Mid Century Home life -- The 50s

00:10:32
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WEzqw-1vTU

Résumé

TLDRThe video follows a man as he reflects on his daily routine and life accomplishments. Every Friday night, his wife Julia compares grocery prices for their family shopping. On Saturday mornings, while Julia is out shopping, the man reviews household accounts and finances. He reflects on his 13-year tenure at a plant where he was involved with the UAW, serving as a shop steward addressing workers' grievances. He recalls moving into their new home financed by savings and a Federal Housing Administration loan. He appreciates the friendly neighbors and his family's participation in community activities. Despite facing challenges such as an accident at work and his daughter's struggles in school, he takes pride in providing for his family and contributing to a supportive community.

A retenir

  • 📅 Every Friday night, Julia checks grocery prices.
  • 🛒 Julia shops from five neighborhood stores.
  • 🥩 The family prioritizes getting quality food at good prices.
  • 🛠️ The narrator has been with the plant for 13 years.
  • 🏡 He and Julia worked hard to save for their home.
  • 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Community and neighbors are integral to their lives.
  • 📚 Jeannie overcame school challenges with family support.
  • 💼 An accident at work showed the importance of insurance.
  • 💪 The narrator is proud to provide for his family.
  • 🤝 Union involvement helped address workplace issues.

Chronologie

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Every Friday night, Julia compares grocery prices to prepare for their Saturday shopping. The narrator finds some time to relax with the radio and evening papers. Saturday is a busy day for chores while Julia shops at local markets for their family's needs, ensuring quality and value for groceries including vegetables, meat, and fruit. The narrator also reviews bills and finances, reflecting on his 13-year journey with the Auto Workers Union, his election as shop steward, and the importance of resolving workplace grievances. He engages in union activities and dreams of building a life and home for his family, recalling the effort it took to save for their house through a Federal Housing Administration loan.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:32

    Settling into their new community, the family bonds with neighbors through social gatherings and participates actively in civic duties like voting and church. They encounter challenges, like Jeannie's school troubles, but resolve them through school involvement. Despite workplace accidents, the narrator feels secure due to insurance and compensation, highlighting the family's resilience and pursuit of a decent life. In the end, chores and family ensure his full engagement with present responsibilities, and he contemplates the shared journey of improving life for their children, reflecting a universal struggle among factory workers.

Carte mentale

Vidéo Q&R

  • What does Julia do every Friday night?

    Julia compares grocery prices for Saturday shopping.

  • How many stores does Julia shop from?

    Julia shops from five different stores to find the best prices and quality.

  • What is the main theme of the story?

    The main theme is about balancing work, family responsibilities, and community involvement.

  • How long has the narrator worked at the plant?

    The narrator has worked at the plant for 13 years.

  • What role did the narrator hold at the plant?

    The narrator was a shop steward and a member of the UAW.

  • How does the narrator feel about his community?

    The narrator feels positively about his community, highlighting the friendliness and helpfulness of neighbors.

  • What financial achievement does the narrator mention?

    The narrator mentions saving enough money for a down payment on a home.

  • What challenge did Jeanie face?

    Jeanie had trouble with arithmetic and risked being moved to a lower grade.

  • What incident happened to the narrator at work?

    The narrator had an accident and injured his hand at work.

  • What benefits did the narrator appreciate from his job?

    The narrator appreciated worker's compensation and company insurance.

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Sous-titres
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Défilement automatique:
  • 00:00:03
    every Friday night
  • 00:00:05
    Julia's job is to compare the grocery
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    prices of our neighborhood stores for
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    our Saturday morning shopping when that
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    matter settled I figure maybe I can get
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    in a little reading before it's time to
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    go to bed that is after the radios
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    turned down a little the evening papers
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    and now it's my time to relax just the
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    wind up of a typical work day in my life
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    today is Saturday
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    my work at home day as always a million
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    and one things to be done around the
  • 00:00:42
    house I get things started while Julia
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    is out doing the shopping there are five
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    big neighbourhood markets within a
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    couple of blocks of our house and Julia
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    spreads our shopping around going where
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    the prices are lowest and the quality
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    best the six miles to feed food is a big
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    item in our budget and we have to make
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    sure we get the most for our money every
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    Saturday morning Julia buys stuff for
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    the entire week so she takes her time
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    and sees that everything she gets is
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    fresh and good
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    the vegetables and fruit she buys from
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    one store or meat from another we're all
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    big meat eaters in our family even
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    little Jackie that means he has to make
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    sure there's plenty to go around
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    also on Saturday mornings I usually take
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    an hour so to go over the accounts and
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    bills figuring out ways to double
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    stretch that check of mine to pay him
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    upkeep on the house and car electricity
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    gas and all the rest as I started to
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    unfold my check all of a sudden I had an
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    odd feeling about the date on it it was
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    exactly 13 years ago this week that I
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    first went to work at the plant 13 years
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    a lot of things had happened to me since
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    that first week was that big day when I
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    joined our Auto Workers Union
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    the UAW United Auto Workers and not long
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    after that when the fellows in my
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    department elected me shop steward
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    [Music]
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    if the workers in our department had any
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    grievances or complaints they brought
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    unto me and I'd take him up with the
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    foreman
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    if the foreman felt he couldn't make a
  • 00:02:33
    fair decision or settle the grievance we
  • 00:02:35
    went to a higher representative of
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    Management
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    [Music]
  • 00:02:54
    special committee meetings were held to
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    discuss the personal problems and
  • 00:02:58
    troubles that come up among workers or
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    between management and workers the main
  • 00:03:02
    thing is for the union and management to
  • 00:03:04
    get together and settle things fair and
  • 00:03:06
    square for everybody
  • 00:03:08
    [Music]
  • 00:03:28
    usually we could settle matters quickly
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    and we all think that's best for
  • 00:03:33
    everybody concerned the union was a big
  • 00:03:40
    thing in my life still is I took an
  • 00:03:43
    interest in helping to set up
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    recreational classes for the youngsters
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    of our members I figured that someday
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    mine would be here learning to dance and
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    enjoying it like these children I
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    remembered that day when Julia and I
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    made up our minds we were through paying
  • 00:04:05
    money to landlords and we were going to
  • 00:04:07
    build our own home easier said than done
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    we had to scrimp and save every penny
  • 00:04:14
    they get the money needed for a down
  • 00:04:17
    payment on a new home one day our bank
  • 00:04:22
    deposit book showed that the money was
  • 00:04:24
    finally saved
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    we took this money got ourselves a
  • 00:04:33
    Federal Housing Administration loan and
  • 00:04:35
    we were on our way
  • 00:04:37
    [Music]
  • 00:04:42
    in 1940 our new home was finished and we
  • 00:04:47
    were ready to move in
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    [Music]
  • 00:04:58
    then we had the job of getting
  • 00:05:00
    acquainted with our new neighborhood
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    meeting our neighbors making friends
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    with the people we'd be living close to
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    probably for the rest of our lives
  • 00:05:08
    all of Julia's time and that of our
  • 00:05:11
    children and most of mine too would be
  • 00:05:14
    spent in this house of ours on this
  • 00:05:16
    street living among and with these
  • 00:05:18
    people
  • 00:05:26
    I got an inkling of the kind of
  • 00:05:30
    neighbors we had the first time I tried
  • 00:05:32
    to move the lawn with that ancient
  • 00:05:33
    broken-down lawn more of mine the people
  • 00:05:38
    next door crossed the road down the
  • 00:05:40
    street turned out to be friendly and
  • 00:05:42
    helpful the fact is we weren't strangers
  • 00:05:50
    very long those neighbors of ours
  • 00:05:52
    working people like myself made us feel
  • 00:05:55
    at home right off
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    [Music]
  • 00:06:03
    it wasn't long before we were getting
  • 00:06:05
    together for Saturday night card parties
  • 00:06:07
    a young married couple from across the
  • 00:06:16
    street came over
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    [Music]
  • 00:06:21
    and another couple who lived two houses
  • 00:06:23
    down we founded a swell way to spend an
  • 00:06:33
    evening the matter of fact we still do
  • 00:06:36
    [Music]
  • 00:06:42
    neither Julia nor I've ever missed
  • 00:06:45
    voting in any election
  • 00:06:53
    and we seldom miss church on Sunday
  • 00:06:55
    mornings the new home the friendly
  • 00:07:00
    neighbors everything was fine except
  • 00:07:03
    that Jeanie ran into a little trouble at
  • 00:07:05
    school one night I came home and found
  • 00:07:07
    her crying and Julia was plenty upset
  • 00:07:10
    Jeannie had a note from her teacher that
  • 00:07:12
    she'd have to do better an arithmetic er
  • 00:07:14
    will be put in a lower grade I believe I
  • 00:07:20
    felt even worse about things than
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    Jeannie did I thought maybe I could help
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    her with her problems on my job I used
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    blueprints dealt with figures and
  • 00:07:29
    numbers all the time but it'd been a
  • 00:07:32
    good while packs inside tackled high
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    school math I figured the best thing to
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    do was for Julia to go down and have a
  • 00:07:42
    talk with Jeannie's teacher so one
  • 00:07:44
    afternoon she went to school
  • 00:07:58
    right from the start Jeanne's teacher
  • 00:08:00
    and julia got along okay Julia talked
  • 00:08:03
    about her own schooling and mine now he
  • 00:08:06
    wanted our children to get even more
  • 00:08:07
    education there's a couple of weeks
  • 00:08:10
    later that we got the good news Jeannie
  • 00:08:12
    was going right ahead with her class
  • 00:08:15
    no those years weren't all smooth
  • 00:08:18
    sailing by any means I've had my share
  • 00:08:21
    of the breaks good and then all our
  • 00:08:24
    machines have safety devices but there
  • 00:08:27
    was a time I got a little careless and
  • 00:08:29
    had that accident one of the fellows
  • 00:08:34
    rushed me over to the plant infirmary
  • 00:08:46
    my hand could have been badly smashed
  • 00:08:48
    luckily it wasn't on top of that I got
  • 00:08:52
    quick medical attention and the best it
  • 00:08:57
    was one experience that made me glad I
  • 00:08:59
    was covered by workman's compensation
  • 00:09:00
    and company insurance it meant that no
  • 00:09:03
    matter what the docs verdict Julia and
  • 00:09:06
    the youngsters wouldn't have to worry
  • 00:09:07
    about my being off the job
  • 00:09:11
    [Music]
  • 00:09:14
    the x-ray showed several small bones
  • 00:09:18
    were broken and I was laid up for a
  • 00:09:19
    couple of weeks but the past with all
  • 00:09:28
    its experiences wiped itself out when
  • 00:09:31
    Joan came running into the house to tell
  • 00:09:33
    me her mother wanted me to come outside
  • 00:09:34
    and help carry in the groceries I was
  • 00:09:37
    right back in the present again
  • 00:09:40
    [Music]
  • 00:09:47
    Bill's yes six miles to feed worries and
  • 00:09:52
    troubles and problems good times and bad
  • 00:09:55
    times the years have been full of but
  • 00:10:01
    there's some things that make it all
  • 00:10:03
    worthwhile and more changing the details
  • 00:10:07
    a little the way I live might be the way
  • 00:10:09
    of any one of us at the factory doing
  • 00:10:12
    our best to make a decent life for
  • 00:10:13
    ourselves and try and maybe to make it
  • 00:10:16
    even a little better for our children
  • 00:10:19
    [Music]
  • 00:10:24
    [Applause]
Tags
  • family routine
  • grocery shopping
  • UAW
  • neighborhood
  • community
  • budgeting
  • home ownership
  • children's education
  • work accident
  • insurance