My life is dotted with the memories of certain trees. Yes, trees, those so beautifully described by Joyce Kilmer.The first tree that had special meaning was a huge oak tree on Grandview Avenue in Beckley, WV. I was about 7 or 8 and played with two slightly older boys – Dicky Guy and Billy Richmond. We played three things back then – Army, Navy and Air Force. We shot attacking German … [Read more...]

An ice cream truck came through our neighborhood last night. We heard the jingles and jangles playing from several blocks away. There is something about an ice cream truck that brings joy and anticipation to your heart. This is a repeat article, but it’s timely and it sure brings back good memories. It took about three weeks for the euphoria of getting out of school for the summer to … [Read more...]

A popular lawn games these days is Corn Hole. For those unfamiliar, Corn Hole is a contest where pairs or single players toss little pillows onto a raised board with a hole in it. Whoever tosses more pillows in the holes wins. But what fun is a game where nobody ever gets hurt? Hardly anybody ends up going to the emergency room after a spirited round of Corn Hole. Corn Hole is strictly for … [Read more...]

Kitchens have changed. A lot. Modern kitchens are larger than the entire first floor of the 1950’s starter homes. They have spiffy, stainless steel (gotta’ be stainless steel), double-door refrigerators, center islands as long as stretch limo with city streetlights dangling overhead, and enough cabinets to house all the fine plateware for the Queen of England. The counters, of course, are granite. … [Read more...]

He was the most important guy in town. Loftier than the mayor, more vital than the Chief of Police, more sought after than the Pastor of the First Baptist Church. He was the TV Repairman, and he alone decided if and when you’d watch Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob. By the mid-1950’s, television had taken the country by storm. Half of all households were finally able to afford a set, and we watched … [Read more...]

In 1955, Lewisburg, WV was a painted city by Norman Rockwell or could have been. Main Street was pretty much it – three blocks or so with a half dozen businesses per block. There were the usual stores – a five and dime, a barbershop, a bank, a savings and loan, some clothing stores, a jewelry store, two pharmacies, a couple small department stores, a record shop, a doughnut shop and Zelda’s … [Read more...]

Right before Gretel shoved the Wicked Witch in the oven so she and Hansel could escape from the Gingerbread House, the witch got even with all children of the last century. She invented Mercurochrome and convinced parents of that era that when any child had an open wound, they should pour this red/orange colored fireball medicine directly on the wound and burn the hell out of their offspring. … [Read more...]

I was sitting in traffic this week and looked at the cars surrounding me. One word came to mind. Ugly. There were all sorts of hatchbacks ranging from tiny to huge and a few squatty sedans leftover from the rental car lots. There were lots of Mom cars - boxy vans that would hold a baseball team. There were trucks approaching the size of school busses, some so high off the ground you’d need a … [Read more...]

“They melt in your mouth, not in your hand.” M&M’s that is. I remember watching Saturday morning cartoons as a kid and a big-time sponsor of many of the shows were M&M candies. We would break out a bag and grab a handful and grasp them tightly, to see if it was true. Would they melt or not? They usually didn’t and when the commercial finally came on, we gulped then down. I always liked … [Read more...]

Breathes there a Boomer who doesn’t remember the terror of rounding Marvin Gardens and Pacific Avenue, only having to face two hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place. At $2,000 for rent, Boardwalk put many a young boomer in Chapter 11. After all, we played lots of board games in those days. Youngsters in the 50s and 60s didn’t have access to video games, and that was a good thing. We used our minds … [Read more...]