Gloveshot

Ancient Family Picture

This is a photo of my Grandparents 44th Wedding Anniversary. It is dated July 14, 1955. I'm the guy in back, being held by my Dad. I was about 18 months old at the time.

Think how things have changed since then. TV was just becoming to most of the USA, but I really can't remember if we had one yet. As a matter of fact, many of the farm houses in the area (including the one pictured) did not have inside toilets. Which probably made it a bitch in January when the temps would get down to 40 degrees below zero.

Ike was President. American automobiles were actually made in America, and imports hardly existed. Honda was racing motorcycles in Europe, but I don't think they were marketed in the USA yet. Tape recorders were only available in reel to reel types, and stereo was an experimental technology. There were no VCRs. Hell there were only 2 or 3 TV stations in most major markets. AM radio was king as FM was in transition hampered by lawsuits, patent fights and incompatibility issues. Telephones in this area of Minnesota still had batteries, cranks and party lines. Calling to the nearest city was long distance, sometimes call the neighbor across the road was long distance. The 'switchboard' was located in a private home, and if the operator was outside, or sleeping, getting a call through to the outside world could take a long time.

Just some stuff to think about till next time.

posted by gloveshot @ 7:18 AM