What a long way we have come in the past 100 years! It boggles my mind to think how modern inventions have transformed our lives--even in my lifetime but certainly in my parent's lifetime. Whenever I think of this, I feel so blessed and wonder why I was lucky enough to live in this modern age.
My dad was born in 1914 and people generally lived quite primitively, although some who had a bit more money had a few more conveniences. In Fosston, MN, his father worked in the new electric power generating plant which supplied electricity to homes. People, of course, mainly used electricity for lighting and didn't have many electrical appliances at first.
His father died in 1922 after complications from the 1918 flu epidemic. As a seven year old boy, Dad, his mother, and two aunts moved in to live with his grandmother in her house. (An uncle who was single sometimes lived there too.) It must have been very crowded as the house was fairly small. In that house they didn't have electricity but kerosene lamps. The wicks had to be regularly trimmed, kerosene filled, and lamp chimneys cleaned.
There was a large stack of "wash ice" (blocks of ice from a lake) out in the back yard which was taken inside, placed in a tub to melt, and used for washing purposes. Drinking water was carried three times a day from the neighbor's.
They grew chickens in the back yard and a garden on someone's property down the block. To keep garden vegetables they had a root cellar that kept things cool in the winter, although they may have also done some home canning.
Dad recalled that they ate a lot of salt pork in the winter which was cooked in a salty brine. The fat came to the top and when cooled hardened at the top of the container making a seal of fat much like one would use wax on top of a jelly jar. This would also go in the root cellar. The salt pork must have been boiled again to remove some of the salt as the salt content would have been high and unhealthy to eat. Summer sausage was a staple in summer but contained salt peter which was also unhealthy. Of course, in the winter a lot of foods could be kept outside in a frozen condition. They may have had an ice box but buying ice may have been costly.
The women had some income from working in stores, the hospital, restaurants, etc. and they had some rent money from the house his mother and dad lived in before his dad died.
There was a large stack of "wash ice" (blocks of ice from a lake) out in the back yard which was taken inside, placed in a tub to melt, and used for washing purposes. Drinking water was carried three times a day from the neighbor's.
They grew chickens in the back yard and a garden on someone's property down the block. To keep garden vegetables they had a root cellar that kept things cool in the winter, although they may have also done some home canning.
Dad recalled that they ate a lot of salt pork in the winter which was cooked in a salty brine. The fat came to the top and when cooled hardened at the top of the container making a seal of fat much like one would use wax on top of a jelly jar. This would also go in the root cellar. The salt pork must have been boiled again to remove some of the salt as the salt content would have been high and unhealthy to eat. Summer sausage was a staple in summer but contained salt peter which was also unhealthy. Of course, in the winter a lot of foods could be kept outside in a frozen condition. They may have had an ice box but buying ice may have been costly.
The women had some income from working in stores, the hospital, restaurants, etc. and they had some rent money from the house his mother and dad lived in before his dad died.
The grandmother spent quite a bit on liquor, tobacco, and patent medicines such as Dr. Kuriko's and Lydia Pinkham's. She often used ether on a sugar cube for arthritis pain and used asifetita (giant fennel) leaves to make a heart medication. But she probably felt she deserved it as she furnished the house and they took care of her in her old age.
People suffered routinely with "summer complaint" due to food borne diseases. People feared TB which was common and shunned those who had anyone in the house who had it. People's homes were often plagued by bedbugs and scarlet fever, and childhood diseases, diarrhea, were often deadly. One childhood friend of my dad's died after getting a foot infection due to blisters from ill-fitting ice skates.
People suffered routinely with "summer complaint" due to food borne diseases. People feared TB which was common and shunned those who had anyone in the house who had it. People's homes were often plagued by bedbugs and scarlet fever, and childhood diseases, diarrhea, were often deadly. One childhood friend of my dad's died after getting a foot infection due to blisters from ill-fitting ice skates.
They had a carpet in their living room but the only way to clean it was to hang it on the clothesline and beat it with a carpet beater. For picking up surface dirt a non-electric carpet sweeper was used. Old clothing was cut into strips and woven into throw rugs. A loom was fashioned with nails on a frame on the wall and one of Dad's jobs was to weave when he had some spare time. Other articles were knit or crocheted by the women.
An outdoor toilet served their needs and at night they used a small enameled pail (thunder mug) which could be emptied later.
They burned wood in the cook stove and this also heated the house, although it wasn't especially warm except in the kitchen so everyone wore warm sweaters indoors in winter. The upstairs was not heated except for heat rising so was fairly cold at night. Heavy blankets and feather ticks were often used. Baths were a weekly luxury and water would be heated on the wood stove to fill a small tub.
They must have walked wherever they needed to but it was a small town and got a ride occasionally with others for any out-of-town trips. A small sled was used to carry things from uptown, perhaps a wagon in the summer. When the depression came they were quite self-sufficient and accustomed to living a spartan life so may have been more well prepared than some.
