Learning From The Past

 

I was extremely blessed to have known two great-grandmothers, a very sweet great-grandfather, my two grandmothers, maternal and paternal, as well as my paternal grandfather and my maternal step grandfather.  When I was married I got to know my ex-husband's grandparents quite well too.  I was also very blessed to hear a lot of stories as well as to learn many practical things from each of them.  They all had something to tell me and teach me and I'm so grateful for that knowledge as well as the time I was able to spend with them.

 

My great grandpa (my great grandma pictured above) with my uncle

One of the things I learned from the older generation that lived through the depression was that I didn't need a lot of things in order to do a lot of things.  Basic tools are all that is required to take care of my home.  As a new homeowner I started out with a hammer, a set of screwdrivers, a pair of pliers and a shovel.

 

My great grandpa on the left with his family prior to immigrating to the U.S. from Switzerland

A basic washing machine and a clothesline is more than adequate to get my laundry clean and I don't need a bunch of fancy detergents and softeners to get the job done.  I didn't own a dryer until I was thirty five years old.  I still have my great grandmother's washboard hanging up on the wall in my laundry room and while I was glad to have it to use when I needed too many, many years ago I'm just as happy to have it as wall art now.  I do appreciate my modern appliances.

 

My other great grandmother

One thing I found in common amongst all of my grandmothers was in how they prepared meals, especially when they had company.  They would prepare a small amount of meat, but there were always a lot of side dishes as well as some type of bread with butter and jam on the table.  Dessert too, but it was a simple thing like a sheet cake, a fruit or custard pie, homemade ice cream that the kids would take turns cranking on, or just a bag of popsicles from the grocery store.  I still smile when I think of my ex-husband's grandmother who, no matter the occasion, even Christmas, would always boil a package of store brand wieners in a little pan on the stove to add to the meal.  We used to poke fun, but I'm sure it was her way of making sure there was enough meat on the table since there were always a lot of us crammed into their little house at the holidays or any given Sunday.

 

My other great grandpa, he passed long before I was born

The older generations always seemed to grow a garden, my great grandma and grandpa kept chickens for eggs and meat.  They all hung their wash out on the line.  My grandmothers shopped weekly with a list after perusing the grocery store ads to figure out what they would buy and they meal planned from what they had on hand.  Some of them canned and prepared for winter, many kept a chest freezer for meat and bread, they all baked a lot and always cooked from scratch.  They mended their clothes, polished their shoes and took care of everything to make sure it lasted.  They all had collections of matchbooks, rubberbands and twist ties in a drawer, miscellaneous screws and nails kept in coffee cans, glass jars on a shelf to reuse and a stack of newspapers to wrap up something nasty before it went into the trash or to crumple up and wash the windows with.

 

Even though a lot of us are of the age that we no longer have our grandparents or even our parents with us anymore we can still learn from those who came before us.  We can read books and old magazines about these times, research the internet and watch Youtube videos.  I started out my adult life utilizing many of the things I was taught by my grandparents and I still find myself doing things their way.  As I get older I want even more to do things like they did.  It is a nice way to live and in our current economy I feel it is even more important to follow their lead.  By going back in time we can successfully move forward.