SUMMER MEMORIES
Top 10 Things About My 1950’s and 60’s Childhood Summers in Minnesota
Days and nights I wouldn’t trade for anything — including the hard parts
I’ve been writing a lot lately about my home state of Minnesota. Since I’m on a roll, I’ve decided to keep it going. Writing about an important part of my life: my childhood summers in the 1950’s and 60’s.
Culturally, things were very different then, in some ways. And yet, compared to today, some things are still the same or close. We didn’t have electronic devices of course. Even television was in its early stages. According to the Digital Public Library of America, in 1955 half of American families had a television. Up from a few thousand homes in 1947. We did have one. And it was a big deal, but so were these things…
Swimming. My father was an excellent swimmer. And water skier. My mother never learned to swim. He grew up around lakes. Her family farmed. She, in particular, ensured that the seven of us kids became good swimmers. Every summer from young ages to our teen years, we took swimming lessons at the community pool. We spent lots of time at Minnesota lakes during the summers, so we gained more swimming experience there, as well as lots of water play and eventually water skiing. We also swam at…
