“If the old screen door could talk today, what do you think that door would say? All the laughter, the loving children at play. All the squeaks, slams, and knocks, the old screen door can’t say.”
After a rainy and cool Memorial Day weekend, summer has come to our little part of North Carolina. With brilliant Carolina blue skies and expected temperatures in the 90-degree range, the hum of air-conditioners in our cul-de-sac sing their tune in harmony with the crickets and katydids.
Yet there’s another summer song I recall from my growing-up years…the slam of the screen door. Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s (yes, I’m that old!) no one in our family or circle of friends had air-conditioning in our homes or cars. But every house had a screen door that turned the inside into the outside, invited the fresh air in while keeping out the mosquitoes and flies. That half-barrier told my young cousins the door is shut, and we stay inside. But it also said to our neighbors we’re home, “come on in.” The screen door rendered life airy and bearable through the long, buggy evenings of summer.
History
People had been working on wire window screening for a long. Past civilizations used fabric screens that kept out the bugs fairly well. However, they restricted air circulation and dimmed the light. Early European settlers to Boston worried about “the three great annoyances of Woolves, Rattle-snakes and Musketoes.” The first two critters could be kept out by physical barriers, the last demanded something better. Settlers discovered that cheesecloth allowed air to circulate, but it was delicate and easily torn.
During the Civil War, a Connecticut sieve company, Gilbert & Bennett worried about what to do with the screening for sieves that built up in warehouses when the company lost access to Southern markets during the war. An employee of the company came up with a new idea…coat the wire cloth with paint to prevent rust and sold it for window screens. The idea became so popular the company made wire cloth a major part of its business, and it became a major manufacturer of screens for doors and windows.
Components of a Screen Door
Comprising little more than wire mesh, a wooden frame, and a handful of hardware, a screen door creates a barrier and an invitation, and an unmistakable sound that says summer. Here are a few examples from the Sears Roebuck & Company Catalogue (1895)
My maternal grandparents lived on a dead-end street in Rensselaer, NY, just over the Hudson River from Albany. I spent countless summer days there, picking blackberries, trailing after my grandfather in his garden, and watching him and my grandmother play pinochle at their kitchen table in the evenings. Their screen door led straight to their kitchen. It was painted a deep forest green with rusty hardware and a black screen. That door kept out the green pollen, Catalpa pods, maple helicopters, and dandelion fluff in the spring.
While the other doors were burdened with locks and deadbolts, the screen door had only a simple catch. And if Grandpa had to lock it–what a foolish notion since any one of us could poke a hole through the screening with a finger–he would use a hook and eye. Which someone, who shall remain nameless, pulled at the door and accidentally ripped the eye right out of the wooden jamb!
But that was the screen door’s purpose…to open easily, letting in people, the wind, the sounds, and scents of summer. Even now, whenever I hear a door squeak on its hinges or hear the slap of the screen door as we go in and out, I’m transported back to that carefree time.
We have our own screen door, except that it’s white vinyl, not wood. For us, it’s a piece of nostalgia, yet, taut and true with its modern mechanisms. It’s a boundary between inside and outside. Between present and past. Between open and closed.
If you have a memory of a screen door, I’d love for you to share with us.
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Born and raised in western Massachusetts, Jo-Ann Roberts was fascinated by America’s Old West and always felt she was destined to travel on a wagon train following the Oregon Trail. With her love of history and reading, she began reading historical romance during high school and college. Victoria Holt, Jude Deveraux, and Roseanne Bittner were among her favorites. Influenced by her father, she fell in love with John Wayne, James Garner, and her all-time favorite, James Stewart and grew up watching Wagon Train, Bonanza and Rawhide.
A firm believer in HEA with a healthy dose of realism, Jo-Ann strives to give her readers a sweet historical romance while imparting carefully researched historical facts, personalities, and experiences relative to the time period. Her romances take her readers back to a simpler time to escape the stress of modern life by living in a small town where families and friends help one another find love and happiness.
When she isn’t creating believable plots and relatable heroes and heroines, Jo-Ann enjoys spending time with her husband, children and grandson. She also enjoys baking, quilting and eating way too much chocolate.
After 38 years in public education in Connecticut and Maryland, she’s now calls North Carolina home.
My Tennessee grandparents had two screen doors, one at the front of the house and one off the kitchen. The kitchen door was may favorite. It had that squeak and snap of a classic wooden screen door. It brings back memories just thinking about it.
Welcome, Denise
Many of the readers have an answer similar to yours. We are fortunate to have these memories of our grandparents and our times with them, particularly in their home, where we were surrounded by old-fashioned values and love. Thanks for sharing your memories with us.
J.
My grandparents had 3 screen doors. One on the front, one on the back and one off the kitchen. If you were family or friends, you always came to the kitchen door. If you were a salesman, you went to the front and most likely were ignored. Those were good times!
Welcome, Ann.
As I said in the blog, the front screen door led right into the kitchen. Family, friends, and neighbors always knew where to go for a chat, a cup of coffee (or a glass of my grandfather’s dandelion wine!). We are fortunate to have these memories, and they were indeed good times! Thank you for sharing with us.
J.
Hey Jo-Ann! Neither of my grandparents had A/C. We didn’t in my early years. But sometime before I started school we did. We had screen doors though. I think Mama liked airing out the house in the spring and fall. I loved visiting my grandparents, but I would be in front of their fans in the summer! The heat didn’t seem to bother them. I guess they were use to it. But, they both had their screen doors. And we always ran in and out. Especially when our cousins were visiting!
Welcome, Tracy!
Like you, we never had AC growing up. In Massachusetts, we seldom experienced the heat waves like in other parts of the country. My mother also aired out the house every weekend in the spring and fall. We are fortunate to have these memories of our grandparents and our times with them, particularly in their home, where we were surrounded by old-fashioned values and love. Thanks for sharing your memories with us.
J.
The screen door I remember was at my grandparents’ house. It looked just like the picture of the one from your article. It closed with a hook and eye, it didn’t lock. It always banged when someone would go in or out. If it was hooked and you wanted to get in, all you had to do was hit the door with your fist and it would pop open. The wooden door was never closed during the summer.
Welcome, Karijean.
Many of the readers have an answer similar to yours. We are fortunate to have these memories of our grandparents and our times with them, particularly in their home, where we were surrounded by old-fashioned values and love. Thanks for sharing your memories with us.
J.
I grew up with screen doors. The ones I remember had a spring attached that would cause them to close with a slam if the person didn’t hold it right, so children got yelled at a lot. Today, they’ve evolved into storm doors.
Welcome, Janice.
Many of the readers shared similar memories, especially about the children running in and out, and the slap of the screen door. Thanks for stopping by P&P and sharing your memories.
J.
I too love screen doors. Mu husband installed one that was all screen. that was a big mistake as the kids went through that screen many times.
Welcome, Debra.
I laughed out loud when I read your memory. I recall my younger brother and cousins purposely pushing on the screen in my aunt’s house. When my uncle came home from work, boy, did they get a tongue-lashing. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your memories.
J.
I grew up with screen doors as well. But I also remember sleeping out on the screen porch during the hottest parts of summer.
Welcome, Rhonda.
When I was very young, we had a screened-in porch where my father would often sleep in the very humid weather. Thanks for jogging my memory about that. Thanks also for sharing your memories with us today.
J.
I grew up with screen doors! Growing up in the country, mom would leave the screen doors open at night to help cool down the house at night.
Welcome, Barbara.
My grandparents did lock the doors at night, but there were expandable screens in all the windows to help cool down the house during the night. Thanks for stopping by P&P and sharing your memories with us.
J.
Only thing I remember is running out and them slamming shut.
Welcome!
Isn’t it odd how a simple thing like a screen door can trigger our childhood memories?! Thanks for sharing with us.
J.
Hi, when I was growing up we had 2 screen doors one for the front door and one for the back door. Ours had a latch that would be locked when the doors were open.Lots of closing and opening of doors when I was growing up , it was 6 of us kids and our parents. Lots and lots of great memories were made in that house. I enjoyed reading or post , Thank you for the reminiscing. Have a great day and a great weekend.
Welcome, Alicia.
Isn’t it funny how a simple thing like a screen door can trigger our childhood memories?! I’m glad that the post brought back some wonderful memories for you. Thanks for sharing with us.
J.
The one on our kitchen was like the one in the Sears ad. It ,too, was painted dark green. Just reading your post I can hear it slam shut. The one on the front door didn’t make the same sound. Maybe it had a better spring or more wood and less screen in its structure.
Thanks for the memories.
Welcome, Alice.
Isn’t it funny what sounds trigger our memories?! I’m glad that the post brought back some wonderful memories for you. Thanks for sharing with us.
J.
Since the house I live in is more than 105 years old I still have a screen door
Welcome, Crystal.
How lucky for you to live in a house that holds memories and histories of those who lived there! I wonder how many friends, neighbors, and children passed through that screen door. Thank you for sharing with us today.
J.
We are of a similar age and have similar memories of those summer days. There was one similar to the one in your first picture at our church yard sale last year. Unfortunately, it wasn’t wide enough to fit our door. We have the typical storm-screen doors sold today. They are convenient, but just don’t have the personality the old style screen doors had. I have tried to convince my husband to put them on at least our kitchen door, but we have dogs and he doesn’t think the screens would last very long. I do miss that slam of the screen door.
Welcome, Patricia.
Many of the readers have an answer similar to yours. We are fortunate to have these memories of our grandparents and our times with them, particularly in their home, where old-fashioned values and love surrounded us. Thanks for sharing your memories with us.
Thanks for sharing. I love learning new facts, especially when new uses are found for things.