I remember when we danced to Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra records-when you picked up a girl for a date at her parent's house with a tie and jacket on.

This was of course before the acne and cacophony set took over. This set dresses like its music--ripped dungarees, hats backward, sneakers untied. How they get in the mood to reproduce mystifies me.

Yes, I am a geezer, a proud one.

Anthony

robespierre - point taken. But since we lived 5 miles from NYC when I was growing up, a bomb blast in the city would have reduced us to ash.

ttt

tt

This thread became a string, and now it's a rope headed on its way to becoming a cable. But I love it. I hadn't wanted to mention this, but in college I had the distinct pleasure of being assigned to escort Robert Lindbergh around the campus for a day. He was part of a panel of distinguished visitors, and I must say that was one of the most fascinating days in my life.

Let's see...I've been acquainted or have met (slightly) with Werner Von Braun, Harry Truman, General Matthew Ridgway, John Eisenhower (Ike's son), a couple of previous secretaries of state, a couple of secretaries of defense, the heads of NATO back in the first years of the organization, a man who was a senior assistant to Stalin, and a poor unmarried Russian mother looking for some denim trousers for her son. Guess who got most of my attention?

Links? Personal, as in someone I actually talked to: my grandmother told me about her mother describing the soldiers coming back from the Civil War. Same grandmother who never got used to having a telephone -- she kept it in a box with a door and closed it away when she didn't want to answer it.

Geneological: descended from Peregrine White, born on the ship to Jamestown, and a Welsh Salem/Marblehead arrival in 1628, and Canadian Cree ancestors whose arrival date in Ontario no one knows. Of course, people here in the South still consider me an immigrant.

Fascinating stuff.
While not in the same league, my X the street neighbor was 11 y/o and the son of the USAAC "Adjutant" Major at Hickham Field, HI on 7 Dec 1941 - his house was 100 meters from the flight line and the awful destruction which he witnessed from the front yard.
Seems more than a few 7th grade American History students want to interview him for their "projects".
M

One of the greatest threads ever:

Yes to Green Stamps (the blue ones were Blue Chip, I think), Dad bringing home the first TV in 1956 (black and white with four channels and no remote!), the milkman and dry cleaner who delivered, the bakery truck, backyard bomb shelters, being in school on Nov. 22, 1963. Yes to first student trip to Europe costing $1,100 for 9 weeks.

When I first started flying in the 1950s as a kid, it was a big deal and everyone got all done up. Coach in the 1960s and early 70s was like Business Class is today. They used to announce each departing flight at the airport and it was so cool to hear; "Flight 100, now leaving for Paris, Rome..." When you flew to Hawaii, they greeted you with a lei - it was a big production.

I remember when Maui had about three hotels and you could walk along the beach for hours and not see anyone else. I remember when Cabo San Lucas was a dusty little town with very little electricity and just a few places to stay.

As a reporter, I once interviewed a lady who had seen Halley's Comet twice! I interviewed a number of people who survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. I also talked with a woman who witnessed the assasination of Archduke Ferdinand.

There is so much I identify with on this thread. Keep the replies coming.

History Exam...

Everyone over 40 should have a pretty easy time at this exam. If you are under 40 you can claim a handicap.

1. In the 1940s, where were automobile headlight dimmer switches located?
a. On the floor shift knob
b. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch
c. Next to the horn

2. The bottle top of a Royal Crown Cola bottle had holes in it. For what was it used?
a. Capture lightning bugs
b. To sprinkle clothes before ironing
c. Large salt shaker

3. Why was having milk delivered a problem in northern winters?
a. Cows got cold and wouldn't produce milkb. Ice on highways forced delivery by dog sled
c. Milkmen left deliveries outside of front doors and milk would freeze, expanding and pushing up the cardboard bottle top.

4. What was the popular chewing gum named for a game of chance?
a. Blackjack
b. Gin
c. Craps

5. What method did women use to look as if they were wearing stockings when none were available due to rationing during WW II?
a. Suntan
b. Leg painting
c. Wearing slacks

6. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you couldn't tell whether it was coming or going?
a. Studebaker
b. Nash Metro
c. Tucker

7. Which was a popular candy when you were a kid?
a. Strips ! of dried peanut butter
b. Chocolate licorice bars
c. Wax coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside

8. How was Butch wax used?
a. To stiffen a flat-top haircut so it stood up
b. To make floors shiny and prevent scuffing
c. On the wheels of roller skates to prevent rust

9. Before inline skates, how did you keep your roller skates attached to your shoes?
a. With clamps, tightened by a skate key
b. Woven straps that crossed the foot
c. Long pieces of twine

10. As a kid, what was considered the best way to reach a decision?
a. Consider all the facts
b. Ask Mom
c. Eeny-meeny-miney-mo

11. What was the most dreaded disease in the 1940's?
a. Smallpox
b. AIDS
c. Polio

12. "I'll be down to get you in a ________, Honey"
a. SUV
b. Taxi
c. Streetcar

13. What was the name of Caroline Kennedy's pet pony?
a. Old Blue
b. Paint
c. Macaroni

14. What was a Duck-and-Cover Drill?
a. Part of the game of hide and seek
b. What you did when your Mom called you in to do chores
c. Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.

15. What was the name of the Indian Princess on the Howdy Doody show?
a. Princess Summerfallwinterspring
b. Princess Sacajewea
c. Princess Moonshadow

16. What did all the really savvy students do when hectograph tests were handed out in school?
a. Immediately sniffed the purple ink, as this was believed to get you high
b. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window
c. Wrote another pupil's name on the top, to avoid their failure

17. Why did your Mom shop in stores that gave Green Stamps with purchases?
a. To keep you out of mischief by licking the backs, which tasted like bubble gum
b. They could be put in special books and redeemed for various household items
c. They were given to the kids to be used as stick-on tattoos

18. Praise the Lord, and pass the _________?
a. Meatballs
b. Dames
c. Ammunition

19. What was the name of the singing group that made the song "Cabdriver" a hit?
a. The Ink Spots
b. The Supremes
c. The Esquires

20. Who left his heart in San Francisco?
a. Tony Bennett
b. Xavier Cugat
c. George Gershwin

ANSWERS

1. b) On the floor, to the left of the clutch. Hand controls, popular in Europe, took till the late '60s to catch on.

2. b) To sprinkle clothes before ironing. Who had a steam iron?

3. c) Cold weather caused the milk to freeze and expand, popping the bottle top.

4. a) Blackjack Gum.

5. b) Special makeup was applied, followed by drawing a seam down the back of the leg with eyebrow pencil.

6. a) 1946 Studebaker.

7! . c) Wax coke bottles containing super-sweet colored water.

8. a) Wax for your flat top (butch) haircut.

9. a) With clamps, tightened by a skate key, which you wore on a shoestring around your neck.

10. c) Eeny-meeny-miney-mo.

11. c) Polio. At the beginning of August, swimming pools were closed; movies and other public gathering places were closed to try to prevent spread of the disease.

12. b) Taxi. Better be ready by half-past eight!

13. c) Macaroni.

14. c) Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.

15. a) Princess Summerfallwinterspring. She was another puppet.

16. a) Immediately sniffed the purple ink to get a high.

17. b) Put in a special stamp book, they could be traded ed for household items at the Green Stamp store.

18. c) Ammunition, and we'll all be free.

19. a) The widely famous 50's group: The Inkspots.

20. a) Tony Bennett, and he sounds just as good today.

Travelermebe: Princess Summerfallwinterspring was not a puppet at first -- she was a lovely actress who eventually went to Broadway and was in an early TV production of Cinderella. But the Howdy Doody show producers turned her into a wooden puppet when (rumors said) she got pregnant!

Wow, I really am old. In my entry about 6 or so posts earlier, I couldn't even remember Charles Lindbergh's correct first name. Excuse the senility. Being with him for a whole day was a great experience.

Wayne - I was tempted to embarrass you about that, but then I figured...No, he's having a 'senior moment'.

Travelermebe - Kudos on the originality of your History Exam!

Great Quiz,

On the Howdy Doody show:
What was the name of the Indian Chief?
What was the name of the clown?

What was special about Wednesdays on the Mouseketeers?

What was Sam Spade's partner's name?
What's a "gunsel"?

"You betchum ... ....."
Who said it?

Who was the "Little Flower"?

"Comin' In on a Wing and a ......"

Lucy and Desi's friends were .... and ..... .....

I'd like to thank PalQ for starting this thread, and everyone else who has contributed their thoughts and memories. Travelermebe, I only missed two questions on your exam, so maybe I'm not THAT old (haha!).

Being a "Vespuccian" I've enjoyed reading the memories of growing up in the United States, during a more innocent time. But I really enjoy reading the memories about places I have travelled to, trying to envision what it might have been like in times gone by.

One of my favorite "travel" books is HOLLAND, published in 1932, with 65 halftone illustrations and beautiful written descriptions of the country, between wars. Rembrandt is mentioned all through the book, but not a word about van Gogh. The book itself has history. It came from Brentano's Booksellers & Stationers in Paris, belonged to George Martin, and I bought it from a street vendor in New York City for $2.00.

Anyway, keep the posts coming. I LOVE history, and there is no better account than first hand - (literally, since we're all typing). Peace. :)>-

Robyn

Ira -
Howdy Doody:
Chief Thunderthud
Clarabell (who was Bob Keesham, the future Captain Kangaroo)

Mouskeeters:
Wednesday was Anything Can Happen Day (I think, because truth be told, I didn't care for the program...)

Sam Spade? I haven't got a clue to this one or gunsel.

You Betchum Kimo Sabe?
Tonto said it?

The Little Flower was NYC Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. Fiorello is little flower in Italian.

Comin' in on a wing and a prayer.

Lucy & Desi's friend were (of course!) Fred and Ethel Mertz.

Thanks for the fun! ((S))((*))

Hi Kama,

Very good.

>You Betchum Kimo Sabe?
Tonto said it?<

Try again. There is a clue in the dots.

OOOH IRA !

You betchum Red Rider!
Little Beaver!

Am I right?
((S))((*))

red rYder and little beaver are correct.

Sam Spade's partner was Archer, I believe; I've forgotten his first name, but then he really wasn't present for very long...

And a gunsel is a hit man; a young and particularly inept one in The Maltese Falcon, as I recall.