Scanning Around With Gene: Oh Boy, it's Summer!

Summer doesn’t officially arrive for a few more days, but in my town the county fair just got under way, and so it sure feels like summer to me. There’s something about warm weather, carnival rides and it staying light until 9 that puts me in the mood for summer vacation. Even us working stiffs feel a little more carefree during the summer months, if only for a week at a time.
Today’s images are all from a small children’s book called Summer Is Here, one of four books covering the various seasons. (See the spring book here.) They were published in 1956 (original copyright 1948) by Row, Peterson and Company and illustrated by Juanita Bennett; cover by Florence McAnelly. Click on any image for a larger version.


My summers growing up were mostly a fun time, though there were a few dysfunctional family vacations. Fortunately, we weren’t all that big on going places, so mostly I just hung out with the other kids on the block and played and swam and swam and then swam some more. When you grow up in Southern California, you spend a lot of time in swimming pools.

I was raised in a classic suburban neighborhood and nearly all the families on our block had kids. There was almost always someone to play with. We lived on a cul de sac, or as I always preferred to call it, a dead end. So we had no through-traffic and could usually play in the street without interruption.


I cherished the summer more than any other season, especially the period leading up to the Fourth of July. We had only the “safe and sane” variety of fireworks, but we boys took them very seriously. The first few weeks of summer were spent saving money in anticipation of a fireworks stand coming to our neighborhood and the resulting carnage.


My mother worked at a high school, so she had summers off. This meant we didn’t have to go to camp or any organized activities, though we did have to take several grueling summers of swimming lessons–my mother wasn’t about to have a child drown on her watch. We’d lie on the grass and look at the clouds, spin until we almost passed out, lay out to get a tan, and spend so much time in the pool that our skin got wrinkled.


Things were a lot looser back then and parents let their kids wander a bit more than they do today. It was assumed that all neighboring adults would look out equally for all kids. So we didn’t have to account for every minute of our day.

And of course there were no video games or computers, and TV was less oriented to children. We spent almost all of our time outdoors. Even though we lived in a big city, you could always find little pockets of nature to explore.


As we got older, we’d hop on our bikes and find the way to other neighborhoods, local parks, and the commerce of Main Street. There was no hesitation to let your kids explore the local community, unsupervised.

My favorite summer may be cliché, but it was memorable nonetheless, complete with an Elton John/Cat Stephens soundtrack. I’d turned 16 and had a car, a job at a local fast-food restaurant, and a cadre of neighborhood pals. We’d hang out on someone’s front lawn or around some kid’s car until very late at night and then head home only to sleep in late the next morning. And we’d go to the beach as often as possible.


That was about the last innocent summer for me. Life and responsibilities grew more demanding and friends started going their own ways. I got very serious after that.


But I still reflect on those days each summer and often wish I could be so carefree again. It was the simple things, and the heat, that made the season so special.

James Fritz is a Principal Program Manager: Content Tools and Workflows at LinkedIn.
  • Anonymous says:

    What a nice article and it brought back so many good memories. Thanks, Gene!!!

  • Anonymous says:

    Yes, thanks Gene! I think I’ll go make some lemonade! ;)

  • Anonymous says:

    Wonderful memories—thanks for stirring them up.
    I love your tender stories, Gene.

  • Anonymous says:

    Do kids still have summer or just this nasty hot weather that we old folks have to endure. I hope it’s still out there. Thanks for the great memories.

  • Anonymous says:

    Gene, you must spend your weekends pouring through the flea markets, beautiful material. I bet the original (assuming) watercolor illustrations are long gone. Summer is here… get outside and enjoy!

  • Anonymous says:

    …the boy’s expression in the “Toadstool” image. Looks a little sinister to me.

  • Anonymous says:

    What a sweet tale bout a friendship, about the summer, about the small discoveries that children stumble upon every five minutes. The pictures are lovely, too. Office Removals

  • Anonymous says:

    Many children did not have the chance to spend their childhood close to nature and that is sad. Life in a suburban neighborhood is calmer and you can learn a lot of things there. One can meet a lot of new friends instead of sitting in front of the computer.

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  • Wayne Smith says:

    I love the artwork of Juanita Bennett,I wondered if you had a resource for a checklist of her work? I know she was employed by Whitman Publishing,and did some have page illustrations in their Big Little Books, and I believe she did a version of Swiss Family Robinson as well

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