I know I have spoken about in the years of my youth the practice of locked doors wasn’t near as practiced or as needed as they might be these days. I am not exactly sure as to why but my first guess might be that since we lived out in the country had a lot to do with it. You see Fruit Ridge Road was a good distance from any town as Moscow was over three miles away and Felicity was over five miles away. We were smack dab in the middle of nowhere.
Our neighbors were not located close to us or each other for that matter. As I have said we had really great neighbors but there just weren’t too many of them. So my guess was that the kind of people who wanted to steal a robe from you stayed more in the towns as there was more selection to choose from. Also when you are smack dab in the middle of nowhere that was just what it meant. We lived in an area where I guess we were kind of forgotten to that kind of folks.
No matter that we and probably most all of our neighbors had keys to their doors lock but they were seldom used. In all of the years I lived on the farm I never heard of anyone on Fruit Ridge ever being robbed or had their homes broke into when they were not home. I am for certain not saying we can or should return to that policy but it was a bonus of the times and living in a rural area.
As I have said before our house was under the open house policy. Knock on our door and you would hear a voice yell “come on in.” More than likely you would have been offered a cup of coffee or iced teas and a Tolle house cookie and then offered a seat. This was frequent at our house and I have always attributed it to the fact that my dad was a township trustee who served for many years and it was known that if they came to my dad he would listen and do all he could to right the situation if that was possible.
Now since dad was a trustee, we had a device that a lot of the neighborhood still didn’t have. We had a telephone! In my youth a telephone was not yet a necessity but was fast becoming one. Dad had to be able to call the other two trustees and be accessible to those who did have phones. At that time I really didn’t realize that not all had one but as I got older I did. I can remember the telephone on the wall that had a crank on the side and you had to crank it and to listen into an ear piece that was on a cord and speak into a receiver that was on the front of the phone. That was quickly replaced by a black telephone that sat on a stand maybe. This was to be more portable and only weighed approximately 4 or 5 pounds.
Since not all had one and it was found out that you did, we would get a lot of people who knocked on that open door and ask if they could borrow that telephone. I never heard my parents turn a person down. The only question I ever heard them ask was if it was going to be a toll call or not. They did ask those requesting to pay the minimum three minute charge of 35 cents, please. I don’t recall it as ever being a problem. In most instances, the one requesting would be offered coffee, tea, and a cookie, which was a good deal for 35 cents.
I know our hired hand, Web Bruin, would from time to time knock on the door and tell dad he had need of the phone and he would have his 35 cents in his hand and ready to pay. The thing was that since he was living on the farm and working for us, dad counted his call as a fringe benefit and never charged him the going rate. To this point, Web would tell friends that he was exempt and the phone was free.
Not everyone who had need of our telephone had a pleasant need. One Saturday night when I was in grade school I had come down with the chickenpox and was so sick I was on the couch and mom was sitting up with me when a knock came to the front door. Now this normally wouldn’t have been unusual but it was near four a.m. My mom went to the front door and opened it to a young man who was in his dress Navy uniform. It was raining and had become very foggy. He told mom he had been in an accident down the road and was trying to walk home in that storm. He wanted to try and call his home and see if someone would come and get him. Mom let him in and brought him to the phone which was at the end of the couch where I was at.
Even though I was sick and it was the wee hours in the morning I was up to asking him at least twenty questions. Mom said by me doing so she learned a lot about him. (I could be useful even if I didn’t know it.) He got a member of his family and they came for him. It paid to have the telephone and an open door policy. I asked mom if she had been scared letting him in at that time of night and she said, “Why no. That boy was in a bad way and he was in need of me to help him. Besides, I had you to talk his arm off.”
That was just one of the reasons we had a telephone. Now folks just go out and try to tell the current generation that not only wasn’t our phone not hand held but not everyone had one. Why they will think you a liar for sure. It was true and you know what? Somehow we all survived. We didn’t get to text or be connected to Facebook but we somehow survived. We used to have to share the telephone line with maybe five other families then but the more I have thought about that the more I can see we were on a group text. We were way ahead of things in a way. All I can say now is do not take things for granted!
Rick Houser grew up on a farm near Moscow in Clermont County and loves to share stories about his youth and other topics. If you are interested in reading more of his stories they can be found in his books ‘There are Places to Remember” and’ Memories ARE from the Heart.” He may be reached at [email protected] or mail to P.O. Box 213 Bethel, Ohio 45106.