Countin' flowers on the wall That don't bother me at all Playin' solitaire 'til dawn with a deck of 51 Smokin' cigarettes and watchin' Captain Kangaroo And so sang the Statler Brothers. Maybe, they didn’t watch Captain Kangaroo, but millions upon millions of kids did from 1955 though 1984 – 29 seasons and 6,090 episodes. For three decades, Captain Kangaroo was America’s babysitter. In the early … [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...]

It was a big day on campus. The new issue of Playboy Magazine was on the stands and the word spread fast. In a mad dash to Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, guys lined up to pick up the latest copy. In 1962, an issue of Playboy cost 60 cents, which doesn’t sound like much today, but it was triple the cost of a Life Magazine, the leading publication of that day. We eagerly shelled out our 60c … [Read more...]

Over the 4th of July weekend, and feeling ultra-patriotic, Nancy and I joined friends on a trip to Trump Winery for lunch and wine. If you’ve never been, the entranceway to the property is lined with literally a thousand American flags, so you can’t help but feel proud to be an American, and it’s like you expect Lee Greenwood to pop out and start singing “God Bless the USA.” We had just taken … [Read more...]

Today, you’ll see dozens of big carts in the aisles of most any grocery store as the store employees select products that the customers ordered on line. Sometimes, customers pick up their orders at the curb of the store and sometimes they are delivered. In the 1950’s, we picked up the orders and delivered. We ran the errands. Kids on our bikes. At least twice a week, Mom would hail me in … [Read more...]

I went to the store the other day. We needed milk, but they were out of the half-gallon size of 2% milk. So, I bought whole milk. What a difference. The rich taste of the whole milk whisked my memories back to the days when the milkman made deliveries. You could hear him coming a block away – the engine chugging on the old, white truck and hundreds of glass bottles clinking inside. He was … [Read more...]

For those in my generation, going to the movies was a regular, often weekly, activity. The entertainment at the local movie theater began with the previews of coming attractions, followed by a plea from the concession stand to buy some snacks and drinks, and then the cartoons. Sometimes the theater manager played two, but generally one cartoon. In retrospect, the cartoons were often more … [Read more...]

It’s funny how things or people from the past pop into your mind. Last week, an incident happened to me that triggered such a memory. I didn’t have a paring knife that would slice warm butter and I like to tinker around the kitchen. By gum, I thought, I am going to go buy myself a sharp knife. So, I went to Home Goods and tracked down the meanest, scariest looking knife on the rack. Jack the … [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...]

When Nancy and I first married, we lived in a furnished basement apartment. The only furniture I owned was a stereo, a 19-inch GE TV and a guitar. Nancy had a single bed and dresser to match. But we were expecting our first child and we bought a house for $19,500 – the best investment we ever made. It was a modest home with 3 bedrooms, a bath, and a full unfinished basement, but it would be a … [Read more...]