~ The Sounds of Days Gone By ~



I remember so clearly the summer
days of long ago, when I was just a
little girl. There wasn't as much
industry back then, and far less
houses to buffer noise travel, so
every noise made had an echo to
it...you could literally hear a pin drop.


At night we left our windows open to
catch any stray breeze that might
come through. There were no air
conditioners back then, in fact, I don't
even remember having a fan! The
crickets, owls, and all kinds of sounds
of nature made their way through the
open windows at night, and lulled us
to sleep. If you looked out the
window, you could see the fire flies
lighting up the back yard, and maybe
a bat flying through the moonlight..it
was so awesome! Oh, what I would
do to bring back those times.


I remember so well the sound of the
horses hooves clopping down the
cobbled stone street, the carts they
were pulling, laden with wares, and
the vendors yelling out their cargo. At
any given time of day you could hear
their voices echo through the streets,
yelling: "Knives sharpened?", another
one would yell, "You need rags?", and
yet another would yell, "Ice!!!!" The
neighborhood children would run to
greet them, squealing with delight at
the prospect of seeing, and perhaps
petting the horse. Then we would all
run away in mock disgust as the
horse left his "mark" on the street.


I used to wander off my street back
then, even though I knew that it was
a "no-no" and I would be punished. I
used to like to stroll downtown to see
the sights. The sidewalks were so
pretty; They were made of brick, and
many of the homes along the way
had pretty hedges instead of fences.
Once I got downtown my excitement
heightened. The mode of
transportation back then was by
trolley cars and the streets in town
were all lined with tracks to
accommodate the trolleys; you could
hear the loud clang echo through the
air as they labored their way through
town.


Back in those days, people never
went into a public place without first
dressing properly. I used to love to
see them bustling about in their
"Sunday best", holding tightly the
hand of their finely dressed children,
and looking so prim and proper. I was
never in any real danger when I went
on these jaunts because the police
weren't in cars back then, they did
their shift on foot and knew pretty
much every one on their beat.
Eventually an officer would notice
that I was alone and not a
neighborhood kid. He would ask me
where I lived and then escort me
safely home to my very worried mom.
I might add here that I was always
told to never talk to strangers, but an
officer of the law was considered a
"safe" stranger and I was encouraged
to find one in times of trouble or if I
was ever lost.


When I was a child, airplanes used to
scare me though. I can't remember
why, but they used to emit a large,
ear splitting, boom every once in a
while. This was called the "Sonic
boom" and the sound would spasm
right through me...wow!! As I
remember it, the bang of the 4th of
July fire works is a whisper
comparatively.


My absolute favorite memory though,
is of the "Pocks" man, whenever I
think of him my heart warms at the
innocence of a child. He would drive
his horse led cart up the street and he
would yell, "Pocks!!". To this day I
have no idea what that man was
selling, but back then us kids thought
that he was selling chicken pocks and
we would run away, squealing with
the anticipation that we might get the
chicken pocks if we didn't run fast
enough.


I would love to revisit those years for
just a day, but, in many ways I guess
I do, through my wonderful collection
of memories! I can close my eyes and
once more listen to the horses feet
clopping over the cobble stones, the
trolleys clanging their way through
town, and yes, even the dreaded
sonic boom....yes!


Those were the days, days to
remember, days to reflect upon with
the warmest of feelings and
recollections...and yes...we have a
treasure trove stored in our memories
of days gone by just waiting to be
relived!

Written by Mary Silva