Her Story

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Remember When

BY AUDRAE GRUBER SUBMITTED PHOTOS COURTESY OF CROW WING HISTORICAL SOCIETY

By 1960, televisions were owned by 90 percent of the population. The first ones were not in color but that soon changed.

The 50s, 60s and 70s were times of great prosperity and life changing advances. Computers, television, travel, communication and family life, the postwar world altered everything and freed up every aspect of our lifestyle. However, it had its pandemic and racial issues very similar to today’s challenges.

From the mid-1950s until the late 1960s, Martin Luther King played a key role in the civil rights movement for equality through peaceful protest. He helped bring about the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

The first business computer to be used was at the Great Northern Railway called the Univac 1. It covered a whole floor of the Great Northern Building in St. Paul and had to be operated in air conditioning. My father and his associates were promoters of this new invention and my brother Paul did some programming on it. I was fortunate to have that connection and took a tour one day. Immense and amazing!

The Northern Pacific Railway was often thought as the originator of Brained in the early 1800s. Railroads were the main mode of transportation. Their progress continued and was the main employer in Brained for many years until a merger of main railroads in 1968 changed everything.

The Great Northern, Northern Pacific and Burlington became the Burlington Northern Railway. Going by rail to any part of the country was the main mode of travel for many years. Because my father worked for a railway, our family was able to travel with special compensation

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An aerial view of the Northern Pacific shops in Brainerd.

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By 1976 there was a race to produce personal computers and the days of typewriters were diminishing.

Many thanks to the Crow Wing Historical Society and Brian for the photos. They have a wonderful collection and offered great help.

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so I experienced traveling by rail to California and New York as a child with two and a half days on a train. The improvement of air travel became a more popular option and the NP shops in Brainerd were closed.

By 1960, televisions were owned by 90 percent of the population. The first ones were not in color but that soon changed. The home use of record players was outstanding – and went from a windup large record player to the combination radio and multi-record player all in one and onto discs.

Elkhurst 6503 was my telephone number during this time. Dialing included letters and numbers – EL 6503. Each phone had its own combination. The telephones were in two separate parts connected by a cord. Usually, there was only one to a household. The music of the times used old telephone exchanges in their music. Glen Miller’s recording “Pennsylvania 6-5000” was a popular song.

In 1955, the Supreme Court directed schools to integrate. I became a “helping teacher” and concentrated on the west side of St. Paul. It was a time of change and I helped teachers and students deal with the issues brought about by the first school experience of bussing children out of their neighborhoods bringing a vast change of experiences and new learning styles which became very successful.

In the early 1950s, polio reached epidemic proportions and became the worst epidemic in our nation’s history with 58,000 cases reported, 3,200 died and 21,000 were left with disabling paralysis. Children were affected with paralysis, wheelchairs and leg braces for a lifetime. It started in 1946 and I can well remember not being allowed to leave the house or neighborhood for over a year and no state fair.

On July 29, 1958, NASA was created in response to the Soviet Union’s October launching of its first satellite which circled the earth in 98 minutes. In 1958. NASA launched its first successful earth orbit and has continued to make great advances.

In the 1960s, women’s rights became important. Women struggled for change in the workplace as well as socially. The view of them as “homemakers” became a political as well as a social issue. Women were unable to obtain high-paying jobs and equal rights in the workplace and considered “second-class citizens.” Male teachers were paid more than women for the same classroom environment.

By 1976 there was a race to produce personal computers. Apple was amongst the most successful with a more advanced distribution system. I remember going to my first writing session with Carol Bly the summer I retired and taking my typewriter and how amazed I was at all the young women there with these strange new computers. Soon after, I got my own.

This edition will be the last of “Remember When” for me. It has been a great adventure of remembrances. Many family members and friends have had a wonderful time reminiscing as well as many readers of Her Voice have been in touch as well. My goal was to inspire others to do the same. We all have our stories and they are all important. Every age has its importance — personal as well as environmental stories.

Enjoy the sharing. Savor the journey.

Audrae Norris Johnson Gruber,

retired St. Paul elementary teacher, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, Brainerd resident of 15 years, poet, writer, nature lover, former volunteer for hospice, suicide prevention, library board, Brainerd Dispatch advisory, member of Homer’s Writers group and happy camper.

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