Imagine living without amusements like television, cell phones, and video games. News is still reported by a radio sitting on a mantel, rather than a computer screen. When a cut becomes infected, salt pork is used as a cure, instead of visiting a doctor. Jane Lawliss Murphy goes back in time with her book, Sugar on Snow: Memoir of a Northern New York State Farm Kid.

A native of West Chazy, New York, Murphy speaks in a clear and understanding voice about her childhood experiences. She uses descriptions as a way to bring her past to the reader. Each chapter focuses on a certain topic or element. For example, in chapter six, “The War,” she writes about her father, a worker in the meat department in the Post Exchange on the army base in Plattsburgh. Red Cross donations and Liberty Stamp purchases is just some of the ways her family did their duties during wartime. Ripped clothes are mended and recycled to different members, and metal toys are dumped in collection bins; every item has a use and nothing is wasted. Along with these little tidbits of information, Murphy set scenes she remembers from her childhood.

“The war was real to me, and at the same time a fantasy galaxies away. My father sat next to the big Philco radio every night listening to the news. I couldn't help hearing about battles and bombings as the voices of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Winchell crackled out of the speakers,” writes Murphy.

Murphy's father supplies his children with boxing gloves, a football, and basketball as amusements. Neighborhood children play baseball and swim in a near brook. Instead of the endless possibilities of toys offered today, the children basically played with sand. They dig holes to China, bake mud pies, and construct little towns out of dirt. Creating scrapbooks from old mail catalogs serves as an alternative on the rainy days. Soapbox cars are made from stolen wheels and lumber scraps. In the winter, snowball battles prevail along with snowmen, ice skating, and sledding. Even though children didn't have half as many forms of entertainment that exist today, they still found ways to pass the time.

Murphy’s writing style is informal and engaging and makes your curious to know more about her life. She uses similes and metaphors to help make scenes more vivid and understanding for the reader. The only trouble spot is that it was hard to follow the order of events as they happened because it wasn’t written in chronological order. However, it is an interesting read and I recommend it for people who want to know how life was in the good ol’ days.

Have you read Sugar on Snow?

Sugar on Snow: Memoir of a Northern New York State Farm Kid

By Jane Lawliss Murphy

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Sea Cliff , New York 2003