Discover More from This Category: Looking Back

Seaweed?

November 8, 2017
By Mary Ellen Shaw You never know what you will find when you begin renovations. Our house was built in 1938. My parents bought it in 1944 and it has been home to me ever since, with the exception of a few years of apartment living right after getting married. Upon the death of my…

“Number, please?” No longer

October 11, 2017
By Mary Ellen Shaw Having grown up with party lines and phones without a dial, I am truly amazed by the way communication has changed. Dial phones were probably as welcome to my parents’ generation as cell phones are to mine. But what is the history of the telephone? Going back to 1900, there were…

The era of lunch counters

August 31, 2017
By Mary Ellen Shaw Coffee shops seem to be the trend these days. People want a spot to sit and relax, enjoy a cup of coffee and have something light to eat. Back in my youth, during the 50s and 60s, people did that at lunch counters. Of course, they were not staring at their…

The days of factories

August 16, 2017
By Mary Ellen Shaw If you lived in the Rutland area back in “yesteryear,” you will remember the numerous jobs that were available in area factories. ”Yesteryear” from the point of view of my own early remembrances goes back to the 50s and 60s. However, some factories from that period had their beginning long before…

The neighborhood concept

August 2, 2017
By Mary Ellen Shaw If you have a garden area that is close to the street you get to meet a lot of people while you work. These people seem to fit into the category of “walkers”—dog walkers, fitness walkers and stroller pushers. I am always happy when one of them stops to tell me…

Remembering Rutland’s first pool

July 27, 2017
By Mary Ellen Shaw In the heat of summer I can’t help but think of the many days back in the 50s and 60s that I spent at the Rutland City pool. It was located on the west side on North Main Street where there is green space today. Its history goes back to 1929…

Remembering Rutland’s first pool

July 20, 2017
By Mary Ellen Shaw In the heat of summer, I can’t help but think of the many days back in the 50s and 60s that I spent at the Rutland City pool. It was located on the west side on North Main Street where there is green space today. Its history goes back to 1929…

Proms of yesteryear

July 13, 2017
By Mary Ellen Shaw As often happens when a group of women get together, phones are taken from pocketbooks and pictures are shared. One of the most recent reasons for doing that was to show pictures of grandchildren who attended junior and senior proms. Some proms had taken place locally and some out of town.…

Remembering summer places for food, ice cream

June 21, 2017
By Mary Ellen Shaw Now that summer is here it brings back memories of summer meals and ice cream treats enjoyed outdoors back in the 60s and 70s. The A&W Restaurant on upper North Main Street was one of the “in places” to go. It held a special appeal to teenagers who had a car. …

Things we can’t part with

June 7, 2017
We don’t have to be very old before we acquire items that are dear to us and just can’t be thrown away. When you’re a child, it could be a doll, a toy fire engine or a baseball card. It just means too much to you, so into a storage box it goes. If you…

Time to plant your garden

May 24, 2017
The summer season officially starts for many of us on Memorial Day weekend. It seems to be the official date to plant our flower and vegetable gardens. I remember when I was first married I would buy a few annuals and plant them in my one and only flower garden. I was in the midst…

Popular products from the 50s

May 11, 2017
Life was certainly different back in the 50s compared to today. I recently came across some ads from that era and they prompted me to take a look back at the products customers were enticed to buy and how the manufacturers went about it. So take a trip back in time with me either to…

Tweaking our passions

April 26, 2017
When you reach your retirement years, hopefully you will be able to do the things you love. Your hobbies and passions in life probably had to take a back seat to work and family responsibilities during the years you were employed, but now they can take priority! “They” say that it’s important to have a…

The library

April 12, 2017
I will admit that I have become a lost soul when it comes to using the library for reference material these days. I was a pro at finding things in the old card catalogs. The Dewey Decimal System and I were good friends back then. I liked the library so much that I almost got…

How old is old?

March 29, 2017
Getting together with friends for coffee usually brings up a topic that shows our senior status. We reached the conclusion that “old” has a very different meaning depending on our own age at the time. To a young child, babysitters are in the “adult category” even if the person is just a teenager. You have…