I Remember JFK: A Baby Boomer's Pleasant Reminiscing Spot

Many a Boomer kid has recollections of at least one summer spent at some remote location, either on a river or a lake, likely surrounded with lots of woods, getting away from city life and experiencing the mixed joy of summer camp.

I say "mixed," for, just as in Allen Sherman's classic song "Camp Granada," kids often had to be drug there kicking and screaming before the fun factor kicked in.

Interestingly, the thoroughly American tradition of summer camp as a getaway for kids seems to have originated in Switzerland. In 1876, Pastor Bion, of Zurich, set up summer holidays for kids in Appenzell, in the Alps, where youngsters would build tree houses, fly kites, sing around the campfire, and engage in other typical summer camp fun.

However, by the 1950's, summer camp was deeply entrenched over here as a rite of passage every year for many of us. Our parents, who likely were denied the luxury of a summer getaway during the dark economic years of the 30's, delighted in giving us what they would have loved to have. The fact that the kids were out of the house for a week or two was an added bonus to them.

Every generation has its sex symbols. Our grandfathers swooned over Clara Bow. Our fathers were gaga about Betty Grable. Our big brothers got saucer-eyed over Marilyn Monroe. And we Boomer kids felt the first stirring of our hormones over Raquel Welch.

Raquel (that is her real name, BTW) was born in Chicago in 1940. Fresh out of high school in the late 50's, she was living in San Diego and had landed a gig on the local television station as a weather girl. She was using her maiden name of Tejada back then.

In 1959, she married James Welch. They had two Boomer kids of their own, Damon and Tahnee. Tahnee, BTW, is an actress, and a lookalike of her mom. You may remember her as the beautiful Kitty in Cocoon.

The marriage was pretty much over by 1961, and in 1964 or 65 (sources vary), they were divorced.

In the meantime, she was pursuing an acting career. She landed guest starring roles on Bewitched, McHale's Navy, and The Virginian.

When I was growing up, my mom and dad would periodically get into a squabble. Like all husbands, each incident was 100% his fault. He was smart enough to recognize this, thus he would frequently negotiate a make-up session by driving to the local Rexall's and purchasing a very powerful female sedative: the Whitman's Sampler.

The venerable Sampler got its start in 1912. Whitman's Confectionery was founded in Philadelphia in 1842. Stephen Whitman knew his craft well, and his candy was a success. Sometime in the early 1900's, Walter Sharp was hired as sales manager. The aptly-named Sharp took Whitman's candy to a higher level, aggressively pushing the products to drug stores, where it is still found over a hundred years later. In researching this piece, I was reminded that it was always the drug store where dad would buy them.

Anyhoo, in 1912, Sharp put a variety of chocolates in a divided box and called it the Sampler. The distinctive box design was based on a hand-made cross-stitch by his grandmother. Printed on the inside of the lid was a guide showing what each candy was.

It was a good design. That is testified to by the fact that 98 years later, it is still manufactured in its original form, or close enough that Mr. Sharp would instantly recognize it as familiar.