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I remember my grandmas house in Joliet IL. She had a 5 acre home, picket fence, gravel road, big corn field on the other side, planked wood porch like in the old west towns, no indoor plumbing, an outhouse, in the kitchen we had to use a hand pump to get water, the stove had firewood under the burners, the refrigerator was an icebox. A guy would come three times a week to deliver a large block of ice. Coal was delivered for heat. They set up schutes from the road at a downward angle and gravity would covey the coal through a window in the basement. The workers faces and arms were covered in coal dust. She had electric lights, but that was a "new upgrade" because she had oil lamps throughout the house. No phone or TV. No A/C.
We had fun, I would be there in summer for two weeks, several years in a row in the mid 50's. I was 8 years old then. My grandma had plenty of fruit trees and a vine yard. We used to make the wine, pick the grapes, crush them in huge vats with our bare feet, let it ferment. At night we set huge Bon fires, sang songs and my parents got drunk. :-) Only problem was a language barrier, she spoke German. Great memories!
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