Introduction

This story is set shortly before JFK became president, during an era where women were homemakers. Women went to school, graduated, married their sweethearts, and raised children. Outside employment consisted of a Tupperware or Stanley party, and the more daring, an occasional lingerie party.

Something else to remember is a subdivision were relatively new and styles of the homes were similar, a 'fashionable' subdivision may have had as many as a dozen floor plans. The majority of the homes were however, built by turning the floor plan over and building the next home opposite of the last built, the reason most homes had side-by-side drives. A subdivision containing one hundred units normally boasted of six to eight floor plans and this equated to twelve to sixteen different styles of homes within the neighborhood.

The comforts we take for granted today were uncommon during this period. Central heat and air would come later, as would built-in dishwashers. Built-in was a tool a salesperson used to emphasize the home as being modern however, they were referring to the electric oven. The sight of a ceiling fan was a rarity as each home consisted of a box fan strategically placed, and oftentimes a window fan would be humming in a distant room.

'Children at Play' signs had not been invented, or if they had, they weren't posted in the subs. A dozen or more children playing in the street were 'under the care' of two, sometimes three, housewives sitting in the shaded area under a carport discussing a sale at the local grocery store, or a new dress being cut from a recently purchased pattern or, heavens-help-us, one of the young boys said a curse word, 'damn'.

Chain link fencing was rare and fences confined to the back yard, mainly rail fences consisting of posts planted in the ground and connected by two-by-fours. Rare cases might find a 'picket fence' or even one giving more privacy. Children, missing from the street, were oftentimes playing within the confines of these fences, along with an occasional neighborhood pet.

The homemakers, or wives, were busy in the hours after hubby left for work, and the school-aged children were on the bus. The breakfast dished were washed, dried, and put in the cupboard and then there were the hardwood floors to be swept and dust mopped daily, a washer load of clothes to be hung on the line after the wash, which would be taken in and ironed late in the afternoon.

The remainder of the day was 'free' for the everyday homemaker. There was always a torn article of clothing and mending had to be done, however sewing a new outfit was considered relaxation. The radio was usually playing in the background tuned to the local station and choices were few. They consisted of easy listening, the big bands, country, or the soaps: "Oxodol's Own Ma Perkins" or "The Guiding Light," or another serial type program, depending on the time of the day. The television, should the family be so fortunate to own, was turned on during the evening hours only and the programs watched by the entire family.

The trip to the grocery store was pleasant, a short drive which did not include driving on the expressway. The local shopping center took care of most needs: grocery, hardware, dry cleaners (laundry was done at home), and drug store. A small five-and-dime was present in many areas and McDonald's, featuring the fifteen-cent hamburger, was fast becoming a competitor of the soda fountain in the drug store. Rexall and Walgreen would later change from a drug store to a pharmacy, probably at the same time they started major competition against the grocer, hardware, and five-and-dime.

This lifestyle, boring though it may seem to us today, was the golden age.

This lifestyle was also the bread and butter for the door-to-door salesman.

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