Tales From Yesteryear: Davey and Goliath

Dear Aurora,

Oh my goodness, how can I not tell you about Davey and Goliath!!! I saw an ad for these TV shows on a web site and I was transported back to elementary school. We all went to Catholic grammar and high schools.  Navy blue plaid and solid navy color skirts for the upper grades were all we were allowed to wear to school. I had to wear a beanie as part of my uniform in the early years of my education.  If you forgot the beanie on a day when we were going to mass, a nun would bobby pin a tissue to your hair. She would most likely pull the tissue and bobby pin out from one of the big sleeves of her habit. I always wondered how they carried so much stuffed up those sleeves. That Mary Poppins could pull so much out of her bag was no surprised to me.  I was sure Sister Bernice had twice as much up her sleeves. The bell would ring and everyone would line up by class than teacher and we would march up 2 by 2 (practicing to enter the Ark) to our classrooms.

Catholic schools in the early to mid sixties were a little different than schools today. There were still more sisters than lay people serving as teachers so both the students and the teachers wore uniforms.  Corporal punishment was not frowned upon. The principle was third in line in the running of heaven and earth, behind the senior priest and God Himself.  

Back to Davy and Goliath. It was a series of animated kid shows with moral lessons. Sort of like the Veggie Tales of my generation without the catchy songs. I loved these shows and the fact we got to watch then during class time was all the more special.

Oh my I actually remember watching is episode!!!!!!!

More to follow.

                      Love Aunt Carissa

Did you watch Davey and Goliath? Memories

 

Tale from Yesteryear: Books Everywhere

Dear Aurora,

This is a short tale, more of a memory. Books, books everywhere. Nana loved to read. She tried to pass her passion on to her children. Looking around your house you know she succeeded. We grew up with books everywhere. Her favorite children stories, at least the 2 of the stories I remember her reading were The Pokey Little Puppy and Green Eggs and Ham. She loved Dr Seuss. Oh also The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins was another favorite. The Reader’s Digest Condensed books were well read in our home.

Nana didn’t believe in censorship. If the book was in the house we could read it. I remember begging her to read The Exorcist. She warned me not too but I did. I didn’t sleep for weeks afterward. The only thing she forbade us to bring into her house were comic books and movie star magazines. No lusting after Donny Osmond or David Cassidy or Richie Rich for her girls.

Now that I think about it, Nana didn’t drive nor to my knowledge did she have a library card, I could be wrong about the library card. I didn’t remember her getting books for herself from the library although we were all encouraged to get our own library cards. So now that I think about it: Where did all those book come from?

More to follow.

Love Aunt Carissa

What was your favorite book or your mom’s or dad’s  favorite book when you were a child?

Tales from Yesteryear: A World That No Longer Exists

Dear Aurora,

You asked about blog posts from when your aunts,uncle and mom were kids. The most effective way to get the best family stories would be to get Aunt Cassandra and Aunt Roseland in the same room. Ply them with a few adult beverages and some Buffalo wings and off they will go.

Baring that…we would have to travel back in time, to a world and a sense of place that no longer exists. Not as far back as colonial days or even before McDonalds but back….

To a world were a square meal was something mom made at home, not something served on a tray at a fast food restaurant. Where phones were stationary, rotary and black. Kids played bowling in alleys; baseball on the streets and jacks was a majorly cool game to play. It was a time where mostly men left the home to work and women stayed at home (some happily, some quietly losing their minds), where only boys were allowed to play organized sports and the only “sports” girl were encouraged to play were jump rope and double Dutch.

Some shows on TV were still in black and white. Some had the wonder of Technicolor. There were 3 stations NBC, ABC and CBS. Usually there was something worth watching on. Some time PBS appeared on the TV scene, not really sure when.

Kids would leave the house in the summer and return home before dinner (or else). Moms didn’t worry; at least our mom didn’t because if we were getting into trouble someone would give her a call. Our town was smallish and your granddad was the only baby doc in the area. Everyone knew Pop-pop and Nana. That was an age when other adults would rat you out to your parents or to your priest, who would then call your parents. It was a pain as kids but it did make for a safer seeming world.

More to follow……

Love, Aunt Carissa