Tuesday, January 12, 2010

What a difference a 100 years makes.(Dad would be 107!)

In 1903 the Wright brothers achieved sustained powered flight. But most important Benjamin Franklin Darnell, MY DADDY was born January 14th. Then 95% of all births were at home. So was his, in the North country of Georgia.
By 1909 my dad was six years old. Cars were invented and being used but he never saw one until he was ten years old. Having access to the internet is a wonderful (and time consuming) thing. Especially since we cannot have high speed internet here in our motor home. So I thought I would check out some things. Since ten years ago we climbed into the year 2000 to see how it fit. Amazingly, it was uncomfortable at first, but now it feels normal.


My Daddy 1903-1972, The right Reverand Benjamin Franklin Thomas Edison Roosevelt Darnell. (dad added the Thomas Edison Roosevelt later, LOL)
( My cousin Billy, he is pretty old himslelf, still around.)
Mama used to say, “I was born in five, your dad was born in three.” That sounded so funny to me. Now children will be saying the same thing if the world lasts until 2070.
Did you realize when my dad was six that the gas for the old Ford cars was only sold in drug stores? There you could also buy marijuana and opium.
The speed limit in town was 10mph and in the entire USA there were only 8,000 cars and 144 miles of paved roads. 8000 cars would not even put one in each town. My dad lived to own cars and ride in an airplane. He lived to see Neil Armstrong step on the moon.





(Over there is another OLD cousin Jimmy another of the Herron boys.)
When dad was six years old it was 1909 and the average wage was 22 cents an hour. Eggs were about a penny apiece. His life expectancy was 47 years, he lived to be 69. Daddy drank a little before he was 20 years old, none after. He never smoked, but he loved butter milk, cheese, country ham and eggs. They say it clogged his arteries and caused a heart attack (’71-72). He had open heart surgery, we were stationed in Cuba.



(The yellow car is the 1903 Sunbeam car.)




(This treat, the hot fudge sundae was invented in 1906.
Sherry still says thanks!)







(Corn Flakes were invented in 1906, this is a 1910 ad.)




Dad loved our boys. I still cannot believe it, we let Jackie (13) and Mark (10) take a plane from Cuba, catch a cab to the bus station in Norfolk, and take a bus to Charlotte. (A couple thousand miles). At Charlotte Jack talked the bus driver into letting them off the bus near Dad and Mom’s house even though it was sorta in the country then it was a four lane road and busses never stopped there.. WE followed from Cuba, as soon as I could get leave. Dad survived the surgery a year or so.
But back when he was six, 90% of all doctors had no college education. They attended medical schools.
What a change in a hundred years.
Thanks for coming by the log.
Nite Shipslog
PS: Old is when:

******Getting lucky means you find your car in the parking lot.
****An all-nighter means not getting up to pee!

9 comments:

Lucy said...

Thanks for that wonderful story, Jack. Your dad had hair!! Joe agreers with the all nighter.,

Helen said...

Very interesting Jack. I agree with the all nighter except I never have them anymore LOL. I would think they didn't know very much about open heart surgery when your Dad had it. Helen

Anonymous said...

That was a super post! I love that you dad added to his name, lol!

shirl72 said...

I do know about the all-nighter. Dad was one
of the Great Men. He was so wise and I sure do
miss him. I have never met a person that didn't think our parents were the greatest.
They could communicate with any age on their
level. I remember at Dad's funeral my boss said
that was the first funeral that he attended where people from age 3 years to 90 was crying.

Shirl

Debbie said...

Happy Birthday to yours & Shirl's Dad in Heaven. I know you both miss him especially on days of celebration like today.

Love ya'll
Debbie

PS: I looked at the neighbors burning bushes a couple of week ago and they don't keep their leaves in cold weather. The bushes are bare, not a leaf in sight on either one of them.

Paula said...

A very interesting entry.

Bookncoffee said...

Neat entry about your Dad. He looks like such a nice fellow too! Just like you!

I have been thinking about my Dad today. He died 4 years ago today. We miss him terribly. But whether it's birthday, or date they died. It is all the same. WE love them and we miss them and we will see them again some day, God willing. Thanks for sharing. Are you still in FL? Jim Cantore saying some severe weather Saturday. I follow him on Twitter. lol. He tweeted me personally the other day and thrilled me to death. ha.

Keep warm. It's 26 here and I bet it is 40's where you are!

Anonymous said...

Worth to be saved to my hard-drive, and shown to my son when he's grown.

Please have you all a wonderful Wednesday. and p.s.: sometimes I don't get up during the night, even though it feels as if I should, maybe it helps of not feeling already old ;)

Rose said...

Great post and tribute to your Dad. My father was born in 1900-1977. Yes,time has brought many changes for the most part.....good and not so good as the simple life was less complicated.