Taking things back to the 1900's

Do you ever wish that for just one day you could spend your time in the 1900's? Do you wish that you could go into someones house without asking, go on a Sunday drive, chat with a dear friend for hours while sipping cold tea, have a milk truck come to your house, or perhaps ride in a car without even buckling? I've been thinking about our world in the 2000's and the past world in the 1900's. I think about how we dress verses how they dressed. Our source of entertainment verses their source of entertainment. Our modesty verses their modesty.

I could spend hours, maybe even days just browsing around 1900's photos. What do you see in these photos that's different from ours today (besides them being black and white)?

The beautiful Marilyn Monroe

The lovely Miss Jackie Kennedy

Fashion icon, Coco Chanel

The once most famous little girl in the world, Shirley Temple

What did you see in those photos that different from ours today? I saw absolutely stunning beauty, but modesty, clean cut but not wacky, lovely poses but not explicit.

Those photos verses these photos..

Sure these women are pretty, but look at the clothes and low cut tops they're wearing! Aye! Should we not be ashamed of what our culture has turned into? We've gone from modest, to let's see who's the hottest. Things are just so......different now! In our culture the goal is to see how sexy you can look, the 1900's culture was to see how pretty you looked.

My grandmother has told me many stories about her childhood throughout the years. I always enjoy listening to her tell them. Here's a bit of what her life was as a child (completely different from how we are now).....

In her neighborhood, all the neighbors would leave their doors unlocked. No way! Really? Yep, they sure did. The children were welcome to come in any time they wanted. Once, MaMa walked into someones house and saw a chocolate cake. It looked delicious, therefore she cut herself a big slice and ate it. People would come into her house as well. In fact, a boy went in there and made himself a sandwich.

Seat belts weren't applicable. If you mentioned the word 'buckle' back then, I'm pretty sure they'd think you were nuts! The speed limits would only let you go so fast, and there weren't nearly as many idiotic drivers as there are now. Just think, you could lay down, sit on your knees, scoot over to a different seat, sit backwards, yep!  Mention that now, someone would think you came from a time machine out of the 1900's.

They actually spent quality time with one another. MaMa told me that every Sunday after church, she, her little brother, and her parents would go down to the lake with friends. Her mom (my great grandmother who's passed away) would make little sandwiches and all kinds of goodies to bring down to the lake! Apparently she was a wonderful chef. MaMa said they would also go on boat, go skiing, have lunch, oh yes!

Some of my favorite stories that MaMa tells me, are ones of her staying at her grandma's house. She called her MaSue, because Sue was her name, and Ma stands for MaMa. In MaSue's house, there was not indoor plumbing. There were chamber pots under each bed in the house, and an outhouse outside. In every bedroom, there was a bulb with a string, a fireplace, a cozy bed, and a chamber put underneath the beds. MaMa adored her MaSue. She would cook some pretty yummy things too! MaMa said she remembered her going out in her yard, picking out a chicken, and killing it so they would enjoy it for their supper. Would you be brave enough to do that? Eeep! Not me.

Compare MaMa's life (she still is alive...so is my PaPa, her husband), to ours. We (most of us anyway) spend our time on the computer (that would be me), watching TV, playing video games, texting, talking on the phone, etc. whereas they would go outside, play with friends, spend time together, help out with housework, and so much more.

Compare 1900's modesty to ours. I always see cleavage, bellies showing, skin tight shirts, daisy duke short shorts. Back then I saw dresses, skirts, nice shirts but no cleavage (except maybe every now and then), bellies weren't showing, and people just looked clean cut.

Think about it. Compare the 2000's to the 1900's.