Cultural Shock-Lights
by R. Aubrey LaFoy
Abraham Lincoln is one of my favorite US presidents. “Honest”
Abe is refreshing in this age. There is the story that he won the nickname of “Honest Abe” when he walked two miles to repay a customer six cents because he had made an error in giving the man his change. Mr. Lincoln was known for his wit and humor and thankfully many of his stories were recorded so you and I can read them. We have great photos of Abe and he is probably the first president to really be photographed. Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Madison left only artists painting of themselves so we are not exactly sure of their looks. The one painting of Lincoln that sticks in my mind is him laying in front of a burning fireplace and reading. Even at an early age that picture of him left a great impression on me as I thought to myself, “That must have been trying with only the glow of the fire light to read.” Abe must have had determination and desire to read. He must have had good eyesight otherwise reading would have been impossible.
I grew up in a small town and we had electricity and indoor plumbing. The house my family lived in was built prior to World War I. The electrical wiring, light fixtures and wall outlets were very primitive by today’s standards. Most of the rooms had a single light cord hanging from the ceiling from the middle of the room. Many had a pull switch that string or cord was attached which allowed one to pull to turn the light off or on. If there was a wall light switch it had two small buttons, one black the other white that by pushing activated the light.
In our living room we had a large black wooden lamp with a huge silk shade. The lamp was plugged into the wall socket which normally had a plug screwed into it to accommodate the two prongs on the lamp card. By today’s standards those early wall sockets were not children friendly and more than one kid was really shocked putting their wet finger into the small hole. If multiple cords were needed one could obtain piggyback sockets to take care of lamps and radios.
The one thing I remember very well was a unique feature we had in the wall of the kitchen and that was a wall fixture that had a red light that would go on when turning the switch for the basement lights. It was a feature that I wish our basement lights had today. Few people had outside lights in town, as there were streetlights in every block.
One fall I was invited to spend a weekend with a classmate of mine who lived in the country. The farm he lived on was about six miles from town so we had to ride the school bus on Friday. I took some extra clothes in a paper sack and was very unprepared for that weekend. As I look back it was a real cultural shock for a town boy to go visit and stay at a farm.
The first impression was the school bus we rode in which rattled and shook traveling those bumpy dirt and gravel roads. After a long time we finally arrived at my classmate’s farm and had to walk about ¼ of a mile to the farmhouse and buildings. The boy’s mother and father greeted us and after we had changed from our school clothes to the grubbies we went out to do the chores. I learned how to fed the pigs, horses and cows and although it was fun I didn’t feel real comfortable around those big cows and horses. My buddy assured me they were okay but then again he had been around them all his life whereas I only saw them at a distance or in the movies. When the chores were done we went back into the house and by then his father had finished milking the cows. We washed up outside after pumping water from the well. That was fun pulling the pump handle up and down but I suppose it wasn’t as much fun when one had to do that all the time. The food was great and the other members of the family made me feel right at home. It was beginning to get darker and darker and my first though was, “Why doesn’t somebody turn on the lights?’ Then I realized there was no electricity. Soon a kerosene lamp was taken from the wall bracket, lit and we had light. It was not all that bright and lefts lots of shadows in the corners of the kitchen. Several other kerosene lamps were lit and one especially was very bright. It was called a mantle lamp, which, I was informed, took special care and different fuel. We adjourned to the dining room and played some checkers. A bit later my buddy and I trooped out to the barn, as he wanted to visit his calf and see if it was okay. He lit a lantern and we walked to the barn. Looking around their farm and also peering into the distance it was dark. I mean dark, as the only light was the lantern and some lamps on in the house. No streetlight or bright lights in houses and I finally spotted a feeble light at a farm one mile away and that was some comfort. I missed the ever-present street light in front of our house and along the streets. There were always some lights from houses in our block and downtown.
We left the barn and walked back to the house. It was sure quiet, as the only noises were our footsteps and some farm livestock moving around. Living in town was sure different as there we always had some noises like traffic, trains, church clock striking every ½ hour and people. There sure was a lot of silence and it seemed to close in on me, the town kid. While we were outside my buddy suggested that I use the outdoor toilet as that would be my last chance. Seemed strange but I found out later the wisdom of his suggestion.
The family was gathered in the kitchen where a great smell of freshly popped popcorn was awaiting us. Bowls were passed out and by the light of a kerosene lamp we played a hot game of checkers. Several of the other members of the family were reading and watching our game. Later that evening I was given a paper to read and I thought to myself that if I had to do much reading by that lamp my eyes would really get tired. Evening closed down early and we were hustled off to bed in an upstairs bedroom. We carried a lamp up the stairs and into the bedroom and proceeded to change into bedclothes. As we were getting into the bed I was shown the chamber pot under the bed and informed of the function of that strange looking pot. My buddy’s earlier advice became very clear. Much different than our indoor toilet facility at home and made me appreciate our house in town a great deal more.
After the lamp was blown out in the bedroom it was really dark and quiet. We talked for a long time and finally fell asleep. I had no more gone to sleep than we were awakened, it was morning and the sun was just coming up. Jumping out of bed was a shock as the floor was cold and no time was lost in downing our clothing. Down the steps we went to be greeted by the aroma of pancakes and fried eggs. That was a great breakfast. Chores had to be done so out we went to the barn and repeated the same duties as the night before. Saturday meant that additional jobs had to be done so it wasn’t until after lunch that we could really play. We had a great time playing in the grove building forts and playing Robin Hood. Later that day we rode the Indian pony bareback and I fell off several times. Didn’t make me very fond of horses the rest of my life.
The weekend on that farm was a real eye opener for me. Today we label it “cultural shock” but that experience gave me a better understanding of living on a farm. During World War II while stationed in India and China we seldom had electricity in our living quarters so we had to rely on artificial lighting such as candles and lamps. Many of my army buddies remarked many times that it was just like their lighting back home on the farm. They didn’t feel the lack of electricity and lights nearly as bad as the town boy. It is only when you don’t have something as simple a good lighting that it is missed.
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