Back When We Walked to School

We're setting the Wayback Machine for a time in America between Korea and Vietnam, when, if you were a kid, your personal value was based on what bike you rode, which comic book heroes you liked and how many baseball cards you owned. A time of all-day summer baseball, all-night kick-the-can and your mom making you wear "school clothes" to shop downtown. Little kids learned about life, economics and social justice from the "big kids" at the neighborhood playground. Children walked to...
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We're setting the Wayback Machine for a time in America between Korea and Vietnam, when, if you were a kid, your personal value was based on what bike you rode, which comic book heroes you liked and how many baseball cards you owned. A time of all-day summer baseball, all-night kick-the-can and your mom making you wear "school clothes" to shop downtown. Little kids learned about life, economics and social justice from the "big kids" at the neighborhood playground. Children walked to their elementary school in all kinds of weather. Teachers, mostly underpaid exceptional women, were respected, obeyed, feared and adored. Which lunch box you carried and what food you traded mattered. TV shows were in black-and-white and whether you liked "Maverick," "Twilight Zone" or "Top Cat" determined who you were. So brew yourself a warm Bosco, put on your Mickey Mouse ears or Davy Crockett cap and check out these memories narrated by a young shade immersed in those fleeting glimpses of a bygone era. It's mostly just for laughs. Hear that? Mr. Peabody and Sherman are calling. Scott Fisher is an Iowa native and retired educator. He has written six books, primarily about Midwest history, and several dozen magazine articles and short stories, which are listed his website at www.fish-lines.com.