10 Magical Photos of What Childhood Looked Like Before Technology Took Over
Updated: Mar. 30, 2017Ever wonder what kids did before they all had iPads and video games?
Marbles was our game
“We played on the playground everyday before school started in the early 1940s. Our favorite game was school bells: Once the bell rang, the fellow who grabbed the most marbles won. Here, the gang ringing the circle consisted of, from left me, Donald, Henry, Tony and Jackie.” —Dominick Sidoti, Washington, NJ, Reminisce Extra March 2017 (Don’t miss these little-know game facts and trivia.)
Ride on!
“Odette Landers of Fort Pierce, Florida, took this shot of her twins, Susan and Billy, with their new trikes on their second birthday in July 1960. They’re in front of the family home in Hauppauge, New York.” —Odette Landers, Reminisce Extra March 2017
The evolution of flight
“My sons Brad (left) and Bill loved to decorate their bikes for the Fourth of July parade in Sharonville, Ohio,” says Elizabeth Lamb of Albany, Oregon. “We’d have a family conference on what best represented the occasion. In 1969, it was the evolution of flight, as America was about to put men on the moon.” —Elizabeth Lamb, Reminisce June/July 2016
Not just for the birds
“Back in 1968, the Norton clan took over the Noonan Park “duck house,” a kids’ favorite at this Minnesota lake where waterfowl migrate each year.” —Jim Norton, Alexandria, Minnesota, Reminisce February/March 2017
Sleigh Ride
“Here are my two kids, Neal and Sue, along with their friend Gena, at the base of a long toboggan run at Mount Pinos, California, in 1952. Neal turned out to be a very good skier.” —Harry Jungi, Oroville, California, Reminisce Extra January 2017 (Love snow pictures? Check out stunning pictures of national parks covered in snow.)
Kool Aid Stand
“Can’t afford lemons? Try Kool-Aid. Victor, 3, and Valarie, 4, sold a lot to one repeat customer, their dad. He’d walk around the block, stop and say, ‘Hi kids. What are y’all selling?'” —Donna Scott, Seymour, Texas, Reminisce Extra, July 2017
Barn Ball
“We got the idea to put a basketball hoop in our hayloft after we visited Mennonite family friends of ours one New Year’s Day. There was no television at our friends’ house, but they did have a basketball hoop in the barn that kept everyone entertained.” —Shirley Beetz, Sunman, Indiana, Farm & Ranch Living February/March 2017
Shelling corn
“‘Look! I can do it, Papaw, I can do it,’ my precious granddaughter Kylie said as she enjoyed her first lesson on how to shell corn,” —Janice Kay Johnson of Cosby, Tennessee, Farm & Ranch Living August/September 2016
Digging in the dirt
“Patricia Althiser of Elmwood, Illinois, loves the different expressions on the kids’ faces as they toil in Grandpa Rodgers’ vegetable garden in Farmington, Illinois, in 1973. The excited work crew (from left), siblings Bob and Sally Althiser and cousin Clete, pull their weight amidst the corn and cabbage.” —Patricia Althiser, Reminisce October/November 2016
Summer concert
“Grandma’s garden in Omaha was an impromptu choice for a summer concert my sons, Roger (left) and Jerry, performed in 1958.” —Hazel Magner, Omaha, Nebraska, Reminisce August/September 2014