1947 and 1948 – End of the War
The big war in Europe and the Pacific had been over for two or three years. Times were getting a little better for many people including the Bolduc family living on Ludlam St. in Lower Centralville. Happily, my mother and father plus the three of us, Bob, Michelle and I, were benefiting from the very modest, post-war recovery that the Lowell Sun was touting as proof positive about the resilience of our economic system of government.
Goodbye to Wartime Scarcity – Hello to Better Times
No more rationing of butter, coffee, but beef and poultry were still under some restrictions since the Truman administration was promoting “meatless” Tuesdays and Thursdays. Price controls were still a topic of discussion with merchants wanting the complete return of the free market.
The Displaced Person, DP, A Person without a Home
In Europe, however, a new type of human being could be found in bombed-out towns and villages, in shattered farmhouses and partially broken hospitals. This new person was the “displaced person”, AKA the “DP”. For some reason, such frightened individuals dressed in rags, who were wandering about in search of lost family members, became familiar images in our local group consciousness. Maybe, the nuns at school wished to make it a point to contrast our usual, Lowell frustrations with those of the lost souls of WWII?
“I don’t like the Oatmeal!”
Surely, it is hard to complain about the oatmeal your mother served for breakfast when you realize that some little boy or little girl just like you in Hungary, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, The Netherlands, Russia or Norway plus desperate folks in Japan and China may not have any breakfast at all. Also, it was also an ideal way to teach those of us living safely in Centralville all about the geography of Western Europe and the Pacific under war conditions.
Cowboy Themes, the Great American Grasslands plus an Open Range
Also, those were the days of Walt Disney films, Western movies, the Lone Ranger and Tonto plus singing cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, who told American children about the wide, sunny prairies, cattle drives, rustlers, fancy saddles, silver spurs that jingle and jangle on the boots of weary riders of the great plains and, especially, of the freedom and joy in the hearts of horseman and horsewomen everywhere as they rode to reach the Great American Corral of Hollywood’s Western justice system.
Lowell’s Open Range for Youngsters – Boys and Girls
This was a period of personal transitions for me since new freedoms were opening up all around me. Suddenly, I was allowed to walk up to McPhearson’s field on Richardson Road off Hildreth Avenue – about a one mile trek – to join into a game of pickup baseball.
Ouellette’s Lunch at Moody and Austin
Also, on weekends, there was the attraction of cheap, second-rate movies (maybe, ten cents for a double feature) at the Royal Theater, just down from Saint-Jean Baptiste Church at the corner of Aiken and Merrimack. My cousin, Richard Ouellette, and I sampled many a serial adventure there on the exploits of Red Ryder and Little Beaver. Since Richard’s parents operated Ouellette’s Lunch basically just around the corner at Moody and Austin, it was always a treat to finish off an adventure at the Royal by dropping into the restaurant for a little treat. Cold drinks were always available but there might also be a piece of lemon meringue pie or, more traditionally, some fresh, salmon pie. Since the local bus service operated until around 9:30 pm, my safe return home down Aiken St., over the Merrimack River to Lilley Ave. in Centralville was guaranteed. As an eight or nine-year boy, this freedom opened up many avenues for me, but for my brother, Bob, at about 4, his city-wide roaming was still tightly restricted.
Poor in our Means but Rich in our Adventures
The Cold War was already brewing in the far background of our days, but our home-spun fantasies filled with an upcoming but tentative prosperity painted a picture all brimming with hope and happiness. The future seemed almost too good to be true.