The "The Rule Of Age 10!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Googling "Rules of life" to see what may appear on my desktop.  Some rather interesting, but perhaps strange, topics appeared on the page after page of results.  Topics such as: The Age 55 Rule, The 10 Rules of Change, 10 Rules for Writing Numbers and Numerals, Ten Basic Rules of Netiquette or Internet Etiquette, The Rule of #1,  The Giver "Rules" Flashcards, The New Rules of War, 10 Rules Of The Playground, The Rule of 72 and one that I found most intriguing...The Rule of Age 10.  Naturally had to click on the last rule I have listed and came to a page that featured a story that was posted in Reader's Digest's The Genius Section.  "The Rule of Age 10" has a subtitle of Want to find the key to happiness?  Think about what excited you most when you were in fifth grade-and do it now.  My first line of attack was to call my good friend Jere whom I have known since 1st grade and ask who we had as a fifth-grade teacher.  Seems it was Mrs. Ryder, the mom of one of our classmates.  

The 1st grade class at M.J. Brecht Elementary School in 1950.
Jere is front row right and I am top row left.  Marilyn in in white
dress, front row center. Click on image to enalarge.

I tried and tried to think of what interested me in 5th grade and I couldn't think of a darn thing, except the neighbor girl named Marilyn.  So, I then tried to think of what I may have done during summer vacations on either side of 5th grade and then..Bingo, it hit me!  It was the Christmas before I entered 5th grade that my Aunt Doris bought me an Army Pup tent as a gift.  The following summer I set it up in the back yard, used my small printing outfit I had received for my birthday that September and I was in the printing business.  Lancaster Press sat next to our backyard and the workers would throw their used slugs (metal lines of type cast on a Linotype machine) in a bucket by the back door.  It was very convenient to my yard and I would "borrow" a few of them, ink them with my large ink pad and press them on the sheets of paper I had taken from my dad's desk.  Presto...I was printing!  Little did I know how much that influenced me, since I later went to Millersville State Teacher's College where I became a teacher in the Graphic Arts, or printing.  Little did I realize that my entire life was influenced by that summer when I was about 10 years old.  Called my friend Jere once again and asked him what he did that summer, besides get into trouble with me.  

Jere and I standing in front of our old elementary school
a few years ago.  Our 1st grade classroom was bottom right.

He recalled heading to the Railway Express Station near our homes every day to be with his father who worked there.  His mom worked elsewhere so Jere had to go with his dad to the train station for the day.  No big deal, since he loved the train station.  At times I would join him to watch the trains or grab a coke from the cooler at the Railway Express office.  Jere eventually went to Millersville and began his teaching career with me at the same school we graduated from a few years earlier.  But, he worked part-time at the Historic Strasburg Railroad as a fireman on one of their historic steam engines.  

Friends for 70 years, Jere and Larry

Jere also constructed one of the neatest HO railroad systems you'll ever see.  All because he was influenced by the railroad when he was about 10 years old.  Wow!  Seems that the writer of the story in The Reader's Digest, called "The Rule of Age 10", researched many others and sure enough it was the "Ah, Ha" moments at the age of 10 that influenced hundreds of people's future employment, be it a full time job such as mine or a part-time occupation such as Jere's.  The author of the story, Bruce Grierson, wrote that the trend was so striking that after he had finished his writing, he started telling everyone who was floundering in midlife, "Try to remember what you were all about when you were 10. If you kept a diary, dig it out.  If you're still in contact with friends from that era, call them up.  Ask them who you were.  It is 10 years of age when you graduate from being just anyone to visualizing what you may enjoy to do with your life.  You may not realize that, but it seems to be true.  You will experience the biggest surge of intellectual horsepower in your lifetime.  So, as a parent of a child about 10 years old, make sure you turn on the high beams in your child's life and reveal the road ahead.  It may really be what they will become in the future.  That is if you believe what you just read.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "Jobs In My Lifetime That No Longer Exist" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sorting through a few files that contained photos I took in the past few months.  One photo drew my attention since it was one that I had also taken a few years ago, only in different locale.  It was back in 2012 that I took a photo of the Good Humor Man when I was visiting The Train Museum at Strasburg, Pennsylvania.  Then this past September I saw him once again at the Neffsville, Pennsylvania car show.  Got me thinking about how many Good Humor Men there may still be operating in the United States.  It brought back memories of my younger years when they would drive past our home on North Queen Street on the outskirts of Lancaster playing their musical theme from speakers on their truck.  Boy would that be a neat job to have!  Made me think of all the other jobs and occupations that used to exist at one time, but have vanished in today's world.  Talked to a few people as well as my wife and came up with a list to share with you.   Now, it depends upon how old you may be as to whether you remember the occupations or not.  Check them out and see if you remember.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The Good Humor Man was a regular in my neighborhood when I was a child.  

My brother sold newspapers on the street corner for a couple of years while growing up in Lancaster.  His spot was at the corner of McGovern Ave. and the Manheim Pike at the border of the Lancaster, PA city limits.

The soda jerk was still in existence when I was growing up, but it may be hard to find one today.  The best soda counter was at the Lancaster Train Station where you could get an ice-cream soda, grab a comic book off the shelf and enjoy yourself for half an hour. 

I actually found a photo of the soda fountain I talked about in my caption above.  Just loved the bar stools.

Our family had a doctor that would make house calls.  Tough to find one that will do that today.   

There were a few department stores in downtown Lancaster that would have elevators with someone to help you in the elevator and then take you to the floor you wished.  My favorite ride was in the Watt & Shand Department Store.  If I remember correctly, he or she would ring a hand-bell before closing the door.

Turkey Hill is a local dairy and you would see the truck in the neighborhood delivering treats to the houses. My favorite would be the orange creamsicle.  Once again, tough to find any ice cream truck that does that today.  

Mom had her milk box on the front porch of our home on North Queen Street.  I can still remember using it to hold the end of the rubber runner high in the air so I could race my marbles down the runner.

A few blocks from our house was the RCA Factory.  My brother and sister-in-law both worked there at one time.  At the time they worked at RCA the company was making TV picture tubes as pictured here.  Tough to find that today.

Pinsetters made minimum wage and had to work hard at the job.  I often thought I wanted to be a pinsetter, but never had the chance.

The shoe-shine boy could be found at a few places in Lancaster.  Used to be one around Central Market on market days.  At times I would see one at the Lancaster Train Station, trying to shine the shoes of a waiting patron.

Telephone switchboard operators were always busy.  Hard to believe that there are no more operators as pictured above.  My mom and dad had a party line in our home on North Queen Street.  When you picked up the phone, you listened first to make sure no one was talking before you made your call.  When the phone rang, it rang either one time, two times or three times and we were one of three families who were on the same line.  I still remembering picking up the phone when I wasn't supposed to and listening to the conversation of one of our neighbors.  Can you imagine that today.

The cobbler was found all around Lancaster.  They repaired old shoes as well as sold new ones.  I hesitated to add this job to my list since there still are two cobblers in Lancaster.  I wrote a story about one of them last year.  Seems that he is so busy that it takes days, sometimes months, before you can get your shoes, pocketbook or anything made of leather returned to you.