City
5x7"
Daily Collage
When I was growing up, before zip codes, an invitation or note written to someone who lived in the same town was addressed, "city" instead of writing out Small Town, Arkansas. In fact, we didn't put a street address on the letter, either, because, being a town of only 2500 souls, the postmaster and delivery person knew exactly where each family lived. My father wore a hat just like this one every day, whether to work, to church, or to visit a neighbor. He wasn't dressing up; that's just the way it was. Most men wore Fedoras or cowboy hats and most boys wore baseball caps, turned the right way round with the bill in front.
Thank you for clearing up a mystery. I sometimes find old postcards that say city and I've always wondered what that meant. Cool collage!
ReplyDeleteoh wow. It was like that where I grew up in small town Tenn. way back when. I had forgotten that until I saw your post! And our phone number was something like MU-654.... ah, nostalgia.
ReplyDeletePat
(Now in small town rural Kentucky, where my postmaster knows it's my mail even if it doesn't have all the right information!)
I love this collage, and you brought back memories for me. My grandfather always wore that type of hat all the time too, and it's funny how we thought nothing of it.
ReplyDeleteI can't stand it, "City?" wow. when I was growing up our phone numbers in Westfield, MA were either 562-XXXX or 568-XXXX and if you were calling within Westfield, you could just dial 8-XXXX or 2-XXXX leaving off the "56." Here in Orlando, I have to dial the AREA CODE and the entire phone number. I guess it's all a sign of the times. This piece is lovely. I really enjoy the inside of the privacy envelope on the lower right
ReplyDeleteWell I guess I did stir up some memories and answer questions. I lived in a very small Arkansas town but I think this "City" was common for the times. My phone number was 255. That's it; 255. By the late 50's a 5 was added in front, 5255, and much later a few more digits. Now we who live in Oregon must dial 10 numbers including the area code. Thank God for buttons on phones. Our old phones were rotary dial and if I had to use one now it'd take ages to dial a number... I know because I have my mom's old rotary phone hooked up in the garage and dialing out on it requires me to hold the phone with one hand while I dial with the other.
ReplyDeleteTimes are a-changing.
I love this collage and hearing about your early life. I grew up in Atlanta before it became big. We still had a full address. I don't remember a zip code though. More people more numbers I guess!
ReplyDelete