Post #226 – Women’s Memoirs, Writing Prompt – Matilda Butler
Helping Your Reader (and Your) Remember
Sometimes in a memoir class, an item is mentioned in a vignette and the whole group sort of swoons and says, “Oh, I remember that.” or “I hadn’t thought about that in forever.” I recall one person mentioning Mrs. Stewarts bluing (made clothes whiter). A couple of the younger women had no idea what it was while others clearly remembered their mothers using it on laundry day.
Another student mentioned that in 1955 her mother filled the canvas water bag, hung it on the front of the car, and took off for a summer driving trip across the southwest states with her best friend. Questions were asked. What was the bag for? Why was it hung on the front of the car? Some in the class said they don’t know whatever happened to the one their parents had but they clearly remembered it. I know we had one and used it when we were on a long driving trip in the summer since an overheated radiator could spoil a trip and be an unwelcome expense. That bag stayed in my parents garage for decades.
Nostalgia Versus Evocative Details
Nostalgia is comforting. It evokes “I Remember When” stories that we like to share and absolutely love telling the younger generation. It reminds us how many differences there are between the world we knew as children and today. Even the world we knew as younger adults and the current situation. For example, we continue to tell the story that the first CD-ROM drive we bought was made by Toshiba and cost $2400. Since our company was putting information on CD-ROM, we had to purchase it. Today, I can get an external CD-ROM drive for as little as $15 and even a well-known brand for $30.
Nostalgia is important in two other ways.
(1) You can use items from an earlier era to prompt your own memories. Below, you will find a set of images that I hope will get you writing. You may find, as I did, that I had forgotten about these items but just the photograph brought back many memories.
(2) You can add distinctive items from your past into your memoir story. This specificity helps readers to better “see” you and your scenes.
Memoir Writing Prompts
I hope you’ll find these photographs as much fun as I did. Talk about Memory Lane.
Card Catalogues. This photo reminds me of my trips to the library when I was a little girl. It seems that there must have been a neighborhood library but I have no memory of it. Instead, I remember my parents (sometimes my mother, sometimes my father) taking me to the downtown library. When I was small, I simply picked out books from the lower shelves in the children’s area. Eventually, I learned how to use the card catalogue to find books of interest. And then, in my senior year of high school, I got a job working in the school library where I learned how to repair the binding of books. I earned $75 per semester and felt quite grown up.
Memoir Writing Prompt #1. Write about your memories of the card catalogue at your public library or the school library. Did you get to know the librarian? What kinds of books did you enjoy? How often did you go to the library? Did your parents let you go on your own?
Library Cards. Library cards were another part of my childhood experience. The card, housed in a pocket in the book, was removed when I’d check it out. I signed the card and the librarian kept it, stamping the due date on a Due Date Slip also affixed in the book. The librarian, of course, kept the card until I returned my book. She (and it always was a she) managed to file the cards and always find them when I brought back the books. Occasionally, I still find the book cards and love to see how recently the book had been checked out. I am always surprised as the number of years that can go by between the book being read outside the library. Of course, it just may be true for the kinds of books I enjoy.
Memoir Writing Prompt #2.
What type of library did you go to when you were young? Does the library card bring up any specific memories? Were you ever late returning the book? What was a typical library file for a book that was returned late? Did you ever damage a book? I remember that one of my sons, when he was in elementary school, was reading during bath time and dropped the book into the water. By the time I could recover it and hang it up to dry, the book was ruined. There was no option but to pay for a new one. Ouch.
Home Delivery of Milk. Sometimes photos remind us of how sex-segregated occupations were when we were young. Librarians were primarily female. Milk was delivered by males. My street had a post where, in earlier time, the horse-drawn milk delivery wagon could be tied up. But according to neighbors, the horse always knew to stop and wait until the milk bottles were delivered. As a kid I thought it was wonderful to have a horse bring the milk.
Memoir Writing Prompt #3.
Was milk delivered to your home when you were young? If so, did you ever get to know the delivery man? Did he bring any other items? Did you have a refrigerator or an ice box? I know that my great grandparents used to keep the milk cool in the small stream that ran across their property. They lived in rural area and didn’t get electricity until after the Rural Electrification Act provided funds to install electrical distribution systems. Write about your childhood memories of home deliveries of milk and possibly other groceries.
Check back next week when I’ll share some more nostalgia with you.
