unwed mothers. Parents took it in stride. If the fathers got upset, they had squirrel rifles.
We had his/hers outhouses. The honey wagon would come by to drain the septic tank.
Shaking hands and a person's word meant something.
People spoke of property in quarter-sections, or in 1,000-acre lots. A "block" was a piece of wood.
Almost everything was closed on Sundays. Everyone went to church. The athiest sat in the front row. He and the preacher at that church were best friends. After the service, they two would argue every point, and listeners would learn more about faith and religion than they would ever learn in church from the service. Coffee in town never resulted in arguments about faith or religion, because people weren't pushing an agenda. We had more religions than churches, but it was never a problem. Baptist, Menonite, Lutheran, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian Amish, etc, we were just people doing our best. Children sat still and quiet in church and school. Meals were active, happy events. Well, lunch was often a question, but supper and breakfast were a big deal.
Kids were safe.
Everyone had a gun within reach. Shootings and other violence were rare. Police didn't abuse their authority.
We didn't worry about healthy foods, obesity, skin complexion, manicures, etc.
Walking? I would never walk to a neighbor's house. I did ride the tractor there, once. About an hour into the trip, the sheriff pulled up behind me. He followed me the rest of the way. When I got there, he advised me I'd be stopping by his place with the tractor to handle some chores on my way home. It took me a week to finish. No more rides to the neighbor's on the tractor. I took the pony a few times, bareback, but that was through the back way. Usually, trips to the neighbor's were for a reason. We didn't grow our own hay, so we bought it from the neighbor across the street. It was just a few miles, but starting when I could both reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel at the same time, I'd drive over and help with the baling between chores during the summer. I'd make about $4 grand over a summer, and could take the hay I needed. Once the hay cured, I'd haul 6 truckloads and stack them in our barn.
Apparently, we smelled better, despite our questionable hygiene. People now wear lots of bought odors, apparently to cover up their BO. I guess the women looked better for longer, too. Now, they paint their faces, which usually covers up creases, lines, skin sag, etc, but looks like clay plastered on their faces. Lots of makeup jobs look like the wearers have lost a boxing match.
Clothes cost more, but consist of less, often coming worn out already, so that the wearer doesn't actually have to do the work their clothes imply. Fashions make a mockery of the function of previous attire.
People now deride the work and professions of the very people who provide for their existence by growing food.
Yeah, I remember a bit. Except in the corral, I rarely stepped in poop.
"I'm Still A Guy"
