WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM AN OLD PHONE?

My daughter has always loved old phones and decided to search for the perfect model. She chose this 1941 black desk model complete with cloth cord. Doesn't this bring back memories? I can remember when my Grandma had one like this. I loved playing with the dial.

Yesterday when we received the much anticipated item, I began thinking about what an old phone says about us. This one attests to the fact that we once built things to last. It has been refurbished and actually works, still its obvious that it was designed for endurance just by the materials used. The body is metal and the handset is Bakelite. When you pick it up it is SOLID. This baby weighs a whopping 6 pounds!

Another statement made by this beauty is that we used to live at a slower pace and that was ok. Dialing was an event. No hurry up push buttons. You dial and wait. The higher numbers take longer to dial. Oh, well, I thought it was fun! Are we really in that big a hurry? Speed dial? Why? I wonder how much time is really saved by the faster dial method? Is it a significant amount? This phone is from the days when moms were home and spent their whole day homemaking, preparing nice meals, doing laundry, ironing and starching shirts, welcoming kids home from school with cookies and milk and talking to the neighbors over the garden fence or from a phone like this. I kind of miss that, how about you?

Another thing I remembered was that we could not get into near as much mischief with a phone like this. Most were plugged into the only phone jack in the house and usually there were other family members close by--no private, sneaky conversations! And if that weren't enough, the party line was another check on morality and behavior. The neighbors could pick up and listen in at any time and probably often did!

One other significant thing....you couldn't carry this with you! Your arms would break! It meant you had to actually leave the thing behind in the house and that's not all bad! Are we really so important that we all need to be "available" at any given moment? One of my pet peeves is that it's hard to carry on a conversation with people anymore. The ringing of cell phones is so common and many people will answer even if they're in the middle of another conversation. Where have our manners gone?

I think the admonition in the center of the dial is great, LISTEN....For Dial Tone....do we ever take time to stop and listen to anything or anyone anymore? I wonder.

For just a little while, I'd like to go back to some of the old ways--maybe it would be a real eye-opener to see how far we've come! Anyway, we're enjoying this lovely addition to our home. It's romantic to think of what all might have been said over this phone in it's lifetime. Since it's a 1941 model, I feel quite sure that someone called a loved one to check on them when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Maybe someone got a call asking them to the Senior Prom. Maybe someone else called to cry with friend when President Kennedy was shot. Who knows what all this phone has heard. In this day and age when traditional values, freedoms, justice, and just about everything else is up for grabs daily, I long for the stability of things we used to value.

An old phone can say a lot. Blessings, LORI

VANISHING AMERICAN EDUCATION

I am excited to share this post with you! See these dusty books? They are indicative of what I want to communicate.

For a long time I've been thinking about doing more "devotional" style blogs again--I've been silent too long.It was so evident to me this week as my grandchildren and I visited a nearby country school, still open to the public for tours, that we have lost something very valuable over the last century.

 American education is simply not what it was when our granparents filled classrooms like these and studied from books like the McGuffey readers. My respect to all you teachers, this is not intended to cut down your service. I know many teachers and most are a very dedicated group of public servants. But I think we can learn some things from observing the vanishing American schooling trends of the past.

The heavy, durable desks and furnishings were just one example of a culture that valued quality and long life. Things were expected to last--money was viewed differently. Things were hard to come by and therefore quality and durability mattered. Textbooks and supplies were not replaced every year.

How about these slates as an example of environmental consciousness? Each child could pick one up each morning and use it repeatedly without wasting sheet after sheet of paper. How's that for "green?"  And we think we are on the cutting edge!

But even more obvious than all that, I was struck by the pictures that hung in this classroom. Portraits of the Presidents, Washington and Lincoln, were proudly and prominently displayed at the front of the room and elsewhwere on the walls. Other pictures depicting events of American history were displalyed as well. The desks were arranged with larger ones to the backs of the rows for the older students and they gradually got smaller toward the front of every row. This was a vivid reminder that we once could put all age groups together and that the older ones helped the young to learn. No need for multiple classrooms and special age-related programs.

All these observable differences point to the fact that scholastics and character-building mattered more than all of the frills we often associate with a well-rounded education. These vanishing (or vanished) American educational trends served a society that honored Christian principles and produced some of the world's greatest leaders, inventors, statesmen, and heroes.

What has our progress cost us?

More on the next post....until then, Blessings, LORI

ANTIQUE CHICKEN BUTTER DISH AND SPINNING WHEEL

I had a great Saturday last week! A large old business builidng in our town had a giant antiques auction! My great, great, grandmothers at one time worked for the business from their homes. It was the Lamb Knit Company. They manufactured gloves at the turn of the last century--go figure! And now I'm a knitter--finished a pair of gloves just last week. Anyway, each day the company sent out stacks of gloves to area housewives who sewed up the fingers. My grandma left this info in her diary and that was the exact same historical overview given before the auction. I wanted some memorabilia from the factory and ended up getting this wonderful little spinning wheel. I can't be sure it was original to the Lamb Knit Company, but might have been since the building also housed a school, I believe, according to historical information. The school trained teachers and a tabletop loom was sold that same day, said to be original to the school. I paid more than I would normally pay for any auction item, but I'm pleased with my purchase. I have cleaned it up and will give it several coats of oil to nourish the wood. I believe all parts are there, with a minor exception of eyelets, and it is in working condition.

After the sale, I went to a local Goodwill and purchased this wonderful chicken butter dish. I LOVE this new acquisition. Our old modern butter dish was cumbersome and had no handle, making it difficult to use. This one is way, way better and cute as well! Since I'm a chicken lover, this will be just great. I almost didn't buy it, but for $4.50, how could I go wrong? The spinning wheel price was a different story. Let's just say at least two other bidders thought it was worth what I paid because I sort of had to keep diligent to get this wheel! Blessings, LORI