Forty-niner

Another acquaintance of mine recently passed from this world, and I was reminded when I noted their birthdate we were both “Forty-niner’s.” That term was part of a song I learned far back in my school days. I am not sure when I first heard that term in kindergarten or grade school, but I do remember the lyric “we are forty-niners.”

Perhaps that is the best tribute I could give my friend, a look back at our world which has so changed. So much has happened during my lifetime, that it takes some time to contemplate the many changes.

Since that song lyric might have been from my kindergarten years, I will begin there.

In my time, the R-5 School District hosted kindergartens at both Franklin and Benton grade schools. The classes were only held for half days, and I was in the morning session at Franklin. My teacher was Ms. Fraizer and some days we had Ms. Bussinger for music class. Of special note, my friend Johnny Allison and I walked nine blocks (from my grandmother’s home) each way to and from Franklin. In those days there were lots of stay-at-home moms in every neighborhood and 5-year-olds were quite safe on the streets.

My family still lived in the country on DD Highway north of Sheldon. A device in that farmhouse reminded me of some striking changes. Our farmhouse had a wooden box crank telephone. When you wanted to call anyone you had to pick up the earpiece and wait to hear from an operator. There was no privacy for your calls as we were all on a multi-family party line. You only knew that you were the home receiving a call, by the number and length of rings. Our family ring signal was 2 longs and a short.

Even the science fiction books, movies and television shows of that era did not envision the modern cell phones or the internet. That led me to another remembrance from long ago. Since we had no internet or Google we had to look to other sources for information.

In school most classrooms had World Book encyclopedias. We had to look up our own answers there or at the school library. Since there were no cell phones or Gameboys we did a lot of reading. At an early age, we all received our first Nevada Public Library cards. My favorite books for much of my boyhood were the “Hardy Boys” mysteries. They were the choice for many others and you had to wait months sometimes for someone to check in a book you wanted. How many of you remember that if you were late checking in your books there were small late fines?

The television systems of my youth were primitive by today’s standards. The only stations we could watch were from Pittsburg, Springfield, Joplin and sometimes Kansas City. Programming was limited to hours from about 7 o’clock in the morning until the final news finished at 10:30 p.m. Both sessions always began with the national anthem.

Our television shows for the Forty-niner generation were wonderful. In the mornings our regular schedule included shows like “The Howdy Doody Show,” “Captain Kangaroo,” “Pinky Lee” and “Ding Dong School.” On the weekends we were avid viewers of shows like “Fury” and “Sky King.” After school when we weren’t outside playing (we did a lot of that), there was the famous “Micky Mouse Club Show.” I freely admit that my very first love was Annette, as was the case for practically every boy my age.

In school, we began each morning with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Lord’s Prayer. There has been much debate about the constitutionality of such practices in recent times. As to prayer, I get the idea that there might be a kid from Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or some other religious faith, whose family didn’t want their child to pray in a different faith. When it comes to the Pledge of Allegiance, I think that if you are attending school in America, the pledge is not offensive.

School was a 9-month affair from the first Tuesday after Labor Day until almost Memorial Day each spring. There was no spring break, and our holiday breaks were much shorter. On the other hand, we had a full three months each summer to be just kids and we made good use of those vacations.

Speaking of school, I am reminded of our dress and personal grooming codes for the Forty-niner generation. In high school girls were not permitted to wear anything but a dress. When the boys were in shop classes in junior and senior high, the girls were required to take home economics. I think many of them learned to sew and make some of their clothes.

In my high school era, the Beatles and their significantly longer hair became a fad. That was not permitted at NHS for the Forty-niner generation. If your hair and sideburns were too long, you were required to get them cut properly.

One might look back with some level of disgust at the many restrictions that our generation endured but that was all we knew. We somehow managed to grow up and get an education and in the end that is what mattered.

My dear Forty-niner friend is gone but not forgotten. Our boomer generation likes to reminisce when we lose one of our own. It returns us for a few moments just like the sitcom “Happy Days,” when life seemed to be simpler. To the kids of today those times probably seem like the Dark Ages!

One final note about Forty-niners. Because we began life in the 40s, we are residing in our eighth decade (40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s and 2010s). I hope my Forty-niner friend is in another place we boomers recall … “FAR OUT!!!!!!”