When Oscar Rydberg was a child, few people had access to luxuries like cars, television and electric lights.

Rydberg, who turned 100 this fall, has vivid memories of his childhood. Born on Nov. 14, 1899, in Bohusland, Sweden, he grew up on a farm at the turn of the century.

Now a resident of the Hearthstone senior housing complex in Arlington Heights, Rydberg has the rare privilege of looking back on a life that has touched three centuries.

In the early 1900s, Rydberg's parents went to a seamstress instead of taking their eight children to buy clothes at a store or a shopping mall.

Rydberg would sit by a coal stove as the seamstress measured him for a new suit. In the corner was the loom the seamstress used to weave the fabric for her clothes.

Rydberg, who loved to read, often stayed up late devouring a book by the glow of a kerosene lamp. He and his siblings spent their afternoons helping out on the farm. They also made their own toys.

When the family traveled, it was a horse that got them from place to place.

Perhaps that's why one of Rydberg's most vivid memories is of the first time he drove a car. It was in 1927, two years after he emigrated from Sweden to Chicago.

A friend loaned him a used 1925 Ford coupe.

It was the destination, more than the ride itself, that was important, Rydberg said, because that car took him to his first Chicago Cubs baseball game.

"I've been a Cubs fan since 1927," Rydberg said.

More than seven decades later, Rydberg still can recite scores and batting averages from the players he followed so closely as a new American who loved the nation's favorite sport.

He was there, sitting in the stands, during some of the most spectacular moments in baseball history.

"I saw Babe Ruth hit a home run in White Sox Park," Rydberg said. He also remembers when the Cubs lost the World Series in 1929.

Rydberg borrowed his friend's car to go to every home game he could. If the Cubs were on the road, he would tune in to a radio broadcast.

He still never misses a game. These days, however, he usually watches it on television instead of listening to the radio. One of his most prized possessions is a baseball signed by Sammy Sosa. Rydberg's daughter presented it to him during his 100th birthday party.

Like most Americans, Rydberg went through some tough times during the Great Depression. Since he still struggled with the language, one of his first jobs was cutting lawns for $5 per day.

But later, through savings and ingenuity, he was able to buy several rental properties and become a successful apartment manager. He also drove a limousine for a wealthy Hyde Park woman for many years from the 1940s to the 1960s. He later retired and moved to Florida.

Rydberg met his wife, Violet, during a polka dance in Chicago. They have been married 65 years and have traveled to nearly every state in America and many European countries.

Rydberg has seen many changes during his lifetime, but one thing that has remained constant is his upbeat, fun-loving outlook.

That, he said, is the key to living to be 100 years old.

"I have enjoyed every day of my life," Rydberg said.

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