Fortnum and Mason Rose Pouchong

 

I'm reviewing a rose pouchong tea from Fortnum and Mason.  There are a couple of interesting layers to this experience, beyond the tea, since pouchong is an interesting type reference, and this was given to me by a Thai monk.  

I can explain how that second part works.  I've mentioned giving monks tea a lot here, and it usually goes that way, that you would give a monk tea, not the other way around.  But it makes sense.

How can a monk give away tea?

I've mentioned giving monks tea fairly frequently, a few times in the past 2 or 3 months.  If people end up giving them a lot of any one thing, like that, it could seem inappropriate for them to stockpile tea, even though for a tea enthusiast that's a best case scenario.  Giving some away to visitors is appropriate, and keeping a moderate supply.  

People also end up giving monks things they're not supposed to have, like a fruit basket.  There's no rule against keeping tea around, but monks can't store food, because they are required to go out on alms rounds daily and live off that food input, and not keep "leftovers."  It's not the worst thing to give them fruit, not a violation of a norm, because they can eat some that day, and pass it on to another visitor, or temple staff.  

There aren't a lot of staff at a temple, like in a billionaire's house complex, but depending on the temple context they may need extra security, office workers, cleaners, etc.  We just had a memorial service event at Wat Pho, a main Thai Bangkok temple, that functions as both a tourism destination and a functional temple, for memorials, funerals (not many; dedicated temples tend to specialize in that), and marriages.  I was married there, and I ordained there, 19 years or so ago.  

That temple is typically the #1 Bangkok tourism destination on Trip Advisor; it's not just a tourism attraction, it's a main one, in a city that draws almost as many visitors as anywhere else in the world.  More might go to Paris, but that's about it.

I recently gave that monk two kinds of tea, after passing on some other tea a month or two prior, and it was probably adding up, what different people had offered.  Hopefully he didn't give it to me to balance the scales, in some way, as friends would return a favor, because I'm not at all concerned about that, and I have a lot of tea around.  Monks can't buy things, so I give tea to a few that I know, because they can't eat anything after noon, and it would be nice to have a beverage option then.  It's just that.

What is pouchong?

Pouchong is baozhong, a type of lightly oxidized oolong from Taiwan.  I had forgotten that, that it's the old name for that type.  This seems nothing like Bao Zhong, instead like a mild black tea.  That's fine though; when oolong types are relatively more oxidized the line blurs, since black teas can also be relatively less oxidized (within a narrow range).  Oddly they're calling it black tea, on the label, at the same time they reference a name for a type of oolong, which might be explained in the following additional background.

This one tastes like a mild and flavorful black tea, in terms of flavor profile.  That's positive.  I'm writing this after taking notes; it's interesting to consider if a bias towards thinking that it's black tea changed anything.  The dried leaves are dark, and the wetted leaves are brown; it's as oxidized as black tea, regardless of what they want to call it, or which processing steps led to that.  So it's really more of a naming and type anomaly; this is functionally black tea.

They could have been referencing an older use of the named type.  This is an excerpt from Tea, It's History and Mystery, by Joseph Walsh, from 1892:

That was in the "souchong" black tea book section; it had been black tea back then, or at least so it seems from this reference.  This is probably what they are referencing, a traditional type name, not the older name variation for a type of Taiwanese oolong.

Review:

First infusion:  it might work better to use a very small amount, 2 or 3 grams, and then brew it for 5 minutes, more or less as the tin label recommended.  I used 4 or 5 grams, and it will brew 2 or 3 times using this kind of hybrid Western approach.  It's "designed" for infusion all at one time, so that might not be ideal; we'll see how it goes.

The flavor is a little light, but it's fine, the range works.  Of course it tastes like flowers and black tea.  Like rose, I guess?  It literally is rose.  The quality of the black tea is pretty good, better than I would have expected.  It's not as if everything that finds its way into a tin is bad, that's just a generality that probably applies more often than it doesn't.  The more flavored a tea is the less the tea input quality would matter, so it might tend to be worse.  Earl Grey versions usually use some pretty so-so black tea as a base.

It's hard to identify much beyond general black tea range and rose.  It's a warm toned black tea, as those tend to be, but it lacks the malty edge of Assam.  It might taste a little like unsmoked Lapsang Souchong.  I still don't know what this is; it might even be that.  Or maybe Keemun / Qimen.  Let's check with Google how that should be:

Qimen black tea, commonly known as Keemun, is a famous Chinese black tea originating from Qimen County in Anhui Province. First produced in 1875, it is prized for its gentle, low-astringent taste with distinct notes of unsweetened cocoa, dried fruit, and a subtle, aromatic smokiness.

Maybe this does include cacao and dried fruit; it's hard to tell, with this much floral input.  That's a good guess.  The range of whatever it does include is positive, and it integrates well with the rest.  Tea quality is good; feel is decent, and aftertaste contributes depth, even though it's mostly floral (the rose).  

It's good tea, in a limited sense.  For a mass produced tin tea it's quite good, for specialty tea range presented as an exceptional version just kind of ordinary, or maybe not on a high level.  Complexity and intensity could be limited, which doesn't matter in this form, because the flower input is covering that.

Second infusion:  I let this go a bit over 5 minutes, to really extract the rest.  There is no astringency edge to work around, or any other unpleasant range, so it should be fine strong.  Or medium; the last should've probably been stronger for brewing about 5 grams for around 4 minutes.  

I didn't mention that this would work well with milk and sugar, but you would need to dial up intensity for that to make sense, and I'm already brewing what should be a really strong version.  It would be strange trying to brew 6 to 8 grams in a 300 ml infuser; at some level it might not fit in a basket.

Floral range really kicks this time.  It even picks up a bit of dry edge to the feel; it's pushed as far as it could be, without things going badly.  This is strong enough to stand up to milk and sugar, but it definitely doesn't need it.  Sweetness level is nice.  

It's cool how there is nothing actually sweet in this in terms of carbohydrate input, but it's sweet.  It lacks that artificial sweet range in stevia and diet drinks; this could really work for some people trying to control caloric intake.  A teaspoon or two of sugar isn't a lot of calories anyway (16 calories in 4 grams, a teaspoon), which makes it all the more odd that sodas contain so much (140 calories in a can of Coke; 8 teaspoons worth).

This is much better than I expected.  I've had pretty good floral blends before, and jasmine black tea is my personal favorite, so I guess it makes sense that I like this.

I'm still not unpacking a new flavor list.  It's not that far off jasmine black tea, but of course this is rose.  Maybe it includes cacao, or maybe that's not a great interpretation.  If there is dried fruit it's not so far off Chinese date, or that plus dried apricot.  The dry, warm, rich input that picked up could seem like malt, if you are looking for that, or autumn leaf might work better.

It might have worked better to brew 2/3rds as much for 6 or 7 minutes, maybe 3 grams or so, and that's it.  But as a specialty tea enthusiast I am biased towards experiencing some transition across rounds, even when it doesn't change anything, or isn't completely positive.

plenty of company for this tasting

Conclusions:

This is a great tea to have on hand for something easy to brew and drink when you are in a hurry, or don't feel like going through much effort.

So how much would this cost?  19 British pounds for 100 grams, or $26.  Is that a good value?  Not compared to what I've been buying at Chinatown locally; I just bought 100 grams of wild origin Chinese black tea for $15, a version that's slightly better.  But for this mass-produced range, selling on a Western market or webpage, it's probably normal, and ok.  

The one Vietnamese jasmine black tea I've tried versions of, from Hatvala, here, sells for $18.25 for 100 grams, and it's probably slightly better (relatively objectively, although preference always factors in).  But then they offer free worldwide shipping on $80 or over, so you'd be looking to build up an order to that amount, from anywhere but within Vietnam, where local post service is probably cheap.  

Fortnum and Mason, through their webpage sales outlet, don't ship to Thailand, so that's not even an option to buy direct from them.  I've never seen this in Bangkok, so it would probably come down to using an Amazon or Ebay outlet, which again might add significant shipping.  

I'd recommend buying the Hatvala tea over this anyway.  More oxidized / red oolong through them has been exceptional in the past, and trying a few other teas would be a great experience.  $80 sounds like a lot, but that could be months worth of tea.  That doesn't change that this was pretty good; I'm saying that you could probably get slightly better tea for less, using a different kind of source.

Si Thep, an early Siam city-state, before Sukhothai

 

We just visited Phetchabun, to a place in the mountains, then back to Si Thep, the Siam kingdom (?) before Sukhothai.  It's tempting to describe that as the first kingdom of Siam, but this kind of large gap in my own awareness of "local" history has me wondering what else I'm not in on.  It turns out that I've read quite a bit on that, from visiting museums and monuments in different places, some of which is referenced here.  Of course this isn't going to be a research paper quality reference of that history, but I'll pass on what I learned, it just includes some gaps and errors, sure even after adding more parts.  Per Wikipedia it was really a city-state; we can start with that, provisionally.

Many people are familiar with the Ayutthaya and Sukhothai kingdoms and eras, to a limited extent.  You can go visit old temple ruins in both places (those are two distinct locations, the capitals of those kingdoms).  We've been to both enough times that I couldn't say how many.  Maybe only 3 to Sukhothai, or maybe more, but definitely more to Ayutthaya.  We were just there, and the time before that wasn't so long ago.

only part of one of many ancient Ayutthaya temples

visiting Sukhothai in 2021

that was for Loy Krathong, in November, a great time to visit there

Then there was also a state / kingdom in the north of Thailand, La Na, that is well-known.  I referenced that in the last description of visiting Ayutthaya, I just didn't mention it:

Maps like that give you an impression that the boundaries of these empires or states were clearly defined over a long period of time, and they may have kept shifting a bit instead.  It still works as general background; for an extended time that's probably roughly where those boundaries were, give or take some minor transitions.

The Si Thep state (or whatever it was) was described as starting 1300 years ago by our guide on that outing.  It might have been harder for them to pin down a specific date when it ceased to be, since it would've declined over time, perhaps for different reasons.  According to him it was well established when the ancient Cambodian (Khmer) state associated with Angkor Wat wasn't developed yet.  It's hard for me to know how to place all that he said though; it seems possible a lot was left out, and some parts could've been wrong.  Not wrong in the sense that he was badly informed, but related to the whole broad picture changing over time as new details emerge (which gets covered in more detail here).

Scanning the Wikipedia article on Si Thep must fill in some mostly correct background:

Hindu-influenced era: 6th–8th century CE

The second phase of occupation (c. 6th–8th century CE) was characterized by the expansion to the outer city. As the monarchy emerged, Vaishnavism took an important role in Si Thep's society, with relationships to India, Funan, Chenla, and Dvaravati cultures.[12] Si Thep was an urban Dvaravati culture center since the 6th century CE, and one of the earliest communities in Thailand that made contacts with India, attested in stone inscription K 978, written in Sanskrit with Pallava script dated to the 6th century CE. So, Si Thep was developed into an early state along with other early Southeast Asian states like Funan, Chenla, and Sri Ksetra.[13] Charles Higham reports of a 7th-century Dvaravati inscription from Si Thep that states, [a new king took the throne]. " A moat enclosed 4.7 square km, while the Khao Klang Nai structure (Thai: เขาคลังใน) dates from the 6th to 7th century.[14]: 303, 308–309 

Buddhism-influenced era: 8th–10th century CE

This phase (c. 8th–10th century CE) was the most prosperous. An irrigation system was developed, and Mahayana Buddhism influenced art as relationships with India, Dvaravati and northeastern cities continued. Si Thep, Sema [fr], and Lopburi sites controlled the routes in the region.[12] The growth of Si Thep led to the establishment of its neighboring city, Tha Rong (Thai: ท่าโรง), located 20 kilometers northward on the bank of the Pasak River, which was later renamed Wichian Buri during the reign of King Nangklao of Rattanakosin.[15] Via Buddhism, several historical evidences supports the connection between Si Thep and another group of Dvaravati-influenced political entities in present Northeast Thailand, Wen Dan.[16]: 91–92 

During this era, Si Thep, together with Lavo, was the center of the mandala-style state, Dvaravati; however, due to the weather-induced migration or the pandemic, Si Thep lost its prosperity, and Lavo became the only center of power in the area until it fell under Khmer hegemony during the 10th to 11th centuries.[17]

Rise of Angkorian: 11th–13th century CE

During this phase (c. 11th–13th century CE), Shaivism was a great influence in Si Thep at Angkorian times, and Si Thep had relationships with Phimai in Mun River basin as Sema [th] ceased to control the routes. Due to Jayavarman VII's policy, Si Thep lost importance and was almost abandoned around the 14th century.[12] Prang Song Phi Nong and Prang Si Thep were built in the 11th to 12th centuries.[14]: 303, 308–309 

After the decline of Si Thep in the 14th century, a new kingdom, Ayutthaya, was subsequently founded southward on the bank of the Chao Phraya River in mid-14th CE, as the succeeded state,[2] as its capital's full name referred to the mandalas of Dvaravati; Krung Thep Dvaravati Si Ayutthaya (Thai: กรุงเทพทวารวดีศรีอยุธยา).[18][19][20][21] The connection between the ancient Mon people, the predominant population of the Dvaravati, and the present-day Thai people in central Thailand, who are the inheritors of Siamese's Ayutthaya, was established in several genetic studies performed in the 20th century.

So they're describing it as a city-state, not really on par with a full-scale kingdom.  It was actually founded in the 4th century (300s CE), but seemed to rise to prominence in the 8th century, as described.  To place that in relation to the Sukhothai time-frame, Google offers this:  "The Sukhothai era (1238–1438) was the first Thai kingdom..."

Some parts of this are especially fascinating, to me.  Apparently there is very little for written references in relation to this city-state, in part because (as I understand it) earlier versions of modern Thailand hadn't developed written language prior to the Ayutthaya era.  My understanding isn't much of a guide, and what I learned from our actual guide didn't seem as convincing as it might have been, even though he worked for the local Fine Arts Department that manages those sites.

Let me elaborate.  It's only recently that they've excavated the sites we saw, and learned that many of them exist.  Of course parts were there to be seen continuously since those centuries back, but not as much as you might expect.  Even the giant main site structure had been buried by soil, or so we were told (by another local; they might've had that wrong).  A fallen down structure being buried and lost is understandable, but not a monument of that size, tens of meters tall.

Other parts were fascinating, and less speculative.  They definitely incorporated aspects of Buddhism and Hinduism in their monuments, and even Khmer artwork, presumably from later on.  As the time periods changed apparently they kept updating design aspects and inclusions.  Indian influence was primary, but not the only external source.  They made parts of the monument, the one in the historical area section, from concrete, a technology our guide said that they would have imported from India.  Of course the Romans did a lot with concrete long before this time-frame, but it's especially fascinating to me that during Europe's "dark ages" they lost the technology to make it (even though it would seemingly be from a very simple recipe).

Across all of this experience it seemed especially odd to me that I'd never heard of Si Thep.  Or actually I probably had; when we visited Lopburi a lot of the historical references in a museum there would've covered that time-frame [or possibly not, per looking up museum display references, cited in a different section here], and that background, and according to our guide some very important artifacts from Si Thep are kept there.  That we saw, no doubt, whether or not the whole background was clear.  

I'm just not great with keeping track.  Of course it was amazing to me three years ago, during that visit, that Thai history was that much more complicated than I had been aware, but not much of a detailed timeline stuck with me.  The more ancient parts were especially fascinating, from 3000 years ago or more, but I'm skipping covering that here.

we hiked up this earlier in the day, which is more difficult than it looks

good views up there

this very zoomed-in temple was playing music we could hear up there, maybe 8 km away

our guide was great, and that historical site dog joined in as a greeter

very old Buddha cave-art in a cave at the top

Lopburi museum reference:

I looked up a museum exhibit reference we visited in Lopburi in December 2022 to see what it said about this history, and if possible about Si Thep:

Si Thep is an hour and a half drive from Lopburi, north of there, so although it's possible that the map scope extends further up, and I cut it off, it seems more likely that Si Thep just didn't make this reference list and map graphic.  It was definitely from that time period, and also heavily influenced by Indian culture, as they describe, but it just wasn't mentioned here.  Strange.

But then if this museum content was from prior to 5 to 10 years ago and much of the scope of ruins at Si Thep were unknown then the omission makes sense.  It just wouldn't have seemed like there was that much up there, never mind a large city-state center complex, and massive monument, second only to Borobudur (in Java, Indonesia) in size from that early time period, according to our guide.  Let's take a look at that, even though similarities or differences might not stand out at a glance:

it's big (from Dec. 2015)

seemingly related to Buddhism

Of course this isn't a claim about tight linkage in background themes between Si Thep and Borobudur, in Indonesia.  Our guide said that it's the only other larger related time period monument in SE Asia.  One might naturally wonder how the later temples at Siem Reap fit into this.  I won't get too far into that, since it's another long history that I'm not all that familiar with, even though I've been there twice.  But citing more related background, about visiting another place, does partly link it together.  

On a separate trip we visited a related Khmer temple at the edge of Thailand, in Sa Kawo province, again in December 2022, which related to this:

Thai fine arts department page on the temple:

Prasat Sdok Kok Thom is located at Nong Ya Kaeo village, Moo 6, Tambon Khok Sung, Amphoe Khok Sung, Sa Kaeo Province and away from the border of Thailand – Cambodia about 1 kilometer.

It was originally called “Prasat Muang Phrao”, and then Prasat Sadok Kok Thom and Prasat Sdok Kok Thom. The word “Sdok Kok Thom” is Khmer language, “Sdok”came from “Sadok” which meant to overgrown, “Kok” meant to reeds, and “Thom” meant to large. Therefore, “Sdok Kok Thom” meant to overgrown with large reeds.

The religious place was built in 1595 B.E., in the reign of King Uthai Thitayavarman II (1593 – 1609 B.E.) to bestow the Brahmin who left the buddhist monkhood named “Sri Chayantaravarman” or his former name “Sadashiva”. This Brahmin was a son-in- law of King Suryavarman I and also an officiant who performed the Royal Coronation Ceremony to King Uthai Thitayavarman II.2

Prasat Sdok Kok Thom was constructed by the style of Khmer architecture.

Those dates are a little confusing because they're based on the Thai dating that sets the time of the Buddha to zero, not Jesus's birth (it's 2568 now; they're 543 years apart).  A related Wikipedia page converts parts over:

Udayadityavarman II (Khmer: ឧទ័យាទិត្យវរ្ម័នទី២) ruled the Angkor Kingdom from 1050 to 1066 A.D. He was the successor of Suryavarman I[1]: 137  but not his son; he descended from Yasovarman I's spouse.

He built the Baphuon Temple to honor the god Shiva, but some of the sculptures are dedicated to Buddha. He also completed the construction of the West Baray reservoir and built the West Mebon, a raised-earth island in the center.[1]: 138 [2]: 103 [3]: 371 

The Sdok Kak Thom temple, located near the present day Thai town of Aranyaprathet, was also constructed during his reign. The temple was home to a gray sandstone stele, 1.51 meters high, with a detailed inscription that recounted the sequence of previous Khmer kings. 

This was from that temple:

And it looks like this:

It loses a little for people who don't read Thai, but this helps place it and other early somewhat local monuments:

Note that the time-frame for that temple fell between 1050 and 1066 (the beginning of the "Angkorian phase," in that other reference), with the main Buddhist related and most prosperous Si Thep time period falling between the 8th and 10th centuries (700s to 900s CE).  Our guide's reference to the main temple being 1300 years old corresponds to this, but that really was the second phase of Si Thep's development, with an earlier Hindu era from the 6th to 8th centuries.

That's probably basically what our guide had been describing.  The mix of different dates tied to different parts of the two sites we visited was probably a little confusing to me, but spelled out more clearly in those text citations it all comes together.

Additional thoughts on the Light and Sound show:

Is anyone still with me, through all of these tangents?  During that light and sound show one thing that came to mind was considering how authentic any presentation about that history could be.  I asked our guide, and he said that they tried to make the clothing (costumes) period specific, based on what little they could find of formal clothing back then.  It wouldn't have been much.  They were dressed like these guys:

Who were "holding up" part of the temple monument here:

I didn't get a good broad-angle shot of that monument section, so here's one from a virtual tour page hosted by the Thai Fine Arts Department that manages the site:

I guess that it doesn't look like much, but for something 1300 years old that was generally lost to time for an extended period it's still impressive, just probably not in good condition compared to the original form.  Of course they have more on the history from other sources; it wouldn't only be based on those ruins, as already covered here.  This reference covers the general area, with background on both sites that we visited, Khao Klang Nai (the Si Thep Historical Park) and Khao Klang Nok, the other monument where the light and sound festival was held.

On the subject of how "lost to history" monuments of this scale could be this was from the Sadok Kok temple we visited in Sa Kaeo province, the one that was part of the Khmer empire:

In 1901 a French explorer told the outside world that it was there.  Thais already knew that, but the historical context and meaning they probably weren't as clear on, although they probably also knew that it was a part of the Cambodian (Khmer) empire.  One particular stone with a lot of writing described important parts of the Khmer history in detail; that's what the citation means "inscriptions discovered there are more important than any inscriptions in Cambodia."  This Wikipedia source on Sdok Kok Thom describes that in detail:

The inscription (classified K. 235) is a 340-line composition, in both Sanskrit and ancient Khmer, carved on a gray sandstone stele 1.51 meters high that stood in the northeast corner of the temple's court. Dating to 8 February 1053, it recounts two and a half centuries of service that members of the temple's founding family provided to the Khmer court, mainly as chief chaplains to kings. In laying out this long role, the text provides a remarkable and often poetically worded look at the faith, royal lineage, history and social structure of the times.

Back to the event theme, it seems like the prints of that period costume fabric would only be an interpretation drawn from later time periods.  The jewelry worn in the dancing they probably didn't have; according to our guide from early relics found they were using copper and tin (so brass, or other alloys), instead of gold in Thailand in that early period.  Of course there couldn't really be a reference to music from then, or dancing style; there isn't much written about the local history and culture, at all.  

So a lot of what we saw in that show was from general, modern Thai culture, informed by the Ayutthaya and Sukhothai era background.  They had the ancient king (in the story) pay respect to Shiva (I think it was him; a Hindu god, at least), so they at least mixed in a little related story line.  I suppose if that particular monument structure was created during the later Buddhist period it might not have all synced.

the related festival sales booths parts were nice

One last tangent:  for being from a rural area myself (in PA) I love small towns in Thailand, and Si Thep had a great feel to it.  We walked around a market area in town and found all sorts of great food for next to nothing, buying fruit and snacks to go with it.  Walking around that festival people seemed incredibly relaxed and friendly, familiar from my own earlier days.  I suppose they're still like that back there now; I visited last a year ago (rural PA), and people there are nice.  As they are in Si Thep.

I would highly recommend Bangkok locals or expats go and check it out.  It's like visiting Sukhothai before developed tourism shifted everything there to a tourism themed hotel, hostel, restaurant, or gift shop.  Actually Sukhothai and Ayutthaya are both great too (you'd be crazy to not eat boat noodles visiting the latter), perfect places to rent a bike and check out at a slow pace, or just to walk around.  But Si Thep adds a local small-town feel, at the cost of them still developing the museum display side of things.

if you do hike up that mountain wear pants (there are mosquitos), carry plenty of water, and take your time

Childhood stories from growing up in rural PA in the 70s

 

A recent post brought up the topic of childhood stories, in a very personally impactful way.  I grew up in rural Pennsylvania, with the first childhood home I remember in Cranberry, PA.  We moved there when I was 3 or 4, so I have very vague memories of living elsewhere earlier, but those are only fragments.

Someone recently posted an image of a postcard of that early home in an online group.  Where I lived had been a really old version of a resort, kind of like a motel, but based on the theme of people renting cabins while they traveled on an old US highway.  Even that form of travel experience had ended long before I was born.  US 322, that road, was more or less equivalent to the old Route 66, replaced by the US interstate system in the 1950s.  I grew up there in the 70s; I'm getting up there in age now.

those cabins were kind of elaborate, just small, as houses go

I wrote some stories of that childhood experience in that post, as comments, which I'll share here.  It was another time and another world.  The fragments of memories paint a picture of earlier US culture that is still recognizable, but far different than the current form.  

What was different?  It was a simpler time.  There were no cell phones, no internet, and not so much in terms of societal problems (crime, gangs, drug epidemics, random shootings, child kidnapping, etc.).  It wasn't ideal; some people still did terrible things, and US society was struggling to place that.  Drinking alcohol was so completely accepted that maybe in today's framing it would have been considered an "epidemic."  One set of my grandparents declined in health in their 60s and died in their 70s from impact from that.  

What I communicate could seem idealized, because it relates to positive memories, and societal trends were colored by positive filtering.  Was it so much better that people would more often ice skate, go sled riding, and build snowmen back then?  Maybe, or maybe not.  A reader can place that framing bias for themselves.

On with some stories then, starting with what I typed for comments:

I grew up there, moving there just before kindergarten, and moving away at 13. These comments are right; it's right beside and behind the Cranberry mall, which is where the Sky High Drive-in had been. There was a mini mall complex there at one point. There had been a mini golf place in front of it. My parents had a pond renovated there, but I don't remember what the pond was like before then.

Most of the cabins were there when we moved in. They rented out the best condition cabins as small homes, maybe a half a dozen earlier on. Two older guys who escaped from Polk mental health facility lived there, and lots of other tenants. One of my earliest childhood memories is of climbing under those cabins in the winter to fix frozen water lines, of course at the coldest times. One larger cabin had burned down, and as kids we thought that maybe someone died in that fire.

A giant sawdust pile well behind the cabins area was related to the history of the native forest being cleared to the ground, in the early 20th century. One giant oak remained of that old forest, and the rest of the woods was only some decades old. We called that oak tree George. We lived in the main cabin building, which the next residents destroyed when they moved in. I grew up in the woods behind those buildings, on 100 acres of land. My mom would ring a good sized bell to call us in, from being left to our own to ride bikes, climb trees, or do whatever else.

We planted the trees in a then-empty field that would now block a view of there.  In the winter we would ice skate on that pond. Old artifacts in abandoned cabins were treasures for us, but there wasn't much of value left behind. My parents had an oil well drilled, and it produced, but not much. There were remnants of older oil well equipment on the land. We tapped maples to make syrup there, and picked wild blackberries and elderberries that my mom made into pies.

It was a pretty busy 9 years, and growing up in the 70s I experienced the older world. Holidays felt completely different; family connections were different. My parents developed haunted hayrides that extended from earlier Halloween parties. People didn't even eat the same diets then.  If you look in an old Betty Crocker cookbook people really were eating those odd sorts of foods, casseroles, Jello salads, and such.

That house on the right is where I lived; I remember all sorts of strange aspects of it. There was a root cellar; now people might not have heard of such a thing. I raised pigs in a building that probably should be in-frame blocking the view of the house. 

I learned to drive a bulldozer by the time I was 10; I remember my sister nearly getting injured logging when she would have been about 8 (spectating, but I also did the work). Mowing all those lawns was crazy. Somehow as kids we liked all the garter snakes that lived in the yards, and would bring them inside for a visit, which freaked out our mother. It was an amazing time.

Differences in culture and lifestyle then

All of this paints a picture of a different time, like the Wonder Years movie experiences, and it was really sort of like that.  Things seemed simpler.  Really people had the same sorts of aspirations, habits, desires, and limitations.  It didn't seem like a booming economy made life simple and easy; people worked hard to build lives for themselves.  Both my parents worked, and we rented out those cabins, and did projects like an external house renovation to add income to support their financial stability and goals.  We did our own auto repair, and our own home maintenance, essentially everything.  I raised pigs to support our food supply, and we hunted for game for sustenance, more so than for sport.

Some parts seem idealized in relation to changes that are as negative as positive now.  Holidays have become more commercial.  As children Christmas was about us getting gifts then, but people held family gatherings more, and schools made more of traditional themes like singing carols, and making artwork.  Of course all of that still applies, but not in the exact same forms as back then.

Sky High Drive-In, 1950s (the area in front of that home, photo credit here)

To me this picture reference tells a couple of interesting stories, one part related to what was in those notes.  The small patch of woods in the upper left would be part of that property but not the part shown in the postcard photo.  That's further back (out of frame at the top), and facing right in this photo perspective.

They had stripped that land bare to develop it for farming, which had to have happened prior to 1948, if that drive-in movie theater went in then (per that article).  Based on my understanding of forest and tree growth now that entire forest area around that home really might have only been about 30 years old, or maybe a little older, even though there were lots of 20-some foot tall trees there then.  To me as a child it was a mature, primeval forest, but looking back that's just not how it was.

There were lots of connections to even older culture, and older industrial / economic forms there.  I'd mentioned old oil well history on that land, and my grandparents lived in a place where coal mining had been prominent for quite some time (in Coal Hill, not so far away).  These aren't really cultural aspects, in the sense of talking about holiday observances, but economic themes, land use, and culture all tie together.  

Oil City, one of two nearby communities, was a booming center for petroleum processing in the US in the 1970s, and that has completely ended since; it just doesn't happen there.  Oil was first obtained by drilling in Titusville, PA, a main step in the US industrial era.  An entire manufacturing sector boomed and faded to essentially be gone now between the late 40s and the current day, mostly gone in the 90s.

Drake Well; the first oil well based oil production in the world (and my family)

a reconstruction of Drake's first oil well

Mall culture came and went, since the end of when I lived there and now.  That Drive-In theater was replaced by the Cranberry Mall, which now sits vacant.  A Wal-Mart nearby more or less put it out of business, along with online sales preference, and so on.

These fragments don't seem to do justice to describing the culture I grew up in.  Maybe it sounds more ideal than it really was, or I suppose maybe worse than it was, to some.  More specifics about my own life might help place that time and perspective

Other defining early memories

I grew up with foster siblings.  My father was a social worker, for an entire career, and that idealism, and awareness of that process and system, led them to help kids who needed a temporary place to stay.  At least one lived with us for years; it wasn't always so temporary.  Maybe 20 different kids stayed with us.  It might seem like I'm claiming that it was a more idealistic time, but of course the same general theme carries over to today.  Those agencies compensate host families for providing that support.  Those kids were fine; we never really experienced any of the problems one might imagine coming up.  They were grateful to be well cared for and we were happy to share space and experiences with them.

We grew up with tenants living nearby then too, and had a lot more contact with extended family than seems normal now.  Community orientation seemed different, not just for me, but in general.  I've lived in a number of places since where transplants make up a lot of the local population (Dallas and Austin, Texas, two places in Colorado, in Honolulu, and others) and people seem less connected to areas that they weren't always from.  Family networks aren't there, for transplants, and there are no childhood memories and old family practices to continue on with.

Maybe in some sense even the economically impoverished local area is better off now, in some ways, than it was back then.  Not for the more vacant areas, or hardest hit families, but to me there is a feeling of comfort and plentitude "back home" that wasn't the same in the 70s, to the extent I remember it then.  People didn't necessarily own two cars, a medium sized house, ATVs and golf carts, motorcycles, and so on, and a higher degree of ownership and consumption seems normal now.  It was normal for people to work hard to live a basic life.  Eating out in restaurants was more of an event than a normal part of life, as it has become.  Even trivial new things like McDonald's starting to serve breakfast seemed really novel.

Electronics has changed a lot, of course.  Local television had three channels growing up, as was true everywhere in the US.  We would get some degree of fuzzy UHF reception, where we could watch black and white Godzilla episodes, but there just wasn't much there.  My grandparents had a "party line" phone; you shared the access with neighbors, in the same way two people in a household might both try to use a land line at the same time.  

In general the rest was what one would expect of that level of development.  Later VHS tapes being developed took some emphasis off movie theater experience.  I played Atari video games a lot after that time period, but in my early childhood such things didn't really exist.  We did own Pong, essentially the first video game, as far as I know.  Two vertical white lines simulated paddles, and a dot was a ball, so it was like tennis or ping pong.  

As kids we did a lot of real life playing outside, because even something like cartoons were only shown on Saturday mornings.  It was rough play, in a sense, jumping ramps on bikes, shooting bows, and so on.  Our parents bought us a javelin to play with, the Olympic / track version of a throwing spear.  We took a lot more risks then but somehow it seemed to work out.

this was where we lived next, not far away

I remember nature experience playing a big role in my childhood life experience, and the change of the seasons being very meaningful.  I suppose all of that is roughly the same now, and the main difference would relate to nostalgic framing.  Nature certainly hasn't changed.

the next two generations, mixed together, having one of the same experiences

What does all this really mean, in relation to mapping out societal or culture change?  As much changed in my life circumstances as did related to US culture.  I live in Bangkok now, most of the time, and in Honolulu part of the time.  It's the exact opposite side of the world (that Thai city).

I like the idea that Thailand is just behind the US in a development curve, and a lot of local Thai culture from the past 20 years maps over to the US culture in the mid-20th century.  That's not really how it works, but some parts of that perspective might hold up.  Economic development is occurring just now in Thai society, over the past 20 years, as it was in the 50s through 80s in the US.  There is a relaxed feel, and optimism, and some forms of problems haven't developed yet.  Then also the two cultures are just different.

It's all what you make of it, anywhere and in any time period, and there are always plenty of struggles to go along with the potential and the successes.  The real meaning is tied up in personal relationships.  Maybe that did slip away, just a bit, with so many people in the US living with strangers in shared apartments, versus in homes with relatives they'll know across their entire lives.  It's harder to say to what extent personal financial development is still available in the US.  If you are born into the top 50% of income level it's all but a non-issue, because parents can give their kids the running start they'll need, but I've seen plenty of that bottom half in the past 35 years.  I lived that out, for an extended time.

Again I'm mixing themes.  They seem to naturally mix on their own, that different Americans would have different experiences based on personal history and financial fortune.  Maybe I've only lived in an actual "slum" once in those harder years, and that kind of didn't count, because it was a Mexican neighborhood.  No one there had any problem with me being white.  Now onto race issues; the darker or more complicated themes mix with the rosier images of the past.

I grew up in such a white area that there was no minority theme to feel positively or negatively about.  I can relate to people looking back on that simpler time and appreciating reduced problems, even if I can't usually follow perspective and interpretation of what that had been about, or how it applies to today.  Obviously my wife is Asian now, and I'm the minority, living in Bangkok (most of the time, at least).  Even in Honolulu people tolerate me being white, while seeing it as negative, in general.  It's quite a perspective shift, actually being the minority, versus just being open to whatever degree to others are living that out.

Chinatown outing; not a running theme in my childhood (and Eye represents Cranberry!)

I'm glad that the US became a more diverse place, and that people who are minorities, or gay, or identify through other minority status are more openly accepted.  Does that extend a bit far now, to the extent that some people are just making up status orientations that make no sense?  I really don't know.  Time will tell.

It was nice being a part of that earlier world too.  It had some bright spots.  Challenges were extreme enough that the rougher-edged stories I didn't really cover here could sound awful.  My family built the one house shown; I worked long days bringing that to exist, for most of a year, or it probably was a year in total.  I put roofs on lots of buildings as a child, by the age of 12, or maybe even 10.  I did many things that OSHA would not have approved of.  The toughness comes at a cost.  The worst example was crawling into narrow, enclosed spaces to spread out fiberglass insulation.  The level of exposure to glass fibers, and later effects from doing that, were kind of horrific.

My kids have it easier, but the life of greater ease comes at a cost too.  Work ethic isn't something you pick up without experiencing trade-offs.  Doing a sport isn't the same thing as building a house.  The challenges that they have faced have been quite considerable, just in different ways, relating to adapting to different kinds of schools, and moving from one country to another.  

They've experienced being poor, for better or worse; we are middle class in Bangkok and dirt poor in Honolulu.  Maybe that part is ok, not so much as a memory to be nostalgic about (but then time will tell), but related to being exposed to different conditions and challenges.  They won't look back with mixed feelings on their fingers and toes going numb doing building maintenance work, but it probably will seem funny thinking about sleeping on a floor, or walking places to save money in comparison with riding a bus.

Oddly they never really did need to make peace with being an outsider, even though they're essentially immigrants from another country.  That's part of why we started our US residence there, where my wife and I both went to grad school (at UH Manoa).  Most people are Asian, mixed race, or from somewhere else, and being all three makes you seem more normal than I would ever be regarded as locally.  Maybe the whole world got smaller?  Where I grew up didn't change that much; people are still isolated in that limited range local culture now.  Which isn't such a bad thing, even if there are negative aspects of that, along with the positives.

One last story I wanted to pass on, about how open I was personally to diversity as a child, something that I can't fully place even now.  My grandmother made Raggedy Ann  and Andy dolls for us as kids, and asked us what we wanted, how ours should appear.  I asked for mine to be black (and named him Frank, not really an important part of that story).  Somehow I had a sense that my narrow life experience wasn't all there was, and even as a young child I felt the lack of that exposure.  My narrow horizons have definitely broadened since then, but I now appreciate that cultural background all the more for it.

building a snowman in St. Petersburg, Russia

they visited back home to build them in PA, just not very often