Ever wonder about...

[bamamomto4]

what women did before the internet?
I have my usual routine everyday and it ALWAYS includes being online.What did women do BEFORE the internet?? Did they cook allday,wash clothes....work in the fields?? LOL

I would like to travel back in time to,ummm say the 40's or 50's.
Women were all SAHM's that cleaned and cooked allday.Always wore makeup and dresses...(Some days I do good to brush my hair!! LOL) Wonder what they did for fun??

[CountryMom]

I think in the winter time they did a lot of crafts in there spare time. If you go back before a lot of the modern conviences they baked bread, mended clothes, made clothes and things like that.

In the summer they gardened, canned and probably helped with the field work.

[Megareader]

My mom and the neighbor ladies would get together late in the morning, after some housework had been done, for coffee. Cooking would have been a little different...no Hamburger Helpers back then. Hey, am I the only one who remembers Tuna Casserole with potato chips on top? I think that was a staple of the 50's.

[Lori Biever-Launder]

My mom was not your traditional mother in many ways, which is odd considering she was raised to be "just a mom". When I was in the fourth grade, she went back to college and after many years, got her BS in biology (double majored, no less!). She didn't have time to do crafts, but we had a huge garden, so every summer the garden slaves (aka sis and me), Papa and Mama canned everything. She was always very proud of the shining rows of veggies in the pantry.

[COUNTRYBUMPKIN]

Well I grew up during the 60's, and even though my mom was and RN and a graduate of Henry Ford school of nursing, she had 3 kids in 3 years, and was a SAHM We always had hot meals cooked from scratch, and mom was forever cleaning the house it seemed like. I can also remember her starching all of the cotton clothes. Seems like that took up an awful lot of her time! We always had to walk home for lunch, during the school year, and mom always had hot soup and sandwiches waiting for us. We had a huge garden in the summer that mom and us worked in. We had a black and white 19" tv and watched The Three Stooges, Mr. Ed, Gilligan Island and shows like that. On occasion, mom would go to her card club and play cards with the other women in the neighborhood. The paticular person hosting the party that given week, would have to make a dessert. Oh I can also remember mom and her new Kirby vacuum. Man that thing was heavy and so LOUD!!!!!!! Is'nt it just amazing how time flies and things change so fast?

[MicheleMomof3]

I think we have it easier today then back in the 50's ( and yes I remeber potatoe chips on top of moms casseroles even though I was born in 1969, lol). I was raised on a farm where it didn't matter your gender, you helped out. And it didn't matter your age either, there was a job for everyone. My mother & father divorced when I was 5 but I spent a good deal of time with my father & Grandmother on the family farm. My mother always worked but when Id visit my Granny I would see how it was to stay at home. She ran the farm and her house without the help of a man. Her only hobby was quilting. She use to tell me that a microwave made you lazy, LOL I dont think if she were alive today she's approve of my internet hobby at all since it wouldn't be viewed as productive.
~Michele~

[homesteadmamma]

Great question Tammy. I can't imagine how they got along without the computer.

[dwallyfam]

They had quilting bees and sewing circles, and club parties. Of course back then you didn't have a lot of the modern conveniences we have now and housework to a bit longer.

kellie

[Nada.Leona]

I suspect there was a lot more chores to do. If you think about it, the vast improvements in technology concerning house cooking and cleaning have greatly surpassed anything that our mothers and grandmothers once experienced. Vacuums work better, cleaners are more powerful (and dangerous -- that's why I stick to good ol' baking soda and vinegar), ovens and stoves were less efficient, food was not as fancy and diets were not as specific (can you imagine the look on their faces if their daughter brought home a friend who was a raw-food vegan? ) nor were there as many perservatives and chemicals on foods. At least one would believe.

I suspect there was far more for the housewife to do, and in adiiton, there were more children being born then too -- lots of children eant lots more cooking, cleaning, mending, entertaining, social activities, etc.

I think women of the time, if they had any social time at all, probably spent a lot of time doing the whole afternoon tea and cookies, or hosting dinners, or reading, etc. But it certainly would be facsinating to ask our older ladies such a question.

[mizniteowl]

I think about this from time to time. What the heck did my mom do all day? lol She did have various jobs with various shifts. She was totally against getting a computer and if she were alive today she probably still would be. She had a few crafty projects she would work on sometimes. Her best friend lived right next door to her and dad so they were together a lot of the times. She was never into gardening, canning, sewing, quilting or anything like that.

[canadian gardener]

Aside from chores which were a bit more.

There were coffee klatches. Not sure of the spelling.

But that meant that you were pegging out the morning laundry on the line at the same time as your neighbor, and she would call over to you that in half an hour she would have the coffee on.

You'd go over, and maybe some of her friends would be done their stuff, and the kids were out playing, the babies were along in their strollers or buggies and you'd sit and discuss the problems you had with dh, kids, housekeeping and cooking.

So daily life was kind of attacked by a friendly gang of women all in the same boat as you were.

Kids played outside and had lots to do to amuse themselves, so they re appeared at meal times and nobody worried that they were watching too much tv or would be nabbed by a molester.

That is pretty much how my mother did things in the 50's and 60's.

[dndylfe]

Well, although my mom wasn't a mom in the 60's, there certainly was no internet when she was raising us.

I remember she did a lot of volunteer work for the Red Cross, and was involved in the Home Extension office, quilted, and helped put on health demonstrations for the local school (I remember going along with her). Also volunteered for the state fair.

So when I find myself getting bored, I think of all of the projects she did, and hop off the computer. Like I'm going to do right now.

[foxxyroxie]

I know my mom didn't have it easy. She had three children, my brother who was 8 years older was a special needs child so it was like having a 6 month old baby for 27 years of his life. Because of his special needs, I remember even into the late 70s and early 80s her in the basement washing diapers in a wringer washer. She didn't think the diapers came as clean in an automatic. She also canned and froze veggies, ALWAYS had a hot meat-and-potato meal from scratch on the table when my dad got home from work, and her floors were so clean you could almost eat off them. She and my dad sewed a lot of our clothes (what weren't hand-me-downs from my cousin). I do know that she had a weakness for her soaps....from Edge of Night in the a.m. through Guiding Light that ended at 4 p.m.

[Early Bird]

My mom was a SIDETRACKED home exective just like me! And she had a sense of humor too.

She had MORE THAN ENOUGH to keep her busy, even without having neighbors over for coffee!

I know Mom had specific chores on specific days ... for example, on Fridays she cleaned and washed all the floors. (Remember area rugs? We didn't have wall-to-wall carpeting anywhere.)

I suspect the 'Monday washday; Tuesday ironing; etc.' was fairly common.

Mom didn't have LOTS of the gadgets we take for granted: no dishwasher; no microwave. Her sewing machine just did straight stitch and zig zag. She dusted with a rag, not with an ostrich-feather duster. She WAXED the floors. I was in 4th grade when we got our first DRYER. (Hanging out laundry in the Northeast in winter? With 4 little kids GENERATING laundry! brrrrr.) And cloth diapers.

We had hot breakfast often. No dishwasher, so Mom would wash dishes after breakfast.

At lunchtime, we had hot lunches. Dishes ... and pots and pans afterward.

It was extrEEEmely rare to have dinner out. So more cooking ... and more dishes.

After lunch, she'd read for a half-hour while she drank her tea.

In the afternoons, she'd work in the garden; mow the lawn; sew; make gifts; do errands; cook; pay bills; etc.

Also, we children (4 of us) took a LOT of her time and energy. For example, she taught us to roller skate. And ride a bike. She sewed my prom dress. Taught me and my sis the rudiements of sewing and embroidery. She helped us with our homework. She taught us life skills. She listened to our problems and gave advice. She researched college and job opportunities for us, especially when we got to the upper high school years.

One year, we had transferred to a new school over the summer. My records didn't catch up with us, and Mom got a book and made me do math, so I wouldn't be behind. It probably took more time and effort on HER part than on MINE.

**********************
She was a GREAT Mom.
(small sniff. Mom's been gone 17 yrs now.)
**********************

In the evening, Mom would watch TV and embroider (her favorite hobby).

[guest32]

Well....I'm not THAT old, but even I can remember not having a computer and what I did all day.

First, I didn't have a dishwasher or W/D or microwave till my kids were in grade school. So, I cooked a lot, and cleaned up all the dishes by hand. I had to take the laundry either to the laundromat or to my in laws. This usually meant either packing up the kids or waiting till thier dad got off work at 11:00...and yes, I would go to the laudromat at 11:00 PM! We also had a woodstove for heat so I would bring in wood and keep the fire going all day. Later, when they were in school, I volunteered in their classrooms, and was a Girl Scout/Brownie leader for both of them for two years. I had a neighbor who was a good friend and we would get together in the afternoons for tea and talk about what we planned for dinner, etc..... Also, I lived near my family so sometimes I would take the kids to my moms and have lunch or just hang out with her. I can't remember ever being bored...seems like I never had enough time!!

I'll admit..I waste a great deal of time each day just surfing.....