Do you remember?

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I posted this song this morning since it came to me as I was making my bed-



Which got me to thinking-

 

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One thing leads to another which brought this to mind

 

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Which brought this to mind

rural america 1930's images - Google Search

Example:

 

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Which brought this to mind

 

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Which brought this to mind

 

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Had I stayed in school I would have graduated in 1966- I joined the Navy instead in May 1965

I vaguely remember when I was a little kid adults sat around in the evenings listening to the radio and BSing, which brings this to mind

"The Time It Never Rained was inspired by actual events, when the longest and most severe drought in living memory pressed ranchers and farmers to the outer limits of courage and endurance."―Elmer Kelton

Rio Seco was too small to afford a professional manager for its one-room Chamber of Commerce.

And Rio Seco, meaning "dry river" in Spanish, symbolizes the biggest enemy of the ranchers and farmers in 1950s Texas, an enemy they can't control: drought. To cranky Charlie Flagg, an honest, decent rancher, the drought of the early 1950s is a battle that he must fight on his own grounds. Refusing the questionable "assistance" of federal aid programs and their bureaucratic regulations, Charlie and his family struggle to make the ranch survive until the time it rains again―if it ever rains again.

Charlie Flagg, among the strongest of Elmer Kelton's memorable creations, is no pasteboard hero. He is courageous and self-sufficient but as real as his harsh and unforgiving West Texas home country. His battle with an unfathomable foe is the stuff of epics and legends.
https://www.amazon.com/Time-Never-Rained-Elmer-Kelton/dp/0765360586&tag=ff0d01-20

because I "vaguely" remember talk of the drought.

 

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"The Time It Never Rained" opened my eyes a lot-

I've seen a lot- of change. I remember my grandmother didn't believe man had walked on the moon- of course I keep in mind she learned to drive in a Model A Ford and refused to learn to drive my Mom and Step-dad's 1958 Ford.

We now have the world at our finger tips- HD TV- the first color TV I saw was a neighbor who draped colored (red, blue, green) cellophane over the screen. We had to actually get up from where we were to turn the TV on or change the channel, (we only had 3 and only one of those didn't have a lot of snow, which made me think about 3rd rock from the sun episode where one of them was watching the snow channel- I thought I was gonna cry I laughed so hard.

We have instant information vs reading (in rural America) days old News Papers- we took the Fort Worth Star Telegram on Sunday- that sucker probably weighed 6 lbs- LOL

The Sears catalog was THE ultimate wish book. I used to longingly look at the scooter they had- lucky me I would up getting a
a couple of Cushman Eagles as a teen ager.

1959 Cushman Super Eagle

That was my 2nd one
This is my first one a 1958 Cushman Eagle

Neither of mine had whitewall tires- LOL

What I really wanted was

A Mustang

 

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There were 2 of these where I lived- considering a population of 12000 that's hard to imagine- one buddy was an oil field worker so just more or less temporary (he was from NM, IIRC) the other belonged to a guy I ran with whose Daddy was a salesman at the local Chevy dealer- story had it the paint on these cars was an unheard of 80 bucks a gallon- quality paint now days is that much a pint- LOL

They were 327 cubic inch, 300 horse power, 4 speed manual transmissions- rumor was they were "balanced" from the factory- they were quick when 4:56 rear end gears and headers were installed-

 

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Had a buddy with one of these too

406 cubic inches, three deuces, 410 horsepower, 4 speed manual transmission-

 

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I remember what I was doing the day JFK was killed- I was eating lunch about 1/4 mile away from school. I don't remember much else about the day. Not shock or anything, I honestly didn't give it a lot of thought.

 

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This thread kinda got off track and yes I know it's my doing. The point of starting it was to bring up how far we've come, materially, in a short period of time. People in rural America had it rough as late as the the late 40's. Pre WW2 they really had it rough. The movies with Gene Autry and Roy Rogers were in set in the 40's- think about that. Roy Rogers and Gene Autry rode horses in the late 40's. A lot of the country was rural. Some of the Country was urban. In Woody Guthries hey daybeing a "hobo" was not uncommon- he was born in 1912. So late 20's through the 30's into the 40's- dust bowl images - Google Search

Example of the Dust Bowl days:

Imagine, no A/C- Can't even see power lines in this picture.