Hoo boy! Loved this write-up. And what's strange and a sign of the times is that I caught myself looking for the Facebook "Like" button. I was thinking recently about what is considered "poverty" nowadays. We had to heat water on the wood burning cook stove or "Florence" oven top and take it to the bath tub for a warm Saturday night bath. The boys had to chop wood -- either from the wooden crates or nail kegs from the store or from downed trees. And we milked the cow that we had on a lot behind our house in the center of town. Biggest mistake of my life: "Dad! I milked the cow this evening!" "Good, son. Now you get to milk the cow every evening." "But dad, I did a bad job." I could detect a twinkle in his eyes "No son, you get to milk the cow every evening". No TV. Just radio. And the phone was party line. Walked to school. Shared a bike with two older brothers. Clothes were patched and hand-me-downs. Had to work at the hardware store for two (2) bosses thinking up work for me to do. But us "city kids" lived the life of luxury compared to the farm kids. They had no electricity, and their water was from a well. Night time visits to the outhouse were an experience. While this would be considered poverty now, it was normal for everyone then and was not poverty at all. We were happy. Now anyone undergoing the above living of the 40s and early 50s is considered severely underprivileged and in dire poverty. And overhead lines? Probably saves people's lives. I've had lightning strikes on power lines very close to me. Underground power is extremely dangerous to housing unless the houses have, ironically, old fashioned lightning rods. Some houses have been hit in our newer areas and burned partially and some completely. Removing telephone and power lines? Take a look at this 1908 picture of my home town. Those telephone lines were an important part of our town's history. http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~minco/fotos/1900-1920_s.htm Woody =============== , Kith-n-Kin@cox.net writes: I really can't resist this, but I have to laugh at myself every time I go to remove offending wires or other "artifacts" from photos I have, or have taken -- historic or not! But I wonder, sometimes, what color the lenses are on the glasses some people see history through. Several years ago, in an "historic neighborhood" (in this case, turn of the 20th century), close to the university, someone wanted to build a multi-unit housing structure. Ah, the cries of "foul" were heard across the city! One of the "pleas" was "we want our historic neighborhood to look just like it did in the 'old' days." Really. Did they have any idea what the "old" days looked like? I suggested they might want to get some photographs from the historical society and put their money where their mouths were. First, add two utility poles per block, add three cross-arms per pole, and about sixteen strands of wire. Don't forget the bundles going to each house. I would bet that the neighborhood was delighted when Tucson Power and Light got to their neighborhood and they could put away the kerosene lanterns. They probably deliberately went out and took pictures of them! Progress, you know. Then, they could resurrect the outdoor clothes lines and put them in all the backyards, ban dryers, and have all the "housewives" (after they were done working at their jobs in law offices, schools, and industry) wash and dry the clothes in the sun. Then, of course, they would trade in their BMWs for 1936 Fords, and forget all that stuff about pollution. And, of course, they would have to take all the now apartment houses and turn them back into the single family dwellings, take the quaint little shops and bars and return them to the single family residences they once were. . . Then. . . . -- well, let's just say I'm not the most popular person around that area. Thank goodness it's not "my" neighborhood, where everything and everyone is "perfect." <G> One of the "fun" exercises, I think, about genealogy is "how did they *really* live?" Hearth cooking is "romantic" till you do it every day, "outhouses" are icky, until you think about the ancestor who had no outhouses, Motel 6 is basic, until you think of the wagons and scratchy wool blankets, not to mention hygiene issues on the trails. . . All for now -- I have to go get the scrub board out and do the laundry. And afterwards, I'll get a wooden spoon and accompany my hubby on his fiddle whilst the children sing church hymns. Pat In Tucson -----Original Message----- From: gen-newbie-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:gen-newbie-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Shari B Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2012 10:58 AM To: gen-newbie@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [GN] Fwd: Giveaway of the Day Thanks, Elaine - this looks like a neat freebie. I downloaded it. I have a bit of experience with photo retouching - it seems to have some neat photo corrective features. I dislike telephone lines in historical photos. :) Shari ********************

Sounds like I have to clarify my comment about not liking electric lines in historical photos: My gggrandparents lived on a farm out in the country. The house is still standing. I wanted a photo of it because it might not be there much longer. I took the photo, removed the power lines, printed it in a sepia tone and framed it in an antique frame - trying to capture the essence of what it 'might' have looked like 'back in the day' when they heated with wood and read by candle light. The same ancestor was on the board of directors who founded the local church, circa 1862. The road in front of the church is now a busy intersection complete with stop lights, a newspaper box, over-head power lines, etc. I took my picture, removed all the 'new stuff' in the picture and again printed it in sepia tone, mounted in an antique frame and I love it because of the 'essence of old'. As for photo retouching: To each his own. :) Shari