Olds in the Twentieth Century

Jackie H.: Project Summary

In this interview I learned a lot about my Grandma that I never knew before. I had never realised that my Grandma lived through the Depression and World War Two. I had also never knew that I had two Great uncles in the War.

I would imagine that living through the Depression would have been rough and very difficult. Having a shortage of food is something that today in Canada we don't have to worry about. I think that kids today have a very easy life. 

Farming is much more easier today. We have machines for most of the hard labour, we no longer have to walk behind a team of horses or walk to the field we want to plow. People that lived on farms very rarely got to come to town because of the long-distances. 

Families were also larger than most families are today. School was much more disciplined then it is today, and classes now are separate grades instead of grades one to nine, all being in one class. This is probably because there are a lot more students in the school, because of the farm kids being able to come into town schools on the bus and then returning home on the bus after school. When my Grandma was in school she had to walk to school, or ride a sleigh. Most people now can finish high school before you were considered lucky if you even got into High School. Many people had to quit school to help out on the farm, watch younger kids for your parents while they work and such forth.

I think the interview that I had with my grandmother went very well. I learned a lot and I now realise how much easier we have it today. 

Doing this interview with my Grandmother has made me want to sit down with my mother, aunts and uncles and ask them about their childhood. I don't really know a lot about their childhood because I have never been interested in listening about it. I hope that when I am older kids will ask me about my childhood.

I would think that living during a war would be hard. Not knowing if you will ever see your brothers would be hard. Knowing that they are fighting for your country would make you proud.

Today the average person does not start work until that are sixteen or older, the odd one will start working when they are fourteen or fifteen. Many people in the early 1900s were working from the time they could walk, helping their families on the farm.

I think growing up when my grandmother grew up would have been hard, compared to growing up today. Therefore I am glad I am growing up in this generation where machines are here and life is not so manual. 

I am glad that I talked to my Grandmother about her past. It was a real eye opener. I had never realized how simple life is now.