Having fun without a screen, long ago
History · Early Years · The School
No television yet
Long ago, there was no television at all. Nobody could watch a screen for fun. That sounds strange today. But people were not bored all the time. They just had fun in a different way.
Telling stories
Families told stories out loud. This happened most in the evening. Grandparents told tales about their own childhood. Some tales were made up. Some were true. A good storyteller could keep a room quiet for an hour. Telling a tale out loud is one of the oldest kinds of fun there is.
Playing outside and the radio
Children played outside a lot. They ran races. They played ball games. They skipped rope. No battery was needed for any of that. Later on, families sat round a RADIO to listen. Everyone in the room heard the same show, at the same time.
Picture one evening, long ago. Radios exist by now, but no TV. No screen glows in the corner. The whole family sits close to the radio. They listen to a play, or some music. After that, someone tells a tale from their own childhood. Then it is bed time, by candlelight or a dim bulb. No screen at all, in that whole evening. Yet it was still a full evening of fun.