There was no dishwasher in our house because Dad said he already had several. We lived in a small town with no "city" water or sewer so everything went into or came out of the ground our house sat on. Dad was frugal when it came to lots of things and that included pumping the septic out. We did dishes in dishpans so we could carry the dirty water outside to throw in the garden. The same went for wash water. Mom started with whites and worked her way through progressively darker and dirtier clothes because the same wash water was used on all the loads. She used a wringer washer which was very efficient at squeezing out the water. She only added additional water and soap as she needed. At the end of the day, we carried buckets of water out of the basement and dumped it on the lawn. Everything was hung to dry. She only used the dryer for socks and undergarments. I still love a towel from the dryer to this day knowing how stiff one comes off the line. I do prefer my sheets on the line, though.
We walked to the store, school, swimming creek, and friends' houses. Mom did not drive and wouldn't until much later in life. We shared bicycles and rode two and three on them at times. Our parents never bought any of us a helmet. We went barefoot in summer to save on shoes and would always be excited when the new pair came home for school (Mom traced our foot on paper and bought the new size from that measurement).
We didn't travel much but my dad did like to take Sunday drives. He liked to get out of town which meant getting on even less traveled county and town roads. We almost always veered off on to a gravel road which turned into dirt roads and then grassy trails through the trees. There were always a chorus of voices singing "I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I have to go to the bathroom, and we're lost". Bodies were stacked two people deep in both seats as there was cousins and friends along. We would stop and the picnic basket would produce all we needed to make it through. The biggest tree would be the privacy point for relief. Rainy days meant a mobile lunch and some remote church or school would be a welcome sight with the outhouses stationed behind them. We didn't have wet wipes. Mom kept wet wash cloths in a plastic bread bag for clean up.
We weren't poor, we weren't rich, we had enough.
Clothes were handed down, remade, sewn, and then used as rags. Quilts were cut from scraps and when they wore out the batting was taken out and combined to make a new quilt. Old pillows that had lost their loft were sent to the dry cleaners and remade into fewer, but larger, pillows once again.
Bags were reused for garbage, they only made paper ones then. Grandma had her own canvas bag which she sent with us to the store for her groceries. I think my love of canvas bags is genetic.
We ate what was in season and bananas were the most exotic fruit we knew. Pineapple came in a can and was in jello when we ate it. Watermelon was eaten in summer as well as any berry we could find in the surrounding woods and fields. Apples were our fall fruit. Oranges were our winter treat. Potatoes were eaten in winter along with all the other root crops that saved well. Everything that could be canned, was. Mom did it herself. We had a storehouse of jars in our basement.
Baking and cooking were not a hobby, they were a skill. Everyone took home economics. Later on, we girls even took shop class. Kids knew how to build a fire and cut the wood for it. We did not have scouting to learn this, we had parents who taught us.
I have not even reached the half century mark of age myself, but I still grew up in an age that taught self-sufficiency and self-control. We are not that removed from a time that meant living with less was just plain living.
It is time that we take a serious look at how far we have come as a nation and realize that the answer to our problems is not more politicians, more regulation, more subsidies. It is time to take responsibility for ourselves, our children, our neighbors, our world. The only ones who can save us, is us. Learn how to say no to yourself more and live with less. You don't have to turn off the electricity, just turn off a few lights, a few appliances. Drive a little less, walk a little more. Eat out a little less, cook a little more. Shop in the neighborhood and keep the stores close to home. I love that I can walk within a mile of my home for so much of what we use on a regular basis.
Make your own resolution to be a change agent in your world. You might be surprised to find out that less really is more.
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