I started to think about what summers of the past were like. My first recall was the grade school picnic at the Amusement Park. Travel was so much different in those days, in the 1950's. There was very little traffic. Not everyone owned an automobile. We either walked or rode the street cars to our destinations. To walk a mile a day from school or church wasn't a big deal.
Our grade school picnic was always near the end of June, after school was out. We could hardly sleep the night before because we were restless with excitement and anticipation of the next day.
At around 10:00 a.m everyone would be at the street car stop infront of the school to get ready to load up for the hours ride to the amusement park. Our mothers and grandmothers each packed a large picnic basket to carry on the streetcar. Most people could not afford to eat out. We had some money we saved for amusement park snacks.
We loaded onto the special streetcar that was an hours ride away from the amusement park. What was special about this streetcar was the tracks were switched only once a year for the school picnic.
Off we went, windows open and the breeze blowing in our faces. Someone would start singing a song and everyone joined in. (It seems there was a lot of singing in those days)
"What are you going to ride first"? "I 'm going on the Racer Roller Coaster" - "Haunted House", someone yelled. "Let's ride the horses"!
The clickity-clack of the trolley lulled us into a hypnotic trance for a few miles. You could smell the smoke of the steel mills and see the train tracks. Ahead of us were lots of green trees; the entrance to the park.
The trolley pulled to a stop. The doors opened and out we went. It was a short distance to the cafeteria. We stopped with grandmother and her heavy picnic basket to rest on a park bench. Then,
we helped carry the basket up the cafeteria steps. After saying goodbye to our folks, we headed down the steps, out the door, towards the Midway.
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