When I think about living through a lot changes - I think about my Great-Grandmother, Anna Elizabeth (Thompson) Sandefur. Nana was born out in the Smith Mills area of Henderson County on August 18th, 1916, and she passed away in Henderson on October 2nd, 2001. She lived a lot of life in those 85 years, let me tell you.
When Nana was young, she went to school on a wagon led by horses. In the 1920's, my Great-Great-Grandfather, John R. Thompson bought a Model T and I have no doubt that my Nana was amazed at the vehicle. These were the days of no indoor plumbing -- Nana grew up with an outhouse.
In the late 1940's, Nana had one of the first types of microwaves invented -- Radarange. Imagine going from cooking a TV dinner for an hour and a half in the oven to just a few minutes in a microwave. Well, even in the first microwaves, it probably still took several minutes but less time than the conventional oven.
Nana lived through the first black and white televisions in the 1930's. She lived through the first color televisions in the 1950's. Nana saw the popularity of the telephone - to the point every house had a corded phone. She lived through party lines, where you'd share the line with six, eight, or ten people. She even eventually saw cordless phones in the 1990's. She also would have seen the invention of the 'car phone' or a 'bag phone' or a 'to go phone.' A predecessor to today's cell phone.
Nana went from the days of automobiles being scarce to owning an Oldsmobile and driving a school bus for a living. She went from the days where women wore dresses and nothing else to finally owning a pantsuit in the 1980's.
Nana went from the days that no woman had piercings to seeing women pierce their ears - even getting hers pierced. She went from the days where a woman's place was in the kitchen, that the wife had no job above the satisfaction of her husband and the care of her children.... to women becoming the primary breadwinners in the household.
My Nana undoubtedly saw the changes in Henderson. She was born during the time of our original L&N train bridge which was in use between 1885-1931. She saw the building of the brand new L&N bridge which was finished May 1931. The old one demolished in 1933.
My Great-Grandmother would have seen the expansion of roads. She saw the building of the original bridge going to Evansville in 1932. She saw the new bridge, now dubbed the southbound bridge, built in 1965. My Nana saw the days of everyone taking a train or ferry to Evansville slowly come to an end and the motor car became ever more popular. She saw the expansion of some roads going from dirt paths to paved asphalt, from two lanes, to four lanes or more. Nana would have seen the difference between cars being strictly manual transmission to the invention of an automatic.
Nana would have seen the coming of fast food restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King, Hardee's and more. She would have witnessed some amazing price increases. Milk being roughly 36 cents a gallon in 1916, 48 cents in 1936, 97 cents in 1956, $1.68 in 1976, $2.62 in 1996.. I could go on and on. A gallon of gas in 1916 was 21 cents, down to 19 cents in 1936, up to 29 cents in 1956, 59 cents in 1976, and $1.23 in 1996.
Nana would have lived through times of "going to town" was a treat and you'd only travel "into town" maybe once a week, sometimes every other week, usually on the weekend.. to literally living in town. She got to see the days of every neighborhood being their own town pretty much. Each neighborhood had their own school, their own corner market, their own hair salon, etc.
My Nana saw the end of segregation in the mid 1950's. When she began driving a school bus, she was driving kids of all colors and nationalities. It was primarily a rural route, farming community kids. Nana saw Roe vs. Wade in 1973. She would remember Hoffa being the major news case in 1975 when he disappeared. She would remember the JonBenét Ramsey case of the 1990's.
Nana lived through America's involvement in WW1 (1917-1918) and our involvement in WW2 (1941-1945). Her husband, Henry Lloyd Sandefur, served in the Navy in WW2. Nana's brother, Jake, served in the Air Force in WW2. The Cold War -- 1947-1989. Nana lived through the Korean War -- 1950-1953. Vietnam -- 1955-1975. Desert Storm or the Gulf War in 1991.
And even though she had Alzheimer's and probably couldn't have told you anything about what was going on... she was alive on September 11th, 2001, when the Trade Centers went down.
She definitely saw a lot of change between the year she was born, 1916, and the year she died, 2001. I can only imagine how baffled she would be at some of the inventions between 2001 and 2021. Imagine having a computer the size of your hand and internet everywhere you go. I'm sure Nana would be floored at the prospect of FaceTime. Tiny vehicles would be another big adjustment for her... back in her day, cars were huge.
I'm sure I could go on and on for several hours more about the things that changed in her life time, and now since her passing... but I'll go ahead and wrap this blog up. If you're able to -- leave a comment and let me know some of the things you've lived to see invented or the changes you've seen in your lifetime.
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