As the world changed, so did Pratt County. It lost its innocence, and brought it to the end of an era. Scarcely seventy years previous to WWII the first pioneer placed his sod-buster into the Pratt County turf, built his own little empire, and was sheltered by his own isolation. But now he was forced to “join the world” and move forward with it. The isolation was broken. The world had come to Pratt County. WWII altered its economy and culture forever.

NO LONGER:
would you know that ALL the stores would be CLOSED to observe Sunday, Labor Day, Good Friday, George Washington's Birthday, Lincoln's Birthday, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, for funerals of important local people, and afternoon football games with Kingman;

would Wednesday be church night when everyone was expected to participate in Prayer meeting and church activities;

would you be greeted at every store counter by a friendly clerk asking, “May I Help You?”;

did we need a quarantine sign nailed to the front of the house when a child had mumps, measles, whooping cough, scarlet fever, to prevent the disease from spreading. A shot of penicillin or other antibiotic was now available;

did you listen for the steam whistle at the Light Plant blow at 7:00 a.m. , 8:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, 1:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m.;

would girls be offered work ONLY as a teacher, nurse, stenographer, store clerk, or telephone girl. They had been “Rosie the Riveter” and plant manager, and knew they could do ANYTHING;

would men be forced to accept just ANY job in order to feed the family through the Depression and drought;

would you expect your son to marry a home-town girl;

would you consider candy, ice cream, or a soft drink a RARE TREAT;

would you consider a dial telephone “the latest in modern communication”;

would everyone take long walks in the evening, sit on the front porch and visit with the neighbors, or play croquet on the lawn. We became “couch potatoes” instead;

did we drive to the railroad station and watch the passenger train come in, and visit with people from far away places;

did we have a chunk of ice delivered to the house for the ice box;

did we need a box for the bottle of milk to be placed into so the cat wouldn't lick it after the milk man delivered it to the house each morning;

would ladies wear hat and gloves to shop at the grocery store;

would the family go to town every Saturday to shop, and stay to visit until the store closed at 8:00 or 9:00 p.m.;

would we need to hang wet sheets over the windows to keep the house cool in summer;

would children be expected to WALK every day to school or the ball field;

would we see dozens of children roller-skating around the Court House every summer evening;

did everyone read a good book on a snowy day;

would we see men congregating on street curbs or the Court House lawn waiting to be hired on as an “extra hand” at wheat harvest time;

would ALL men wear felt hats, or straw hats in the summer, tip them to the ladies they met on the streets, and remove them indoors;

would the doctor come to your house when a family member was ill;

could you call the grocery store and have your order taken and then delivered to your house...on credit;

would you know by name more than half of the people in town, where they lived, and most of the details of their private lives.

No, we do not look back at the “good old days” . They were not so good. We look at changes, measure the quality, and move on with prayer.
But, before P.A.A.F. it WAS different.
Taken from “Lost Innocence” in DID YOU KNOW, by Dorotha Giannangelo