Boomers were all about clothing and style. Bottle green was a hot color one fall and burgundy, the next. Bass Weejuns were the shoes of choice. Anything else was a cheap imitation. Then, in 1962, a fabric called madras was hotter than hot. That Christmas, the only thing I asked for was a madras shirt. Madras was fairly pricey. I believe a long sleeve madras shirt was about $10, the equivalent … [Read more...]

I believe that as we age, we become accustomed to smells and odors. Sure, many things still smell good – like flowers and colognes. Or they can smell bad, like a trash can in August the day before pickup. But looking back – way, way back – this Boomer can recall the vivid scents of youth. It was as if I smelled things for the first time. Here are some of the distinct fragrances I recall. Well I … [Read more...]

  I miss seeing the test pattern in the early morning hours and I miss hearing the National Anthem played each night at the end of broadcasting. I miss seeing Dave Garroway on the Today Show and I miss the zany comics on the Steve Allen Show – Louis Nye, Tom Poston and Bill Dana (Jose Jimenez). I miss the Maxwell House commercials and the smell of hot tubes within the TV set. I miss the … [Read more...]

It was December 24, 1956. I had waited until the afternoon of Christmas Eve to begin my shopping spree. I had $10 saved up from my paper route and Mama Ida kicked in an extra five dollars so I could buy a present for everyone on my list. As I walked downtown, it was spitting snow. The lamp posts were adorned with Christmas lights and greenery and there was a Lionel train and a miniature town … [Read more...]

We put up our Christmas tree exactly one week before Christmas, and we took it down one week after. Never earlier, never later. It was tradition in our family when we lived in Lewisburg in the 1950’s. Selecting the tree was another tradition. On the appointed day, everyone piled in our car, a fifty-something Pontiac and headed for Bud Simm’s Esso Station, one of only a handful of places that … [Read more...]

Coach Ryder had scheduled junior high basketball practice over the Christmas Holidays. Those who wished not to be perpetual bench warmers would be wise to attend. Thus, I begged my parents to let me stay in Lewisburg rather than attend a funeral and then an extended stay in North Carolina. I asked my close buddy and fellow basketball teammate, Dave Gladwell, if his family could put me up for a few … [Read more...]

I saw a penny in the parking lot last week and stopped and picked it up. Most people won’t. A penny is looked upon as nuisance these days. Few will bend to pick one up and many toss any excess pennies in a bowl beside the cash registers. Boomers, though, can remember back when a mere penny bought tons of pure joy. Those were the days of penny candy. When I lived in Beckley, WV, my parents … [Read more...]

  A Boomer’s first love was likely his or her first car. It was one thing to drive the family sedan, but it was something else indeed to have your very own car. For most Boomers, that car was titled in the parents’ names, but if you had the keys, it was yours. My first car was a 1949 Pontiac two-door sedan. It was solid black with a little chrome here and there. I would not have been … [Read more...]

  There was a time when November 11th was my favorite day of the year. More so than Christmas, more than Thanksgiving, even more than my birthday was November 11th - Veteran’s Day. Veteran’s Day was always a special day for me because my father, James E. Brewer, was a veteran who lost his life in WW II. My step-dad, Daddy George, was also a Veteran, serving in the Pacific with the U.S. … [Read more...]

  My father, James E. Brewer, was killed in action during World War II, eight days before I was born at Rex Hospital in Raleigh, NC. His B 29 was shot down over Burma. My young mother then brought me home to live with her extended family – my Grandmother, Mama Ida; Aunt Pearl, my grandmother’s older sister; Joanne, my mom’s younger sister; and Uncle Sidney, Mama Ida’s younger brother. It … [Read more...]