Tales of the Midwest
Growing Up and Growing Old in Rural Small-Town, U.S.A.
by
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"God must love the common man; he made so many of them."- Abraham Lincoln They have called " The Silent Majority" - those who toil from dawn 'till dusk in America's factories, shops, farms, and offices. They have been termed "middle class," "middle management," and "Middle America." Many of them inhabit a mythical land in America's breadbasket, the "Midwest." Their job is to steady the corporate ladder for society's business climbers. They produce the limitless grain, spreadsheets, documents, and widgets that make the United States the greatest society the world has ever known. They are over-worked, over taxed, and under-appreciated . They are "the fabric of America." If ever a generation shared a common experience, it was the "Baby Boom Generation." Most television markets had three stations, whose programming was controlled by three major networks. Prime time was 8:00 to 11:00 PM. Radio stations (all AM) were dominated by Rock and Roll's "Top 40" hits, played over and over again, providing the common soundtrack of the generation's experiences . School consisted of "readin','writin', and 'rithmetic'"; "history, shop, and Home Economics,"- eight periods-8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Team sports practice after school: mandatory. And you better be on time for all of them! All this to produce tomorrow's generators of widgets, grainfields, spreadsheets, and documents. But common experiences and rote preparation for one's place as a cog in society's machine does not necessarily translate into common thoughts. You might own my time and effort, but you can't own my mind. This is a peek into the last bastion of Middle America; the Midwest. Two boys who grew up there in the heyday of the Baby Boom Generation, Bob and John Vining, wrote about some of their common experiences and uncommon thoughts. This anthology is the timeline of their lives, but it might resemble the timeline of yours as well. Accept the challenge to open the pages and find out!
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About the Book
“ God must love the common man; he made so many of them.” —Abraham Lincoln They have been called the silent majority—those who toiled from dawn ’til dusk in America’s factories, shops, farms, and offices. They have been termed middle class and Middle America. Many of them inhabit the Midwest. They produce the limitless grain, spreadsheets, documents, and widgets that make the United States the greatest society the world has ever known. If ever a generation shared a common experience, it was the baby boom generation. Television markets had three stations, which were controlled by three major networks. Radio stations were dominated by Top 40 hits, providing the common soundtrack of the generation’s experiences. School consisted of readin’, writin’, and ’rithmetic’, team sports were practiced after school, chores were done at home, and church was mandatory. All this to produce tomorrow’s generators of widgets, grainfields, spreadsheets, and documents. But common experiences and rote preparation for one’s place or cog in society’s machine does not necessarily translate into common thoughts. This is a peek into the last bastion of Middle America: the Midwest. Two boys who grew up there in heyday of the baby boom generation wrote about some of their common experiences and uncommon thoughts. This anthology is the timeline of their lives, but it might resemble yours as well. Accept the challenge to find out.
About the Author
Robert E. Vining was born on November 20, 1946, on a small farm in West Central Ohio. He farmed there from mid-1960s until 1985. He eventually moved to the Tampa, Florida, vicinity. Based from this area, he drove a truck cross-country until his death on October 17, 2006. Bob was an unusually astute student of history and observer of the present, and commented on both at length. Some of his observations are contained in this volume. John Eric Vining was born on this same small farm on March 6, 1955. He assisted his father and brother until the family decided to cease farming operations in the fall of 1985. John’s destiny led in a different direction, and he managed departments for several local businesses from the 1980s to the 2010s. He too is a man of varied interests, and some of those interests are represented in this volume. John still lives in Northwest Ohio and continues his studies of history and business right up to the present day.