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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 60,912 Likes: 14
Campfire Kahuna
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OP
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 60,912 Likes: 14 |
Some of the older gents might recall the days before we had it.
Throw some light on the subject. How did things work?
These premises insured by a Sheltie in Training ,--- and Cooey.o
"May the Good Lord take a likin' to you"
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,268
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,268 |
Go to bed at sundown, arise with the sun?? ;-)
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,282
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,282 |
Throw some light on the subject. How did things work? Not 100% the same but close. PBS newshour had a feature on the movement with micro generation power plants using rice husks for generation of power for remote villages in India. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/jan-june13/india_01-17.htmlI think it is around 6 minutes in that they show a home at night with the old kerosene lamps in various rooms. That section of the clip is like what my grandparents farm house was like as soon as the sun went down.
Hugh
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Joined: May 2003
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 20,494 |
Well, in Ontario, a few years back they started charging us for delivery fees and debt reduction, so much so that my hydro usage was $20 for a month, and with the delivery fee and debt reduction, the bill was $140. Been thinking about a candle plant, and a cold storage room. This morning it was -31 degrees. Cold storage would be no problem. 
"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." (Prov 4:23)
Brother Keith
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 7,179 Likes: 1
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 7,179 Likes: 1 |
We lived for seven years with no hydro. I did, however, have gas powered generator which operated our water pump (I pumped water from the well into a storage tank on a hill) and a refridgerator(in the summer). It also ran my lathe. Apart from that, we used propane lanterns and kerosene for light. Water was heated with propane, the cookstove was wood fired and we heated with wood.. No phone (yay!), no television, no computers, and no micrwave. The big difference, from a living standpoint, is that is quiet and when the sun goes down, it's dark! Now, there are lights everywhere and a constant background noise. GD
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 329
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 329 |
We lived for seven years with no hydro. I did, however, have gas powered generator which operated our water pump (I pumped water from the well into a storage tank on a hill) and a refridgerator(in the summer). It also ran my lathe. Apart from that, we used propane lanterns and kerosene for light. Water was heated with propane, the cookstove was wood fired and we heated with wood.. No phone (yay!), no television, no computers, and no micrwave. The big difference, from a living standpoint, is that is quiet and when the sun goes down, it's dark! Now, there are lights everywhere and a constant background noise. GD I have a cabin in Hawaii that's a lot like this. It's great to get up in the pre-dawn, have a full day and then get to bed at 8 or 9, just a few hours after the sun goes down.
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 104
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 104 |
When I was a kid, back in the 50's, we had a summer cabin with no power. It was no big deal for my Mom and Dad, as they were raised without hydro. As a kid, I thought it was just great. Can't imagine living without a computer now, though. I enjoy having a world-class library at my fingertips.
If there isn't a gun range in heaven, then I'm going to hell!
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 7,179 Likes: 1
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 7,179 Likes: 1 |
Improved lighting technology (LED lights etc.), improved solar panels, and improved storage batteries are making living off-the-grid more and more attractive. I am more and more tempted as time goes on. I guess we could keep the phone (sigh). GD
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,172
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,172 |
Kerosene and white gas. Batteries for radios so big you would hardly concieve of them. Still remember listening to Joe Lewis fights. School by correspondence. Coleman gas fired iron for clothes as well as stove top flat irons. Eventually a gasoline powered washing machine but washboard before. Three goats in the shed for milk and about 3 dozen chickens. About a 1 acre garden. Meat safe built over a cold water creek for short term storage, ice house and smoke house. Road unplowed to town all winter long. Snowshoe for essentials. One rifle in the house, a 22rf which shot everything including black bears and deer, bobcats, coyotes and a single cougar who had designs on the goats. First greens of the year were stinging nettle tips. A horrible spring tonic made from the peeled bark, boiled, of Devil's club. It certainly cleared the gut. Best years of my life.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 60,912 Likes: 14
Campfire Kahuna
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OP
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 60,912 Likes: 14 |
stocker, what was the first newfangled item your family used?
These premises insured by a Sheltie in Training ,--- and Cooey.o
"May the Good Lord take a likin' to you"
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,172
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,172 |
Good question. It may have been IEL or Wee mcGregor power saw(can't recall which). The whole engine head had to be rotated depending on whether you were bucking or falling. The bar had to be close to 8" wide. Carburetor only worked when upright thus the rotating power head.. It was a product from Satan and we fought with it for months and went back to misery whips and falling axes. Dad and I cut and split 45 cords a year for the house and 13 rental cabins. Also whip sawed lumber for building. I was always in the pit as I was not yet old enough to haul the saw from the top for very long.We had an old Chrysler which I think was a 1934. It had been hacksawed and made into a pickup truck.In the house it would have been the gas powered washing machine which of course was used outside, winter or summer.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 60,912 Likes: 14
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 60,912 Likes: 14 |
I should have asked before, do you have 'timeline'? Rough dates?
These premises insured by a Sheltie in Training ,--- and Cooey.o
"May the Good Lord take a likin' to you"
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,172
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,172 |
Years 46-52. After Dad got back from overseas. He enlisted 1939 and I never knew him until his return as I was born just after he enlisted.
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,268
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,268 |
Kerosene and white gas. Batteries for radios so big you would hardly concieve of them. Still remember listening to Joe Lewis fights. School by correspondence. Coleman gas fired iron for clothes as well as stove top flat irons. Eventually a gasoline powered washing machine but washboard before. Three goats in the shed for milk and about 3 dozen chickens. About a 1 acre garden. Meat safe built over a cold water creek for short term storage, ice house and smoke house. Road unplowed to town all winter long. Snowshoe for essentials. One rifle in the house, a 22rf which shot everything including black bears and deer, bobcats, coyotes and a single cougar who had designs on the goats. First greens of the year were stinging nettle tips. A horrible spring tonic made from the peeled bark, boiled, of Devil's club. It certainly cleared the gut. Best years of my life. I can remember washboards, stove top irons, foot powered sewing machines...and cutting poles with a cross cut saw ( I think that's what they were called, long hand saw 6' maybe with handle on each end?)...grandparents kept turnips and carrots under ground covered with hay and snow over the winter. I think my earliest memories are from the time when modern conveniences just started coming. I can remember my grandparents place switching from coal oil lamps to hydro.
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 61
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 61 |
early 50s i remember the coleman lamp, wood cooking range , big battery powered radio,rain barrel behind the cook stove,then we got power and lights and a fridge.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 60,912 Likes: 14
Campfire Kahuna
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OP
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 60,912 Likes: 14 |
I could have asked as well about long winter nghts. I recall a family friend that shuffled cards on his knee like a pro. Lots of folks played a musical intrument.
Of coure, the battery radio.
These premises insured by a Sheltie in Training ,--- and Cooey.o
"May the Good Lord take a likin' to you"
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 654
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 654 |
We lived for seven years with no hydro. I did, however, have gas powered generator which operated our water pump (I pumped water from the well into a storage tank on a hill) and a refridgerator(in the summer). It also ran my lathe. Apart from that, we used propane lanterns and kerosene for light. Water was heated with propane, the cookstove was wood fired and we heated with wood.. No phone (yay!), no television, no computers, and no micrwave. The big difference, from a living standpoint, is that is quiet and when the sun goes down, it's dark! Now, there are lights everywhere and a constant background noise. GD Similar to us. I bought my property and built a house on it when I was 25 years old. Took my life savings to date to do that, so there was no money to get the power in (needed $5000) so for about 5 years we went without electricity other than a generator. I used to pump water up from the creek into storage tanks I had recycled and gravity feed from there. Had a generator when I needed to run power tools or when we decided to watch a video. Eventually we got power and a few years after than they put telephone lines into the area. I don't miss the extra work but it was pretty fun to dream up powerless ways to do things. I still cook on the woodstove in winter at times.
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