once again, the old days
Yes, the good old days ? When leather boots leaked badly but came with a knife pocket sewn on top with a pocket knife. Yes, I was born a few
years prior to the 1929 depression and lived trough it. Quite a while ago though. Here in NJ (then, the garden State of small farms). Grew up in a farming, fishing and clamming town on the coast. Most kids hunted, trapped and fished to get a few bucks, which were scarce then.
A bit later, worked on fishing boats, did all kind of farming chores like hoeing, picking crops, working on a chicken farm which also grew pheasants for our State Wildlife. Gun laws were very lax during this period and not adhered to here in the country. Very few tractors were
used, mostly horses were used for plowing and the likes till later.
Back in the mid to later '30's most kids could use a horse drawn wagon
or sometimes a Ford Model A truck on a farm when needed. Guns were brought to school regularly for sale or trade at the school bus . Quite a few of us also trapped to make a few bucks and most also hunted. Prices of ammo was cheap by todays standards but not by our standards then. The NRA (National Recovery Act) then took effect. The WPA, NYA, CCC, PWA, and many others which was a Godsend. The war
in Europe then started a bit later and we slowly recovered. However,
soon we were into it also. Many of us enlisted, reaching the age of
enlistment. Many were drafted. On returning things were still quite good and thanks to the G.I. Bill, many of us youngsters went to trade
schools or further education. Believe me, it was quite a era to have lived in. Not like now with all the changes I have seen and most for the worse. Now, I do like all the modern conviences, but sure do miss
some of the old days happenings. I just look back and cant help but wonder which era was best. However I think my childre, born in the '50's were the last bunch to live in a decent era here in their youth.
years prior to the 1929 depression and lived trough it. Quite a while ago though. Here in NJ (then, the garden State of small farms). Grew up in a farming, fishing and clamming town on the coast. Most kids hunted, trapped and fished to get a few bucks, which were scarce then.
A bit later, worked on fishing boats, did all kind of farming chores like hoeing, picking crops, working on a chicken farm which also grew pheasants for our State Wildlife. Gun laws were very lax during this period and not adhered to here in the country. Very few tractors were
used, mostly horses were used for plowing and the likes till later.
Back in the mid to later '30's most kids could use a horse drawn wagon
or sometimes a Ford Model A truck on a farm when needed. Guns were brought to school regularly for sale or trade at the school bus . Quite a few of us also trapped to make a few bucks and most also hunted. Prices of ammo was cheap by todays standards but not by our standards then. The NRA (National Recovery Act) then took effect. The WPA, NYA, CCC, PWA, and many others which was a Godsend. The war
in Europe then started a bit later and we slowly recovered. However,
soon we were into it also. Many of us enlisted, reaching the age of
enlistment. Many were drafted. On returning things were still quite good and thanks to the G.I. Bill, many of us youngsters went to trade
schools or further education. Believe me, it was quite a era to have lived in. Not like now with all the changes I have seen and most for the worse. Now, I do like all the modern conviences, but sure do miss
some of the old days happenings. I just look back and cant help but wonder which era was best. However I think my childre, born in the '50's were the last bunch to live in a decent era here in their youth.
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I think you're right... and when I have kids they're going to hate me for it 0 -
I enjoyed the read.
Sounds like a great time to grow up in New Jersey.0 -
What town on the coast? 0 -
ci senor, gracias por la informacion. 0 -
Zip: New Monmouth. A very small village back then. Nearest decent sized town was Red Bank. We had a Post office open 2 hrs in the morning and two hours in the evvening. Also one very small grocery store ran by one man. Not even a bar or gas station . But we were on the bus line
which ran from 6 AM to 10 PM each hour.0 -
Joe, I grew up in the 40s and 50s. If I could choose a time to grow up in this country, it would be then. If I had to choose between the 30s and today, I'd choose the 30s even with all the hardships. Like you, I appreciate all the modern conveniences, but sometimes I think the price we paid was too high. 0 -
Being MUCH younger than James I did not grow up in the 40's and 50's but I did grow up in the 50's and 60's. The 50's were a great time to be a kid in a lot of places I think, and I still remember the smell of fresh mown grass on summer nights, and lightening bugs in town. I agree that I would rather have grown up then than now, and I am sure some kids today might agree, but humans are pretty adaptable. I do not miss outhouses, summer nights too hot to sleep, picking strawberries for spending money, or segregation.
I think the stresses that face kids today are very real and much larger than those James and I faced. Makes me glad that I did not have kids.0 -
...You guys...write these things down. Or make recordings. I'm just a young gun from 1955. Dad was born in 1914 and never wrote down any sort of personal history. I never appreciated his oral stories until late in his life. I always "planned" on recording his stories, but never got around to it. Don't put these things off. Future generations will eventually be in your debt. 0 -
joe,
Spent 1964 at Fort Monmouth. Had a '56 Ford station wagon (6 w/ overdrive) and would run 5-10 min ahead of the local bus & pick up guys around the fort for rides to Red Bank & Asbury Park. I charged as much as the bus but would take them to the door where they were headed. Hey, don't laugh guys. I was making $84./month!0 -
Tapwater: Have no fear on keeping records on backup. I have about 7 pages of our village history and my doings, plus steamboat transportation facts locally, all on my computer and C.D. for the next generation if they are interested. Plus talks with people older than me
about the local trolly that stopped running a year before I was born.
Also the railroad and road system from my early era. Each time I recall something worthwhile or talked to a older person I would ask more questions and add it to my work Only problem now is a scarcity of people older than me.
CBXJEFF: Matter of fact, I spent 30 years working at Ft. Monmouth starting in 1948. I guess you know the area quite well. It was a 15 minute drive to Ft. Monmouth for me. Also worked at the HIghlands Missle Master and the 4 local NIKE sites nearby.0 -
I don't know much about Northern NJ - Still have some family in Ship Bottom,
Barnegat Light, and little Deal (next to Asbury Park). My mother lived in Haddenfield
in the 1920's and early 1930's. Most of our New Jersey relatives live in S. Jersey -
Stone Harbor, Cape May, Ocean City and Atlantic City. We had a summer house
at Stone Harbor ... until Hurricane Hazel carried most of the town away. My
grandfather did a lot of his duck hunting up around where you lived in the
thirties. New Jersey is a pretty nice place - and a lot nicer before the population
got so large.
Seaside still have that nifty little boardwalk? I always liked that one.[8D]0 -
Joe, I'm just a kid, born in 1939, but I got to live a lot of the life you describe. Those were good times, but so are these, just different. Still a lot of good people, they're just not sitting on their front porch now. You have to go to discussion boards to talk with them. I applaud your effort on your history recording. I'm like so many others, apathetic and a little lazy. I always open, read and enjoy your posts.
I've lived in the country nearly all my life, worked farms, gardened, construction, slept outdoors in the summer, went to a one room school and hunted for supper many times. It seems like all the things we take for granted now such as air conditioning, comfortable cars, TVs, have all isolated us from each other. It dissapoints me now that I've never met some of my neighbors, and some folks don't even wave when you pass them on the road. People are so busy working to maintain this hectic lifestyle, that they don't have time to relax and enjoy the comforts.
Keep writing, I'll keep reading. Good post.0 -
My folks moved to the city when I was a babe during WWII. I grew up with the the good things that came with city life in that era. When we would visit our grandfolks on the farm we enjoyed a completely different lifestyle. Such living was not hard for a kid just visiting. Meeting cousins, Aunts and Uncles, and helping them with chores. It was great, in fact.
We would get up with the roosters, or before, to the smell of hot biscuits and fresh brewed coffee, add real butter and you were set for the early morning chores around the farm. The women would set the prepared food on the bench style table and eat with others involved with the early chores around the farm, most of the kids and adults not needed would sleep in until just before the main breakfast of the day was served, which was a veritable feast of bacon and ham, fried eggs, home fried potatos, sliced tomatos, biscuits, coffee and you name it.
During the long days on the farm, I would get involved with things like watching an aunt or uncle milk the cows, (sometimes pulling a teat, myself), gather eggs, slop the hogs, shuck and shell the corn by hand while the chickens came a runnin', and watching grandma pick out a rooster or hen and allow its head to be wrung, or chopped off, that was destined for our lunch or supper. Nobody fooled with grandma's chickens! Not even grandpa, unless she gave him permission, and if that was the case, he'd better not mess up and kill the wrong one!
Other things I'd get to do was turn the cows out to pasture, under supervision, of course, or round them up in the late afternoon for milking and lock-up. Sometimes I'd watch, or tag along in the field behind one of my uncles as he'd plow the ground behind one of the horses. He'd have a leather strap wrapped around him while trying to steady and guide the horse and hand plow to cut a deep, straight furrow. Sometimes I'd carry ice cold well water to the family at work in the fields. They might be planting crops, picking corn, tomatos, peas, or digging potatos. I enjoyed doing these things, too, and the ice cold well water was incredibly good!
Sometimes I'd just churn milk and gather the butter from the top. It seemed like each day the women folk would sit in the dining room which doubled for the living/family room, to hull peas, mostly purple hull peas, or they would can all sorts of foodstuff for the winter, and, of course, they would fix lunch and supper. Always telling stories or jabbering away about how to cook this, or fix that. They canned most everything from watermellon rind for preserves, to peas, tomatos, and such. Sometimes we'd get handed a piece of lightly salted cut of fresh potato, or get to lick the spoon clean of some sugary treat, or a piece of homemade gum. No foodstuff went to waste, and any scraps were for the pigs, or pappa's hound dogs. They also made their own candles and starch, too.
As kids, we would always find time to get away from all the work and explore the farm. I had my first encounter with all kinds of snakes, to include, the chicken snakes that were very fond of grandma's eggs. And, we got into ticks of all manner and size while out inspecting the wilderness there on the farm. I once came upon a very strong and foul odor when suddenly I saw a great many turkey buzzards within feet of me as they they began to take to the air. The old saying about some things stinking to high heaven is true!
In the early evening after supper, all of the grownups would sit outside in the front yard and entertain the kids, first with learning ryhmes or playing games like Hopscotch, or King of the Mountain and such. Then we'd sit and listen to the old folks who always had stories of days gone by. When the sun went down coal oil lamps were lit inside the house, and smut pots in the front yard for light and to keep the mosquitos down.
After dark the kids would be off to bathe and prepare for bed. By the time most everyone had turned in, grandma would sit in front of her little bedroom mirror to comb out her long grey hair. She was the last to go to bed, and the first to arise. Often in the middle of the night I'd be awakened by wildcats screaming, or red wolves, foxes, or coyotes howling. Sometimes at daybreak, I'd be off with gandpa to check his traps to start another fantastic day of beauty, adventure, and wonder.
Those were the days.0 -
Spent the spring and part of the summer of 53 at Ft Monmouth and did some of my best work in the Shark River Hills. Believe it, they issued us Springfields. 0 -
Joe,
Some of my fondest memories are of Saturday afternoons spent in a sheepcamp wagon (canvas covered top, small stove in the front right corner.) with a man everyone knew as Tex King. I've since deduced that was not his real name, and from the stories that old feller told, a pseudonym was probably a good idea. He said he was born in 1868 in Uvalde, Texas and drove cattle from Austin to the Montana Territory. He stayed there and worked nearly his entire life on ranches. He died in his sleep in 1968. I wrote down many of the stories that he told me. I've since retold them in my own way.
Clouder..0 -
Thanks for the nice read Joe. 0
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