The Pony Man Is Here!
(Click on to enlarge) I'm on the front!
My sister and I could see him way down the street. He was coming our way! Nothing could be so exciting to a 4 year-old and a six-year-old! We were anxiously waiting and watching as this old man ambled through the neighbourhood of Applewood Acres.
Maybe they had distributed fliers a few days beforehand because all the kids were cleaned up with hair neatly combed or braided. In my mind's eye I see a very poor, unkempt, gray-haired elderly man come up our driveway with his pony and camera. He was thin as a rail.
My sister , being older, recalls him in more detail in a recent e-mail:
"Thanks for the horse picture. Do you remember when that old man came down Greening Ave? The old man didn't have too many teeth and the horse (pony) looked as if it was on its last legs but we were so thrilled to see it come down the road that we risked getting on the thing. That guy probably made a bit of money that day and we can only hope he put some of it towards some dental care. Life was so much simpler then for kids like us in Applewood Acres when something like that was a big event. I feel sorry for the kids today."
I totally agree. We were satisfied, no, truly excited about having our picture taken on a pony. It must have made a deep impression because many of us have such fond memories of that day. There must be a whole lot of Applewood kids who have that same picture in a box somewhere.
Maybe they had distributed fliers a few days beforehand because all the kids were cleaned up with hair neatly combed or braided. In my mind's eye I see a very poor, unkempt, gray-haired elderly man come up our driveway with his pony and camera. He was thin as a rail.
My sister , being older, recalls him in more detail in a recent e-mail:
"Thanks for the horse picture. Do you remember when that old man came down Greening Ave? The old man didn't have too many teeth and the horse (pony) looked as if it was on its last legs but we were so thrilled to see it come down the road that we risked getting on the thing. That guy probably made a bit of money that day and we can only hope he put some of it towards some dental care. Life was so much simpler then for kids like us in Applewood Acres when something like that was a big event. I feel sorry for the kids today."
I totally agree. We were satisfied, no, truly excited about having our picture taken on a pony. It must have made a deep impression because many of us have such fond memories of that day. There must be a whole lot of Applewood kids who have that same picture in a box somewhere.
Mother of Invention, taking it out of the box, just for you!
Labels: Horse Picture, Kid Memories
posted by Mother of Invention at 10:39 PM
19 Comments:
Some of my big pleasures as a kid were playing putt-putt golf, and playing catch with a ball against our brick wall (before graduating to "real" baseball). What a contrast to kids today. Life was so much simpler.
Of course, our parents probably said the very same thing about our generation.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
I agree about the little things that got us excited, but I think that for many of our parents' childhood (during the depression and WW2) was a bit more frugal and difficult.
Gawd, I remember a big deal was going apple picking....
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
I am tempted to say that things are different today, that our kids are so much more worldly than we were - but I keep hearing my parents say that, and their parents too.
Things ARE different. What excites our kids are things that are relative to their world today just as pictures on ponies were exciting relative to our world at that time. (although I expect farm kids didn't find pony pictures exciting, especially after shoveling manure out of the pony's stall).
Was our time simpler? to us, maybe. to our kids - one day they will look back and joke about how primitive playstation 3 is compared to what their kids are playing and how they just can't keep up.
Things don't really change.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
I agree with Bob. Everything is relative. Me? I remember with clarity the 3 times I got to be on a pony as a kid. Heaven! Out here, among the cows, not such a big deal for most, either (although we don't have horses, so my kids would think it was cool).
That pony looks rather happy in the photo. Here's hoping he got some good oats out of it.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
David: We played ball games and rhymes/chants against the wall too...and hours of skipping and hop-scotch. You're right (and others here agree)that our parents thought their life was simpler and on it'll go. Maybe there's no yardstick except your own life as a child.
Gr: Our parents sure had fewer material things especially during childhood. I think their generation has seen the most change. I can't help but compare our childhood to this generation of kids and find some things lacking in some of these kids. They wouldn't get excited about apple picking! Maybe it's not any less worthy..just different.
Bob: Yes, I see your point, the operative word being "relate". Change is relative and my frame of reference is my own childhood, which seems to me better in some ways at least. Maybe some of theirs is better...don't know..but they'll think it is! Each generation has their strong points.
I can't disagree with our parents that they had a much simpler childhood and appreciated small things more than ours did. Not necessarily better by everyone's own reference, but simpler. I do value simplicity though.
Diana: I see what you're saying and as I said to Bob, it is all relative and it is hard for me to see how simple today's kids lives are because ours was so drastically different.
But then I don't know what today's kids' children will have either. In some ways, that's a scary thought because I can't even imagine the complexity and where their lives are headed.
Yes, I guess that pony didn't go to farms! Maybe that horse could feel us smiling and so felt happy 'bout that!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Part of the wonder of childhood is that they only see the magic in the day, not the old man with the old horse. I like that you have your sister's memories here too.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
We have one of us little one in a cart being pulled by a goat! I do remember back as far as the rag man who rode a horse and buggie!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
That sounds like quite a great memory!
I wish children nowadays were happy with even the simple things. In my opinion, the "simple" things are the sweet things, the good stuff life is made for!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Meno: Yes, but somehow we conjured that up from a deep memory to appreciate those things as adults!
Thanks. My sister is a cool person and extremely funny so is neat to have shared all the good childhood memories we have!
Colleen: Oh, that is so neat! We didn't have a rag man, but we had the egg man, milk man, bread man, Fuller Brush man,Popcorn and taffy apple man, and Avon Lady! Was way more personal and I loved those little wee lipsticks in the brass tubes we got from Avon!
Now, all we get is irritating phone calls about steamcleaning carpet and frozen meats!
Abigail: They were great fun! What do you see as simple in your Kindergarten kids I wonder?
Thursday, February 22, 2007
I suppose, kids these days are much more 'worldly' (as in they have knowledge and 'links' to the whole world) - and yet, I don't think their lives are more complex. Not for them, anyhow. When you've seen so many unusal, weird, and exciting things on the television, it's like you've already seen it in reality, and makes it common-place; less memorable...
I think another of the difference is that they don't have to do so much for the adults. I used to work in the fields every day, as well as have to clean the house. My kids do have chores to do, but nothing like those my siblings and I had.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Annelisa: Not complex for them..that's the key word...but it seems more complex than what we dealt with. I still think that our reality was perhaps more pure and wholesome and we saw that on TV too. It makes me a bit sad to have them see what's on TV and have it seem so common-place.
They certainly don't do as much work as we did for our parents. Some even think it's their God-Given right to do nothing in return for a good life served up on a silver platter.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Getting the chance to sit on a real live pony would be very exciting. I loved horses when I was a young girl. I still do.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Hi MoI!
I left a long comment here yesterday........but it's gone!! Blogger must've eaten it.......
or a wave crashed over it - LOL
so, I'll leave a short one today:
I liked this post. Made me think about family.
hugs,
rdg
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Coll:
Glad you would have been as excited as we were. I like the look of horses now but never learned how to ride them. I was on them about 3 times in my life!
RDG: Blogger hasn't been acting like a member of the family lately for a LOT of people! Thanks! It was a neat memory!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Thanks for a sweet ride down the memory lane. Life might have been easier those days. Less choices. Less mobility.
And over here: Less of everything. My parents went abroad to Sweden to buy canned pineapples and my brother got 4 bananas on a doctors prescription. Toys were made by my grandfathers and pets sewed by my mother, before we where able to make our own. We were cowboys and indians, played in the forest, jumped on skis, made sandcastles and dams at the beach....
.. and had fun:)
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Sounds like one of those circus characters, who was a little pathetic but still a delight. There was always such a sadness about those who led the life of a gypsy.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Now I have to dig up my picture of my brother on a pony!
Friday, February 23, 2007
I was thinking about what you said, about it being sad that what they see on tv makes it commonplace... guess the other side of that is that our children are more worldly-wise and informed, and they have a lot of second-hand experience to guide them... I wonder if it will help them at all?!
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Toraa:That sounds like an ideal simple childhood that was well appreciated. But just wondering...why the heck were you playing cowboys and Indians when you never had them in real history like we did? Was it from the TV you got those ideas?
Barbara: Yes, he reminded me of those old Fairgrounds workers who were with Konklin Rides.
Old Lady: Do that! Were you there too?
Annelisa: Yes, that is the flipside...maybe in some perverse way, they'll know how to deal with real life, but it's still sad that this IS their real life.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
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