I saw a guy using a hand signal in a car last week. Except it wasn’t the textbook signal seen often in old DMV manuals for driving exams. It involved a middle finger and some swearing words I had not heard in a while. I think the guy was mildly perturbed at the teenager in front of him who had texted his way through two light changes. But, believe or not, Boomers used to use hand … [Read more...]

I was born in Raleigh, NC and spent my early years there with my mom, my grandmother (Mama Ida), an aunt and an uncle. My father had been killed in the war, just before I was born, and it would be a few more years before mom met and married Daddy George, who became like a real Daddy to me. But while in Raleigh, one of my great joys and memories was feeding the pigeons in the park on the state … [Read more...]

As Boomers look back over the years, smells and odors often trigger keen memories. They remind us of the events of our youth. Several distinct odors stand out in this Boomer’s mind. The smell of new denim jeans, for one. Today, it’s next to impossible to find a pair of jeans that hasn’t been stonewashed, ripped into shreds and put through the wringer before they even hit the shelves. They … [Read more...]

(This comes by way of the Internet, but how true!)   How all the kids born from the 30’s through the 70 have managed to survive. First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. The took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn’t get tested for diabetes. Babies were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs … [Read more...]

April meant one thing to a young Boomer male. Play ball! Baseball. America’s past time. We didn’t have video games to play. There were no malls in which to gather. We didn’t ride horses. We didn’t have swim meets. In the spring, we played baseball. We played catch before school. At recess, we hit pop flies. At lunch hour we’d get in a few innings of 9 on 9, and, of course, when we got out … [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...]

The life of a Boomer can be measured in “firsts”. The first word as a baby, the first step as a toddler, the first grade, the first scout meeting, the first bike ride, the first Little League team, the first kiss, and most of all – the first car. By first car, I don’t mean the first one we drove, but the first one that was “ours.” Mine was a 1949 Pontiac two-door sedan. It was solid black, … [Read more...]

Bubble gum was one of the basic food groups for young Boomers. We grew up with the sticky stuff. It was a go-to sweet treat and it was cheap, just a penny. The Mom & Pop stores always had a jar on the counter. Reach in, grab a piece, lay down a penny and start chewing. Boomers became adept at blowing bubbles. A girl from Fresno, California, by the way, holds the world’s record for a bubblegum … [Read more...]