There are some voices that stand out among others. Boomers look back and remember Edward R. Murrow, Arthur Godfrey, Jack Benny, Walter Cronkite, John Cameron Swayze, Orson Welles, Mae West and Grouch Marx as among those voices which needed no introduction. When they spoke, you knew who they were. And there is one more. Howard Cosell. The news of the passing of Mohammed Ali this week stirred … [Read more...]

I expect God’s legion of Guardian Angels is breathing a sigh of relief. Boomers have grown up and most survived their youth, thanks largely to our Heavenly Helpers. Today’s children don’t really need Guardian Angels – they have, after all, a doting government bureaucracy and millions of overprotective parents. If you see a youngster today riding a bike – with parents lurking close by and … [Read more...]

Not many Boomers were able to avoid the scourge of hand-me-downs – clothes and shoes passed down from older brothers or sisters, or from one family to another. Most Boomer parents were children of the depression, and recycling was a way of life, not a fashion statement. Moms were even known to cut off buttons from old shirts and coats, so you know they were eager for gently used clothing in good … [Read more...]

Summer is fast approaching, meaning modern children will be busier than ever with activities galore. It’s mind boggling to try and appreciate all the things in store for today’s kids. It wasn’t always like that. Boomers look back and remember that when school let out, if you didn’t play Little League baseball, you were sentenced to a summer of Scrabble, Clue and Monopoly games. Unless, … [Read more...]

This Boomer looks back fondly on the books I read and grew up with. I love to read and began reading and having books read to me at an early age. Looking back, Boomers were truly blessed with good reading material, and for most of us, the habit of reading has continued. The first book I can recall was a hard cover collection of English nursery rhymes. My mother or my grandmother read to me … [Read more...]

There was a time in America when drug stores didn’t occupy an entire city block. They weren’t part of corporate empires. There was a time when Boomers knew the local pharmacist to be a family friend and a trusted adviser on most things medical. If a youngster in the family was running a high fever, the pharmacist would often meet a distressed mom or dad after closing hours to fill an important … [Read more...]

My wife and I went out to eat recently and as we waited for our server, I noticed that many of the men in the restaurant were wearing hats, mostly baseball caps, and half of them were on backwards. There was a time when wearing a hat indoors was strictly off limits and wearing one at the dining table was unthinkable. What ever happened to good manners? For Boomer kids, learning good manners … [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 trashcan in August the day before pickup. But looking back – way back – this Boomer can recall the vivid scents of youth. It was as if I had discovered the sense of smell for the first time. Here are some of the fragrances I … [Read more...]

My daughter was telling me recently about the “Dos and Don’ts” of school lunches - especially lunches sent from home. Apparently, the modern Lunch Nazis now rifle through each Spiderman lunchbox or brown paper bag to approve or disapprove of what children can eat. Donuts are definite “no-no’s and so are Oreo cookies. When I was a kid, you only got an Oreo cookie if you’d behaved yourself the day … [Read more...]

I suppose I was about 10 years old when my dad decided I should mow the grass. We didn’t have very big yard on Jennings Street, in Beckley WV, but we also didn’t have a very good lawnmower. It was a push mower, a manual push mower, meaning you did all the pushing and if you went fast enough, the blades would rotate and maybe cut the grass. Or maybe not. It probably didn’t help that the blades on … [Read more...]