Great thread. Recall asking my dad about the "olden days" Lived in Utica N.Y. His life sounded great to a 9 year old with a horse to ride and the Little House on the Prairie school he attended in the 30s. I never gave much thought to the "outhouse" and mountains of chores they were required to do! He told me his father owned a pump shotgun and to this day I have wondered whether it was a Rem 31 or a Winny 12.
Family Guns
- Thread starter jimmyj
- Start date
I had comfortable life, born in 50 and lived in small town in Appalachia. Not far away their were many without indoor plumbing and had outhouses. In fact moving outhouses was a major form of recreation. There were still people burning kerosene for light. My buddy's grandparents still lived on hard scrabble farm. His gram would put a hot brick wrapper in rags to warm up bed. In morning you could see your breath. As for outhouse in winter you dropped your load and went down the road soon as possible. No thumbing through Magazines. Back then everyone had springs and wells too. All in the past now CO-OP electric and county water.
TheHobbyist
Member
I still have a handmade Damascus shotgun that was given to my g-g-grandfather (I believe) around 1870's when they homesteaded a farm. It has patina but is in overall good shape, you could technically shoot it with light black powder loads, as it still functions, miraculously, given how it was stored by my grandfather on Dad's side.
Grandpa's single-shot winchester 22, I don't recall what model, it is somewhere.
On my mother's side, I do recall hearing a story or two about how they didn't have indoor bathroom until the 60's because, like another poster stated, it was in their view uncivilized to go in the place where you live. Both grandads in WW2 and both worked government jobs until they retired. Good people.
Grandpa's single-shot winchester 22, I don't recall what model, it is somewhere.
On my mother's side, I do recall hearing a story or two about how they didn't have indoor bathroom until the 60's because, like another poster stated, it was in their view uncivilized to go in the place where you live. Both grandads in WW2 and both worked government jobs until they retired. Good people.
DWalt
Member
Back in my outhouse days, ours was attached to an old wooden garage, probably contemporary with the house. It was only a one-holer. When I was a kid, probably early grade school period, I had a friend. Their family had a two holer outhouse. The strange thing was that when his father came home from work, he and his wife always went together to their outhouse first thing. I couldn't imagine why they did that. And in a way, I still can't.
Outhouses were fun. We would go after dark and move them back a length. The unwary midnight caller would get a rude awakening. Tipping them over with occupants in side wa another favorite. Hooking them up to owners truck was always good for a grin. Even in the small towns the only recreation was movie Fri & Sat or the old Pool Hall. They didn't have foreign stuff like Pizza Shops back then. Every town had a little greasy spoon where kids hung out. But only until 9pm. You better be headed for home when 9oclock curfew went off. No such thing as double jeopardy back then.
Any adult in town could beat your butt, call your parents and you would get it at home too. Sometimes if school related the principle would skin you too.
Any adult in town could beat your butt, call your parents and you would get it at home too. Sometimes if school related the principle would skin you too.
THE PILGRIM
Member
DWalt
Member
Not only did we have an outhouse at home, but the 3-room schoolhouse where I spent the first three grades had them too - one for girls, one for boys. Not only that, it used old-style potbelly coal stoves for heat in the winter. Kids were assigned jobs to bring in coal from a pile outside and take out ashes. It's amazing the school hadn't burned down. Air conditioning? No one had ever heard of that. The only water was from a hand pump in the playground (I don't know where the water came from), many kids brought their own water in bottles, along with their lunches. I think that schoolhouse was built right after the Civil War and was in use until the mid-1950s. The whole front wall was glass windowpanes for daylight. It had electric lights, but light was mainly from the outside. There is probably nothing like that school remaining anywhere in the USA today, not even in backwoods coal mine valleys in West Virginia and Kentucky.
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Wife grew up in a century home and they had a two holer.
Our Church was still using an outhouse 20 years ago till the little house next door went up for sale.
we bought it to have "modern" facilities but one still had to leave church walk across the parking lot and go in the house, most men still used the outhouse.
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DWalt
Member
Don't know where in Ohio you are, but my growing-up stories are situated in a rural area near Portsmouth, on the Ohio River.
Sistema1927
US Veteran
I can't complain. Being an Army brat, we lived in base quarters most of the time. My folks talk about the tiny trailer that they lived in when I was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, and how hard it was to heat, but I have no memory of that, of course.
Dad was a mid to upper NCO during my elementary school years, and the quarters we inhabited were fairly nice. While in London, England, we rented a house in the Edgeware area, but it was spacious and well furnished even though it didn't have central heat and it was my job to bring in the coal and light the water heater each morning.
Upon return to the states my folks bought a new home, and we lived there all the way through my finishing High School since Dad retired pretty soon after returning from Vietnam.
As a result, I can't complain, life was pretty good.
Dad was a mid to upper NCO during my elementary school years, and the quarters we inhabited were fairly nice. While in London, England, we rented a house in the Edgeware area, but it was spacious and well furnished even though it didn't have central heat and it was my job to bring in the coal and light the water heater each morning.
Upon return to the states my folks bought a new home, and we lived there all the way through my finishing High School since Dad retired pretty soon after returning from Vietnam.
As a result, I can't complain, life was pretty good.
OP
Did I mention that I had to walk two miles to the bus stop ? Plus fight Indians to and from the bus stop ? Then there were the wild animals ( Lions, Tigers, Wolves, Alligators, etc ) Years later when my good looks and sexy self developed it was Cougars that I had to fight off.
DWalt
Member
I worked In Painesville/Fairport Harbor for 2 years. Happy to leave.
BLACKHAWKNJ
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Skeeter Skelton wrote of out of season hunting "but let me tell you that store bought meat was a seldom thing during the Depression."
I note that all the people mentioned above did one thing in common-they COPED with it. Actually they lived in the 19th Century. Which a lot of people did, and they survived it.
I note that all the people mentioned above did one thing in common-they COPED with it. Actually they lived in the 19th Century. Which a lot of people did, and they survived it.
Miami_JBT
US Veteran
My family came to the US in May of 1961 after fleeing Fidel Castro and the "wonders" of Communism. My Grandfather in Cuba was a successful businessman. Had a chicken wholesale business, hotels on Havana Beach, and a retail store. All of it was confiscated by the Government. He came to the US without a penny and a pot to piss in.
Had a wife and four kids to boot.
He went from being successful and financially independent to cleaning Florida Spiny Lobsters on the Miami River. He worked hard and put a roof over the family's heads and food on the table. He raised two sons and daughters. My Father in 1975 became a cop with the Dade County Public Safety Department.
As a rookie Patrolman, he was able to buy a handgun in Dade County and more importantly get his Dad, my Grandfather a carry permit. So Dad went and bought three snubnose Model 64s. One for himself, his Brother, and of course My Grandfather. Dad and my Uncle traded/sold their back in the day. But not my Grandfather.
My Grandfather carried this Model 64 from the 1970s up to the early 00s. Sadly, by 2003, he was fighting cancer and it destroyed his memory. So for safety reasons, I had to take the gun away from him along with his car keys.
He carried it daily. I recall him coming home from collecting his dues for his clothing business and he'd put the cash and gun in the safe he had in his office.
While Dad might have sold the Model 64. Dad was a gun guy.
You had to be when you were working UC Dope Cases in Miami in the 80s.
Had a wife and four kids to boot.
He went from being successful and financially independent to cleaning Florida Spiny Lobsters on the Miami River. He worked hard and put a roof over the family's heads and food on the table. He raised two sons and daughters. My Father in 1975 became a cop with the Dade County Public Safety Department.
As a rookie Patrolman, he was able to buy a handgun in Dade County and more importantly get his Dad, my Grandfather a carry permit. So Dad went and bought three snubnose Model 64s. One for himself, his Brother, and of course My Grandfather. Dad and my Uncle traded/sold their back in the day. But not my Grandfather.
My Grandfather carried this Model 64 from the 1970s up to the early 00s. Sadly, by 2003, he was fighting cancer and it destroyed his memory. So for safety reasons, I had to take the gun away from him along with his car keys.
He carried it daily. I recall him coming home from collecting his dues for his clothing business and he'd put the cash and gun in the safe he had in his office.
While Dad might have sold the Model 64. Dad was a gun guy.
You had to be when you were working UC Dope Cases in Miami in the 80s.
I never lived through the conditions shared here.
By the time I came along mom and dad had climbed the ladder.
Mom used to tell the story of their first home Idaho. She recalled being able to see the stars at night through the roof. Over the years until I was born Dad started his own electrical contracting business and they managed to raise 12 kids and get us all through school on one income. Try that today!!
Dad was a gun guy at heart but we had utility guns until I was a teenager.
He used an old 1894 30-30 for everything for years and managed to shoot a couple truckload of elk with it.
His second gun was an NRA 1903-A3 sporterized.
Shotguns were whatever he could afford that was a pump. I recall a model 12 in 16 gauge and a divergence from the pump rules 11-48 in 16 ga.
Handguns were not seen until my brothers pitched in and bought him a 9 shot Sentinel. When I moved away from home in 1978 that revolver still looked new. Dad had nothing against handguns, just had no use for them as they were not practical.
By the time I came along mom and dad had climbed the ladder.
Mom used to tell the story of their first home Idaho. She recalled being able to see the stars at night through the roof. Over the years until I was born Dad started his own electrical contracting business and they managed to raise 12 kids and get us all through school on one income. Try that today!!
Dad was a gun guy at heart but we had utility guns until I was a teenager.
He used an old 1894 30-30 for everything for years and managed to shoot a couple truckload of elk with it.
His second gun was an NRA 1903-A3 sporterized.
Shotguns were whatever he could afford that was a pump. I recall a model 12 in 16 gauge and a divergence from the pump rules 11-48 in 16 ga.
Handguns were not seen until my brothers pitched in and bought him a 9 shot Sentinel. When I moved away from home in 1978 that revolver still looked new. Dad had nothing against handguns, just had no use for them as they were not practical.
THE PILGRIM
Member
I have heard my Grandpa tell about shooting a covey of Quail running down a cotton field.
He would wait until they were a distance away and shoot high for their heads. He would take down several, often 6-8.
This wasn't sport hunting.
This was during the depression and this was subsistence hunting.
He and the family needed to eat!
We still have a Stevens Double Hammer Gun passed down from him.
He would wait until they were a distance away and shoot high for their heads. He would take down several, often 6-8.
This wasn't sport hunting.
This was during the depression and this was subsistence hunting.
He and the family needed to eat!
We still have a Stevens Double Hammer Gun passed down from him.
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People around this area shot what they could and any extra they would sell.
Dynamite was used to get fish. The woods were picked clean of wind falls and such close to roads. It was gathered for stove wood. People picked coal along rail road tracks or off the gob piles. During those days nothing eatable was wasted. People shot and trapped birds to eat. I've herd stories that there was no small game left around the towns.
Dynamite was used to get fish. The woods were picked clean of wind falls and such close to roads. It was gathered for stove wood. People picked coal along rail road tracks or off the gob piles. During those days nothing eatable was wasted. People shot and trapped birds to eat. I've herd stories that there was no small game left around the towns.
I can never remember us having an out house, But, I used plenty of them while visiting. Many of my country cousins didn't even have electricity or phones when I was small. Our cars were old, my jeans had patches well before they were not "in fashion". I was the oldest so I didn't get handy me downs from my brothers. I got them from cousins instead.
My fondest memory is the family loading up and going to the Penguin Ice Cream shop on Main. Each of us kids got a nickel ice cream! The entertainment was my dad telling the year make and model of each car that drove past as we sat parked on Main and ate our ice cream.
I have never ridden a school bus to school. The closest I can remember being to school is about 1/2 a mile. Jr HS and HS were both a bit over 2 miles away as we lived just outside the city limits. Not that far, but in Eastern Montana it was far enough when well below zero.
I truly appreciate all the privileges given to me. I did see those worse off than me and mine. Some of those kids did really well for themselves.
My step brothers and sister were my child hood friends well before my mom married their dad later. They lived in a small 3 room "house" It did have running water, but no indoor toilet, they bathed in a big tub in the middle of the area that served as kitchen and living room. All of them now own their own homes and have have done very well. My step sister was the most driven. She had no college education, but went on to become a comptroller for a large construction company and is worth millions. Nobody handed her squat because of her "privilege"
My fondest memory is the family loading up and going to the Penguin Ice Cream shop on Main. Each of us kids got a nickel ice cream! The entertainment was my dad telling the year make and model of each car that drove past as we sat parked on Main and ate our ice cream.
I have never ridden a school bus to school. The closest I can remember being to school is about 1/2 a mile. Jr HS and HS were both a bit over 2 miles away as we lived just outside the city limits. Not that far, but in Eastern Montana it was far enough when well below zero.
I truly appreciate all the privileges given to me. I did see those worse off than me and mine. Some of those kids did really well for themselves.
My step brothers and sister were my child hood friends well before my mom married their dad later. They lived in a small 3 room "house" It did have running water, but no indoor toilet, they bathed in a big tub in the middle of the area that served as kitchen and living room. All of them now own their own homes and have have done very well. My step sister was the most driven. She had no college education, but went on to become a comptroller for a large construction company and is worth millions. Nobody handed her squat because of her "privilege"
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