A New Post

Who knows and who can tell what is in the heart and soul of a person? Only God can know with a certainty. For example Horace Mann. Many people don't even know or remember who he was. He was born in 1796. From ten years of age to twenty, he had no more than six weeks' schooling during any year, yet at twenty years of age he enrolled at Brown University and in three years graduated as valedictorian. He attained many interesting positions. One of his most famous accomplishments was in establishing public education. Horace Mann began his 'education reform in 1837.

One may wonder was it his struggle for an education as a young person that spurred his interest and zeal in this area? What was it that prompted his oration "The Progressive Character of the Human Race (I assume as valedictorian). 
This oration may give a clue as to his thoughts and feelings. The direction he sent public education was revolutionary and to this day its tentacles reach everywhere.

 In 1848 Karl Marx wrote/published his Communist Manifesto. As is often the case what may sound like a good idea philosophically doesn't translate well into real life, or real world experience.  Socialism isn't a good answer to any question, unless it's a question something like, 'name something you should never try in real life'. 

In 1936 George Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War. He became a life long anti-Stalinist. In 1945 he wrote 'Animal Farm', a novel about Stalin's betrayal of the Russian Revolution. Toward the end of his life he wrote his famous '1984' which detailed a chilling account of what life would become under a totalitarian regime.  

  Charles Darwin published his Origin of the Species in1859. This work published as if there were actual evidence and a fossil record has been a great disservice to this nation and indeed to the entire world. In 1924, for instance, the horrendous murder committed by Leopold and Loeb in Chicago is termed the tragedy of three lost lives. The two murderers (Leopold and Loeb) were defended by Clarence Darrow. Part of Darrow's defense was that the two young men were not accountable because: 

'the infinite forces that conspired to form him [Richard Loeb in this instance], the infinite forces that were at work producing him ages before he was born, that because out of these infinite combinations he was born with out it? If he is, then there should be a new definition for justice. Is he to blame for what he did not have and never had? Is he to blame that his machine is imperfect?'

In other words—they couldn't help themselves because of their evolutionary journey, as Darrow says: 

'This weary old world goes on, begetting, with birth and with living and with death; and all of it is blind from the beginning to the end. I do not know what it was that made these boys do this mad act, but I do know there is a reason for it. I know they did not beget themselves.'

Many have lived and died honorably. In recent news articles have highlighted people who have received medals of honor for heroic deeds. None of us are chance evolutionary objects with no will, no sense of right or wrong—with no sense of choice.

"But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth: And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God; Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me." (Job 19:25-27 ASV)

Hallelujah! What a Savior! 

Another Day

"They soon forgat his works; They waited not for his counsel, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul." (Psalms 106:13-15)

Through out history it has been an up and down cycle. God's people of the Old Testament when things got bad they murmured and complained. When things became good they believed they had made their own prosperity, and were unthankful. Move into the Christian era. Christians were and are encouraged to be thankful, to remember from where their blessings come from. For some reason, though it still happens that when times get good Christians forget God. They often have the 'Shenandoah complex'.

Shenandoah was a movie starring Jimmy Stewart. The main character, Charlie Anderson, a wealthy widower, refused to become involved in the Civil War until it became personal. The Charlie Anderson in the beginning of the movie always offers this prayer:

• Lord,
  We cleared this land;
  We plowed it, sowed it, and harvested it.
  We cooked the harvest.
  It wouldn't be here—we wouldn't be eating it—if we hadn't done it all ourselves.
  We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel
  But we thank you just the same anyway, Lord, for this food we're about to eat.
  Amen.

At the end of the movie, after there has been much chaos and carnage in his family and life, he has an a-ha moment. Yes, he had worked 'dog-bone hard', but peace, goodness and prosperity don't follow just because we work hard, or because we somehow 'deserve' it. In reality I'm glad I don't get everything I 'deserve'. My come-upence would probably outweigh my prosperity ten fold. 

At the beginning of Shenandoah the Main Character, Charlie Anderson, starts out as hard boiled farmer, who believes everything he has is because he worked for and earned it. It doesn't end that way, but— That's the way over half of the people in my neighborhood view things as well. How, you might ask, do I know this? Am I familiar friends with everyone in my neighborhood?

In this neighborhood most everyone does know who their neighbors are, at least in a cursory way. But no, I've not sat with, nor had intimate conversations with many of my neighbors. However, my cousin has asked some of her acquaintances and neighbors if they go to worship on Sundays, and their answers are pretty standard. "Well, we used to, but we don't any more. I don't know why, we just don't." And viewing how many of my neighbors attend worship on a regular basis that would reflect these folks as well.  

How, you might ask, does this translate into thinking we've worked for and earned everything we have? Glad you asked. 

Worship on the Lord's day (First day of the week) is an act of submission, and fills several purposes. 

• partaking of the Lord's supper to remember his sacrifice (commanded for every first day of the week)
• listen to words of encouragement
• give words of encouragement
• humbly bow before he King of heaven and earth, and ask his favor for our lives in the coming week in song as well as prayer
• lift others up in prayer, be lifted up in prayer

The following poem I found in a church bulletin (apparently penned by the ever popular anonymous) makes a point:

"When I pass the church building,
I always go in for a visit,
So that when I'm carried in,
The Lord doesn't say
Who is it?"

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. (James 4:10)

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: (1 Peter 5:6 KJV)

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Happened: Part two

"Have you ever been baptized?"
"Yes, my mother went to every Revival meeting that came through. I was baptized several times," my Grandfather said.

Some where, for some reason Grandpa rejected his upbringing. I don't know why he would believe that all Christians were hypocrites, or why he didn't need the church.  Many people have an erroneous view of Christians as being 'perfect', when even at our best we are just people trying to get to heaven. And at that some are trying harder, or accomplishing it better than others. 

However, both statements are due to misunderstandings sown by none other than Satan himself. Satan is very good at mixing truth with a lie. Indeed Jesus tells some fellow Jews: 

"Ye are of your father the devil... When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof." (John 8:44)

The very first recorded lie was Satan disguised as a serpent speaking to the woman, Eve:

"And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4-5 ASV)

Did Grandpa need the 'church'? First he needed to understand what the church was/is. The church is like the pocket where God/Christ puts his elect. It isn't technically a building and it's not a man made organization. It has been in the mind of God since the beginning, not an after-thought. Human beings do not 'add' other humans to the roll of God's elect, only God does that. 

 "Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." (Acts 2:47 KJV)

So, yes, he, and all who want to go to heaven need the church. But wait, there's more. 

I was brought up in a home that even though it may have tried to keep the 'good' Christian principles none-the-less it lacked foundation. Good principles are effective only when there's a good foundation. Principles built on thin air will collapse. In every instance that it has been tried— when the teachings of Jehovah God are rejected as the foundation— the end of the family or nation has followed. 

Yes, my Grandparents were good people. They had been raised in a generation that still believed and taught the Bible and in many respects most of the Biblical principles. Since my Grandparents rejected those things our family suffered collapse physically and morally. Grandpa and Grandma were married for the long haul, they didn't drink alcoholic beverages, and they had some good basic morals. Grandma told me when she was a young girl she 'took the pledge—lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine'. However, all three of their children followed their own paths. My mother married three times, became a gypsy of sorts, and continued on a downward spiral of alcoholism that was a cause for the loss of her health and her family. 

It was a cause of pain to my Grandparents. At one time they said to me, "I don't know what happened. They didn't get that from us."

Hallelujah! What a Savior!
(Continued)

What Happened?

 Many people believe that parents raise their younger children (or child) differently than the older ones, and that can be true. The reasons can be anything from; parents get tired and it's a 'whatever' time in life, or parents become wiser, or perhaps just different children need different upbringing.It is like a Captain Obvious that we are older by the time our children are raised and the grandchildren come along. Often there is a special bond between grandparents and their grandchildren. Grandparents see things through different eyes than parents. The reasons may be similar to older parents raising their children. 

My Grandparents were good folks. The salt of the earth type of people that would go the extra mile to help their friends and neighbors. They had seen a lot of life, both the good and the bad. As children we were encouraged to 'do good unto one another', and do at least one good deed every day. And, whereas their good friends and neighbors attended the Christian church every Sunday, my Grandparents never did. 

We had lots of books in our house, most gleaned from yard sales. Living on the farm where there wasn't a lot of entertainment we did a lot of reading. We didn't have a Bible, but at one time in a box of books we acquired there was a New Testament. Being very naive I thought it was a current update of the Old Testament. 

For some reason my Grandparents believed that 'all Christians are hypocrites', and that they (grandparents) could be good (was that 'good enough', or just plain 'good'?) without church. And as I've said they were good, honest people, but they had some faulty thinking. 

I've known some who called themselves Christian who did not act like Christ. I know many who believe they are 'Christians' because they believe there is a Jesus. There is a whole gamut of so called Christians in the net, but if it doesn't walk, talk, or act like a Christian, no matter what it calls its self, it probably isn't a Christian. 

Having written that, there are two things I wish people would come to grips with. Christians—and I do mean honest believing believers—are not super duper perfect people. A hypocrite is someone that says one thing and has no intention of living the life, or walking the walk. A Christian is not a hypocrite because they make a mistake. We all make mistakes, most of us daily. We still have to get up and move on and hope we never make that mistake again. Some times we do. Living a perfect life takes a lot of perfect practice. 

That is one place they were honestly wrong. It was their perception that was faulty. I'll address the next problem in the next post.

"Ye are of your father the devil... When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof." (John 8:44 ASV)

Hallelujah! What A Savior!

 

More Than Enough

          

Back in the 1930's a high school diploma wasn't looked at as a necessity, especially for young women. It was more important to be intelligent and a good worker. My mother was both, so when she had a problem with algebra in eighth grade she dropped out of school. After that she took several different jobs. At seventeen she worked at one of the 'War plants, or Ordnance plants'. In her early twenties she married a man several years her senior—my sister's father, divorced him and married my father. Likewise she divorced him and married the third husband—twice. None of them 'worked out', and when she was approximately thirty years old she found herself as a single mother with two children.

What happened? A single mother with children has become normal for this generation, but it wasn't normal for that generation. How did this happen? In my younger years I believed that each generation became more immoral than the previous. Or that previous generations had been more Godly and religious, only becoming more morally lax as time went by. This isn't the truth, sin and it's consequences are a part of human nature. I believe the difference in older generations was the bounds that society placed upon it. Immoral behavior wasn't as accepted in previous generations because more people still held a form of respect or fear for Biblical authority .

We can blame different factors such as film makers of Silent films and 'talkies'. We could blame the loosening of morals on the Roaring Twenties. These things did have an effect upon society and worked to the undermining of the fabric of society. However, sickness doesn't affect a healthy body.

So, what happened?

Ye are of your father the devil... When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof. 

(John 8:44 ASV)

Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. (Ecclesiastes 7:29 ASV)

Hallelujah! What a Savior! 

Enough Part V

Meanwhile back on the farm, by 1954/55 we had electricity, and we were 'cooking with gas'. I don't remember what kind of cook stove my grandmother had, but I'm almost certain it was a gas stove. We had a 100 pound bottle of propane hooked up right outside the east dining room window and the stove sat in the north corner under the cupboards where the dishes and important papers were kept. I've cooked over a campfire, and on a wood stove and at times getting the fire to 1) start and 2) burn at the right temperature can be a real challenge. I'm not sure that my interpretation is correct, but to me the phrase 'cooking with gas,' means they are cooking right along, not being hindered by trying to start the fire, keep it going, or worry about the right temperature.

One thing about those old gas stoves, the cook had to light the burners on top. In the middle between the burners we had our 'grease keeper' and some sort of spoon rest. The grease keeper did just that. When there was excess bacon grease it was poured into a grease keeper then used later for frying sundry things. When grandma was cooking and would light the burners (with a wooden match or a book match) she would most always put the burnt match on the spoon rest. We often teased her because there were very few meals we didn't end up with a match left in one of the dishes of food. Whoever found the match would hold it up as if they had won the prize, and all at the table would laugh. I don't remember who lived with my grandparents at this time. My sister and I were rather constant residents, but on occasions my cousin Coco stayed for a couple of years. Coco was a year older than I, my sister was six years older than I was, and Coco's sister was ten years older than I was. Sometimes we were all there, but Coco's sister wasn't there often or long.

Farm women earned 'their' money by selling cream, eggs, and a few other items to store owners. During the depression era this was one way they could make ends meet in raising the family. I don't know when the practice, or ability was forced to come to an end. When I was very young I vaguely remember Grandma taking cream and eggs into the 'creamery' and selling them. I also remember our 'separator', that they used to separate the cream from the milk. It sat in the kitchen like a black spider with two shiny aluminum spigots. Milk was poured in the (I think it was) large aluminum bowl on top. Skim milk came out one spigot and cream came out the other. The aluminum parts had to be washed up, and I believe warm or hot water was poured in the top to wash the rest of the operation. After they no longer sold cream or eggs the separator disappeared--probably stored in the grain bin. Grandpa would bring the bucket of creamy milk into the kitchen and Grandma would pour it through a cloth 'strainer' to catch anything that shouldn't be there. I don't remember there ever being anything to strain out, but it was a precaution. She would rinse out the cloth and hang it on the spring that closed the screen door on the back door. One morning while I was in the kitchen I had to back up quickly for some unknown reason and sat down in the bucket of milk waiting to be strained. That was a bad way to start my morning...and Grandma was not happy either.

Enough —Part IV

My thoughts went back to the decade of the 1950's for two reasons. The Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and World War II had set the stage for 1950. Just as the Crusades had opened a new world to the men who went off to fight in the Crusades, the G.I.'s who came home from World War II were changed as well. And the world they came back to was different than the one they had left.

During the war years many men were drafted into the effort. The 'War Plants, or ordnance plants' were in many cases manned by the women left behind. Imagine going from an unprepared state to within a year's time ramping up war readiness? War was declared by FDR on December 7, 1941. V-E day was May 8, 1945, and V-J Day can be any or all of these dates: August 14th (Japan surrenders), 15th (news is announced to the world of the surrender), and September 2nd formal signing of surrender aboard the US Battleship Missouri. Four long hard years were past, and now what?

Just as running as hard as you can and stopping immediately is difficult, so too changing direction after the war would be like slamming into a brick wall. Some ordnance plants were a city within themselves and employed as many as 4,500 workers. These were complex systems, however in 1945 when the war ended they were shut down, and the land put up for sale. Poof! Over and done.

The end of the war in 1945 was the beginning of new territory both for those at home, and those coming home. America had it easy compared to overseas countries that had seen ravages of war. Yes, there were adjustments, but in England for example rationing was slow to disappear. Rationing started January 8, 1940, and lasted in some form until 1954—9 years after the war ended.

The train called prosperity picked up steam in America. In the 1950's things were settling down at least on the surface into a sort of normalcy. The returning men found jobs, or went back to college. Adults weren't as shy about credit as previous generations had been. Bank loans were easier to come by, and with the G.I. loans available more families felt like they could afford their own homes. Women went back to being homemakers for the  most part. The chaos caused by the war eroded the family through an increase in divorce and remarriage.

During this time the phrase could be heard 'we just can't make ends meet on one paycheck'. People looked sorry for the families in which the wives were forced into the work place. Husbands were ashamed because their salary wasn't enough to care for their family's needs, but of course most people understood. It was so sad.

Meanwhile back at the farm.

To Be Continued...

Enough Part Three

I began this writing wrestling with the idea 'How did we get where we are'? Many misunderstandings come from assumptions, erroneous or not. I'd like to continue with some of the 'ideas' made about 'life in the '50's.

But here’s a surprise. The 1950 house may well have been heated by coal! It was the most common heating fuel in 1950. Only .7% of homes were heated by electric and 26.6% by utility gas. That would all change over the course of the decade though. By 1960 coal was down to 12.2% and utility gas up to 53.1%. Today 51% of homes are heated by utility gas.

There is a surprise here. I can't grasp much from my reading and research except that during and by the end  of the 1950's decade coal usage for home heating decreased to the point that in the early 1960's it had gone to almost nothing. When my mother was young they heated with coal. When I was a child my grandparents heated with wood. At that time my grandfather resisted my mother's wise advice. Instead of renting one of the newfangled chainsaws from the lumber yard, he chopped all of our wood by hand (with an ax) and hauled it back from the 'timber' with a team and wagon. By the 1960's however, grandparents had two oil burners. I'm sure age would dictate exercise. He would have been in his sixties by that time. My cousins's family used wood into the 1960's, and my husband's family used coal. That seems to have covered the whole gamut.  

Bathrooms? Complete plumbing (hot and cold piped water, a bath-tub or shower, and a flush toilet) was available in 64.5% of homes in 1950. That would change too and by 1960 only 16.6% of homes were without complete plumbing. Personally, I think it probably was a rural and urban question. I lived at times with my mom in the city, and she always had inside plumbing, but not everyone in the country saw inside plumbing as a necessity. As I stated previously, my grandparents (both born in 1898) chose not to have inside plumbing. 

Unlike most households today, the majority of families sat down to eat together. Yes, the whole family ate at least one meal together, if not all three. Mom cooked because that was her job. In 1950 most mothers were employed at home. Mother's full-time job was her home and family, and most mothers took that job seriously. My mother-in-law would have exemplified the scriptural 'worthy woman' with the amount of tasks she did in a day. She worked hard from before dawn till dark with her household duties. Marie and Marvin were married in December of 1941, so they covered a few decades. Her years while Marvin was in the military were training for when they began their life in earnest after the war years—December 1945/spring1946 and beyond. Marie's mother before her had been a good example, teaching her daughters cooking, cleaning, and gardening. What Marie hadn't learned from her own mother, 'Mom Westphal' filled in. Back in those days not only did mothers take homemaking and wifely skills serious, the majority also took their religion serious. These scriptures would have been near and dear to their hearts as they raised their children:

"that aged women likewise be reverent in demeanor, not slanderers nor enslaved to much wine, teachers of that which is good; that they may train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sober-minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed:" (Titus 2:3-5 ASV)

  

Enough part Two

 In the past my husband and I  have enjoyed taking a 'Sunday drive'. It doesn't even need to be a 'Sunday' per se. We used to live somewhat close to Amish and Mennonite communities and enjoyed driving by their farms. I'm using this as a comparison because both of these groups are known as people that don't always use (all or in some cases any) modern conveniences. In driving by the houses of these families the outside normally is kept neat and clean. They are not rundown or in any way substandard. 

An article I read put forth the idea that 'about one third of the homes during the 1950's were "dilapidated", or were without running water or a private toilet and bath'. 
As I mentioned in Part One, my grandparents lived on a small farm. The time period of my remembrance was from mid to late '50's till the mid 1990's. They chose not to have running water or an inside toilet. We had a small inside pump hooked up to a 'cistern'.  The rain water ran into the system of gutters on the eaves of the house and into the cistern. We used that for bathing, laundry, dishes, and the like. For drinking water we had a separate pump at the bottom of the hill (the house sat at the top on the flat). That well had been hand dug, so it wasn't deep, but it was ample for all but drought years. We would pump a bucket of water and carry it to the house for drinking. It had a dipper that we used (yes, everyone used the same dipper) to drink out of. We also pumped water into a metal barrel that had been sawed in half length wise. It was set up to water the livestock and we pumped water for them twice a day at least, besides what we carried up to the barn. 

I take a bit of issue with the idea that 'one third of the homes were  dilapidated (I would add here the word, 'and') without running water or a private toilet and bath'. 

 Put up beside someone's brand new home of today it would look old, but I we would be comparing apples to turnips. As far as running water, our system worked for the time we were in. When we wanted hot water we pumped it into a large 'tea kettle' or even a large kettle, set it on the stove and waited. To take a bath it was poured into a tub in the kitchen or pantry and that was our 'bath room'. It was dumped out when we were finished. Yes, the outhouse was—outside and about forty feet from the back door, but it was a private toilet. When living with my mother 'in town' we had all of the amenities. We had inside toilet, bathroom, running water, a water heater, and a furnace.  Rural versus urban might be the key.

As I was researching the 1920-1940 time period I learned several things, many relating to my actual research, and also related to human nature and assumptions. 

In my naivety years I had assumed people of past generations were more moral. I have read of others who assumed that during the 'great depression' everyone was poor, ragged, starving and standing in soup lines. Another assumption I have encountered is there were no cars. 

The 'roaring twenties' were so labeled for a reason. There was much crime and corruption in many places. Spurred on by Prohibition (1920-1933) the 'Speakeasies' and gangsters were rampant. During times of wealth the nation's morals often fall into decay, and the 1920's was no exception. In the 1930's the parachute came out and slowed the decline. People in general turned back to religion; as it were turned back to God. 

During the '20's there had been a mass exodus from the rural areas to the cities. People were looking for more prosperous employment. During depressions (there have been many throughout our history) people tend to move back to a more 'self-sustaining' rural lifestyle. Consequently, even though the wealth and excess of the 1920's disappeared in the 1930's and didn't reappear until WWII, many people learned to adjust. They learned to hustle so to speak. There were some jobs, and there were still entrepreneurs. There were automobiles, telephones, and conveniences. Yes, there were fewer of them.

Of course WWII brought the economy back into booming production. By the 1950's the economy once again began to kick in to a consumer economy. I write that to highlight my taking issue with statements such as this:'Only a small minority of families enjoyed such basics as a mixer or had a hot-water heater.' Once we had electricity (1954) at my grandparents farm, we also had an electrical handheld mixer (for cakes and whatnot). We never did have an electrical hot water heater— by choice. 

To be continued~

When is Enough, Enough?

What was the life style of Americans in the early 1950s? I was born in the 1950's, but I remember only smidgens of it. My first remembrance was living with my grandparents (on a small mid-western farm). I remember darkness, as in no electricity, and rooms lit by kerosene lamps. It wasn't until after that first year that a neighbor helped grandpa and grandma to wire the house for electricity. In putting in electricity, I've been told, they paid 'by the outlet', hence there weren't many outlets in a room. Our dining room had two outlets that I remember. One for a clock, and a television, and on the other side of the room one for the radio and coffee pot. We also used the dining room counter for mixing cakes and what not which required a plug in. Sometimes there was a 'plug in' that you could plug into the outlet that had more than one place to plug into.  In the kitchen I remember two outlets as well for the refrigerators. But to have electricity was an extravagance—in the 1950's.

An article I read said 'fully two fifths of American households had no automobile'. That, of course means, that fully three fifths of the households had an automobile. I do remember one instance, I was told to take my nap because we would have a surprise. My Grandfather went somewhere during that nap time and when he came home he brought a 'new' automobile. I don't think it was brand spanking new, but new to us. We took a little drive and felt like we were rich indeed. I'm sure that wasn't their first automobile, but I don't remember what we had before that. Automobiles were a blessing, especially for those of us who lived in the country, and I don't ever remember being without transportation. Many people living in town, especially the large towns, used public transportation and still do. My mother and her two siblings rode the public transportation (bus) when they lived in the 'big city' to get to school. The story is told of the oldest sibling, my aunt, being given the 'bus money' for the week's fares. She took the money and spent it all on candy. Other than getting sick I don't know what her punishment was. 

 Telephones are interesting gadgets. My husband and I were newly married in 1973, and our first telephone was a 'party line'. I don't remember how many 'parties' were on our line, but a person wasn't guaranteed that when they wanted to make a call they could. Often two of the old women would be talking on the line, and a person would have to wait their turn. Only in an emergency could you interrupt the other call. Back when I was young my grandparents didn't have a phone at all. To get a message to them you had to call the neighbors, Bill and Ann. One summer vacation my sister and I had traveled all day by Greyhound bus to the bus depot in  small town near where my grandparent's farm was located. We called Bill and Ann, but they weren't home. It might not have been hours before we were rescued by a local preacher heading in our Grandparents' direction. However, after numerous calls the time spent seemed like hours to a six year old and her twelve year old sister. When my sister was a senior in high school (this was in the '60's) my grandfather spent the night at the state fair. My mother happened to be home  for a short visit, and while he was away she had the phone company come out and put in a phone. She was determined that my sister would have a phone during her senior year. And Grandfather never spent another night away from home again. Of course that phone was a party line phone, but we now had a phone. My Grandmother loved it. 

Television? We most always had a television. It didn't always work though. One television we had the 'tubes' started to go bad, and as they got worse the picture began to fade. It became so faint we would put a blanket over the set and sit under the blanket to watch the shows on Saturday morning. Eventually that didn't even work and we had to become creative on our own. Televisions were not a necessity then. They aren't now either. When our children were young (30-35 years ago) we decided to turn the television off, and went for several years pretending we didn't have one in the house. One time we even squirreled our set away in a closet. Since the change in television service we only use our outdated set to watch movies that we purchase and want to watch. 

To Be Continued