At the end of this column will be a disclaimer, but I assure my readers that my words are true.
Almost unbelievable, but true. My question to the reader is, why have things changed so dramatically from my growing-up years to now? My memories from the 1950s seem light years removed from the life experienced by children and teenagers today. Times have changed — drastically.
I spent the decade of the 1950s growing up in north Seattle. I attended Oak Leaf Elementary School, located on Aurora Avenue, the only road that went all the way into the city from the north.
Freeways came much later, so Aurora’s six lanes carried a high volume of traffic. The crosswalk to the school campus was guarded by us elementary-age boys, identified by the white belts across our chest and around our waist and our red flags. We all coveted the position of activating the signal light. I don’t remember any adults ever being on guard with us; they trusted us to keep ourselves and our schoolmates safe. It has been decades since I have seen children serving as crossing guards; now adults are hired for that job. Why are children not given that kind of responsibility today?
One morning a week all of us crossing guards talked about the “I Love Lucy” TV show that we had watched the evening before. My family did not have television yet, so I went next door to watch a black-and-white picture on the three channels available to us. My friend’s father was constantly fiddling with the TV fine-tuner and the antenna trying to eliminate as much “snow” as possible.
Once a year all the schools in the area sent their crossing guards to Playland Amusement Park (near my school) to enjoy a day of free rides and entertainment. One of the most popular spots was what I might call a “peep show in a box,” with giggling boys crowded around a viewer to see black-and-white photos of scantily clothed models in seductive poses — but no nudity.
All through that decade, beginning when I was 10 years old, I sold newspapers at different locations around the Greenwood District — 5 cents each and I got half of that. One of my regular customers was Roy Davidson, whose jewelry store was just a few yards away from my main news stand.
For several years starting when I was 12 years old Roy entrusted me to make deliveries for him. He put expensive watches, rings, diamonds and other jewelry into a leather satchel which I carried on the bus to the heart of downtown Seattle and took the items to several shops in high-rise buildings for repairs and servicing. I shake my head at the memory of a 12-year-old kid sitting on the bus with a few thousand dollars of valuables on his lap — no Briggs armored truck needed.
My parents were devout Christians and tolerated no bad language in our home. That was not a problem because none of us five kids ever used profanity wherever we were. There was no vulgarity or suggestive language in any TV show and bedroom scenes showed Lucy and Desi fully garbed in separate twin beds.
My family belonged to a church on 6th Avenue North and Valley near downtown. Members of our youth group came from all over the city, but we were tight-knit, especially when we became old enough to drive. Dag’s drive-up (not drive-in) restaurant was one block from the church, across Aurora Avenue. Hamburgers were 19 cents, milk shakes were 21 cents and French fries were 11 cents. I could buy my Snickers bar at Safeway for 4 cents.
Unbelievable?
Those days of innocence, with their widely accepted cultural norms and unified communities, are replaced by today’s polarized society. Was it easier to live by Christian faith in that bygone era? Perhaps so. But life’s changes are ruled over by an unchanging God, and as the hymn says, “Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.”
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