Description TO PLEASURED OF CHILDHOOD

R.H. Sherwood’s

Flashback

TO PLEASURED OF CHILDHOOD

Being associated with young people for many years, I have noticed the many changes that we have occurred over the years.  Today’s young people seem to be reasonably happy, but must be frustrated in endeavoring to take in all the activities that have been created for them.  IN recalling my own childhood day sin my birthplace of Amherst in Cumberland County, I think that the young people of my day were reasonable happy too, despite the fact that we made our own fun, as no one ever thought of organizing games for us.

I do not know if Pictou’s young people of the early 1900’s had the same sort of things that entertained the Amherst youngsters, but I suspect that they did and they enjoyed themselves as much as the youngsters of today.

Of course, we kids of earlier years did have the same school games of Tag, and Bull in the Ring, with, of course baseball with one battered bat and a baseball made of string that was saved and wrapped around a big cork. 

Also in those days of the early 1900’s, the kids went on many errands for neighbors in order to receive the one cent given in payment.  That cent was horded, with other earned pennies, toward the Saturday afternoon “pitcher show” that showed a variety of films for the admission price of one five cent piece, or five coppers.  I doubt if the kids of today are thrilled more with the type of films offered to them, than the kids of earlier years were such a weekly serial as “The Perils of Pauline” starring Pearl White, or the thrilled serial, “The Diamond From, the Sky.” These, of course, were silent movies with subtitles.

While we of the early 1900’s had to earn any pennies, as there was no such thing as “an allowance”, we made those pennies go a long way, long way.  Today many youngsters handle paper money of all denominations with less concern than we had for a few pennies.

There was also some free entertainment in our youthful days, such as the Umbrella Man who came along our street, calling for umbrellas to me.  He always has an interested audience of boys and girls.  So did the man who came ringing his bell to call the attention to the fact that he was there to sharpen knives and scissors, for, perhaps, a few pennies.  Then there was the Hurdy- Gurdy Man who came often with his cranked – out music, and most of us kids would part with a penny or the money in the red suit, who to acknowledge out contribution should tip his hat to the donor. 

Perhaps the greatest thrill of our young lives was to hear the hell of the approaching “Ice Cream Man.” He came in a wagon, cover with white linen, and stopped at every corner, where eager kids and parents too, gave up their pennies and nickels for, what we kids always called, “Ice Cream Combs.” The adults bought the five cent cones, but we kids paid our pennies and received, believe it or not, a one cent cone with a good helping of ice cream. 

The ice man, with his huge cakes of ice in the sawdust of his wagon, was always a source of fun for kids on summer days of prickly heat.  The Iceman came to replenish the cakes of ice that were in the home refrigerators, in the days before electric refrigerators became common.  While the iceman was carrying in his cakes of ice for his customers, the back of his big wagon was alive with kids picking up the chips from the ice blocks. 

Of course, in those days, there was no radio, television or talking pictures, but someone on our street always had what we kids called “A graffafore”, and the owner was usually generous enough to take the hand cranked instrument outside so the music could be heard through the big Morning Glory horn; music that se the girls to dancing on the green, and the boys to pushing one another amount the girls doing a “Ring Around- A- Rosie.”

Remembering those days of early childhood, I know that we, as kids, never had any money, but we mostly certainly had a lot of fun, even if it was throwing rocks through the neighbours front door.

 

                By Roland H. Sherwood (D. Litt.)

Historical Writer