Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates

I am looking out into the snowy night. Blizzard warnings and this is just the start of it now. One white yard blends into the other white yards. Snow drifts in our yards give a softly rolling landscape with white-covered roofs – like something out of a storybook or a scene from a Christmas tale. Remember the pictures of villages in Europe with homes nestled into the snowscapes?

Stories from The Wonderful World of Disney gave us a happy and maybe unrealistic view of how children lived on the other side of the World. Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates included blonde children in their country's traditional garb of wooden shoes and Dutch hats, and of course, there was always a special grandpa. It is a story of children who were self-sacrificing. It is easy to be good when it is just a story, but you would be surprised at how self-sacrificing children can be in real life when the family is in need. They can be pretty awesome little people!

‘The Wonderful World of Color’ – Disney gave us stories that were uplifting like ‘Pollyanna’, inspiring like ‘Remember the Titans’, courageous like ‘Daniel Boone’, and heartfelt as in ‘Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates’. Just for fun, we had stories that touched our hearts like ‘Bambi’ and ‘Dumbo’. We were introduced to villains and heroes in ‘101 Dalmatians’ and ‘Peter Pan’. For me, the best part was the music and color it brought into my life! There was ‘Fantasia’, an amazing film for its time! I enjoyed the humor of Ludwig Von Drake, Donald Duck’s wacky uncle. One of my favorite lessons was The Spectrum Song by Ludwig Von Drake. It still rings in my head. The songs were entertaining and educational.

How fun this was: The Spectrum Song

(Now I realize where my brain got excited about putting numbers and colors together. Remember math in the early grades? A picture of a clown that was sort of a paint-by-number, but using your crayons. I wish I could have learned Algebra and Geometry like this!)

In the ‘50s and ‘60s, we lived in a world where children were given good things to think about. Not being belittled and bullied on Facebook or watching obscene things on TikTok. There was still domestic abuse and perversion in those days, but it was not “in your face.” Today we watch episodes of ‘Cops’ and are bombarded with stories exposing violence. Perversion is rampant. Most, but not all of us, lived in a two-parent home, even if our parents didn’t like each other. We didn’t have perfect lives, but we were shielded from the evil side of life. For the children who had horrible home lives, there was usually one special teacher who helped make their lives more bearable. Some special adults believed in that child and made a difference in their lives. They read us stories and encouraged us. We were taught the difference between right and wrong, even if not by our parents but by the TV shows we watched. In those days, you could trust the police officer, postman, pediatrician, and school nurses. That is the world we grew up in.

Bad childhoods? Unfortunately, children in China have always been starving. Remember your parents telling you to eat what was on your plate because a child was starving in China? I always suggested that my mom was welcome to mail my lima beans to them. That didn’t go over very well. Now children sit at the table and have to worry about the waste in the ocean that will kill all the fish in China where the kids are already starving and working in sweatshops. I did not know that as a child. Our youth now can’t escape it. 

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The fears that they have been coming into their lives via face time from all the gadgets and death tolls are given in real-time daily. “We grew up with the threat of nuclear war,” we say when we hear how “rough” it is for today’s kids. Well, welcome to our world – they are now facing adult situations and fears, although their developing minds don’t know how to deal with them. Heck, many of us don’t know how to deal with them either. They are facing other things we never had to consider. However, I do believe some hard work and exercise would be a great prescription for their anxiety, instead of being connected to their electronic leashes to the woes of the world.

I mowed lawns and babysat for 50₡ to 75₡ an hour because I was too young to hold a real job. That kept me busy, off the streets, and tired enough at night that I wouldn’t have been able to stay up all night scrolling through mounds of drama and filth – even if I had an electronic gadget. Plus, I spent more time outside in the fresh air – a perfect prescription for a good night’s sleep. Life was so much simpler then, and I am grateful for that.

I am grateful that my siblings and I were able to enjoy Disneyland on TV before it became the perverted world of nasty agendas. So many wonderful stories and songs filled our childhoods. We played outside and learned to use our imaginations, and we had our wounds kissed. We learned how to earn money - and gained work ethics. We were taught the golden rule. 

(Sidenote: One of my favorite books is “All I ever really needed to know I Learned in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulghum) We had our boundaries, but we didn’t have helicopter parents. If I hurt myself playing, I felt safe enough to go to any one of my neighbor’s homes. We weren’t afraid of people. We grew up exploring a world that felt rather safe. When I was young, I was allowed to go play at my friend’s house which was about three houses down. 

Then I graduated to playing within a seven-house limit. Then I was able to go any place in the neighborhood. My world kept expanding – instead of getting smaller because the world was getting worse, it was getting larger because it was safe to go out there. When I see my neighbor escorting their kindergartener to the bus stop that is literally three houses down the street and then staying to wait for the bus, I feel sorry for that child and for the parent. All the sights and smells that came with having to walk to school because I missed the bus – it was another part of that world that I was fortunate enough to explore. I gained a sense of direction. There are kids today who are driven everywhere. They don’t have the slightest clue which way is north or south.

They aren’t even looking up from their games and gadgets long enough to realize if they turn left or right at an intersection. When I was growing up we lived in Los Angeles.

I remember driving all over the county with my dad to pick up parts. Sitting in the front seat with no car seats like today. I quickly learned how to get from one end of the county to another and saw all the landmarks in between. I am grateful I was not overprotected.

These things became a big part of who I am and how I view the world. I know all of us did not have this rose-colored life, but many of us did have this innocent childhood. I have been fortunate to grow up as a well-adjusted and ethical person. I believe that learning good behavior came partially from the TV set. Watching shows like ‘Leave It to Beaver’ and ‘My Three Sons’ gave us life lessons about being honest with our parents, not stealing, etc. Things we should learn at home were reinforced by the shows we watched. Wally’s friend, Eddie Haskell was always a scumbag, but Wally would have to make better decisions and say he was sorry when he was wrong. That taught us to see what was right and what was wrong. Many show endings gave us a moral lesson. Ah, the good old days.

I guess every generation looks back and says those were the good old days. I believe my generation did have a lot of good things. When people say I must have had a boring life because I didn’t have the tech toys of today, I am forever grateful that Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates widened my horizons.

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