My Blendville tells quirky tales of growing up the son of parents who delayed having children until the Great Depression ended. Their version of parenting was based on their own experiences which was separated from that of their children by two World Wars, a pandemic, and the worst economic struggles of the century.
They lived in a community that was established by miners of lead and zinc for bullets and brass needed by the military.
When WWII ended, the many mines, several houses, a few barns, and some wells were abandoned, creating a dystopian landscape where children ran free, between meals, school, and bedtimes.
Helicopter parenting was unknown in Blendville, but spanking was commonplace, for wives as well as children. A sinister pale hung over the place. Youthful enthusiasm could not be suppressed, however. Kids kept their activities secret from adults, who did not worry much about their offspring so long as they knew where they were.
The lack of adult supervision allowed the youngsters to invent their own toys, games, gardens, gangs, firearms, and businesses, with spectacular successes and failures.
Harry Gossett and his sister Annie explored the many home-based companies in their neighborhood. They learned to save their money for long bus trips on Saturdays to visit other cities. Their parents thought they were playing a park near their home when, in fact, they were sometimes hundreds of miles away.
They had to come to terms with the deaths of pets, schoolmates, neighbors, and relatives. Catastrophic diseases, such as polio, took a toll on the community. Lacking experience to base their judgment on, the children saw everything as normal.
Harry had a paper route. Daily, he saw the crime scene where Bonnie and Clyde shot it out with law enforcement officers, killed two lawmen, and got away.
His earning allowed him to buy a dilapidated, three-wheeled, motor scooter, which expanded his world considerably.
Growing up includes puberty. The boys and girls in the author's world started to see one another as different animals, in a good way. Readers get the benefit of his recounting how girls looked to a boy in the 1950s.
Christian music beckoned two elementary school children, who brought their parents to church only to discover both parents had considerable knowledge of the faith. The family got seriously involved in religion and the author later became a professional gospel singer.
He vividly recalls the things he learned from the old people. They had time to spend with grandchildren and the like.
When his father was unemployed, desperation set in, and a Christmas miracle occurred.
These recollections do not proceed in chronological order, but rather by subject matter. For example, high school football coincided with helping triple the size of the family home, but those topics are the subjects of different chapters.