I grew up in "modern suburbia" in the 1960's. Our street saw little traffic so it became a playground once school work and chores were done. In summer we were outside from morning until night, taking a break only for lunch or an afternoon snack when the ice cream truck came through. We had massive hide and seek games spanning several backyards and homes, marked the street up with chalk making hopscotch boards for marathon games, played kickball and tag, rode bikes and trikes like we were training for the Indy 500, and used our imagination to entertain ourselves when we were tired of doing all of the above!
Some of my favorite hours were spent playing with my dolls. My favorite doll was made by the toymaker Madame Alexander. "Kitten" was made to be like a real baby in shape and size. My mother gave me some old baby clothes to dress her up and I even had one of those little baby bottles that made it look like the doll was drinking the milk. As you can see Kitten was a very popular model!
Growing up in this era of American history was not as idyllic as it is sometimes portrayed, but all in all, I think our neighborhood was as idyllic as it could be. Some of our neighbors were really nice. Others were a matter of curiosity as they kept mostly to themselves. Most of our mothers were home and we took direction from all of them. There was a strong sense of community. One of our neighbors was an fine artist, and another went on a game show and won tons of prizes.
When the summer days turned rainy we'd gather on our front porch and play card games or Monopoly until mothers started calling kids home. But if it was one of those lazy summer days when the sun set at 9, we'd be out playing until my mother came to the front door and rang the cowbell- a souvenir she picked up from the Switzerland Exhibit at the World's Fair. No childhood is perfect, but I guess you could say mine was as close as it could get.
Wonderful capture from memory lane. As you know, I'm also doing the same, but it's difficult to view and relive so many memories. I'm feeling melancholic.
@anazad511 Thank you Ana! I know exactly how you feel. In the beginning I was writing about some very old photos and the memories were starting to overwhelm me. So I switched up to some of the funnier stories in my life and that's helped a bit! I want to write about my mother and father, but that's going to be a little tough, so we'll see!
Great photo, Ann. I remember those days. You could run around and bike anywhere without adult supervision with no fear of be taken or harmed. We would walk to the pool by ourselves, go to the store down the street for 5 cent candy, play flashlight tag after dark. It was safer back then.
I remember the rule was you had to be home by the streetlights came on! We also played in the road and walked everywhere. Those dolls really do look just like babies, very life-like!
Would you believe that my mother had a Swiss cowbell, used for the very same purpose. The neighborhood changed. When I went back as an adult, I saw it was deserted. I found out that there were almost as many kids as back in the 60s, but they weren't outside running wild the way we did. Inside was not kid's domain. Outside was, winter and summer both.
I remember days and months of living like you describe. Our little Wyoming neighborhood was as wonder bread as they come. My doll in the buggy was a stuffed monkey and sometimes my poor cat stuffed into a doll dress.
Beautiful picture of you three sisters with your dolls, now who is the handsome little guy in your picture? I didn't read everything this time as I'm getting a bit melancholy.
This one is actually of me (sitting with blue striped shirt), my sister Diana (hands in mouth) and her friend Jan Herman (smiling). The little boy is Jan's brother David. I understand the melancholy. I am suffering from a very large dose of it after a month of reminiscing!
it's a good thing we didn't meet when we were this age. i'd have "played" with your dollies as in 'find the missing legs or heads of the dolls!' just ask my sisters, they enjoyed it while they were crying! i hated dolls, and now i own one for my 365. i should really get rid of it before anyone else sees it inside my apartment. :-D
@summerfield Thank you Vikki! Thanks especially for not meeting me until I was no longer playing with this doll- as she was a treasured doll! Well, if you ever come to visit me in the Poconos, I will at least know to hide her. (o:
October 4th, 2014
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@libertylady @kerristephens @nicolecampbell @prttblues @taffy @salza @dibzgreasley @francoise @digitalrn @nancih @pandorasecho @janiskay @daisymiller @sarasdadandmom
Thank you Alice, Kerri, Nicole, Bev, Taffy, Sally, Debs, Francoise, Rick, Nanci, Dixie, Janice, Daisy, and Terry!
@francoise lol do you think our mothers could have been related? Too funny!