It was a sweet summertime tradition. Hop in the Plymouth, fall asleep in the back seat while dad did all the driving, end up in Story City, Iowa six or seven hours later.

Every summer we would make the trip up to the nation's heartland so that dad could visit his family. Brothers, sisters, mother, aunts, and a classic Garrison-Keillor-character Norwegian bachelor farmer uncle named Selmer.

What I remember best about Selmer was his passion for fishing (they gave me all his tackle when he passed, hoo-rah!) and his enjoyment of a pleasant summer evening pastime known as Jarts.

I was probably twelve, and presumed old enough by the adults that I wouldn't do anything stupid like toss the weighted darts with pretty darned sharp ends up in the air. Doing so could be fatal.

But hey, the act of stepping out into a busy street without looking could end up in a similar fashion. In the early 70's, life was still meant to be enjoyed by people smart enough to use their brains. The rest (and sadly, children who were given access to taboo things by the rest) were subject to death and dismemberment by forces not yet banned by our motherly government.

Continue reading "Jarts" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

The name is familiar, if you watched TV in the 60's. But you probably don't know a whole lot more about Ivan Tors than the fact that he was the producer of shows that we Boomer kids loved like Flipper, Gentle Ben, and Daktari.

Ivan Tors was born in Hungary in 1916. He was a successful playwright in his native country, but decided to move to the US in the 1930's.

He soon landed gigs in Hollywood writing screenplays. His early works included That Forsyte Woman, a big hit.

Tors was fascinated with science fiction, particularly undersea stories, and he yearned to write in that particular genre. Thus, he created A-Men Films with actor Richard Carlson, and cranked out a few 1950's scf-fi classics, including Gog and The Magnetic Monster. He also penned the stories for 23 episodes of Science Fiction Theater on TV.

But it was in the decade of the 60's that Tors' star would burn its brightest.

Continue reading "Ivan Tors" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

It's Monday . . . That means it's time for another tasty Blogging Boomers Carnival! This week, it's hosted by Gen Plus. Enjoy!

Kids grow fast, and so do their feet. That means that most of us Boomers made frequent trips to the shoe store while we were growing up.

I say MOST of us, because those of us who had an older sibling just ahead of us instead received hand-me-downs.

But that wasn't the case with me. My older brother was ten years older than me, and it might as well have been a hundred, such was the gap between six and sixteen.

Ergo, I experienced frequent trips to the shoe store on Miami, Oklahoma's Main Street.

That, of course, was where a kid could obtain P.F. Flyers. That was decidedly cool. But it was also where I would obtain dress shoes for church. Not nearly so cool.

The first thing that you noticed about the show store was the wonderful aroma. It was a heavenly nasal concoction consisting of a combination of leather, rubber, cigarette smoke, the salesman's cologne, and perhaps some fresh floor wax.

Continue reading "The Shoe Store" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

It's a pleasure to offer today's I Remember JFK memory as a currently available toy, and NOT as something that disappeared while you weren't looking! Indeed, Slinky, and its manufacturer, Poof-Slinky, Inc.(a company owned by the family of Slinky's inventor) stand tall as triumphant survivors which have weathered harsh economic times, changing public tastes, and the relocation of American manufacturing jobs to third world countries.

That Slinky TV commercial was replayed thousands of times in the 60's, and the tune is instantly recognizable to anyone who was there, particularly if you happened to be a child. Our parents were used to being hounded for money to purchase Slinkys at the dime store. And many times they would give in, recognizing that the durable toy had been around since WWII was still raging, and seeing it as a good investment.

Continue reading "It's Slinky! It's Slinky!" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

At presstime, Michael Phelps has just picked up gold medal number eight in the 2008 Summer Olympics. This makes the nostalgic among us (like you and me, for instance) harken back to when the mark of seven was set back in 1972.

The world was a different place back then. The war in Vietnam was still going on. However, Nixon was running for re-election promising "peace with honor." Gasoline was still dirt cheap, but that was about to change. The previous Olympiad had been notable for the Black Power salute on the medals stand by Tommie Smith and John Carlos, as well as a record that was shocking in its destruction of the previous one, the long jump mark set by Bob Beamon.

What would the 1972 games hold? The event organizers were optimistic that there was less tension in the air than four years previously. The war looked to be winding down. Civil rights were at an all-time high, and getting better every day. Perhaps the 1972 Olympiad would be known as a return to the idealistic standard of sports without politics, or controversy.

Yeah, right.

Continue reading "The 1972 Olympics" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

I Remember JFK is pontifically proud to present word of the next Blogging Boomers Carnival, this week hosted at Life Two.

Savor the incomparably penned musings of members of the Boomer Generation. Here's the best part: It's completely free of charge!

Okay, friends, you asked for it, you got it.

You have to keep the customer happy, right? So, without further ado, here is I Remember JFK's article on Fizzies.

It all started sometime in the 1950's. Nobody seems to know exactly when. But the who is indisputable: the Emerson Drug Company.

Emerson had an extremely successful product on their hands: Bromo-Seltzer. It was (and still is) a wonderful antacid powder that fizzes like crazy when added to water. Bromo had been around forever, but the developers at Emerson wanted to push it to new heights by giving it fruity flavor.

The results were less than spectacular, but all that research and development didn't go to waste. Enter Fizzies.

Continue reading "Fizzies" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

I have photo albums of my early childhood that have many wonderful pictures in them, thanks to the diligent taking of snapshots by my father.

Dad was the photographer in my home. I don't recall mom ever taking a single photo, though she must have, since there are some of dad in there. That was both prophetic and ironic, prophetic in the sense that I took up an intense interest in photography in my 20's, even having my own B&W darkroom. Ironic in the sense that I don't have any time left for photography these days, but my wife has taken up the mantle as family photog and is doing wonderful keeping track of kids, friends, and, of course, our miniature schnauzers.

All of these 1960's images required a camera in the hands of the shooter. And today's column is about those very cameras, which I recall very well.

My photo albums featured numerous images that measured 5" x 3 1/2". These were all shot prior to 1967 with a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye. According to this site, the camera was manufactured between 1949 and 1961. It set my dad back $5.50 (retail). This workhorse documented the Enderland family throughout the 50's and the first half of the 60's.

Continue reading "The Cameras My Father Used" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

Traveling long distances commercially took an awkward twist during the 1960's. Our parents (and we older Boomers) rode the rails during the 50's. But passenger service was being phased out by the railroads. The government bailout known as Amtrak was far off in the future. So by the time the Kennedy era dawned, your choices to get from one coast to the other, or anywhere in the heartland, were basically three: cars, buses or airlines.

Let's face it. Nobody traveled on the bus unless they simply had to.

That meant that you either drove the slick new Interstate Highway System, or you flew.

In my case, it mean car travel. It was 1982 before I took my first flight.

But many of us have fond 1960's-era-memories of getting a ticket at the counter, heading directly to the departure gate, and enjoying a few hours of absolute luxury in the air.

Continue reading "Flying in the 1960's" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

CRUSH! KILL! DESTROY!

With those words, The Robot on Lost In Space would begin the terrifying act of waving his (I guess The Robot was a he) arms. When those arms waved, you'd better clear the area. That meant rays were about to be shot and explosions were about to be set off as the mechanized bodyguard of the Robinsons was about to get good and mad.

We grew up with all sorts of robots gracing our black-and-white TV's. My personal favorite was the Lost in Space model (and no, his name wasn't Robby. Robby will rate his own future column). Of course, 1960's TV foxes June Lockhart and Angela Cartwright didn't exactly keep me away from the show, either.

My best buddy had a miniature LIS robot, and it was pretty cool. Additionally, on the schoolyard at recess one of our favorite pastimes was walking around in robotic fashion, waving our arms and hollering, well, you know what we were hollering. ;-)

Continue reading "Robots on TV" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

Miami, Oklahoma was located just beyond the eastern end of Tornado Alley, as defined here. The little burgh had a history of tornado touchdowns, even though they were more rare there than any typical Kansas community.

But the possibility of a tornado destroying our house was terrifying to me. And while I miss many, many things about the 60's, one thing I don't miss is the state of tornado forecasting that we had back then.

Miami had tornado sirens that would put me into panic mode when they filled the air with their mournful wails. In the first grade, I would even get tearful during well-publicized noontime tests. And I wasn't the only kid in class to do so, either.

It wasn't until the ripe old age of 45 that I actually experienced my first tornado, an F-3 that thankfully passed just over my house, yet still causing $3,000 in damages. I'm happy to say that my irrational fear is long gone, replaced by a fascination with the phenomenon. My wife had to call me in from the front yard to get in the closet a minute or so before the funnel cloud passed over.

Continue reading "Growing Up in Tornado Alley" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

The 80th edition of the Blogging Boomers Carnival is up and running over at Fabulous After 40. Go check it out!

It seems that every single town in the US with a population of at least, say, 2,500 had a single-screen theater located in its downtown area circa 1960.

In the Northwest Arkansas area where I make my home, that was the case with every community. Unfortunately, it is also the case that every one of them has closed.

Single-screen cinemas had their heyday during the Depression era. First of all, the price of the entertainment was frequently within the grasp of struggling households who were desperate for an escape from the day-to-day routine. Second, most of the 1920's-1930's theaters had a stage, so that vaudeville performances could be enjoyed in addition to films, frequently for the same price. And thirdly, the cinemas were pioneers in the use of the wonderful newfangled technology known as air conditioning. At presstime, the heat index is going to hit about 106 degrees today. Imagine if there was only one building in town with cool air. Wouldn't you be there?

Continue reading "The Downtown Movie Theater" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

Colonel Tom Parker had quite a goldmine on his hands. He managed Elvis Presley, the most valuable commodity in the entertainment industry of the mid 1950's. Of course, even the most manipulative manager couldn't make his client do anything he didn't want to, at least not without getting him to sign contracts granting the power to do so. There was money in music, to be sure. But there was more money in movies.

It turned out that Elvis did want to act. And his talents included the ability to do so quite convincingly. And the first films that Parker convinced him to make looked like the best of all possible worlds was being reached. The films were good, the acting was challenging, and the songs that were performed were good stuff.

However, the job satisfaction of his client and the commitment to artistic quality were not very high on Parker's agenda. So after a promising start, Elvis's acting career went downhill, quality-wise. Unfortunately for him, it would continue belching smoke until 1969.

Continue reading "Elvis Presley, Actor" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

So, how does one tastefully cash in on a show that was canceled after only 39 episodes, but which had proven immensely popular after its demise?

That was the quandary faced by execs of the perennially-third-ranked ABC network in 1960. The Honeymooners was dropped by CBS after slipping from #2 to a still-respectable #19 in the Nielsens. But the now-more-popular-than-ever series lived on in regular sketches on Jackie Gleason's variety show.

ABC smelled gold, but how to cash in without being too obvious?

The answer lie in a groundbreaking series: The Flintstones. The half-hour show, first aired in 1960, would be the first cartoon aimed at an adult audience. It would also be the first animated series to carry a single plotline for the entire episode. And it would also prove to be the hit series that ABC was looking for.

Most people didn't even realize they were watching a show that was pretty much based on The Honeymooners. ABC managed to accomplish the perfect cash-in.

Continue reading "Meet the Flintstones" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

It is my inestimable privilege to host the finest collection of Boomer writing which can currently be found on the third rock from the sun: The Blogging Boomers Carnival #79!

What can be found in this veritable conucopia of premier scrivening?

Well, to begin with, A growing number of experts think that many people aren't getting enough vitamin D--particularly those who work and play indoors and slather on sunscreen. SoBabyBoomer has the details.

About 30% of married men and women say they have no or little sex. Dina over at This Marriage Thing wants to know why so many people aren't getting any.

A 48-year-old U.S. Post Office mail carrier is breaking tradition by proposing a highly unusual new uniform for postal workers. Find out more at The Boomer Chronicles.

Do you have trouble in large, loud crowds and need lots of time alone? Perhaps you are a "highly sensitive person." Find out more from the Midlife Crisis Queen.

If your road trip aspirations extend beyond getting your kicks on Route 66, Ann at Contemporary Retirement has some suggestions that might get your juices flowing...

Everyone has a top ten list, and LifeTwo is no exception. They've compiled their top 10 midlife crisis movies of all time. Check out the list and let them know what you think.

Check out Don't Gel Too Soon's take on the Obama speech and Europe’s attitude toward all of us.

An entrepreneur's career path isn't always straightforward. The Baby Boomer Entrepreneur tells the story of one career path in One Entrepreneur's Journey From Bean Counter to Publicity Pro.

How do boomers resemble the Jersey tomato? The VABoomer has the answer.

If you want to get your blood a’pumpin’ through your veins, then stop by Gen Plus for a taste of Foreigner’s (remember “It Feels Like the First Time” and “Cold as Ice”?) release of their “Best Of” album. A gorgeous collection from this uber-popular band, perfect for summer, and absolutely perfect for a trip down memory lane… . Janet Wendy’s been dancing around the living room all week!

What’s the one piece of summer clothing that will make you look fabulous at any age? According to the Glam Gals, it a sundress. Check out the Sundresses they recommend specifically for boomer babes at Fabulous after 40.

Amazing collection, isn't it? Look for a new one next week. And enjoy!

Ah, sweet summers of the 60's. What could be more carefree than hanging out with Frankie, Annette, Fabian, Tab, and the rest of the gang on a sunny southern California beach with great rock and roll blasting in the background and, of course, a plethora of bikinis and muscular, bare-chested surfers...

Lord knows that there was enough pain, stress, and unrest in the decade to make your head spin. But beach movies provided us with an escape to a world where the biggest problem you might face would be trying to get the cute blonde with the groovy dance moves to notice you.

The beach movie era began with 1959's Gidget. Sandra Dee's character, Frances, learns to surf under the tutelage of one Moondoggie, played by James Darren. He is a dreamboat, and Gidget has her challenges ahead of her to get him to notice her as something other than a prodigy on a surfboard. Cliff Robertson plays the Big Kahuna, and Tom Laughlin, who would gain future fame as Billy Jack, had a bit part as well.

The movie was a smash, and another film involving lots of nubile young bodies clad in skimpy swim attire was released the following year.

Continue reading "Beach Party Movies" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

Nowadays, New Age is everywhere. Some are into nature sounds (I particularly enjoy writing while "rain" falls all around me), some into crystals, others dig reflexology.

But go back to 1970 and the concept of New Age was an obscure one. Some hippies were into Yoga, but by and large the New Age movement had yet to ignite.

The spark it needed was the 1970 publication of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The tale of a seagull who wanted more out of life than fighting amongst other members of his species grabbed the nation's attention that year, and became a runaway best seller.

And just like that, many decided the rat race was no longer for them. After all, what was the difference between clawing one's way up the corporate ladder and fighting your fellow seagulls for a piece of rotted fish that had washed up on the shore?

Thus, Richard Bach's tiny little novel (I read it in a single day when I was twelve) revealed the dissatisfaction that many Boomers and their younger parents had with their mundane lives.

Thinking like that was a million miles away from that of our grandparents, who were simply glad to have survived the Great Depression without starving to death.

Continue reading "When We Went Nuts Over a Seagull" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

September 1968 was a time of unequalled tension in the US. Our fathers, brothers, sons, and friends were dying in Vietnam. We had endured the spring and summer assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. LBJ had thrown in the towel. The Democratic national convention was marred by a massive, heavily televised riot.

It seemed like everyone was either killing, dying, or otherwise wreaking havoc, regardless of where they stood on any issues. Just who were the bad guys, anyway?

Songwriter extraordinaire Tom T. Hall, and beautiful, no-nonsense-voiced Jeannie C. Reilly let us know in no uncertain terms who the enemy truly was: self-righteous hypocrites.

It was just what we needed. The combined efforts of the two talents provided us with Harper Valley PTA, one of the most recognizable songs in history, and a crossover hit that made it to #1 on both the pop and country charts.

Continue reading "The Day We Heard About a Bunch They Called the Harper Valley PTA" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

Ladeeeees and gentlemen! Presenting the 78th Blogging Boomers Carnival!

It's over at The Boomer Chronicles. Enjoy!

I am currently recovering from the last yard sale I shall ever conduct.

Yeah, I say that every time, but I'm 49 years old, and I have seriously gotten too old for this stuff.

Anyhow, while digging through our old stuff to sell, I stumbled upon a true find for any blogger who occasionally suffers from writer's block:

Two little boxes cram full of Trivial Pursuit Baby Boomer edition questions!

I was a seriously good Trivial Pursuit player, as would be expected of a lifelong avid reader with slightly-better-than-average recall ability. My wife and I discovered the Baby Boomer Edition in the mid 80's. It was a blast, hearing questions about all of those things we grew up with, and was no doubt an early influence on what would one day become I Remember JFK.

Anyhoo, I'm actually looking forward to my next case of writer's block. I'm sure I'll be just a few trivia questions away from inspiration!

When I would accompany my mom to Farrier's IGA store for the weekly purchase of groceries, I would spend a long time at the cereal aisle. Eventually I would select a box of sugar-sweetened goodness and present it for her approval.

"You just want this one because of the toy inside!"

How could she say such a thing? I mean, of course, it was TRUE, but still...

Indeed, sometimes I would select a cereal whose flavor didn't really ring my bell for the prize inside. I remember selecting a box of Sugar Crisp once whose back featured a cutout record covered with images of Sugar Bear, Shoobee Bear, and Doobee Bear (snicker, snicker! Those clueless cereal execs at it again!). I just had to have that record, even though the cereal itself was awful (to this kid, obviously millions disagree). The internet being the amazing thing that it is, here's the record on YouTube!

Continue reading "Breakfast Cereals, Part 3" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

I wonder if any Boomer kid in the US ever grew up without breakfast cereal in the morning? Sure, some days we would be treated with Cream of Wheat, Malt-O-Meal, or perhaps full-blown bacon and eggs, but by and large mornings were busy times for families. This was particularly true in the case of my own dual-income household. Dad would be getting ready for another day at his truck garage, and mom would likewise be preparing for her own vocation of teaching a first grade class at Wilson Elementary, on the other side of town from my own alma mater of Nichols.

Needless to say, cooking breakfast was a difficult venture. So most mornings, it was one of a bevy of cartoon characters who provided me with the essential sugar that a kid used to get going in the early hours.

These friendly faces included So-Hi (I'll bet the clueless execs who named the stereotypical Chinese Rice Crinkles pitchman were the butt of many jokes among the younger staffmembers at Post over that moniker), Tony the Tiger, Capn' Crunch, King Vitaman, The Kellog's Corn Flakes rooster, the Blue Gnu, and the very weird Apple Jacks apple face.

Continue reading "Breakfast Cereals, Part 2" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

We Boomer kids all had one thing in common: mornings were accompanied by breakfast.

Nowadays, I rise from bed at 3:30 AM and drive a half hour to my job as a geek (which I love, BTW) and begin drinking copious amounts of strong coffee while handling the third shift technical support calls which came in during the night.

Those out of the way, I might slip into the breakroom for a breakfast of lowfat pretzels or the like.

Yes, very strange, I admit. But strange breakfast food comes naturally to a kid who grew up eating a before-school concoction of sugar, milk, and a small amount of actual nutrients, to be consumed whilst reading the back of the cereal box.

BTW, the large graphic above is quite out-of-character for I Remember JFK, to be sure, but its anonymous creator simply made something too amazing to be shrunk down.

Continue reading "Prelude: Breakfast Cereals" »

Recommend I Remember JFK to your friends!

It's time to go check out the latest Blogging Boomers Carnival up and running over at Don't Gel Too Soon!