How do young people meet these days? There are no drive-ins! Not only are there no more drive -in movies, there are no drive-in restaurants. No place to circle the parking lot looking for girls – or boys, as the case may be. Boomers look back nostalgically at the days when a young lady called a carhop would take your order for a frosted mug of A & W root beer and an order of fries. You’d give … [Read more...]

Chicken is good. Hambone is sweet. Possum meat is mighty, mighty fine. But give me, oh give me, I really wish you would That watermelon hanging on the vine   My Daddy used to sing that song when I was a boy. I don’t know if it was an actual, recorded song, or something he just made up, but he sang it frequently around the house, particularly in summer and particularly … [Read more...]

The lives of Boomers can be defined by music. In the early years, just after the war, America wasn’t sure in which direction music should proceed. There were crooners like Sinatra and Bennett as well the remnants of the Big Band Era. Country stars like Hank Williams, Patsy Cline and Teresa Brewer had frequent hit songs as chart toppers, so it was a mixed bag of musical tricks. Then, rock and … [Read more...]

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...]