The disappearance of some things may be good, or it may be bad, but how unfortunate that today’s youth may never know about them, no matter what they are. Fortunately, there are those with wealth and taste who want some things to be fondly remembered, and they donate and work hard to preserve these vanishing items. Today’s youth may not remember some things in everyday use, but at least they can see them in a restored and operating state. Among them are trolley cars, steam locomotives, carousels, old autos and trucks, antiques of all types, and happenings captured on film.
Railroads and trains have always whetted my interest, mainly because I had a large electric train layout (Lionel) as a kid, my Dad had Railroad and Trains magazines on the magazine rack in his drug store, plus we used to go to Silver Spring Station every Sunday to watch three B & O passenger trains arrive and depart in less than a half hour. The Ambassador, Capitol Limited, and Columbian (steam powered) all arrived and departed close together, and thrilled my young heart. Today, several large, restored steam locomotives run in summers, and there is the Durango and Silverton, Plus Cumbres and Toltec narrow gauges, all steam powered, which run regularly in summers, and the D & S does short runs in winters. Kids of all ages can partake in coal smoke, throbbing air pumps, hot grease, and the priceless sound of a steam locomotive at work. All kids should experience this historic transport motive power in action. They’ll never get the true feelings of railroads when they were 100% steam, but it will provide at least a brief glimpse.
There are a few original carousels (merry-go-rounds) still in existence and running, with musical accompaniment from real band organs, not loudspeakers. Not many, but some, and they should be visited. There is nothing as thrilling as a real, honest to goodness, Wurlitzer band organ’s sound, and if kids have never caught the brass ring on a carousel, they must be educated! As a kid, I rode the Washington D.C. streetcars hundreds if not thousands of hours, and I can still remember the smells and sounds of all of them. Us oldsters have these indelible memories of our past, and kids are forming theirs as they grow. It’s up to us to add to them. Lots of old trolleys have been restored and are running in major cities with new “light rail” lines. Portland, Philadelphia, and many other cities as well as trolley museums run the cars, and kids should experience them. Old cars are being restored right and left in thousands of garages around the US, and parades, and shows always highlight them. Antiques are everywhere too, so kids can easily savor these oldies.
This got started Monday, with a half hour conversation with a client of mine in Montana who is younger than me, but we both love old stuff. This may take a couple of columns, but youth must be shown, and we must remember. Think of all of our knowledge and thought that will disappear when we die. Why not record them? Take the kids to experience the memories which have been indelibly recorded in our brains. The thoughts and memories which perish at death is shocking. I often wish I had my Dad’s or Grandad’s memories recorded. There are hundreds of items, thoughts, and memories which should be installed in youth’s heads. E-mail me with your items which should be remembered. gold@gwe.net. Clothespins? Dial telephones? Typewriters? Hanging Mom’s wash on the clothesline? Anthracite? Radiators in homes? Vacuum tubes? Wringer washers? Manually operated elevators and elevator operators? Wind-up alarm clocks? Comptometers and adding machines before calculators? Fountain pens? Starch and bluing in washing machines or laundry tubs? Linoleum? Drive-in movies? Home 8mm movies and box cameras? Cameras with 620 or 120 roll film? Cameras which unfolded? “Brownie” cameras? Price labels before bar codes? On it can go. I might as well turn this into a series, because there are so many things going away, and we all should remember them.
You can now click on “Archives” at the top of the web site, and get not only hundreds of my past columns, but I am now going to archive all the ones I write three times a week. Lots are missing, but from now on, all will be there, plus a few that I did save. The Haybag won, and I wonder if it was because people can vote secretly, the way they choose in a voting booth, whereas in a caucus, they must stand up and declare before their neighbors, and no one wants to be classed as a racist, so they went for O’Bama. Is America indeed ready for a black President or a woman President? I certainly am not, and that’s why the Democrats might well lose the November election. Neither female nor black will please large sectors of the population. O’Bama’s claimed church is a strongly pro black at any cost type of ’Christianity,’ and how many of us want a dual Presidency with Billary? Ron won’t make it, but perhaps Mike Huckabee could, and his strong Christianity (masters degree and two seminaries) will appeal to most Americans, plus his personality and speaking ability. After Ron, I’ll take him.