We watched a lot of silly movies, growing up in the 1950s, movies that would have no chance whatsoever if they were made today. We had zany Jerry Lewis movies, Abbot and Costello, The Marx Brothers, The Little Rascals, and even a movie about an invisible rabbit named Harvey. We also had a series of movies starring Francis the Talking Mule. They were funny and each of the seven flicks filmed … [Read more...]

Before there was American Idol, before there was America’s Got Talent, before there was You Think You Can Dance, Boomers recall the original talent show – Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour. The Original Amateur Hour was a radio program, which aired from 1934 to 1945. Ted Mack brought the show to New York television in 1948. Mack would spin a wheel at the beginning of each broadcast to determine the order of … [Read more...]

I’ve read a few of the children’s books recently and they are Pablum. Vanilla pudding. “Can’t we all get along?” “I feel your pain”. “Don’t hurt anybody’s feelings.” Bull. I remember when children’s books were exciting, and they didn’t always turn out peaches and cream. Hansel and Gretel got kicked out of their own house and ended up cooking a witch in her own oven. Little Black Sambo … [Read more...]

The lunch bell rang, and the 4th grade kids reached beneath their desks to pull out their brown paper sacks and lunch boxes. Beneath the napkin, cookie, and apple, we all hoped for one thing. A bologna sandwich. A bologna sandwich was like a ribeye steak in a kid’s lunch box or bag. Sometimes, we had PP &J sammies and they were okay, but they couldn’t compare to a slice of bologna sandwich, … [Read more...]

Remembering Don and Phil It was spring 1957. I was playing basketball with Brad Stuart in his driveway when I heard them sing. We stopped shooting hoops and Brad turned up his radio. We listened intently to their hanting harmony. The song on WRON was “Bye Bye Love”. The artists were Don and Phil Everly – the Everly Brothers. Music was a vital part of life for young Boomers and we certainly … [Read more...]

  There weren’t many ways to earn money as a Boomer teenager. Allowances were meager, maybe 50c a week. This was before child labor laws, where kids were required to do things like mow the lawn, load dishwashers, tend to younger brothers and sisters and help weed the garden for a lousy 50 cents a week. Summer offered some respite with a few lawn-mowing gigs, but there was often intense competition … [Read more...]

Bonanza was in color, but most families didn’t have color sets when it first aired on September 12, 1959. We watched Ben Cartright and his sons Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe in black and white and could only imagine how they would look in red, white, purple, yellow and maybe a little blue. In the fall of 1960, the family of my friend, Dave Gladwell, bought a color console TV and Dave invited all his … [Read more...]

If it was Saturday morning and you were a kid in the 1950’s, there was only one place to be and one thing to do. Sprawl in the floor in front of a big, console TV and watch cartoons. And did we ever. Our first stop was the kitchen where we fetched a bowl and spoon, a box of cereal and a quart of milk and we were ready for action. The entertainment came in waves. Mighty Mouse, Tom and Jerry, … [Read more...]

I poured myself a bowl of cereal the other day and immediately turned the box around to read the back cover. Instead of a puzzle, a game, or the adventures of some cartoon character, I read only about fiber, saturated fats, calories, various vitamins, niacins, calciums and sugar content. According to the backs of modern boxes, cereals today are heart-healthy, gluten free, whole grain, nutrient … [Read more...]

Gas station food has come a long way. I remember on our travels to and from North Carolina when I was a kid, if you stopped at a Gulf Station to get gas (and hopefully a rest room break) if there was any food at all to be had, it was a pack of peanuts on the counter and a Coke from the machine. Slowly but surely gas stations recognized an unfilled market and began offering chips and nabs, maybe a … [Read more...]