The Fun Things Children Invented On Their Own: A Required Task During Simpler Times

This is a great portrait for Ann's family, although it only shows everyone as of Tim being the youngest member. Connie and Ned were new arrivals. I remember Ned and Connie, when they were in Junior Sunday School in Second Ward. Those were the days before Primary was on Sunday. Connie had the trademark Thomas haircut. She was always smiling. I was there to bless the sacrament on Ned's first Sunday there. He sat quietly. One tear formed in the corner of his eye, ran down his cheek, and others followed. He didn't make a sound. Connie followed and did the same thing, even though they didn't sit in the same spot.

I remember seeing Ann driving them in the car. They were always on their way to the Drive-In or somewhere. Ann seemed always prepared to do what she needed to do to help.

I don't remember much about Nancy, other than an argument she had with David in the store once. She maintained that Fabian and Ricky Nelson were as good as it would ever get in the Rock 'N Roll scene. David liked the Beatles.

Marvin, Dennis and David were fun to watch. I was a young deacon, and all of us in the neighborhood walked home from church one Sunday. Ben Call's place was near a creek. A rope swing was there. 

Ann's brothers took their turn. Each one took a turn, swinging back and forth until the stopped. They dropped into the stream of water, which in the spring was about a foot or more deep. 

I was horrified. They had leather shoes and slacks like I did, but I would never have done it--not unless of course I wanted to face the wrath of my parents for getting Sunday clothes dirty.

Ann's family always was fun. Marvin went with us on Scouting campouts. He always said things that made us smile. It was something he continued for years. It's another reason I still miss him. Even after Ann and I married, he would sit by me at any meal and tell me jokes.

What can I say about the 50's. Fun was what you did on your own, in a sand pile or in a tree or in a wooded area in the back of South Main Street we called The Jungle. It began at the northern end at Ben Call's--right where that rope swing was. We spent hours there. It was everything any child would have loved to have, yet we never worried about anyone drowning. I would never let my grandchildren play in a place like that. Maybe it's because I remember what it was like to walk across this tall culvert suspended some twenty to thirty feet in the air.

And even old tires became fun toys. They funny thing about these is that they were very old tires, ones that would have fit on my '29 Model A or a bit later. They were narrow and tall, which was a trademark of the older cars in the 20's and 30's.

And a tree was a great place too, any time of year. You often saw small boards nailed up the trunk, which looked like a sort of ladder. It was a way to get to the "crook" of the tree a second time, without scraping your arms and legs.

We truly grew up in a magical time and in a magical place. Where could a child have had so much fun.

They were simple times, full of simple pleasures.

You played games outside, sometimes involving an entire neighborhood. You created your own toys with a hammer, discarded wood and nails. You spent time lying on the lawn watching clouds and looking for familiar shapes sailing toward a distant horizon.