The Pent-ultimate Christmas present for every Boomer boy was a Lionel train. And so it was with me. I was seven and a Lionel train was at the top of my wish list to Santa Claus. I simply had to have one, even though they were fairly pricey and my dad earned only a modest salary as an FBI agent. By boyhood friend, Billy Richmond got a train for Christmas the year before. Billy was a year … [Read more...]

It was a typical main street in a small town in the 1950s. There were two drug stores, a hardware store, a sports shop, a record store, a jewelry shop, a men’s shop, a ladies shop, a shoe store, a small department store and a five and dime on Washington Street in Lewisburg, WV. On that one street, there was every venue necessary for a 12 year old boy to go Christmas shopping. I had waited until … [Read more...]

For many young Boomer males, becoming a “paper boy” was the first real job. There may have been a few “paper girls” out there, but not many. Today, automobiles – particularly those with 4-wheel drive – are the principal means of newspaper distribution. But in the years following the war and all the way through the 60’s and 70’s, paper boys on bicycles, or on foot, made the rounds in various … [Read more...]

I'm going to retire and live off of my savings. Not sure what I'll do the second week.   Old age is coming at a really bad time!   I don't have gray hair. I have "wisdom highlights".   My people skills are just fine. It's my tolerance of idiots that needs work.   Even duct tape can't fix stupid ... but it can muffle the sound!   The kids text … [Read more...]

Our icemaker went on the blink recently. Like an old hen on the nest, it just wasn’t producing. We’d get a few puny cubes per day, not nearly enough to sustain our “ice habit.” A call to the repairman - and one, new water valve later - and our icemaker was once again overflowing. It’s hard to imagine life today without ice. But it wasn’t always that way. Until about 200 hundred years ago, … [Read more...]

Young Boomers danced a lot. We danced in the gym at lunch hour and again on Friday nights at dance hops after football games. We danced at private gatherings of our friends in basements and garages and we danced at the swimming pool, community centers and country clubs. Until August 6, 1960, we did one of three dances – the jitterbug, the stroll or a slow dance. But on that fateful afternoon, … [Read more...]

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and to many of us Boomers, Thanksgiving meant more than just turkey and dressing. It meant football games on television. Go way back with me, if you will, to the early days of the National Football League. Typically, my family made the long drive from Beckley, West Virginia to Raleigh, North Carolina to spend Thanksgiving with my grandmother, Mama Ida. … [Read more...]

Every Boomer remembers his or her first bicycle. Next to turning 16 and getting a drivers license, the biggest day in the life of a youngster was getting that first, new bike. Afterall, a kid without a bike was like a fish without an ocean. The reason bikes were so critical during the early Boomer years is because families generally had only one car, and the dads had them at work. That meant if … [Read more...]

(I got this in an Email this week and wanted to share)   “Heavens to Murgatroyd!” Does that bring back memories? Recently, a not so elderly (65) lady said something to her son about driving a “jalopy” and he looked at her quizzically and said, “What the heck is a jalopy?” He had never heard of the word jalopy!! She knew she was old, but not that old. Here are some … [Read more...]

During the World War II, rubber and plastics were simply not available to consumers. But after the war, things changed. Needing to keep assembly lines open, manufacturers developed tens of thousands of new rubber, plastic and fiberglass products. Among them was the rubber squeeze coin purse. Every Boomer kid had one. It’s where we put the 10 cents for admission to the movies. It’s where we put … [Read more...]