I was watching a football game on TV recently when I realized that the picture was so vividly clear, I thought I could have been sitting in the stands. We have a nice TV, but nothing special, yet the picture is brilliant. Most al of them are today. What a change from our first TV! I remember the day that my brother Pat and I waited and watched for the Appliance Store’s truck to pull in the … [Read more...]

Popcorn popping was a regular treat for Boomer kids. With a new Zenith TV console in the living room, a typical weekday night featured watching westerns and popping corn, with a pitcher of Kool Aid as a chaser. The earliest popper I remember was just a pot with a lid. Mom would get the oil hot, add a half cup of corn and we hoped for the best – that most of the kernels popped and nothing … [Read more...]

Each generation has its own language and Boomer teens were no different. Highly influenced by fast cars and maintaining total cool at all times, young Boomers created a vocabulary all their own, and interestingly, many of the terms are still in use today. To be in “fat city”, for example, was to be in “great shape”. A “drag” was an extremely boring individual. The “fuzz” were policemen, and an … [Read more...]

Someone had rented the banquet hall above the pool room in downtown Lewisburg for a dance party on a Saturday night in September 1960. I was a pretty good dancer back then. My Aunt Jodi had taught me how to “Jitterbug”, but when I got upstairs, I didn’t recognize what they were doing. It was something called The Twist, and they played Chubby Checker’s mega hit over and over. The girls looked … [Read more...]

(A repeat, but worth it!)   Hey kids! What time is it? Breathes there a Boomer who doesn’t know the answer to that question? If it was Buffalo Bob Smith asking, and it was a weekday afternoon on NBC in the 1950’s, it was most definitely “Howdy Doody time.” Boomers remember the Howdy Doody Show as much for the quality of life during those years as for the quality of this popular … [Read more...]

Anyone over the age of 50 knows first-hand what a jukebox was. But ask a youngster today if he or she wants a nickel for the jukebox, and you’ll get a blank stare. Boomers and jukeboxes grew up together and some of us are here because of jukeboxes, which brought our moms and dads together. In restaurants, at dance halls, at swimming pools, soda shops and fountains, there were jukeboxes. Some … [Read more...]

  As Boomers look back on a life full of memories, certain places – special places – stick out. For me, one of those special places was the beach – Atlantic Beach, NC, not far from Camp Lejeune. My Aunt Anne and Uncle Sidney had a small cottage in Morehead City, just across Bogue Sound from Atlantic Beach. Every June, after school let out, we packed the family Pontiac sedan with … [Read more...]

I was in the canned goods section of the grocery store last week when I saw – on the top shelf – a display of Campbell’s Pork and Beans. I had not had any in years, so I plucked off a can, plopped it in my cart and the memories swirled. When I was a kid, we had pork and beans probably at least once a week – they went with everything, especially chicken, burgers, and hot dogs. They were … [Read more...]

My first memory of drinking beer was at Atlantic Beach in North Carolina. I was about 12 or 13 and Mom and Dad were having a beer and a sandwich out on the deck of a restaurant overlooking the ocean while I and my siblings were dodging the crashing waves. I came up to see them and watched Daddy drinking a Schlitz. I asked for a sip, he handed me the can. I grimaced as the ice-cold beverage slid … [Read more...]

  Bubble gum was one of the basic food groups for young Boomers. We grew up with the pink, sweetened stuff and we took pride in blowing huge bubbles. The world’s record for a bubblegum bubble, by the way, is over 26-inches in diameter. We chewed the stuff from morning till night, but not in school. It was a strict no-no to chew bubble gum in class because the teachers knew that it … [Read more...]