Guess Who  

   He grew up at the best possible time, between 1930 and 1946. 

   He and his peers are the smallest group of children born in the 1900s. His is the last generation that can remember the the world at war which rattled their daily lives. 

   They are the last to remember ration books. They saved tin foil and poured fat into tin cans. They saw cars up on blocks because tires weren't available.

   He remembers milk delivered to the house early in the morning. He is among the last to see gold stars in front windows of grieving neighbors whose sons died in the war. 

   His is the last generation that spent childhood without television. He imagined what he heard on the radio through the 1940s. On Saturday afternoons kids went to the movies, with newsreels sandwiched between westerns and cartoons. Yes, Indians, except for Tonto, were the bad guys.  

   Telephones were one to a house, hung on the wall or sitting on dad's desk. No privacy. Typewriters were the other way to message.

   Government gave veterans help in education, and colleges began to grow. Housing picked up, and factories dedicated to war reorganized to meet peacetime demands. New highways meant jobs and mobility. Vacations were possible.

   His parents were glad he played outside until the street lights came on, and even then kids found games to play under lights. A high school in the county became the first to play night football. 

   He felt secure in a peaceful, church-going town, becoming a Boy Scout, with depression and war in the rear view mirror. A bicycle was his transportation to and from high school, and it was probably a hand-me-down. He had one pair of shoes few clothes to choose from. 

   His is the last generation to experience interlude between national threats, although the Russians, then the Chinese became a concern. Then came the 1960s.

   Guess who?

               Jimmy