Reveries and Observations of an Old Man

By Steven Granson

An innocent and delightful look back at the world our elders grew up in, as seen through the eyes of the author Steven Granson, born in 1936 during the height of the Great Depression.
Enjoyable reading, humorously related, for young and old alike. For some a nostalgic flashback to their childhood years. For others an informative and entertaining insight into the world their parents and grandparents started out in; a world so different from today's.
Including insightful observations of the times then and now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 22, 2008
• ISBN: 9780595635344

Steven Granson

STEVEN GRANSON, AUTHOR OF REVERIES AND OBSERVATIONS OF AN OLD MAN AND ZANDO, LIVES WITH HIS WIFE SUSAN IN SOUTH FLORIDA.

Book preview

Copyright © 2008 by Steven Granson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written

permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in

critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links

contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-0-595-53476-0 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-0-595-63534-4 (ebk)

iUniverse Rev. Date 2/23/2009

Contents

Author’s Note

Observation

Introduction

I

ll

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

Small Town USA

X

XI

XII

XIII

XIV

XV

XVI

XVII

XVIII

XIX

XX

Communism and the Cold War

XXI

XXII

XXIII

XXIV

XXV

XXVI

XXVII

XXVIII

XXIX

XXX

XXXI

XXXII

Author’s Note

The problem is I have run out of time…I can no longer put off doing this…my youth has long passed me by as have my middle years.

I have now entered the social security years or if you prefer the last chapter of my life…in other words I have grown old.

Either way when I was young I dreamed of writing the great American novel, but in short order I learned I had very little to say. My middle years were consumed doing all the right things… marriage, children, working…you know the drill.

So here I am, the end is no longer light years away and I feel the need to leave behind something other than a tombstone that once a Steven Granson lived. To be completely frank, call it presumptuous if you like, I think after a lifetime of living there are some things of value I have learned that merit passing on.

Observation

AS WE AGE SOME PEOPLE GROW WISER

MOST JUST GROW OLDER.

Introduction

In the near three quarters of a century I have lived, there has been an explosion in technology.

Can you imagine life with no television, no computers, no air conditioning, and most homes without telephones?

Milk delivered in horse drawn wagons and icemen carrying large blocks of ice to go into your icebox?

It sounds like the dark ages…yet that was how it was when I was born in Brooklyn in 1936. It was the height of the great depression and times were hard. There was no unemployment insurance or welfare program, as we know today or social security pensions.

Doctors made house calls and considered it a necessary part of their job. Cigarette companies were advertising doctor’s favorite brands and one ad said, Not a cough in a carload. Airplane travel was many years away from being a common means of transportation.

Movies were in black and white and cost about 17 cents for two double features, cartoons and the news. In the movies the good guys smoked cigarettes and the bad guys usually had thin mustaches.

Zippers were starting to replace buttons on the flies of our pants…this was not an easy transition as the early zippers often popped open at awkward moments.

And a biggie, at least for me, children were starting to wear long pants instead of knickers.

Though not quite as apparent but arguably just as meaningful were the social changes that have taken place in my lifetime.

Changes in our sexual behavior, buying on credit with plastic cards, women entering and staying in the work force and competing with men for the top positions, our attitude towards marriage and divorce and our government coming forth with increasingly stronger enforcement of anti discrimination laws as well as big brother laws.

Further our advancements in healthcare have brought about an astonishing increase in our life expectancy. At the start of the twentieth century, the average life expectancy was only about 50 years. Today we are approaching an expectancy of near 80 years of age, with the greatest growth group being people over 100. This change is bringing about dramatic differences in many of our outlooks and attitudes, the full affect of which is yet to be realized.

With all these changes in mind I have determined you just might find it of interest and perhaps even value to read about the way it was when I started out. So why don’t you pull up a chair, make yourself comfortable and I will begin relating to you the reveries and observations of an old man…if anywhere along the way you lose interest in what I have to say, well close the book and walk away…no hard feelings.

If you would allow me, I would ask you to read this book with as open a mind as possible. For a closed mind like a closed door is difficult to enter.

What I would like to say to you is something similar to what I told my son on the day he was preparing to leave for college. I said, Son in this new world you will be entering you will encounter many people who have different viewpoints and ways than you are accustomed to. They may have different eating habits, dress styles, religious beliefs and even bathroom manners. Do not judge them harshly simply because you are not accustomed to their ways. Rather try to explore within yourself why you are so bothered by their differences.

I

My father failed to pull out in time and so my twin and I were conceived. The year was 1936 the great depression was showing little sign of ending and my father had been out of work for a long time. About the last thing my parents needed was an additional child, much less twins.

Still, call it fate, pre-determinism or simply a reluctance to terminate their carnal pleasure in a timely manner. In any event the population of our country increased by two.

I would like to say the world, as a result, was forever changed. However, unless