My Childhood & Teenage Years  by:

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A Teenager in the 50s

I was born in Haifa, Israel, on August 27^th, 1937....the 2nd world began shortly after.  In 1950's I was in high school.  It was just a few years after WW II and right after Israel's war of Independence (1948). 

As early as grade 1 I already found out that I was not good in math.  So I did my homework in coloured pencils to make it more interesting.  Alas, the teacher saw through me, he saw the mistakes.  Later on, I made paper dolls and designed dresses for them.  My sister and I were in a foster home, and later foster children in a Kibbutz, since my mother was away, serving in the Royal Air Force in Cairo, Egypt.  I did not even know that my mother was herself an artist, a Fashion Designer.

There was no TV, only radio.  We had lots of extra curricular afternoon activities to choose from in a community center - I sketched with lead pencils and painted with water colours (actually kept on sketching everywhere until I ended up in Art School many years later), I chose Modern dance, choir singing, and embroidered too.  We walked, roller-skated or biked to school. 

We all participated in youth groups (similar to scouts but all co-ed).  We had camp fires and charred potatoes on them and made our own pop-corn on the fire.  We made our own (paper) decorations for holidays....no dollar stores.  Children all played the recorder or the harmonica (mouth harp) - I did both and played the piano for three years only, I did not want to sit there… wanted to dance!  Then at 14 took up dance and found out that I would never become a dancer.  Also learnt to pluck a chicken, milk a cow, gather peanuts and potatoes in the field and trim-away beet roots and, ride a donkey (who threw me off quite blatantly).

Most people did not have much money after the wars.  So, even well-to-do people did not flaunt their possessions too much.  Not everybody had a telephone, so it was quite habitual to drop in on people in the afternoon 4 p.m. onwards for a cup of tea and biscuits (except for Saturday's when a home-home-baked or bought cake was served and people also came for lunch which was like a dinner).  Social life was not as formal....no need to phone before ringing the bell.  You just walked and dropped in!  Or - you met at a side-walk café and arranged your social calendar with those who passed by and joined the table.

All around us there were people who just came from Europe, not knowing the language and having to work as a taxi driver (with a lawyer's degree).  Almost all of us spoke another language at home (I spoke German.) We did not all have a fridge....only ice boxes, and stood outside with a metal clamp waiting for the ice truck to pass by.  There were no washers and dryers, certainly no dish washers!  (I was the Chief dish washer) we actually used a wash-board and boiled the diapers....no diaper service or Huggies.  We darned our socks (oh ...was I ever good at it) ....even the nylons were brought to a lady who repaired the runs.  Sheets and towels were given out and came back all starched (only working mothers could afford this luxury.)  No frozen dinners!  Day-old bread was made into a bread-cake with raisins and jam.  Nothing was thrown out!  All clothes were handed down.

At high school age, we wore wide skirts, with a starched petticoat underneath, white socks and no make-up, not even lipstick.  To school we wore a uniform of a white blouse and dark-blue pleated/or plain skirt or pants (except for the rich girls who wore organza blouses instead of simple cotton blouses to school.)  We still danced folk dances (from Russia, Poland, Hungary and Yemen), but started to dance Samba, tango, swing, fox-trot, Charleston etc., and all the other ballroom dances in private parties.  Rock ’N Roll came when I was about 19.  Not many people had cars.  We walked, biked (boyfriend picked girlfriend for a date on a bike) and took buses. 

There was a shortage of everything and we had coupons for each family for eggs, milk, flour, sugar etc...Especially if there was a baby at home (my kid brother).... we, the others, ate powdered eggs and milk and Orange-coloured cheddar cheese from America.  However, we did have lots of oranges, other fruits and the most marvellous vegetables on earth. 

Then I went to Nursing School but did not graduate due to bad blood circulation in the legs - I did want to go to Art School but could not afford it.   Then to the Army (all Israeli youth have to go to the army), where I trained to be a medic and then was a First Aid instructor in youth clubs (ages 12-17) that the Israeli army opened, to help assimilate the immigrants from middle-eastern countries.  I spent both my summers of army service in a tent camp in the Carmel Mountain, outside Haifa:  manning the nurse's tent, where kids ran to when they were afraid at night .  We took the kids on hikes.  I kept the rear (breathing all the dust) and helped those who fell.  Each two weeks I got a new load of youngsters and had to give them all a treatment against lice, since they came from countries with not much hygienic knowledge. 

After my army service I learnt stenography and typing and went to work at the offices of Shell Oil Company (British at that time) where I learnt to be a bilingual secretary (English-Hebrew).   Studied as a part time student in the evening university English lit..... In those days one could not study evenings towards a degree since only a few courses were offered in the evening.  If one did not have wealthy parents, one had to go out to the work market.   

Then things became more comfortable but nobody had new clothes very often.  A dress cost a whole month salary, not to speak about shoes.  No Nike shoes, only court (cloth) tennis shoes. 

As I said, there was no TV, but oh…the C i n e m a!   

How wonderful....  We saw films from America, France, England, Italy, and Russia....all subtitled.  I was captivated by the Hollywood Musicals and danced at home with the broom, while cleaning the house, singing Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly favourites.... Syd Charrese, Doris Day, Vera Allen, Anne Miller, were my idols.  I read the Cinema magazine every week.  I knew many songs by heart (now forgot all the words.....of I got you under my skin, tenderly, teeny-weeny polka-dot bikini, etc.)  We read poetry, Balzac, Tolstoy, Somerset Maugham and philosophy.  We went to live theatre, live classic concerts (no rock music), and lectures.  We were stuffed-up with culture. 

The 60s were even more interesting for me, since I went to work for El Al Israel airline as an airline hostess, and traveled.  I visited all the museums I could in every city we stopped overnight.  In fact, the Museum of Modern Art became my second home in New York.  I learnt to appreciate many forms of art (visual and performing arts.)  The list of artists that I admire is too long to list here.  I also like history, especially Art History, learning about folk art, customs, traditions, and languages.

For me the 50s would also be since I turned 50....with lots of life experience and lots of juices left to make drastic changes in my life.  From city-life, back to country life; from Corporate life back to University, to getting a BFA (Studio Arts 2001) degree, into which I invested all my pension savings, and becoming and artist, very involved in the art community of the Laurentians (where I live now.)  In short, I turned my hobby into a vocation. 

Now I also write about art  ..... Location change at 55, career change at age 59 … Not to speak about immigrating to Canada with a 4-month old baby at 31.  My son is now 36 years old, married and they have a 10-months old baby Ethan.  Ethan is fascinated by the computer key-board, so if he becomes an artist, he will probably do digital art.

Gene Kelly - Dancing with Jerry