Nostalgia

Well, that's what this BLOG is all about, isn't it?

I've received several e-mails in recent weeks that remind me of those days in Runnemede. So, I've been thinking about some of the things I remember that really aren't generic to Runnemede like those big sycamore trees out front of the house or uneven sidewalks or no-traffic streets where you could safely ride a bike WITHOUT a helmet. I mean we never heard of helmets -- even motorcyclists rarely wore them unless they were in some race at a race-track.

There were no car seats for children, the small ones were held on mom's lap in the front seat. I don't believe the infant mortality rate from being in a car accident was that high that we had to remove our children from the loving arms of their mother to be put into an uncomfortable (has to be) infant seat where the poor child's head sags to one side or another or when the sleep falls forward so as to cut off the air supply.

Notice the picture of the telephone. In those days we had ONE telephone centrally located in the house so that by the 4th ring -- if you fell down the steps from the attic (mine and my sister's abode) -- you could answer it. Today in our 7 room house we have six telephones, and no matter where I am in the house, the phone isn't, when it rings.

Notice, no push buttons. We had to push the circle thing (dial) around to the finger guard for each number we dialed. Because push-button phones didn't really become common until I was in my 30s, I still dial numbers in my head using the old dial pushing method. Everytime I call my friend Cathy in NJ I do that because I had dialed (with the dial, not the buttons) her number for so many years prior to our getting the push-button phones.

Our first phone number was Beaverbrook 2-2224J -- Only you didn't have direct dial in those days. All calls were placed through the operator ("Number please"). We had a party line. Neat, I suppose if one was nosey. The only time I picked up and wanted to use the phone and some other party was one there, I nastily said it was my turn and they should hang up so I could make my call. Dad heard about it, then my bottom heard about my sassiness!

Our second number was a Timbercreek number, but I can't remember what came next. Then our last number was Yellowstone 1, 4193, which at the end was changed to 939-4193. When I was in my mid-teens they came up with area codes, and by that time we all had direct dial -- no more operated assisted calls.

Long distance calls were very expensive, but if you called after 9 p.m. they were cheaper. Every call we made to Philadelphia cost at least 25 cents -- for a very short call. So, unless it was business related -- dad called Philly for church supplies -- we always called after 9 because the rates were lower. Nothing like $15 per month for all the long-distance calls you can make was available back then.

Our phone was located in the small hallway that led to the bedrooms. I remember as a teenager pulling the phone around the corner into my mom's bedroom and sitting on the floor in there with the door shut so no one would hear what I was saying. Privacy was almost non-existent in that small house.

Also pictured is an aluminum Christmas tree. I remember when these became available. We never had one, but I'm pretty sure it was Aunt Blanche Wentzel who had one. I thought it was the prettiest thing, much nicer than the small, weed-like tree we had. They had a light that focused on the tree and had a spinner with four colors on the spinner (lower right-hand corner) so that the tree would actually change colors as the spinner passed by another color -- red, blue, green, yellow. Of course, those aluminum trees had an advantage, they never caught on fire. The light/spinner thing? That's another story. If they overheated, they could produce a lot of smoke.

The same year the aluminum trees came out, the same material was used to make pins for women's lapels. Mostly they were supposed to be birds. I thought they were so pretty. Mom got a couple of them from people in the church. I just loved to look at them. I wonder whatever happened to those things?