I just saw a picture of a dilapidated old country elevator with the shambles of an old store across the road, and beside it a bulk fuel station, all of yesteryear. This is now a bygone scene of what was on the prairies of Alberta and Saskatchewan years ago.
This scene brought back memories to which many who lived on the farm could easily relate. Those days were wonderful, in a sense that those farmers and small merchants were moving ahead having weathered the depression of the 1930’s and the early years of the 1940’s. Although minimal as measured by our standards today, it felt as though we were “well-off” at that time.
Recalling the hauling of grain to the local elevator, one started out with the one ton farm truck at the farm ‘grainary’ with a home-made auger powered with either an air cooled motor or a pump engine. Loading the farm truck with grain involved shovelling grain to the auger if the bin was getting empty of grain and then levelling the load in the truck. This was good exercise which the farmer always required but did little for keeping the operator in a good mood. The trip to and from the local grain elevator was always pleasant and gave the farmer a chance to think of what bills had to be paid and other jobs yet to be done. It was at these times that one felt the anguish of wondering if that new John Deere tractor would ever become a reality.
The local elevator, as anyone who has been on the farm can recall, was always drafty and dusty. Remember, the elevator agent would flip the scale back and forth and if it looked like it was going to ‘level-out’ or balance, he stopped and immediately commenced to dump the load. It was amazing how fast the load would drain as opposed to how long it took to load! The dust and dirt from the elevator and the grain prompted one to get the old tub out and bath as soon as one was finished hauling for the day. Leaving the elevator, one could see the old general store across the road. There might be a poster advertising last week’s dance at the local hall or maybe even an event coming soon. One might recall that most of those stores, most often the local meeting place, were often dimly lit. Out in the middle of the floor, one might find bags of potatoes, oyster shell, bran, milk-pails, and other items. Often there would be a ‘round of cheese’ from which the grocer, on occasion, would give a child a small sliver of cheese. What a delight! The Campbell’s soups, Pork and Beans and other canned goods, were all lined up on shelves behind the counter. Everyone charged in those days and paid once, twice or three times a year. In those days, the banks didn’t charge overdraft interest. The grocer had a ‘list book’ for everybody and would get the book out from the pocket behind the counter and diligently list in the book the items that were purchased, usually with an old, short lead pencil.
In many cases, the grocer and his family either lived over top of the store or behind it. It always helped if the grocer had a beautiful daughter or two about the same age as the young farmer hauling grain.
Many of those prairie sidings, or hamlets, had a ‘bulk’ dealer who handled the fuel sales to the local farmers in the area. These locations too, were a gathering spot for the farmers where a lot of history was told and many a ‘bull session’ was held.
Were things easier for farmers and small business people in those more remote areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan in years gone by? It must be admitted that things were not that easy for many people on the prairies, but there was great satisfaction in a day’s work and it seemed that there was considerably less tension. There was far more local cohesion from socializing and neighbouring among local people in years gone by. For those that have never experienced country days in by gone years, it is understandable that one might laugh at how those folks existed. People at that time did enjoy life, as tough as it was, and for those of us who experienced life at that time, we have come away enshrined with the riches that those experiences taught us.
Often folks say that those were the good old days, and they were. Times have changed and we have all changed with them. Would we want to go back to those communities and live life as it was? I for one, cherish those days, but would not want to live that way again. As they say “those were the days…….”
