Guest guest Posted September 11, 2006 Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 Dennis, I think I can out-poor you, LOL. We lived on a farm out in the boondocks, and we didn't have electricity at all until I was in school, because I can remember sitting at the kitchen table doing homework by lamplight. We had three rooms and a big hall for a lot of the time I lived at home. There were five of us kids. Then when the sixth one came along, we added on some rooms. We had a well without a pump at first, but after we got a pump we never had running hot water. We had an outhouse for daytime use, stocked with Sears Roebuck catalogs, and a chamber pot for nighttime. For bathing, we used a basin and a wash cloth. For as long as I lived at home, we never had an indoor bathroom. We had a garden and grew a lot of our food. We canned and later froze vegetables to eat in the winter. We grew hogs and chickens for meat, and my brother would set rabbit traps in winter and occasionally kill squirrels. I never did like rabbit or squirrel. We always had plenty to eat and never went hungry, being pretty much self-sufficient. My mother made most of our clothes, sometimes using feed sacks. I have a friend who also grew up this way. We agree that we will never go camping; we roughed it enough as kids. Do I win, LOL? Sue On Monday, September 11, 2006, at 09:18 PM, betnden@... wrote: > I do keep in mind the experiences I had > growing up weren't like any others. At age 4 with a brother and > sister, we > moved into a 4 room house 15 miles from town and only had one wire for > electricity. The well had a pump on it and if we wanted to bathe, we > stood > under the faucet and pumped away. The outhouse was about half a > football > field away, and I was told that I dropped my little brother in it once. > Yuucckkk! We ate what we grew and caught. There wasn't running hot > water in > the house until after I left home. I'll bet none of you were brought > up like > that, but if you were, I'm sorry you had it to endure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 11, 2006 Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 Wow to both of you!! On Sep 11, 2006, at 8:30 PM, Sue wrote: > Dennis, > > I think I can out-poor you, LOL. We lived on a farm out in the > boondocks, and we didn't have electricity at all until I was in > school, > because I can remember sitting at the kitchen table doing homework by > lamplight. We had three rooms and a big hall for a lot of the time I > lived at home. There were five of us kids. Then when the sixth one > came > along, we added on some rooms. > > We had a well without a pump at first, but after we got a pump we > never > had running hot water. We had an outhouse for daytime use, stocked > with > Sears Roebuck catalogs, and a chamber pot for nighttime. For bathing, > we used a basin and a wash cloth. For as long as I lived at home, we > never had an indoor bathroom. > > We had a garden and grew a lot of our food. We canned and later froze > vegetables to eat in the winter. We grew hogs and chickens for meat, > and my brother would set rabbit traps in winter and occasionally kill > squirrels. I never did like rabbit or squirrel. We always had plenty > to > eat and never went hungry, being pretty much self-sufficient. My > mother > made most of our clothes, sometimes using feed sacks. > > I have a friend who also grew up this way. We agree that we will never > go camping; we roughed it enough as kids. > > Do I win, LOL? > > Sue > > On Monday, September 11, 2006, at 09:18 PM, betnden@... > wrote: > > > I do keep in mind the experiences I had > > growing up weren't like any others. At age 4 with a brother and > > sister, we > > moved into a 4 room house 15 miles from town and only had one wire > for > > electricity. The well had a pump on it and if we wanted to bathe, we > > stood > > under the faucet and pumped away. The outhouse was about half a > > football > > field away, and I was told that I dropped my little brother in it > once. > > Yuucckkk! We ate what we grew and caught. There wasn't running hot > > water in > > the house until after I left home. I'll bet none of you were brought > > up like > > that, but if you were, I'm sorry you had it to endure. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 11, 2006 Report Share Posted September 11, 2006 You and I tie... Oh how well I remember this. My grandparents had a huge cistern next to the house and when it rained the water would drain into the cistern. My grandmother had to boil the water so we could have drinking water and water to cook with. I can remember her staying up until well past midnight canning. A Mockingbird stayed perched in a tree next to the kitchen window singing until the lamp was put out. Good old days. They grew their food and also had a big orchard. The only way you could live back in those days was to help one another or you'd starve to death. Back during the depression there was a lot of people that did starve. Joyce from Texas Re: [ ] OT-Out-pooring Dennis Wow to both of you!! On Sep 11, 2006, at 8:30 PM, Sue wrote: > Dennis, > > I think I can out-poor you, LOL. We lived on a farm out in the > boondocks, and we didn't have electricity at all until I was in > school, > because I can remember sitting at the kitchen table doing homework by > lamplight. We had three rooms and a big hall for a lot of the time I > lived at home. There were five of us kids. Then when the sixth one > came > along, we added on some rooms. > > We had a well without a pump at first, but after we got a pump we > never > had running hot water. We had an outhouse for daytime use, stocked > with > Sears Roebuck catalogs, and a chamber pot for nighttime. For bathing, > we used a basin and a wash cloth. For as long as I lived at home, we > never had an indoor bathroom. > > We had a garden and grew a lot of our food. We canned and later froze > vegetables to eat in the winter. We grew hogs and chickens for meat, > and my brother would set rabbit traps in winter and occasionally kill > squirrels. I never did like rabbit or squirrel. We always had plenty > to > eat and never went hungry, being pretty much self-sufficient. My > mother > made most of our clothes, sometimes using feed sacks. > > I have a friend who also grew up this way. We agree that we will never > go camping; we roughed it enough as kids. > > Do I win, LOL? > > Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 O for the good old days (pre RA). I remember drawing water from the well and when we were at my grandparents we toted it about one fourth of a mile from the spring. Baths were done in the wash tub on Saturday (we would fill the tub in the morning and let the sun warm it). Then we finally got a pump in the well and cold water in the kitchen. A couple of years later we got a hot water heater. And several years later a real bathroom with a toilet (I was in high school by then). We grew most of our food and canned and froze what we could. My mom made just about all of our clothes. But I can't rememer us not having a TV. We had the first one in the neighorhood and every Saturday night about half the community showed up at our house to watch the Grand Ole Opry. Then it was card games for the adults and hide and seek,capture the flag and kick the can for us kids. If we were poor I never realized it at the time. I still like gardening even though I don't have much of one (my husband says I do a salad buffet for the deer) because they get what few tomatoes and things I do try to grow. Camping was a favorite summer activity when our kids were growing up. I really think our kids today have it too good and miss alot by having too much. We were self sufficient, could entertain ourselves and could live on next to nothing. Not so today with most of society. Hope everyone has a good day and I enjoyed my walk down memory lane. in Tennessee Carol Zwald <zwaldski@...> wrote: Wow to both of you!! On Sep 11, 2006, at 8:30 PM, Sue wrote: > Dennis, > > I think I can out-poor you, LOL. We lived on a farm out in the > boondocks, and we didn't have electricity at all until I was in > school, > because I can remember sitting at the kitchen table doing homework by > lamplight. We had three rooms and a big hall for a lot of the time I > lived at home. There were five of us kids. Then when the sixth one > came > along, we added on some rooms. > > We had a well without a pump at first, but after we got a pump we > never > had running hot water. We had an outhouse for daytime use, stocked > with > Sears Roebuck catalogs, and a chamber pot for nighttime. For bathing, > we used a basin and a wash cloth. For as long as I lived at home, we > never had an indoor bathroom. > > We had a garden and grew a lot of our food. We canned and later froze > vegetables to eat in the winter. We grew hogs and chickens for meat, > and my brother would set rabbit traps in winter and occasionally kill > squirrels. I never did like rabbit or squirrel. We always had plenty > to > eat and never went hungry, being pretty much self-sufficient. My > mother > made most of our clothes, sometimes using feed sacks. > > I have a friend who also grew up this way. We agree that we will never > go camping; we roughed it enough as kids. > > Do I win, LOL? > > Sue > > On Monday, September 11, 2006, at 09:18 PM, betnden@... > wrote: > > > I do keep in mind the experiences I had > > growing up weren't like any others. At age 4 with a brother and > > sister, we > > moved into a 4 room house 15 miles from town and only had one wire > for > > electricity. The well had a pump on it and if we wanted to bathe, we > > stood > > under the faucet and pumped away. The outhouse was about half a > > football > > field away, and I was told that I dropped my little brother in it > once. > > Yuucckkk! We ate what we grew and caught. There wasn't running hot > > water in > > the house until after I left home. I'll bet none of you were brought > > up like > > that, but if you were, I'm sorry you had it to endure. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 As long as I lived at home, we didn't have a television. We walked about a mile in pitch dark to a neighbor's house to watch Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show. What a treat! I'm sure our neighbors got tired of us, but they didn't say so. Sue On Tuesday, September 12, 2006, at 02:53 AM, Boyd wrote: > But I can't rememer us not having a TV. We had the first one in the > neighorhood and every Saturday night about half the community showed > up at our house to watch the Grand Ole Opry. Then it was card games > for the adults and hide and seek,capture the flag and kick the can for > us kids. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.