this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2024
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And you know, in a way it goes even deeper, because for her parents, at least half of their life and frame of reference took place in the 1800's. When she was born, 10 year olds would have their earliest memories be of the late 1890s. And the adults around her would be able to vividly remember and discuss events they were present for way back in to the 1850s or even earlier, depending on how much contact she had with old people.
Also, I'm in my late 20s now, and I recently had the startling realization that the old people I remember from my childhood don't really exist anymore. When I was a kid, old people used to be prim and proper. They dressed a certain way, much more formal and traditional. They weren't all uptight, but they had an idea of what's proper or not, and wouldn't be afraid to tell you. They were typically more quiet and less outspoken. All the women knew how to cook and sew, and all the men knew how to do woodwork and make leather shoes shine forever.
I had this realization the other day walking through my city, when I suddenly noticed how all the old people don't seem that old anymore. They're all relaxed and casual, dressing up in colors. They actually smile at you on the street and seem to have a sense of humor. And then it hit me: they're not even the same generation. Old people are the kids of the old people I remember. They grew up with the early prototype of modern rock and pop. They were hippies and greasers. I think the end of WWII and the invention of modern pop culture reaching out beyond the cities really made a cut down between those two generations, the current old people and their parents.
This comment ran longer than expected. Thanks for coming to my ted Talk.
I had a client years ago who was in his late 80's. He grew up on a farm in Indiana and I remember him telling me a story about threshing grain. He was just a kid in the 1920's, shoveling coal into the firebox on a big Case steam engine that they took from farm to farm. He said they would try to stay near a creek whenever they could so they had a water source for the engine. It was hard, hot work. He said there was a "big German fella" who worked on their crew who never drank anything but hot black coffee, something which fascinated him as kid.
It was an interesting story to listen to. Such a mundane activity but the fact that it's no longer a thing and only existed in the memory of someone who remembered doing it made it kind of fascinating