By the mid-50s, some of the novelty had worn off for televisions, but with rumors of color televisions and vastly improved programming, TVs were still an important part of family life. Gathering around the set for a family meal featuring genuine TV dinners was a highlight. In 1954, the Swanson Food Company changed the way Americans ate their meals. Prior to that date, families ate at the … [Read more...]

It’s “Fair Time” – county fairs, state fairs, any fairs. Fair time was a special time in Lewisburg WV in the 1950’s and 60’s. It didn’t take long after we moved to Lewisburg to discover that a huge event took place just outside of town. In Fairlea, a small burg between Lewisburg and Ronceverte, West Virginia staged their annual state fair in late August, and it was well worth the price of … [Read more...]

I saw a picture of a sandwich wrapped in waxed paper recently that took me back to the 1950’s and brown bag lunches. As an elementary student, sometimes I ate in the cafeteria, assuming someone had an available quarter, but usually Mom would pack my lunch – a cookie, an apple and a sandwich wrapped in waxed paper. I remember watching the early commercials of Reynolds’s Waxed Paper when the … [Read more...]

The hands-down most popular retail establishment in Lewisburg in the 1950’s was Shaver’s Music Shop on Washington Street. Kids made daily or almost daily visits to the small store to see if their favorite record had arrived or if there was a new hit out that they wanted to hear. Burr Shaver, a talented local musician, ran the shop and was one of the best salesmen in the history of Greenbrier … [Read more...]

Unless you were a product of the Fifties, it’s impossible to understand the complete infatuation our generation had with television. We were able to watch technology unfold to the extent that - with the aid of an aerial on the roof, and 21-inch picture box within a huge console - images and sounds actually appeared in our own living rooms. It was television and whatever was on, we watched. On a … [Read more...]

I recently read that with inflation rising like a hot air balloon, many young families are being squeezed tremendously in buying diapers. I did a little research, and a throw-away diaper today costs about 30 cents each – give or take. Babies go through lots of diapers, maybe 8 or 10 a day. That’s $3 per day or $90 a month. Twins would set you back $180 a month. Wow! Boomers, however, didn’t … [Read more...]

  I saw a couple kids in the neighborhood going at it with squirt guns this week. Boy, did that bring back memories. We had genuine marksmen in Lewisburg Junior High in 1956. Sharpshooters, you might say. As I would quickly discover, if you didn’t pack heat in self-defense, you would get squirted. Squirt guns, you see, were the weapons of choice among the young people in the mid-50s. … [Read more...]

  When I moved to Charlottesville in 1967, I asked around about the really important things – where to meet women, where to catch fish, and the best places to eat. I found out on my own the best place to meet women, which was where I worked – Leggett’s Barracks Road. I met a cute little honey there named Nancy and we have been married for over 50 years. As for fishing, my advisors sent … [Read more...]

It was the family car, and really a member of the family. It was the only “car member” of the family because most Boomer families in the 1950s and 1960s only had one car. Moms stayed home as a rule and dads drove the only car to work, or if mom had some shopping or errands to run, she dropped off dad and picked him up after work. Kids either walked or rode their bikes to school. The kids in the … [Read more...]

The greatest gift you can give a kid is not an X-Box or video game, or a cell phone or even a trip to Disneyland. Instead, give a kid a creek to play in and the child will be a happy camper. I remember a creek near Hopewell, VA. I was about 9 or 10 and staying a week with my Aunt Topsy and Uncle Jeffrey and I was bored out of my mind. Then, one afternoon, three or four neighborhood kids stopped … [Read more...]