Being a child in the 50’s was a lot different than nowadays. Our mothers rarely worked outside the home and we only had one car and Dad drove it to work. We had one TV and it was in the living room — you didn’t watch it except at night and on Saturday mornings for cartoons. The rest of the time we played outside unless it was raining.
During the summer when school was out I looked forward to Vacation Bible School. It was at a church I could walk to with my brother and sister. We mostly went to Westminister Presbyterian Church on State Street at Sturm.
We went in the morning, I think, and stayed until noon every day for a week — a glorious week filled with Bible study, arts and crafts (my favorite) and refreshments. Being artistic I really did excel at the arts and crafts, and I remember making the matchstick cross which was very cool at the time.
I’m trying to remember what the refreshments were — probably Kool-Aid and sandwich cookies.
We’ve had Vacation Bible School ads run in this publication in the past few weeks and I noticed that they are during the evening (Moms work now). The activities are probably somewhat the same but I’m sure spiced up a little.
I remember going to church day camp a couple of times to a campground that was even more fun with swimming and all the outdoor activities. I remember one late afternoon when the church bus wouldn’t start and we all piled in a Volkswagen bus (probably 20 of us) and made it home squeezed in like sardines.
Nowadays the kids do a lot more exciting stuff at camp. A friend of mine’s son did “Hi-roping” last week at church camp. Her son walked a tight rope strung between two tall poles. He was harnessed in case of a fall but that sounds terrifying to me. I remember my daughter went para-sailing during her church camp days.
We think it takes a lot more to entertain the kids now, but my granddaughter would much rather play with plastic measuring cups than her fancy toys.
The 50’s were simpler days, hotter days (no air-conditioning) but happier days.