As we prepare to celebrate the 2022 Fourth of July I'm thinking back to the 50's and our life in the Fountain Square area. As I look around our home today it is amazing how much of what we have now didn't even exist then.
A quick list of what I see includes:
- Our Simply Safe security system - did we even lock our doors? I don't think so.
- Our automatic washer and dryer. There's not a ringer to be found and we have no clothes lines in the back yard. Remember that bag of clothes pins?
- I see our huge TV through which we can access hundreds of channels plus thousands of "on demand" programs from Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube all in seconds. Back in the 50s, probably just like you, our TV was a four-channel 19 inch black and white TV with "rabbit ears" and tin foil flags enhancing the reception. The remote control was me!
- I love this laptop I'm typing on. Back then we didn't even own a typewriter and our spell checker was my grandma's big old dictionary which she used to work out the Indianapolis Time crosswrod puzzle.
- I now have an amazing digital camera which takes high res photos and movies. Its nothing at all like the Brownie camera my dad owned with its flash attachment and those red hot egg-sized flash bulbs. Not to mention the 12/24 exposure rolls of film we had to buy hoping to get one or two decent photos.
- Within arms reach today is my unbelievable cell phone with all its capability - phone, camera - photo collection - calendar - calculator - texting capability and more. Imagine what our friends would have said had we walked into grade school with one of those back then. Buck Rogers' wrist radio was nothing in comparison.
- Being one who couldn't see the board in third grade I value the contacts I wear today. They are so much better than those Coke Bottle thick glasses I wore with the scotch taped sides. That was such a "Cool" look but I don't miss it a bit!
- This list could go on an on.
Even so, with all our 21st century "improvements" there are so many things about the 50s I remember warmly. It was a simplier time for sure but boring is not a word I would use to describe it. The family, the friends, the times we had are days worth remembering.
Happy Fourth of July! ( I know, the fireworks will be much more than a single box of sparklers!)
Bill Byrd
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