Ben Sansum, The man who lives in 1946

[LizzieMaine]

It's the labor intensive aspect of average household work that makes me not want to relive the good old days of Boe- Doe- Dee- Oh- Doe 24/7. My hats off to those who love that aspect of it, but I can't pretend that I'd enjoy working my arse off laundering, house cleaning, or cooking with quaint but inefficient appliances.

Don't knock it till you've tried it. Do your washing with a wringer and a clothesline and you'll never need to waste money on gym memberships. And there's something immensely satisfying about beating rugs with a baseball bat.

 

[2jakes]

But I agree with LizzieMaine . I look around today & see so many with
overweight conditions. I'm lucky that I like to play tennis, jog & ride my old bikes
with no fast speeds. Helps to keep me in shape .

 

[tonyb]

There is little doubt in my mind that our grandparents would be dumbstruck by the very notion that people would pay good money and take time out of their day to get in a bit of exercise. The business of daily living was exercise enough for them, thank you very much. But then, my grandparents weren't ones to forgo the modern conveniences of their time, either. I still recall my old grandpa marveling at the microwave oven, or, as he called it, the Radar Range, because that's the brand he owned. (Refrigerators, in his lexicon, would always and forever be "Frigidaires," for the same reason.)

 

[tonyb]

... :

It wasn't until much later in my life that I learned that the push mowers of my youth were so difficult to use in large part because their blades were dull and their bearings dry. Using one in truly good condition was an enlightening experience.

 

[2jakes]

There is little doubt in my mind that our grandparents would be dumbstruck by the very notion that people would pay good money and take time out of their day to get in a bit of exercise. The business of daily living was exercise enough for them, thank you very much. But then, my grandparents weren't ones to forgo the modern conveniences of their time, either. I still recall my old grandpa marveling at the microwave oven, or, as he called it, the Radar Range, because that's the brand he owned. (Refrigerators, in his lexicon, would always and forever be "Frigidaires," for the same reason.)

This was a familiar scene growing up at my grandma's house.

And to this day...I still refer to it as the "icebox"...

 

[LizzieMaine]

My mother still has the family icebox sitting in her kitchen. It's full of bills and old copies of Parade magazine, but it's still there. I used it for a while in my first apartment, and it wasn't as prehistoric a way of life as you'd think. I had to buy the ice at the grocery store in ten-pound blocks, but I could make a block last a week as long as it wasn't 90 degrees outside.

 

[2jakes]

My mother still has the family icebox sitting in her kitchen. It's full of bills and old copies of Parade magazine, but it's still there. I used it for a while in my first apartment, and it wasn't as prehistoric a way of life as you'd think. I had to buy the ice at the grocery store in ten-pound blocks, but I could make a block last a week as long as it wasn't 90 degrees outside.

Besides the candle stick phone when you could actually speak with "real" people.

This was the cooling system in my grandma's home. And the large open screen windows.


I don't recall being uncomfortably hot. Probably because I never knew about modern a/c systems
until later in life.

Now...I can't sleep unless it's "air-conditioned"...( but I don't like it too cold )

 

[tonyb]

...

And to this day...I still refer to it as the "icebox"...

My Southern relations (by marriage) are known to call a refrigerator an icebox. Even the most elderly among them aren't so old as to remember a time when electric refrigerators weren't a common feature in the average person's home. Some may indeed have been familiar with "real" iceboxes, but they were certainly more familiar with refrigerators.

 

[Fading Fast]

It wasn't until much later in my life that I learned that the push mowers of my youth were so difficult to use in large part because their blades were dull and their bearings dry. Using one in truly good condition was an enlightening experience.

Had the exact same experience. Pushing one as a kid, it was brutal - then, one day (don't remember why), I used our neighbor's and it worked great. When I talked with him about it (he was always in his garage fixing things, etc.) and showed him ours, it all came down to service. We had never done a thing to ours - what a difference that makes.

 

[St. Louis]

They're just so much quieter, too. It costs me about $25 to have the blades sharpened every third or fourth year, and as long as I don't let the grass become a hayfield I'm fine. My yard is only about 20 by 14 feet anyway, so there wouldn't be any point to hauling a stinky loud mower out of the garage, up five steps, just to cut a pocket handkerchief sized area.

Cutting grass with a hand mower is a fantastic workout, too.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've been tempted to get a goat and turn him loose out back. It's mostly weeds anyway.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

But I agree with LizzieMaine . I look around today & see so many with
overweight conditions. I'm lucky that I like to play tennis, jog & ride my old bikes
with no fast speeds. Helps to keep me in shape .

Some years back (maybe 10 or so) I was listening to something on the local public radio station. It might have been "Weekend All Things Considered", well, in this story a woman was talking about reel push mowers and hiring a teenaged neighbor boy to mow her lawn. The boy was astounded by the contraption and said, "Wow! An acoustic lawn mower!".

That one has stuck in my head all these years.

 

[tonyb]

I've been tempted to get a goat and turn him loose out back. It's mostly weeds anyway.

Out here on the sodden shores of Puget Sound, Himalayan blackberry is truly a pest species. It's as bad, or worse, than kudzu down South. It turns out that goats do a fine job of clearing out the thickets. They are especially effective on steep slopes (we got lotsa them, too), and they leave behind a pretty good soil conditioner.

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

I use a reel mower to cut by grass bought it at Home Depot.

 

[VintageEveryday]

Have you guys seen this?

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28106466

Kind regards,
Magnoli

lucky duck!