5. What kind of work did your parents do?
Well, I don't look ahead at these questions--LOL!
I already mentioned that my dad was a lithographer. Being a perfectionist, he was a good one.
My mom was basically a stay-at-home mom in the 50s like most of them were, but she was always trying to figure out a way to make a little extra money if she could. She delivered photographs for a photography studio for a while. I remember us three kids in the back seat for hours while she drove around the Twin Cities...before most cars had air conditioning. I used to park myself on my knees at the back window to wave and smile at people. The most challenging were the grumpy ones. I could usually get a smile or a grin out of them in the end before the light changed. I liked feeling like I had lifted up somebody's spirits.
I remember her washing, cleaning up, and bundling green onions with rubber bands in the basement...and me being old enough to help her. Must have been for a grocery store, I suppose.
She sold Avon for quite a while and Shaklee. Seems to me I am forgetting a couple of small jobs.
But when we were teenagers she got a job in the bindery at a printing company and worked there until she retired. She worked the graveyard shift and they put together the TV Guides for the five state area. We always had deformed TV Guides at home that were either cut wrong, had a section missing, had a folded-in corner or something else wrong with them--but you could still read everything important. I grew to love the TV Guide and actually paid for them for many years after I left home.
[Note: that bindery was my very first job--on the graveyard shift with my mom. I could keep up filling the page racks, was an efficient pallet stacker, and even got to feed covers eventually. But I quit to work at a pet shop in our hometown in Holly Center.]
Even after my folks retired and moved to Florida Mom used to periodically get bussed to Disney World with other seniors to work part time for a few weeks at various restaurants clearing tables, etc.
I'll have more to say about Mom on Monday. She's got pneumonia and came home from the hospital yesterday with oxygen, but she's doing okay, I guess. She'll be 91 on February 27th. Love you, Mom! :)
The End
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Wow, 91 is quite an achievement, and I hope she is enjoying being home and recovering. Your mom sure had a variety of jobs.
I'm sorry to hear your Mom's been sick! I do hope she is feeling much better. I think your Dad's job as a lithographer is interesting. Your Mom being primarily a stay at home Mom is very common for that time period. My Dad worked in management and sales and because of his work we moved around all the time. My Mother was a stay at home Mom except for a couple of years when she worked as a restaurant manager.
She must be an Energizer Bunny, like Carol.
Love,
Janie
Your mum sounds like many women of the era
My mum just turned 80 but in the eyes of her family she is ageless
This was such an interesting post. I hope your mom recovers and is feeling better soon! Have a good weekend.
I enjoyed reading about your mother and her entrepreneurial skills. I hope she recovers from this bout of pneumonia. She sounds like a real trooper.
Happy almost over Valentine's Day.
Your mom has the same birthday as my sweetheart! I don't think you would be cut out for a graveyard shift job. Interesting to learn about your mother, Rita. :-)
Hope you mom is doing OK. My mom is 90 and will be 91 later this year. I know about pneumonia as m mom's had it too. I will look forward to reading about her on Monday. (even though I don't always comment I do stop by and read) Hugs-Erika
It's interesting to hear your family history from when you were young :) I'm so sorry your mom is sick. Pneumonia is tough! I hope she has a full recovery soon.
I enjoyed this post, Rita. It was interesting to learn more about your parents and yourself. I'm smiling at the "deformed TV guides".
TV Guides. I hadn't thought about them for a long time.
Hope your Mom recovers completely winters in Minnesota can be hard on the elderly!
What interesting jobs your parents both had during their lifetimes. I had forgotten about TV Guides until you mentioned them. Sorry to hear that your mom has pneumonia. I hope she feels better soon!
It was interesting to read about your parents, Rita, especially that your dad was a lithographer, a career that is not much heard of these days. Your mom certainly held a variety of jobs and hope she’s feeling better soon. My mother passed away 5 years ago but in her 20s she worked in an airplane factory during WW II.
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