A Tale of Two Eras

History is just another form of storytelling and the history of storytelling itself is also a great source of insight and wisdom.

“Never Let the Truth Get in the Way of a Good Story”

The Hanley’s story stands in stark contrast to how people live today and how they lived prior to the broad availability of radio and television. This quote was often made by Ray Handley at community storytelling meetings “back in the day” before radio was common.

Life in the early 1900s was certainly very hard and fraught with all kinds of risks and tragedies. Life in the early 2000s also has its risks and tragedies but of a completely different nature. I recall my own life in Oshawa working as a neighbour paperboy in the late 1950s and my first experience watching television in that same era; those were much simpler times.

Dorothy

My mother-in-law, age 90, is largely a product of bygone days when it was customary for citizens to trust elected officials to make good decisions for their communities. She has lived before the advent of mass media, through its radio and television evolutions, and well into our current era of Internet, social media, podcasts and 7x24 digital communications.

How Much is Too Much?

Human consciousness is our only facility with which we can accept, decipher, interpret and decide upon every message that enters its sphere. Has it evolved sufficiently to handle the exponential growth of information since my mother-in-law was born?

This story is about the life and times of the people behind Handley Lumber business in Fenelon Falls. It showcases the families who  have seen to its growth since 1918. Their tale certainly make me wonder about the tradeoffs imposed on humanity by its own modern inventions.

https://maryboro.ca/story/a-handley-lumber-retrospective-with-erick-watson-and-ken-handley/