A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

What Did We Do to Keep Cool in the "Old Days?"



How did we keep cool in the old days? We really didn't move much. On super hot days we would start with a light breakfast of fruit, juice, and maybe some cold cereal. We didn't clean the house that day...we pulled the shades or blinds and made the house really dark. Mom could be seen carrying a bottle of coke around with her. She would make pitchers of lemonade for us to drink. We wore very skimpy clothes...Mom's outfit was a cotton housedress from the Cotton Shop. She really took the day off...no big meals to prepare that day. In the early afternoon the wash tub would be put out in the backyard. She would fill it with the garden hose and I could sit in it and keep cool. She would drag an aluminum lawn chair over and sit with her feet in it. There we would be...sitting in the water and drinking our cold drinks. I remember how I hated to take naps. In the days of the polio scare, the late afternoon was spent in bed. I could read books and play with my paper dolls, but I had to rest. I had had polio as a very little girl, and my Mom and Dad were so scared that it would strike again. My neighbor's Mom lived her life in an iron lung just down the street. We had one big fan that was kept in the kitchen window, so Mom would be cooler while she cooked. It was so loud...sounded like a small plane taking off. There we would sit...eating our dinner with the loud fan right next to us. I swear, if we had used paper plates they would have been sucked into the fan. Salads were a specialty on a hot summer day. My favorite was a tomato, from Dad's garden, stuffed with tuna salad or cottage cheese. Dad had to have a piece of meat...after all he was a working man. A light dessert made with jello was often on our table. Iced tea was consumed by the gallons. The Good Humor Man was a special summer evening treat. It was expensive, but once in a while I was treated to my choice of ice cream treats. I would just stand and stare at his menu to make my decision. I'm sure he got tired of waiting for me to make up my mind, but he never hurried me. The evening couldn't come soon enough in those hot days. The sun went down and people started coming out to sit on their porches. Ours was a small stoop, but big enough for two metal chairs, painted yellow....to match the shutters on the house. We had brown cloth awnings on the house to keep the sun out. We would holler across the street..."Hot enough for ya?" Our pregnant neighbor, across the street ate popsicles all the time. She was teased about this...some of the women would make her popsicles with those little plastic forms...and take them across the street for her to eat. I remember one day...she threw the dishes out in the trash. She was so hot that she didn't want to do the dishes after supper...and out the door they went. Later her baby boy was born and my Mom and Dad called him the "Popsicle Kid" We would sit on our stoop until bedtime for me. I always had an early bedtime..polio you know....my Mom would sit out longer into the evening until the mosquitoes chased her in. I had a bedroom upstairs, after my brother was born. The bed had no blankets or spread in the summer. I just slept with a sheet in that hot bedroom. It never seemed to bother me, as I recollect. We were used to it...tougher people in those days. We spent our summer like this in the days before I could ride my bike to the swimming pool.

Balisha

9 comments:

Lynn said...

What a great story, I remember eating on the picnic table in the shade... A big glass of milk with lots of ice in it and a BLT... Those were the days! You made me smile today and remember back to the days when I was a kid!!! Thanks!

Margie's Musings said...

I don't know how we got through the summer in those days.

Sissy said...

Got a break from the heat for today, but I think it's coming back with a vengeance this weekend.
I cannot remember the last time I had a popsicle. Sounds so good!

Balisha said...

Hi Lynn...I put ice in my milk in the summer too.We are waiting for Joe's tomatoes for BLTs. Thanks for leaving a comment...Balisha

Balisha said...

Hi Margie...You know, as I remember we never minded the heat back then. I guess we never knew it any other way. We are getting a reprieve today...Balisha

Balisha said...

Hi Sissy, I've been trying to figure out where you are located. It must be close by. Everytime I visit a garden center...I will look at a clerk and wonder if it's you.
We are getting ready to hibernate this weekend. I have so much to do today...my head is swimming. I had better get off this computer and do some work...Come again...Balisha

Barbara said...

I can remember when ice cream was brought round the streets in a cart. I can also remember the first time we could buy ice-cream in a store to take home.

Barbee' said...

Wonderful post, Balisha, I enjoyed it very much. Yes, I remember those days and those ways, the polio scare, and everything. We did much the same things as your family. One novelty for me was when I visited the grandparents who lived in a town and the iceman came round. I was intrigued with the way my Mammaw would put that card in the window to show him how much she wanted. Then his wagon, horse, and ice tongs... I watched his every move as he delivered. Out on the farm we and my grandparents next door had electrical refrigerators, but the ones I visited had the old fashion ice box where the man put the ice. An adult would use the icepick and chip us off pieces to put in our mouths. I do believe that was the best tasting ice in the world and made the best iced tea. I still occasionally put myself to sleep by remembering the heat, and the sound of the fans as I dozed off and took my nap. Summertime was magical to the me-child, oh, how I loved it.

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

Brought back many memories. I was born in the south but raised in Michigan. Had an upstairs bedroom and it was so hot. I remember taking an ice cube out of frig and wrapping in a washcloth and taking to bed with me to put on my head and arms for coolness.
No air conditioning and no fans.
Same at my grandmothers. Trips to the South in car with all the windows down to let the "hot air" blow through the car :)
I loved it when the ice cream man came by. This treat only when I would visit my grandmother...