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Mr Swift was born March 22, 1938 and grew up through the last years of the Great Depression and World War II was raging during those early years in my life. The Great Depression began with the Stock Market crash on October 29, 1929 and lasted until the early 1940s. World War II began September 1, 1939 and ended September 2, 1945. Both the Depression and the War brought hardship to many people.
I'm always amazed at the characterization of times before certain modern conveniences as having been "difficult" or "hard" on the people that lived them. The article really isn't about the Depression or war, it is more or less about the author remembering his mother doing wash with an iron tub and a washboard down by the creek. It would take her a day to wash and then another to iron. He also remarks how they had no electricity until the late 1940's. Of course at the same time he is remarking how they had a good and simple upbringing.
I guess my point would be, did his mother feel that her life was "hard" because she had to do the wash by hand, or did she just accept it as part of her routine and getting done what had to be done? Sure compared to today, when wash is something done as an afterthought where you just toss your clothes into a machine, throw in some degerent and walk away, it was a lot harder and more time consuming to do it by hand. We see that existence as being much harder then ours today, but did the people who lived it really think it was even anything extraordinary to be doing wash by hand and not having electricity? Most whom I've ever met tend to marvel at the modern trappings of life, but I never got the impression they felt they were deprived because they didn't have them. They just characterize it as a "different time". I'm sure 70 years from now, people may think it was ridiculous that we all wasted a couple hours every week doing laundry and how "hard" it must have been for us to live now.
I'm always amazed at the characterization of times before certain modern conveniences as having been "difficult" or "hard" on the people that lived them. The article really isn't about the Depression or war, it is more or less about the author remembering his mother doing wash with an iron tub and a washboard down by the creek. It would take her a day to wash and then another to iron. He also remarks how they had no electricity until the late 1940's. Of course at the same time he is remarking how they had a good and simple upbringing.
I guess my point would be, did his mother feel that her life was "hard" because she had to do the wash by hand, or did she just accept it as part of her routine and getting done what had to be done? Sure compared to today, when wash is something done as an afterthought where you just toss your clothes into a machine, throw in some degerent and walk away, it was a lot harder and more time consuming to do it by hand. We see that existence as being much harder then ours today, but did the people who lived it really think it was even anything extraordinary to be doing wash by hand and not having electricity? Most whom I've ever met tend to marvel at the modern trappings of life, but I never got the impression they felt they were deprived because they didn't have them. They just characterize it as a "different time". I'm sure 70 years from now, people may think it was ridiculous that we all wasted a couple hours every week doing laundry and how "hard" it must have been for us to live now.
Absolutely true. We judge by what we know. His mothers multi day laundry sounds very harsh to us, but if its what you've always done, then its routine.
Somewhere is a thread about are things better or worse. What is interesting that most people take it from the current perspective. But if it was using the hand pump in front of the kitchen, or for even better luxury have it *in* the kitchen, or have to go down to the creek to get water you'd feel like it was a whole lot better with the hand pump. If you think of today as your standard you think of how much work it was to keep it going, and how you only had cold and how would you take a hot shower?
When he was little, my son loved corn on the cob. I was glad he liked veggies, and mostly heated them in the microwave. He just couldn't believe it would be soooo long for his corn on the stove. I grew up without them, but the first thing I bought for my apartment was a new microwave and when the last one died it was a huge inconvience. I think if in seventy years you were born fourty before you'd feel the same about the time it took to wash since its amazing how fast we get used to things as if they have always been.
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