I was 13 the summer of 1962. We spent our time at the neighbor’s pool, or at the beach slathering on Sea and Ski,one of the only two suntan lotions. Coppertone being the other.
Once a week somebody’s Mom dropped us at the library and we checked out a bunch of books to read.
We also used to get on the city bus and go downtown to shop at the dept store or go to the movie and eat lunch at the counter at Walgreens Drugstore. We always wore dresses and white gloves. The South was still very formal then.
There was almost no AC except in commercial buildings so after dark my dad would turn on the attic fan and by midnight you could stand it enough to drift off to sleep.
There was a drive in movie theatre right next to our neighborhood and one of our neighbors was given a free speaker mounted on a tree in their yard so they wouldn’t go to court about the noise. We used to all gather over there on Sat night and sit on the side lawn and watch the movies for free. I remember seeing all the Troy Donahue movies.
We lived in a very nice neighborhood and had 2 cars. A beater for my Mom to drive to the grocery store and a company car for my Dad. I believe he made about $6,000 per year and we lived frugally but well. It was a good time to be growing up.
I forgot to mention that in the summer of 1962 I had never heard the words Muslim, Islam, Sharia, or Jihad.