Short Oral History
Here is a transcript of an oral history session with my Grandmother, Athelia Tanner done on November 25, 2010.
Athelia Tanner Oral History Project
Interview with Athelia Tanner
Date of Interview: November 25, 2010; Fruit Heights, Utah
Interviewer: Stephen Tanner
Transcriber: Stephen Tanner
Begin Interview via MP3
Tanner: Today is the 25th of November, 2010. I’m here with Athelia Tanner, my Grandmother. When were you born?
Athelia: I was born September 12th, 1920
Tanner: Where?
Athelia: I was born in Bountiful, Utah.
Tanner: When you married Grandpa, and he went off to War in Europe, how were you
able to keep track of news from Europe?
Athelia: Do you know, it was amazing how ill-informed we were. Because, when you
would go to a movie, you would have a news reel, and they would tell the news of what was going on in the war and things like that. And for ten cents, you could go to two major movies…and a news reel. And that’s how you would sort of find out what was happening in the news, there on the news reels.
Tanner: So you found out about the war in Europe on news reels.
Athelia: Yeah, news was very very different. The news did not come very early.
Tanner: So you would have to wait for it to come overseas?
Athelia: Now, it’s totally different. So that was a big change.
Tanner: Once you had a bigger family and moved to California in South Pasadena…
Athelia: Kids from school would be killed, and you wouln’t hear about it till 3 or 4 days
later, and you would read it in the paper.
Tanner: What papers?
Athelia: The Deseret News…so it was very different. It really was. They had news on
the radio too, where they would broadcast what was going on, and it would be a little bit faster.
Tanner: So you would get your news from [radio], the paper and the movie news-reels.
Athelia: Yes, and it was not instant, like the way it is now, at all.
Tanner: When you moved to California, did you have a radio or TV set? When did you
buy your first TV set?
Athelia: We didn’t buy one for a very long time. It was at Christmas time [Grandpa’s]
brother was a medical doctor, had more money, and they had a TV, the screen wasn’t more then 20 inches at the most. And they invited us over to see Dickens Christmas Carol and that was the first thing I saw on TV. And we thought that was WONDERFUL, To see that, in our own home, and not have to go to a movie theater to see that. So I remember that, and it was such a huge thing to see that in our brothers home.
Tanner: What did you watch when we landed on the moon?
Athelia: That was a huge thing. We knew that was going to happen, and there was a lot
of publicity about it, and choosing the people to go. They had to have excellent health, as well as being well adjusted…That was a huge big thing nationally.
Tanner: How do you get your news now today?
Athelia: I [use the computer] but not a lot, I’m not technical savy. I’m not really
advanced in that at all.
Tanner: What [do you use the computer most for]?
Athelia: I’ll keep sort of a journal, and I look up where we have different kids on
missions, and send a little note to them. I’m not really computer savy, but I don’t do a lot.
Tanner: Do you still read the newspaper?
Athelia: Yeah, but sometimes I can do that, and read the newspaper from my computer.
Because that’s what I do a lot of times. I still enjoy the comics, so I still make sure that I get a paper on Sundays. I’m not a really great TV fan.
Tanner: How has General Conference changed in your lifetime?
Athelia: When we were living in California, you would have to drive up to California,
and you would have to take a vacation up to Utah. They used to broadcast that on the radio, and then they started to broadcast that on TV too.
Tanner: Could you watch them at the Stake Centers?
Athelia: You could do it there, but different people had access to it in their different
homes. But if you went, you would try to get a ride with someone. In fact, that’s how Morris Airlines, now they’re Southwest airlines, that’s how they got started. In their early days. They would take people from California to Utah for conference. Short trips like that. You would have to get your reservations early. Or you would drive up, you know. That was a big thing, you know. It was very different, the news doesn’t get out as quickly as it does now. But that was really how Southwest Airlines got started, they had those short trips.
Athelia Tanner Oral History Project
Interview with Athelia Tanner
Date of Interview: November 25, 2010; Fruit Heights, Utah
Interviewer: Stephen Tanner
Transcriber: Stephen Tanner
Begin Interview via MP3
Tanner: Today is the 25th of November, 2010. I’m here with Athelia Tanner, my Grandmother. When were you born?
Athelia: I was born September 12th, 1920
Tanner: Where?
Athelia: I was born in Bountiful, Utah.
Tanner: When you married Grandpa, and he went off to War in Europe, how were you
able to keep track of news from Europe?
Athelia: Do you know, it was amazing how ill-informed we were. Because, when you
would go to a movie, you would have a news reel, and they would tell the news of what was going on in the war and things like that. And for ten cents, you could go to two major movies…and a news reel. And that’s how you would sort of find out what was happening in the news, there on the news reels.
Tanner: So you found out about the war in Europe on news reels.
Athelia: Yeah, news was very very different. The news did not come very early.
Tanner: So you would have to wait for it to come overseas?
Athelia: Now, it’s totally different. So that was a big change.
Tanner: Once you had a bigger family and moved to California in South Pasadena…
Athelia: Kids from school would be killed, and you wouln’t hear about it till 3 or 4 days
later, and you would read it in the paper.
Tanner: What papers?
Athelia: The Deseret News…so it was very different. It really was. They had news on
the radio too, where they would broadcast what was going on, and it would be a little bit faster.
Tanner: So you would get your news from [radio], the paper and the movie news-reels.
Athelia: Yes, and it was not instant, like the way it is now, at all.
Tanner: When you moved to California, did you have a radio or TV set? When did you
buy your first TV set?
Athelia: We didn’t buy one for a very long time. It was at Christmas time [Grandpa’s]
brother was a medical doctor, had more money, and they had a TV, the screen wasn’t more then 20 inches at the most. And they invited us over to see Dickens Christmas Carol and that was the first thing I saw on TV. And we thought that was WONDERFUL, To see that, in our own home, and not have to go to a movie theater to see that. So I remember that, and it was such a huge thing to see that in our brothers home.
Tanner: What did you watch when we landed on the moon?
Athelia: That was a huge thing. We knew that was going to happen, and there was a lot
of publicity about it, and choosing the people to go. They had to have excellent health, as well as being well adjusted…That was a huge big thing nationally.
Tanner: How do you get your news now today?
Athelia: I [use the computer] but not a lot, I’m not technical savy. I’m not really
advanced in that at all.
Tanner: What [do you use the computer most for]?
Athelia: I’ll keep sort of a journal, and I look up where we have different kids on
missions, and send a little note to them. I’m not really computer savy, but I don’t do a lot.
Tanner: Do you still read the newspaper?
Athelia: Yeah, but sometimes I can do that, and read the newspaper from my computer.
Because that’s what I do a lot of times. I still enjoy the comics, so I still make sure that I get a paper on Sundays. I’m not a really great TV fan.
Tanner: How has General Conference changed in your lifetime?
Athelia: When we were living in California, you would have to drive up to California,
and you would have to take a vacation up to Utah. They used to broadcast that on the radio, and then they started to broadcast that on TV too.
Tanner: Could you watch them at the Stake Centers?
Athelia: You could do it there, but different people had access to it in their different
homes. But if you went, you would try to get a ride with someone. In fact, that’s how Morris Airlines, now they’re Southwest airlines, that’s how they got started. In their early days. They would take people from California to Utah for conference. Short trips like that. You would have to get your reservations early. Or you would drive up, you know. That was a big thing, you know. It was very different, the news doesn’t get out as quickly as it does now. But that was really how Southwest Airlines got started, they had those short trips.
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