A long time ago, we didn't have the conveniences available today, for example - air conditioning. I was born in 1947 and my family didn't have air conditioning until 1964, my school got it in 1963 and I didn't own a car with "air" until 1970.
I was reminded of our struggles, to keep cool, earlier today when Kay and I attended a local festival that had a music venue. It was held outdoors and although it was cooler than usual it was still a little warm. Before I get too far into today's discovery let me set the stage by going back a about 70 years, more or less.
What religious upbringing I had was with my Grandpa Riggan, he was very devout and regularly attended church every Sunday and most Wednesday nights. I spent a lot of time with he and Granny from a very early age and wherever he went I went. His church was rather small compared to those of today, it was wood framed with tall windows - cold in the winter and hot in the summer and in the early 1950's there was no air conditioning and probably no heat. What they did have to beat the summer heat were "paddle fans".
Paddle fans, as I call them, were two thick, stiff pieces of paper with a tongue depressor type piece of wood glued between them. The holder of the fan would wave it vigorously back and forth in front of their face thus creating a breeze that would keep the person somewhat cool and dry. Of course, a lot depended on the temperature, length of the sermon and the size of the person.
The most interesting thing about the fans were the designs, those in the churches were of course decorated with a picture of Jesus, a shepherd tending his flock, Moses parting the sea or some other religious scene. The back side usually had an advertisement from a local funeral home, dry cleaner or feed store. I guess although dying was a certainty, the funeral homes figured a little early advertising couldn't hurt. Every church and funeral home had boxes of these fans as they tended to walk off with the clientele. Granny had several fans in case she misplaced one or had guest, actually the fans were everywhere you went from barber shops to grocery stores to gas stations.
Fast forward to today, on the benches of the music venue were cheaper versions of the fan with an advertisement, on one side only, for a local realtor. They did come in handy and served their purpose very well. I don't think the paddle fans are going to make a big come back, their need now is more of a novelty than necessity, sadly they have gone the way of the horse and buggy and gas station., they are just another memory from a time long ago.
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There was a time when the only way to stay in contact with a distant friend or relative was to go see them, call them on the phone, which was attached to the wall in one room of the house, or write them a letter.
My grandmother mothers were big letter writers but they were also very conscious of the cost with first class postage being four cents back in the 1950's. Granny Riggan wrote letters but more often she would send post cards that cost a penny to mail. She would leave a note to the postman telling him how many postcards and stamps she needed and he would leave them in her mailbox.
The cards were plain white, three inches wide and five inches long, one side was for the address and stamp and the other side was where you wrote whatever you wanted to say. If you wrote really small you could say a lot. The only problem with postcards was that anybody who handled the card could read whatever you wrote, privacy was not to be expected.
Postcards from that era were works of art, one side had a picture of depicting scenery from the place you purchased the card. The other side was where you wrote the address and a short note usually saying things like "we made it" or "wish you were here". Granny had a box of cards she had collected over the years and I would spend a lot of time looking through them. These cards are collector items today.
Kay and I got into a habit of sending postcards to the grandkids whenever we traveled out of state but they are getting hard to find. There used to be carousels filled with cards in drug stores, gift shops and even gas stations. We had real good luck finding them at state park welcome centers but this last trip we took to Tennessee was a bust for finding cards. We went to Kentucky and on our way back we stopped at four different truck stops and once back in Tennessee we went to a state park, it was all in vain as we couldn't find any cards.
With all of the cell phones and computers where you can see the person you are talking to, nobody seems to be interested in the personal touch of a picture postcard especially now that the postage has gone from a penny in the 1950's to sixty cents in 2022 and the card cost has gone from a penny to a couple of dollars. Another reminder that one day even I will become someone's memory from the past, I just hope it's a good one.
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