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