The 1950's were a wonderful time. As children we had more freedom then any generation that came after us. We also had a way of life that most people today cannot understand. Things were very different in the 50's.
This was our house 800 square feet. Two bedrooms 20 x 12 and 20 x 8 which my grandfather subdivided down to 4 (12x12 and 8x12) and (12x8 and 8x8). We had 1/2 a basement the other half was dirt 4 feet high but there was an access point that I used to crawl through just to explore. The living room, dining room, bathroom and kitchen/laundry room took up the rest of the house 20x20. Four girls slept in one double bed until Grampa divided the room, then Peggy and I had bunkbeds She was top and I was bottom. When we moved in there was no stove and no furnace. We had a potbelly stove called a Quebec heater in the living room, a pump for water from the cistern in the kitchen and I believe a pail-a-day toilet (I know we didn't have an outhouse) in the bathroom. I had baths in the wash tub that first year. I don't remember a bathtub. There was no running water. No Television. Seven people were stuffed into that house and we had fun.
Grampa also added shelves in the stairwell going down to the basement to use as a pantry. He said the house wasn't safe so he changed a window in the back to a door so we could escape a fire. He was a wonderful carpenter and had worked for the railroad building bunkhouses for the men building the railway across the country. He always said there was a rock named Leonard's Rock up by Copper Cliff in Northern Ontario that was named for him.
Until after my father died we did not have a car. We walked everywhere and even took walks for fun on Sunday afternoons. When I got tired Dad would carry me on his shoulders. Dad worked in retail for United Cigar Stores so the only full day he had off was Sunday. During the week he might work days or afternoons. When we moved to Richmond Hill (June 1950) he started hitchhiking to Toronto to work. He work at St. Clair and Yonge for several years and at College and Yonge Street other years. This store was right near Maple Leaf Gardens and he knew many of the hockey players when he worked there.
Up until sometime in the 60's door to door delivery was normal and free. We didn't really need a car day-to-day because everything came to the house. On Thursday night the grocery sales came out so Mom would walk to the store and might take a taxi back if she had too many groceries.
Milk was delivered to our door most mornings except Sunday. I would get up in the morning and bring in the quarts of milk from the front steps. I loved it in the winter when the milk would freeze and the cardboard lid would pop up in the air and the solid, snowy milk would be peeking out of the bottle. Who ever was ready for breakfast first got to spoon this on top of their cereal. Peggy and I took turns as the rest were too old to do this.
We had a Scottish delivery man for bakery items. He came a couple of days a week and delivered bread, buns, and specials like a Chelsea Bun or Danish pastries. His accent was so thick that for many years my younger sister said "gels" instead of girls. I learned the word "glaikit" and used it often as others didn't know it was derogatory. In summer we chased the "Lake Simcoe" ice man down the street so we could get chips of ice he chopped off a block to make it fit in your icebox. No refrigerators, we had an icebox. I always took the company name literally and wanted to know what part of Lake Simcoe was permanently frozen year round. Last but not least we had beer delivered. Once a week the beer truck came and dropped off a 2-4 for dad.
None of these deliveries were unusual. They were part of our everyday life like having a man in uniform pump our gas and check your oil. All these services were free.
