Asking a parent if you could use the phone; picking up the phone and hearing the operator saying "Number please." The operator would often be, btw, my Aunt Frances. And our home number was 672. My aunt's home number was 504W.
A house had one radio, when I wanted my own I built a crystal set (which actually got one station).
Rationing and ration stamps. Buying a 10 cent war bond stamp at school each week. Milk at school, mornings and afternoon, 5 cents per week.
All kids having chest x-rays at school once a year...they were looking for tuberculosis and yes, once in a while they'd find a child that had it.
Two days after a snow storm, the snow would be black from all the coal that was used for heating and power in the mills.
A river that was so vile, even us kids would never go near it. Chemicals, industrial waste, sewage.
Just about every house had a flag in the window with a blue star for every family member in the service. As the years went by, some blue stars were replaced with gold stars.
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