A teenager recently asked me:”In the Olden Days what did you do in your spare time without an IPhone or a computer? This was an active, sports loving person, but I realised that when they were not involved in their normal busy activities, electronic gadgets reigned supreme.
Many of you who did not grow up in the ‘Olden Days’ did not have computers either, so what were your childhood activities?
One big difference for children in the 40s was that families were larger, so there was usually a sibling or two willing to share an activity right there under the same roof. Of course, there was more chance of friction too, but that taught a lesson anyway.
Neighbouring children shared games like Cowboys and Indians where we learned the hard way not to use the sap of plants to make war paint on Indian faces. Ouch. There were usually enough girls and boys for a cricket team or war games (frowned upon now, but we were at war at the time with our own Fathers away fighting.)
Bikes were ridden from one suburb to the next. It was much safer than now, especially as petrol rationing kept a lot of vehicles off the road. If you didn’t have a bike, a good scooter with pump up tyres could carry two kids with one sitting crouched on the foot plate and hanging on to the steering column. At a pinch you could have another standing behind the driver, but that was a bit scary and could lead to a buster.
There were no back yard pools. In fact there were only a handful of public pools in the whole city, so it was not an option for many. My brother and I decided to build one in the vacant allotment next door but of course that dream died after a few days digging. We didn’t own the land anyway but weren’t told of that detail while we were toiling.
Kids made cubby houses, boys built go karts and some even built canoes from discarded equipment dumped by the Americans when they were stationed in Australia, but that’s another whole story.
Soft drinks came in glass bottles and a refund was given when returned to the shop. Some boys showed their budding business acumen by gathering the used bottles at sporting venues etc and starting their own nest egg from the proceeds.
We made up plays and had concerts in the back yard to raise money for the war effort. Sunday schools had a lot of activities and were well attended. There were camps held at Alexandra Headlands in a huge old home owned by the church which was in the middle of the bush. Hard to believe now.
On rainy days at home there were building and activity toys like Meccano, or of course, dolls to play with. (Boys not keen on that one). Then we had to be sure to be inside to listen to the radio serial:”Search for the Golden Boomerang” at about 6pm.
I can’t remember being bored. We were probably given a job if we complained about that. Each generation has its strengths and challenges and I look back fondly on my childhood and how we filled our time.
Thanks Freda x Stay tuned for next week’s episode.
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