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Saturday Evening Live

By Frederick Corrigan

What do you do when you visit your grandparents? Remember, they don’t have a TV set. In fact, when I visited, the TV hadn’t been invented yet!

You’ll never guess what we did!

Most of you, reading this story, can’t imagine living without electronics. In addition to no TV, there was no Wii, no game boy, no IPod, no electric lights, no microwave, no refrigerator, no way!!!

Well, guess what, “WE” did fine!!!

We actually spent many happy hours reading, “The Saturday Evening Post”.

My grandfather, who was 78, received a yearly subscription as a Christmas present from one of his seven children.
When you are 8 years old, as I was in 1943, you looked forward to the rural delivery postman delivering this week’s “Saturday Evening Post”.

One of the great things about the “Saturday Evening Post” was that every page was loaded with pictures. This was a wonderful thing for rural America, because many of us had only a basic education and the pictures told the stories.

We had been following World War II for years through the pictures within the covers of the “Saturday Evening Post”. Try to visualize what you would do if you couldn’t turn on your TV to get today’s news. We got pictures in a magazine, which was probably two weeks to a month old. (in black and white).

The first part of the pleasure of the “Saturday Evening Post” was the cover.

One of America’s best known artists, illustrators and cartoonist was Norman Rockwell. Rockwell’s fame began in 1916, when at the age of 22 he painted his first cover for the “Saturday Evening Post”. He would go on to paint 321 covers over the next 47 years, for this magazine.

Many of Rockwell’s covers depicted rural America, country folks and a little humor thrown in that brightened your day.

Today, you can view many of Norman Rockwell’s original works in his museum. The museum is located in the small New England town of Stockbridge, MA., surrounded by the rural community that Rockwell painted into many of his covers.

Today’s internet will allow you to visit Norman Rockwell’s museum and/or “The Saturday Evening Post”. There, you can view and/or purchase copies of Rockwell’s famous covers.

http://www.curtispublishing.com (The Saturday Evening Post address)

http://www.nrm.org (The Norman Rockwell Museum address)

We also made puzzles, played cards, read books, magazines and newspapers, told and listened to stories of our grandparent’s younger days, we loved and were loved.

Here is a link to some of the basic games we used to play:

http://www.dartsandsupplies.com/page/397805436

No Electronics----No Problem.

We have better memories of family life!

Contributor's Note

It's great to have your children play, but it's wonderful to play with your children. Their memories will be enlarged by your actions.

PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE

dartsandsupplies.com
Offering a complete line of dart supplies
www.dartsandsupplies.com

I seem to remember grandma and grandpa not having any health insurance either. They just made do and lived to a ripe old age.

I remember playing a card game called Flinch which as I remember had a huge number of cards. It was very similar to Uno but the cards were a lot older and no bright colors.

Grandma would always ask in the middle of the game who wanted chocolate Jumbos. It was somewhat of a rhetorical question.

You are right about the health insurance, Franklyn. My grandfather had his first operation when he was 86 years old. Lived to 102.
I don't remember the game,Flinch, but I remember the home made chocolate cookies.
Thanks for the comments.
Best wishes.
Frederick

Great intel with clever title and I especially love your contributor's note. One children's book that comes to mind by Eve Bunting is Pop's Bridge. The illustrations remind me of Norman Rockwell's style. The Sat.Evening Post is wonderful. Oh how I love reading books w/ my grandkids. Thanks for these treasured memories!

Thank you for your kind comments, Diana. I'm glad that you enjoyed the intel.
Best to you.
Frederick

My parents had me late in life, so unfortunately my grandparents were all deceased at the time I was born. I do remember the Saturday Evening Post, though. It (and the wonderful Rockwell covers) were a staple in my home for years. Back to my parents again -- since they were older, in some respects they were like grandparents, I suppose. In my earlier childhood, we had no television and the radio picked up only a local station. We played cards and board games in the evenings. Does anyone remember crokinole?

Thank you for the visit and for your comments, June. I have never heard of the game, Crokinole. Was it a card game or a board game?
Best wishes.
Frederick

My grand kids have exactly the same trouble "?" when they visit me. I have a computer but no games and I have a TV but no English and it doesn't receive terrestrial signals so it only has sound.
I am surrounded by wonderful countryside and at most times of the year there is fresh fruit to pick and eat if you get peckish on a walk.
Nobody tells you to keep off the grass. You can play ball games anywhere. There are many hundreds of books in my apartment as well as board games and jig saw puzzles.
Neighbours don't complain if kids are noisy but have been known to look askance if they are not outside playing.

I'm sure that our parents thought that we were ruining our children with TV, Arthur. However, what the children are exposed to with these hand held electronics is more damaging.
I appreciate your comments.
Best wishes.
Frederick

It sounds like you have wonderful memories and such close family bonds as a result of the no electronics. Those basic games are the best, we play games like that all the time plus the very best I think is being outside and playing. So far my 4 year old (just turned last weekend!) has not watched television or played any computer games or anything of that nature but he does visit with his grand parents over the computer through Skype! We are not all in the same state but we can still be a little close through the electronics in that sense.

Thank you for visiting and for your comments, Eliza. It's great to find people who don't use the TV as a babysitter.
Skype is a great way for the children to converse with family. Verbal communication is far better than texting.
Best wishes.
Frederick

Norman Rockwell was a wonderful person and a wonderful artist and illustrator. When I was a kid growing up in the rural midwestern US, we not only did not have television, but we did not have running water or an indoor toilet. Sometimes when company came everyone would gather around and play dominoes. Yesterday five of my cousins drove several hours each to meet at our Aunt's house and as it was a nice day, we took a card table out in the lawn and played dominoes just like it the old days. It was fun.

Some of our childhood habits are the best, Janet. Wouldn't it be great, if one afternoon a week, families would gather on the lawn for a two hour sit-down game session. No electronics!!
Thank you for your comments.
Best to you.
Frederick

My grandparents had a TV but when visiting, we interacted, we didn't watch TV. I notice in some families that kids are sent out of the room to run and play the entire time. We always stayed and talked with the adults. I don't know if there is a right and wrong in this, but as kids that's how we got to know, respect, and care about our adult relatives. I've been going to family gatherings with my husband's family for 12 years, at least 3 or 4 times a year, and I've never had one of the kids interact with me, ever...they're always in a group yelling and screaming at the other end of the house.

It is very hard for grandparents to interact with children, when the parents don't set the example. When we take our grandchildren in our vehicle, their not allowed to play with any electronics. We have conversations and they love it.
Thank you for visiting, Christina.
Best to you.
Frederick

I used to help grandad milk the cows, after cleaning their udders, then turn them out to pasture in the summer.
Then maybe drive the tractor, hitch up a rake and go over the 11 acre field. That took until next milking time, feeding the calves and back to grandma in the farmhouse for tea. What spare time are we talking about here?

I used to be nackered and ready for a bit of debating with uncle about breed tactics and finally by 9 for bed. Up for 4 to start over.

Today we have a TV and computer, but when we have guests including my son and daughter, the TV is never switched on.
Might fire up the computer to show latest pictures.

The art of conversation is going, but not in my house, I always have a captive audience! :)

Work isn't work, when we love what we're doing and those that we are helping.
Thank you for stopping by and for your comments, Damien.
Best wishes.
Frederick

Yes, it`s incredible how the world has become so reliant on technology. I was amazed to see on the news just now that in some schools in Scotland they are having lessons on getting enough sleep (it`s true!). Rather than getting 9 hours sleep a night a lot of kids go to bed at around 2 a.m and get up at 8 a.m. When they were interviewed they said that they were really tired, particularly by the afternoon. Hmm, could the answer be "get to bed earlier!"? Many blamed computer games for their late nights.

Thank you for visiting and for your comments, Geoff. I just read that American children are spending 7 1/2 hours a day on electronic devices. This is up from about six hours in 1999. The situation is getting worst and the parents, or lack of, is the problem.
Best wishes.
Frederick

We didn't live near our grandparents, but when we visited once a year we ran around and played outside. Our grandparents didn't play with us, but we enjoyed being with them. I took art class in all four years of high school and loved Norman Rockwell. I read every book I could about him. Even though most people remember his ideal home scenes, I remember the one he painted of a little black girl walking to school during the 1960s when integration was introduced. She was being escorted to school by four men to keep her safe.

Thank you for visiting and for sharing your comments, Angela. It's always a pleasure to look back on happy times and family.
Best to you.
Frederick

Cool title Frederick. It seems like people do find things to do with whatever time period they're in. The trick is to enjoy the one that is current. Definitely love Norman Rockwell’s paintings.

HappyWon By CherylsArt* Jul 14, 2010 10:27

As ever Frederick the nail right on the head.
Of course at 70, my Grandfather and Grandmother are long gone at the age of 94 and 96.
No Tele, no electronics, not even Board games.
They were Dairy Farmers, getting up at 4 am and going to bed at 9 pm.
When did they have time for all our new fangled stuff?
I am a TV addict with a pechant for National Geographic programmes.
Before that I would enjoy Scientific American and New Scientist.
I guess if the actuarial Tables are right I will have plenty of time for TV, Reading and Flight Simulator X10.
Well contributed Sir!

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