Recently, I discovered some reruns that my grandson and I have been enjoying.

I discovered a channel that runs “The Lone Ranger” and “Roy Rogers” in the mid-afternoon slot. Those shows were a staple in my day.

When I was growing up, television was a lot different. You had to be around at the day and time that a show was on. There was no recording it to watch later. On top of that, we got a total of three channels.

I remember that “Roy Rogers” ran on Sunday afternoons. Why do I remember that? I remember because we made sure that we were at my great-grandmother’s house to watch it. She had a much larger – I believe it was a 21-inch screen – than we had. Of course, it was in black and white. My great uncle and I watched those shows and laughed at all of the silly antics of Nellybelle and Pat Brady. They provided the levity in this cowboy show.

I remembered that Roy’s horse was called Trigger, and the dog was named Bullet. They were both well-trained animals in their day. Of course, we imitated the cowboys. We ran around the neighborhood with small guns, and some of our group even had holsters.

Even my grandson realizes that these old shows are not like the new ones, but he enjoys them. How is it that those of us who grew up in that era did not end up fixated on guns? They were a cowboy staple. We watched those cowboys shoot up the bad guys, but never once thought of translating those ideas to reality.

Television is taking the blame, but I think the bulk of the blame goes somewhere else. We did not think of translating fantasy to reality because we feared the reaction of our elders. Families were strong then. We respected our elders. They made us mind, but there was comfort in familiarity.

The breakdown of the family structure has taken its toll. Of course, the television and movie industry has done its damage as well. Just think about the things we used to watch. The comedies were funny. The families were normal families. There was no ambivalence about the family unit. It was what it was.

Not everyone lived like “Ozzie and Harriet,” but that was all right. We understood what was going on in that family. “I Love Lucy” was funny, but there were no sexual innuendoes. Why, even though Lucy and Desi were married in real life, they were not allowed to be in bed together in the show.

I also remember watching “Lone Ranger.” The one that I remember was played by Clayton Moore. The first couple shows that I watched as reruns had a different guy playing the Lone Ranger. His horse was named Silver. The Lone Ranger was known for the silver bullets he carried. His sidekick was Tonto. Tonto’s real name was Jay Silverheels.

I checked the copyright dates of these shows, and they were first aired in the 1950s. Isn’t it strange that I can still remember all of those details?

When my children grew up, we did not even have a television part of the time. We started out with my mother’s old portable model on a metal stand. There was a rabbit ear on top that swung to pick up the best-quality picture. I remember one Christmas season that I stood and held the rabbit ear so that the children could watch the Christmas specials. Dad promised our daughter that we would have a new television so that she could watch the Miss America pageant. I think we went on Saturday to pick up our television.

Think about “The Sound of Music.” That movie has had various stars, but the plot and scenery remain the same. I watched a program recently that told about the making of that movie starring Julie Andrews. She and Diane Sawyer visited the area where the majority of the movie was filmed. They went inside the abbey. They visited the real home of the von Trapp family. It is a mix of truth and fiction. It is just as good today as it was back then.

A few years ago, my daughter bought me a DVD of “The Sound of Music.” It even has some extras. I think she bought it the year that I treated the grandchildren to going to our local theater to see a local troupe of thespians. Two of the young people from our church were in the production, so that made it extra special. The children enjoyed seeing the couple from church up on the stage.

The great thing was I did not have to worry about the language. I did not have to worry about the love scenes. It was a musical with music to remember. I still hear the grandchildren singing some of those songs every once in a while.

I grew up in the era filled with musicals. In high school, we learned the songs singing them for various musical productions. I can still belt out (for my own enjoyment only) many of those songs. I have many of the records, too.

If you have not found a channel to view the re-runs from our growing-up years, look for it on your viewing schedule. They are still worth watching. The next generation will enjoy talking about what you used to watch. They will also enjoy watching some of these old shows.

Life was much simpler in those days. What have we done to our children? We have laid responsibilities on them that should never be there. They are dealing with manmade issues that were never a problem in our day.

Ann Swanson writes from her home in Russell, Pa. Contact at hickoryheights1@verizon.net.