Memories of Times Past

Marta Hiatt's book MEMORIES OF TIMES PAST is an incredible look at the progress that has been made in America, and it is a pitch-perfect way for all generations to discuss our progress and show appreciation for how far we have advanced. Going through various facets of life, the book takes us into areas that we might not always feel comfortable discussing, but allows us to do so while comparing where we are now. I love it and will be telling others about its worth.

The first half of the twentieth century seemed so much cleaner than the second. "Memories of Times Past: Stories and Photos Recalling Life in the Early 20th Century" looks back through the good old days, with nostalgia for what has long since passed. The rules of the past, the cars of the past, the telegram, and more are all relics; here they are presented as a trip down memory lane for the older generation, and perhaps, some surprising insights for those who are younger. "Memories of Times Past" is a good historical read or just a cure for nostalgia.

Reviewed by Danelle Drake for Reader Views (11/08) Waking each morning for my day, life is a busy blur from start to finish. Get up, get dressed, wake the girls, feed them breakfast, pack their lunches, feed the dogs, get to the car, get to the schools, drop the girls off, only to have my phone ring in minutes with the first "girl drama" of the day..... It seems to go on and on until I finally fall back into the bed I had earlier risen from and fall into a deep sleep. I love my life, but every now and then, I find myself wishing it would just stop, slow down. Wouldn't it be nice to just be a housewife and put the girls on the school bus each morning? I would have nothing to do all day until I see the yellow bus arrive back at the drive. (Or so I thought!) I gained new appreciation for those from yesteryear after reading "Memories of Times Past." Being introduced to a time I have only seen on the television I became immersed in the era. Life was hard, but it was also a time to be cherished. I realized that the liberation of women came much slower than I had previously assumed. The photos put you in the nostalgic time while the individual experiences could make it your own. With twelve chapters you will experience the fashion to the mind. My favorite chapter, "Understanding your Mind and Saving your Soul: From Sigmund Freud to Jerry Falwell" really opened my eyes, or was it, "Sex and Social Morals: From Victorian Prudishness to Personal Vibrators" During my lifetime things have really changed. I often wonder if it is for better or worse. Today we do not face the challenges or labor that individuals did in the past. This only gives us time for the new labors and challenges we face today. In a matter-of-fact, easy-to-follow format, "Memories of Times Past" by Marta Hiatt, PhD, gives us a great outline for a future book called, perhaps, "Memories of Times Past." Hopefully I will get the privilege of reading the next book, but if not, I will continue to love my hectic life and those that occupy it.

What was it really like?, Ever wonder what it used to be like? Wondered how your grandparents lived? It's all here in "Memories of Times Past," told in stories and hundreds of pictures. You have a cell-phone. They had a party-line. Everyone along the way could listen in. No e-mail then, just telegrams. Music came on 45's and 12 inch long-play vinyl records that only held about 6 songs to a side. This book tells dozens of real-life stories that provide sharp contrast to our 'modern' world, from the horse and buggy right up to today's hectic freeways. Probably the best feature is the hundreds of photographs that vividly bring the stories to life. You'll get a kick out of reading the personal accounts of the 'good old days' by people who were there. I recommend "MEMORIES of Times Past" to everyone who ever wondered "What was it really like?" Fred Roberts "Avid Reader" (Monterey CA)

This is about the 20th century in America, at home, around the radio, in front of the TV, at the dinner table, in the garage, behind the wheel, in the kitchen. It's about what we ate and what we listened to and watched. What we bought, what we wore, how we behaved and what we did for a living. Marta Hiatt does an amazing job of weaving nostalgic black white photos of people, places and things with her own beguiling narrative interspersed with quotes from ordinary people who lived during these times. The result is book that I literally could not put down. In fact I put aside some other books to read it. Remember doing the dishes with soap that wouldn't make suds in hard water? I do. The grease wouldn't get emulsified. It just got moved around. It took 10-year-old me hours to do the dishes from a big meal. Remember the washboard and the wringer that you were warned about getting your fingers caught in? Remember margarine, white like lard in a clear plastic bag, but with a little red ball that you broke and kneaded into the margarine to make it yellow? Remember corsets and garter belts and stockings that got runs in them? Leopold and Loeb, Al Capone, Patty Hearst, and Charlie Manson? Manual typewriters and the milk man? Or when the iceman did cometh and you put a square sign in the window with a chosen side up showing how much ice you needed? Popeye and spinach? Walking a mile for a Camel, and this ad on page 239: "No curative power is claimed for Philip Morris but--...An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure!...Call for Philip Morris"? The ad is from 1934. It is interesting how the tobacco companies projected their fears and revealed that even then they knew that cigarettes may cause disease. Hiatt remembers all this and a lot more. You will find yourself turning the pages--which is to be expected since photos of those old ads, movie posters, people in quaint clothing, etc. are just so much fun to see; but what surprised me is just how readable the prose is. Hiatt's direct, unpretentious style and her knack for picking people to quote who are also straightforward make this one irresistible read. If there is any single theme that stands out, it would be the liberation of women, or truthfully, the partial liberation of women that has taken place most profoundly in the twentieth century. Hiatt does an excellent job of chronicling this momentous development and she points to some of the changes it has brought about. The book is organized into chapters concentrating on various aspects of our lives, beginning with "Lifestyle," followed by "Sex and Social Mores," to "Household," through "That's Entertainment," "Fashion," and "Science and Technology," ending with Chapter Twelve, "A Potpourri of Changes." Reading this is a bit like seeing the changes that have taken place in our lifetimes as in a newsreel (remember them?) sped up and vivid, perhaps like our lives passing before us... Irresistible book.