Simpler Times

Lately, I've been doing some thinking with all the speculation of what we are going through economically in this country and why this has happened. I am not a political person and I don't really get into the machinations of wall street either but it makes me think of the time some people seem to be comparing it to, the Great Depression. (To get you in the mood for reading the rest of this here is a link to some appropriate music for you). I went snooping through a big old box of things my Mom had saved from her mothers time and I found a letter to my Grandmother who was 23 or 24 years old at the time from her friend, Alta. Both young women were teachers who were looking for schools to teach in. At that time in the rural area where they both lived, schools were one room operations. The teacher was responsible for teaching all the children in the immediate area from all grades. My own mother actually went to a school like that for her lower grades in the 1920's. She was born in 1924. She had me later in life and I always felt blessed to have a mother with such an interesting life and such a connection to the past that my friends mothers didn't seem to have. Anyway, the letter I found is such a touching peek into the past I have to share it with you. Can you imagine having to wait to get a letter from someone to talk because you didn't have a phone? To them it was normal. To us it would be nearly unbearable. Immediate gratification is the name of the game for us now. Just reading how people spoke at the time is an eye opener. It was so genteel (do we even have an occasion to use that word anymore?) and ladylike. Rural women of this generation would have never talked about their sex lives or cursed. They never would have thought of wearing pants or buying their biscuits at the store. Of course there is good and bad in all of that, they didn't have the rights we do now or the conveniences but they seemed to have an inner contentment and simplicity that we struggle to achieve now and never truly seem to reach. It comes across in this letter as follows, typed exactly as it was written (oh and the postage was 2 cents!):



Rock City Falls, N.Y
April 8, 1923

My Dear Lalah,
We had neither Sunday School or Church Service to-day as the minister is attending the annual conference. So I am endeavoring to dispose of some of mother's tablet. I discovered that my box of writing material had run ashore.
I am anxious to know what you did about the school that was offered you. I like my school better all the time. I expect three new pupils to-morrow morning, Platt Smiths children. I have nine weeks more.
We have fifty of our maples trees tapped. Yesterday was the busiest day the folks have had. I took a big milk pail and started out to gather some. But I had a pail full before I had emptied out the second bucket.
Four of the bosses of the Adirondack Light and Power Line are boarding here.They have been here three weeks, expect to remain about three months. So you can judge from this that mother is feeling better.
You had better be careful what you say about my not wishing to come and see you or you may find my hanging around more than you desire this summer.
Automobiles are quite plentiful through here again.It certainly seemed good to see them on the move once more.
I don't know whether the "Hooker Minister" will be sent back here again or not. I rather hope not. His baby yelled at the top of her voice through the greater part of the service last Sunday. Finally Mrs. Crewe carried her into the S.S. room. It was just before he announced the last hymn and I guess someone must have smiled as she passed out for he jumped to his feet and exploded "She's my baby! She cries like all babies and I don't know that you have any reason to laugh at her!" Everyone slipped down in their seats six inches they were so astonished. It was a grand Easter service. I don't believe he knows the story of the Resurrection yet.
Must help mother with the supper.

Lovingly, Alta


OK, after thinking about all of this my thoughts are as follows....maybe people need to just stop the insanity and live simpler lives. The more we have the more unhappy we become. I'm not talking about giving up our phones and our computers and T.V's but do we really need everything ever created in our closets and home entertainment systems?

My own mother had very little as a child. She was born about a year and 1/2 after that letter was written. When she talked of those times it was never about not having things, it was about her mother and father and what wonderful people they were. It was about going for picnics, ice skating,going on walks, taking care of the animals they had. It wasn't all fabulous, times were tough but the values they had then were different. At the time that letter was written it was the 20's. There was change occurring then just as their always has been in every decade. I'm sure some people at that time may have wondered what was coming with women cutting their hair short and showing their legs. At that time it was probably a big deal to them. Things became pretty crazy leading up to the 30's and the depression. Then WWII. People really went through some heavy stuff back then. It shaped who they became. My own Mother was the thriftiest person I've ever known. She never wasted anything because she always had that "do not waste" mentality.

I have to admit, I myself became a shopping maniac as a younger woman and even till recently but lately that has changed. now when I go to a store I go to buy something I need and that is that. No more shopping just to shop. It does nothing for me anymore. I realized that I did that because it was a temporary distraction to whatever was going on in my life. No more. What's the point? It doesn't help in the long run and it's boring after a while. Have I completely stopped buying anything extra and not needed? No not completely as evidenced by my previous perfume review, but the difference between what I buy and the amount I buy now ,and what I bought in the past is pretty significant. Now,I watch and listen to people who must have the latest this and that, who buy everything that's not nailed down and it explains a lot of how we got into this mess we're in.

The thing about the way people lived back then is that they seemed to have more satisfying connections to each other. I don't mean to idealize things ,but now we do not seem to do the things people did back then socially. All the pictures I came across in my Mom's collection were of get togethers, people enjoying the social interaction of being together. I think this is something that is really lacking in a lot of people's lives now. Of course it's a different world now but I think we could take something from the way people connected back then.

Maybe some of what's happening is a kick in the pants from the universe. Sort of pushing things back in a different direction from where we had been heading before all of this happened. Of course I am not wishing hardship on anyone and I hope I don't sound like I am. Maybe we just need to stop and think about why we are buying that bag of makeup, new necklace, bottle of perfume etc. on a deeper level and what we hope to gain from owning it. All I am thinking here is that maybe we all need to slow down and really look at what is truly important in our lives.

That's all for now! :)