Beginning with the "facts of life," babies now know about where they came from by the time they are 4 years old. Why? Because their mothers tell them. When they ask the question, the mothers don't say no; they always answer their questions. That was a no-no 100 years ago.
School has changed. We went by rules, and order was a must. We never talked back to the teacher. Our grades had to be good, or we got punished. Our clothes covered our bodies, our hair was in place and we never slouched around.
Gary Willmon / The Lufkin Daily News |
Pearl Havard, who turns 95 in a few weeks, has seen many changes in her lifetime of living in rural Angelina County — as she'll tell you, 'A lot of them for the better, and a lot of them for the worse.'
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Life at home was jolly. No one was ever bored. They had things to do. Children of age worked in the fields. When night came, they were tired. On weekends, boys helped fathers, girls helped mothers. Company was coming Sunday after church.
Another thing that has changed is the time of day to eat meals. Twelve o'clock was dinner; 6 o'clock was supper. Children carried their lunch to school in a bucket. We went out at 12, sat on a log and ate our lunch.
Parents always knew where their girls or boys were. If they were going on dates, they had to be in by 11 o'clock, or they were grounded the next time. There was no living together before the wedding bells rang.
Churches have changed, and people along with the churches. The Bible is preached as always, but the singing has changed. We sang from a gospel songbook in the past. The melody of the songs were wonderful, and the words were written by inspired gospel songwriters.
Another change is security. We never thought about closing or locking the door when we went places. In the summertime, we walked out and never closed the door. Windows were left open for the house to be cool when we came in. We slept at night on the porch under a mosquito net. No one was ever molested. Now we don't go out without locking the door. What a change!
Electricity is great now. There was no electricity in the rural parts of Angelina County until the REA came along around 1942.
Speeds have changed so fast until it is dangerous on our roads and highways.
Our government has changed. Our schools have changed. Our way of living has changed. Our morality has changed.
All these things have changed over the past 100 years. How sad.
