Before Oldies Were Oldies

1966 Sport Fury

Back in the summer of 1967 I was driving to work on my 1956 Ford Victoria (Central California) typical hot summer day driving with my radio loud and the windows down.  The windows down in the summer time was a given.  Back in that period of time we enjoyed the fresh air, mostly because air conditioning was not that prevalent, especially in the 1956 Ford.  By now my car was 11 years old, and was not treated like the collector that it would someday become.  This was a hard working man’s commuter (work) car.  On the radio they introduced the song that would become the hit of the summer of ’67 (Sonny and Cher; The Beat Goes On).  I couldn’t help but love that song, it kind of described life at the time, no matter what life threw at you, “The Beat Goes On.”

• "The Beat Goes On" is a Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 hit song written by Sonny Bono and recorded by Sonny & Cher. It was issued as a single and appeared on their 1967 album In Case You're In Love. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 14, 1967, peaking at #6.  "The Beat Goes On" was sung at Sonny Bono's funeral, and the phrase also appears on his tombstone.

In no time flat the song was on every radio station, and it seemed that every radio station was playing it about twice per hour on average.  The song would make an even bigger impact because Chrysler Corporation chose that song to advertise their Plymouth new lineup of cars.  Every time I heard a Plymouth commercial, I thought about stopping by a dealership to check out their new cars.  People in the business of marketing do know what they are doing and I know for sure they drew me in.

Eventually I did stop to check out the new models, but I fell in love with a 1966 Plymouth Sport Fury.  Back in that era car models seemed to make significant changes at least every two years, and this one made an upgrade that I didn’t care for, but the 66 model was perfect for my taste.  Because it was the previous year model I was able to negotiate a great discount, and especially that I didn’t trade in my Ford.  That was my first brand new car on my own credit, and there was as much pride as anything riding on that purchase.

I kept my beautiful new muscle car for two years (something that was to become a habit for me, every two year trade), and traded it in for a 1968 AMX (very sporty and strong).  My youth, and early adulthood included, was very good to me.  I’m sure that if I went into deep thought I could come up with a regret or two (but not off the top of my head).  The best is yet to come….

Peaceful Existence

Mayberry Lifestyle

·       The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffithportrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife (Don Knotts), a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier), and a precocious young son, Opie (Ron Howard). Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. 

During my pre-teen and teen years I was raised in a perfect little town.  The weekend following our arrival to our new hometown, the town celebrated one of its three major town-wide holidays, Labor Day (the other holidays are Memorial Day and Independence Day).  If you ever need a welcome into a new town (State, family etc.), this is the best way to make a family feel welcomed. Everyone is in town for the parade, and the celebration at the park.  Family games, food, music, talent show, good old fashion hanging out.

The Posse as the horsemen’s group is called (participating in the parade), had clowns following behind it at the tail end of the parade (scooping behind the horses).  This gentlemen were amongst the community leaders (highly respected).  Other community leaders were in the parade riding in new convertibles on loan from the local car dealership.  In this small town (then population around 3,500) there were no scandals, no dirty politics, and no rivalries between businessmen or even financial institutions.  One barbershop in town, two drugstores, two grocery stores, one post office, one dry cleaners, and two men’s shops, two hardware stores, one JC Penney, two catalog stores (one Sears, and one Montgomery Wards).  You get the picture, perfect co-existence with just enough competition to keep it consumer friendly.  I almost forgot one bowling alley, indoor theater, and drive-in theater, not to mention the usual Eagles Club, and Elks to keep it interesting.

Everyone new everybody on a first name basis.  If a farmer got injured, the community would show up on his property to help with the crops or the harvest.  If someone lost a job, someone would come through with assistance, or a job offer.  We didn’t have a welfare office in town, not even an unemployment office. Idyllic might just be the perfect way to describe it.  Wait, I have another name for it and most of you are familiar with the other name “Mayberry” (from the Andy Griffith Show - television series).

·       The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffithportrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife (Don Knotts), a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier), and a precocious young son, Opie (Ron Howard). Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by."

Amongst the favorite pastimes there was fishing, pheasant hunting, deer hunting, and the city sponsored softball teams (played at the park usually followed by a potluck community meal once a week during the league season).  The young adult and older men belong to the volunteer fire department.  Each member responded to a siren that would gather the volunteers at the fire station to head into any direction where fire and danger awaited.  I was seated in the barber’s chair one summer day waiting to start my haircut, when the siren sounded, my barber was a volunteer, so he excused himself, as he ran out the door.  The fire on this occasion was a grass fire on one of the high hills that bordered our small town (the fire had the potential of reaching the wheat fields nearby).

A report came over one of the local radio stations that an accident had occurred as the firemen rushed to the scene of the fire.  A pickup truck carrying 6 men and equipment to the fire had rolled over and 3 men were injured and 3 were killed (our barber was one of the men killed).  Nicest man you would ever want to meet (42 years old left behind a wife and 3 children).  Yet at the time it seemed that anyone of the men in that town would put his life on the line on behalf of the community.  We don’t seem to have that time of ownership anymore; at least not enough to go around and make a big difference like it used to.  You can bet that the whole community was devastated, and they all lent their support to the families of the fallen men.

This small town also had its fair share (more than) of young men serving and dying in Vietnam.  If I could find a place like that once again, I would consider moving to it.  That small town is no longer that innocent anymore.  There once was a scandal (in the last 10 years) where a woman from this small town hired someone to kill her husband (he wasn’t even injured), but it made national news. I’d be willing to bet that she wasn’t a remnant from the early days I described.

I debated whether to include the few negatives from my small town, but in good conscience I had to include it, because I didn’t want you to think that my paradise was still undisturbed, by modern times and crimes.  I have high hopes for our society, to turn things around and hurry to the good times we left behind.  The best is yet to come…

Pride Generating Entertainment

Tales of the Texas Rangers

The early part of my childhood was spent in Texas, 1956 to 1959.  I’ve only lived in three states for any length of time, but I can’t imagine that any other State in the Union could generate more pride in its citizens than Texas does.  In the short almost 4 years that I lived in Texas, I was led to believe that Texas was the only State that mattered.  According to any Texan you listen to nothing grows bigger, better or more beautiful than in Texas.

There were a couple of television show at the time that really brought out the pride of the people, I remember the many quality programs that the family use to sit together to watch.  Some examples were; M Squad, Wagon Train, Highway Patrol, Route 66, Gunsmoke, and The Twilight Zone, but the Texan’s favorites were Tales of the Texas Rangers (NBC 1950-52 and CBS 1955-58):

·       On radio, Joel McCrea's Pearson often worked by request with a local sheriff's office or police department, but in the television version,Willard Parker assumed the role of Jace Pearson and had a regular partner, Ranger Clay Morgan, who had been an occasional character on the radio show. Morgan was portrayed in the television version by Harry Lauter. William Boyett appeared five times on the television series, including the role of Wade Crowell in the 1955 premiere episode, "Ransom Flight."  ~Wikipedia

·       During the opening and closing credits of the television series, the actors march toward the camera as an off-screen men's chorus sings the theme song, "These Are Tales of Texas Rangers", to the tune of "The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You" and "I've Been Working on the Railroad". The radio series used contemporary cases and modern detective methods to solve crimes; it was a procedural drama, in many ways Jack Webb's Dragnet with a western flavor. The television version had some episodes set in the 1950s, comparable in some ways to Rod Cameron's syndicated series, State Trooper. Other episodes were set in the 19th century in a traditional western genre. In each case, Parker and Lauter were involved with chases and shoot-outs. The weaponry varied greatly between the modern and older stories. ~Wikipedia                                                                                                                            

Another television series that generated major Texan pride was The Adventures of Jim Bowie (ABC 1956-58), mostly because of the short time he lived in Texas and his heroic stand at the Alamo:

·       The series stars Scott Forbes as the real-life adventurer Jim Bowie. The series initially portrayed Jim Bowie as something of an outdoors-man, riding his horse through the wilderness near his home in Opelousas where he would stumble across someone needing his assistance. He was aided by his ever-present weapon the Bowie Knife, something he designed in the first episode The Birth of the Blade.Gradually the series shifted from the country to the city, having Bowie instead spend the majority of his time in New Orleans. He was frequently shown looking to invest his money in real estate, or coming to the aid of someone who had been swindled. ~Wikipedia

·       Story lines focused on the exploits of Bowie before he moved to Texas (then part of Mexico), and his death at the Alamo in 1836. During the series' two season run, Bowie encountered many historical figures of the era, such as President Andrew Jackson, Jefferson Davis, John James Audubon, Sam Houston, and Davy Crockett. ~Wikipedia

I was actually saddened when I found out that we were moving out of Texas, because of the sense of pride I felt, at being an adopted Texan.  I left large numbers of family members that I meant to go back and visit but that I never saw again.  If I were to visit them now, they probably wouldn’t even remember me.  The beauty, however, is that I have a vivid memory of them, and they will forever be young in my mind and heart. The best is yet to come….

Friend or Foe

Passage of Time

• Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. ~ Carl Sandburg
• How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flown. How did it get so late so soon? ~ Dr. Seuss
• It’s being here now that’s important. There’s no past and there’s no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can’t relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if there is one.  ~ George Harrison

When I was growing up many years ago, I had a friend that I was sure would be my best friend forever.  As I went through the early stages of life, I appreciated my friend and I sometimes abused the relationship.  I was positive that I was going to go through life with the advantage of my special relationship.

Yesterday When I Was Young

• Time is an equal opportunity employer.  Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day.  Rich people can't buy more hours.  Scientists can't invent new minutes.  And you can't save time to spend it on another day.  Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving.  No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.  ~Denis Waitely

One day after I turned 33 years of age, I started to realize that my friend was turning on me.  My best friend was now becoming my worst enemy.  There is nothing I can do to turn the friendship around.  Looking back I see the many missed opportunities, and wasted efforts, chasing unrealistic dreams.

I’m not the first to be wasteful and I won’t be the last; the difficult times of the 1900, the pioneer struggles of moving West, for many it was and is the immigration to the United States.  Opportunities abounded for many, and yet like me, many squandered the opportunities before them.

Many events in our lives have a tendency to control large blocks of time.  Everything we do or commit to has a time consequence.  If only we could be cautious on how we spend our time and thus preserve it, like in the movie “In Time” with Justin Timberlake.

• In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth. Here, Will Salas finds himself accused of murder and on the run with a hostage - a connection that becomes an important part of the way against the system.
• In this obvious science fiction thriller you can borrow time or buy additional time, but the clock is always running as in real life.  The big difference being that in real life we don’t know when the clock will run out, and in this film you can see the meter running out.
• The other major difference between real life and the film is that in the film you never age beyond 25 years old.  I am not sure that I like the trade-off.

We often try to rationalize that time goes by faster as we get older.  In actuality time always moves at the same pace, we just get busier and don’t notice the time passing by.  The biggest culprit is over commitment; time would seem to slow down if we allowed ourselves to slow down enough to actually be bored at times.

One of the biggest examples of time waste, would be that you don’t devote enough of your youth to a quality education, for the benefit of the long term future. Always seeking immediate gratification while young can lead to eventual regrets.  My best and worst friend is and has always been time.  With time and a little wisdom we have mended fences, and are now getting along.  The best is yet to come…

Addicted Housewives

Original Core Family

My mother was a victim to this addiction.  Was your mother also a victim?  If she was you had to be aware:

·       As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera The Guiding Light. Running for 54 years, As the World Turns holds the second-longest continuous run of any daytime network soap opera in American history, surpassed only by Guiding Light. As the World Turns was produced in New York City for all of its time (its first 43 years in Manhattan and in Brooklyn from 2000 until 2010).

I could say that my mother improved her English speaking ability from being a big fan of “As The World Turns.”  She would stop anything she was doing around the house to catch her favorite program.  Just one time she talked me into sitting down with her (I was still in junior high school), and I too was hooked.  During Spring vacation, and Summer vacation from school, I would plan my lunch from whatever work I was doing to catch the soap with my mother.  In retrospect, it was one of many things my mother and I did together, but probably the one thing she enjoyed most and appreciated, that I would join her in front of the television set.

On days when I was at school and couldn’t watch the program (before VHS and DVR recorders), the first thing I did when I got home was to ask my mother to update me on the plot.  My mother tried to get me to join her on other soap operas, but I was strong and resisted.  I knew that brain cells were in short supply, and I had to use mine to advance my education within the school system. 

My favorite all time characters were, and to this day I still have the images in my mind of what they looked like, Dr. Don and Lisa Hughes.  I very much enjoyed the character of Dr. Don Hughes, but Lisa was another story.  She was a bad example of a wife, cheating, conniving, mean, and vicious.  I hated her but she made the show interesting:

·       The character Lisa Miller Hughes (Eileen Fulton) was used as the basis to create a primetime spinoff soap Our Private World, (CBS's attempt to duplicate the success of rival network ABC's Peyton Place), with Lisa leaving Oakdale and moving to Chicago, where she married wealthy John Eldridge, but had an affair with his brother Thomas. Though Our Private World only lasted a few months, and Fulton returned to As the World Turnsin early 1966, after taking a few months off, remnants of Lisa's time on Our Private World were resurrected 26 years later, when it was revealed in 1992 that Lisa had had a son off-camera, hitherto unknown to viewers, before returning to As the World Turns in 1966. Her son Scott Eldridge tracked her down as an adult, and remained on As the World Turns for several years.

On November 22, 1963, the live CBS broadcast of As The World Turns began as always at 1:30 EST. In this episode, the Hughes family were discussing plans for Thanksgiving. Ten minutes later, a "CBS News Bulletin" slide suddenly came up on the screen and Walter Cronkite gave the first report of the assassination.

“		Here is a bulletin from CBS News. In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas. The first reports say that President Kennedy has been seriously wounded by this shooting. More details just arrived. These details about the same as previously: President Kennedy shot today just as his motorcade left downtown Dallas. Mrs Kennedy jumped up and grabbed Mr. Kennedy, she called 'Oh no!', the motorcade sped on. United Press says that the wounds for President Kennedy perhaps could be fatal. Repeating, a bulletin from CBS News, President Kennedy has been shot by a would-be assassin in Dallas, Texas. Stay tuned to CBS News for further details.                                                                                         “

See my post: Killing Kennedy February 21, 2013; http://www.being50.com/2013/02/killing-kennedy.html

My dear mother’s day went from a great day to the worst possible day of her life.  Her favorite show (in that time of television the soap operas were broadcast live, the studio wasn’t aware of the assassination at the time of the interruption) interrupted by the assassination of her favorite president.  If any housewife had to have an addiction to anything besides their husband and family, this was a harmless one on many levels.  The best is yet to come…

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Mickey Mouse Club

·       A variety show for children, with such regular features as a newsreel, a cartoon, and a serial, as well as music, talent and comedy segments. One unique feature of the show was the Mouseketeer Roll Call, in which many (but not all) of that day's line-up of regular performers would introduce themselves by name to the television audience. In the serials, teens faced challenges in everyday situations, often overcome by their common sense or through recourse to the advice of respected elders. Mickey Mouse himself appeared in every show not only in vintage cartoons originally made for theatrical release, but in opening, interstitial and closing segments made especially for the show. In both the vintage cartoons and in the new animated segments, Mickey was voiced by his creator Walt Disney. (Disney had previously voiced the character theatrically from 1928 to 1947, and then was replaced by sound effects artist Jimmy MacDonald.)

1956 cast photo. Front row; L–R: Annette Funicello, Karen Pendleton, Cubby O'Brien, Sherry Alberoni, Dennis Day. Row two: Charley Laney, Sharon Baird, Darlene Gillespie, Jay-Jay Solari. Row three: Tommy Cole, Cheryl Holdridge, Larry Larsen, Eileen Diamond. Row four: Lonnie Burr, Margene Storey, Doreen Tracey. Back row: Jimmie Dodd, Bobby Burgess.

Many of the original Mouseketeers went on to achieve great success, some examples are Annette Funicello, Johnny Crawford, Don Brady, etc.

• Mickey Mouse Club was hosted by Jimmie Dodd, a songwriter and the Head Mouseketeer, who provided leadership both on and off screen. In addition to his other contributions, he often provided short segments encouraging young viewers to make the right moralchoices. These little homilies became known as "Doddisms". Roy Williams, a staff artist at Disney, also appeared in the show as the Big Mouseketeer. Roy suggested the Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears worn by the cast members, which he helped create, along with Chuck Keehne, Hal Adelquist, and Bill Walsh. -Wikipedia

I must be in great company because I was hooked on the Mickey Mouse Club as I am sure many of you were: one of my highlights of the day Monday thru Friday was to catch the program after school at around 5 pm.  Enough time to get home, get some chores done maybe even my homework, before the program would start. The Mickey Mouse Club was a serious effort at children’s educational television programing.  One of the reasons that the program eventually went away was the lack of sponsorship.  The sponsors were not interested in promoting children’s educational television.

Another major reason for the demise of the program was the inability to reach agreement with ABC for contract renewal.  The original contract with ABC prohibited Disney from broadcasting the program on any other network.  Walt Disney sued ABC and won but never followed through with a return to broadcasting the program.  Eventually Disney even purchased the ABC Network.

I think we can all agree that we all become a reflection of our environment, and that being true, I can say that many baby boomers went on to become quality, respectful and honorable adults due to the exposure to quality programming.  I owned my own set of Mickey Mouse ears, I wonder how many of you did also.  The best is yet to come….

Ultimate Hog Heaven

Man of Steel

• “Man of Steel” flies into theaters Friday hoping to reinvent Superman for a new era, no small feat for the original superhero, a character who debuted in the pages of “Action Comics” No. 1 in 1938 and celebrates his 75th anniversary this year. Filmmaker David S. Goyer teamed with his “Dark Knight” trilogy collaborator Christopher Nolan on the story and wrote the screenplay for the Zack Snyder-directed movie, and Goyer recently spoke to Hero Complex about the project — its incredibly high stakes, his detailed approach to writing the script and why Superman matters to so many people (and maybe something about “Justice League” too).

For all the people in my generation that grew up reading comic books and day dreaming about what direction the story line would take on the next issue and beyond, this is our year.  All those years of watching inferior production quality super heroes on the small screen and I do mean small screen, this is our moment.  Many special movies have been made for some time now, but never so many blockbusters all in one year.

Various incarnations of Batman, have passed through, likewise Superman with Christopher Reeves, Spiderman, and this year I personally am having a banner year.  The best ever of Ironman already came out this year, Man of Steel is being released this summer, The Lone Ranger, and others on the way.

• Six Texas Rangers, including brothers Dan and John Reid, were tracking a gang of desperadoes led by the notorious Butch Cavadish. The rangers were lured into a canyon, and ambushed. Except for young John Reid, They were all slaughtered. Reid managed to crawl to safety near a water hole where he was later found and nursed back to health by a friendly Indian named Tonto. Tonto remembered Reid, who had once saved Tonto himself. "You kemo sabe," said Tonto; "it mean 'trusty scout.'" Tonto now vowed to stay with him as the "lone" Ranger vowed to avenge the deaths of his brother and their comrades. This is the story of one of the most mysterious characters to appear in the early days of the west. He was a fabulous individual. A man whose presence brought fear to the lawless and hope to those who wanted to make this frontier land their home. He was known as The Lone Ranger.

If I was in charge of marketing new films, I would make a commercial showing a bunch of baby boomers buying tickets, and walking into the theater.  After the film I would show a film shot of a bunch of 8 thru 13 year olds walking out wearing the same outfits.  I know for sure that I will feel that way when I walk out after watching my favorite heroes on the big screen.  I do mean big screen, I plan to watch my super heroes on IMAX Screens.

My mind was enhanced from reading all those comics back in my early years.  My reading skills were also sharpened by my exposure to comic books. Because all the comic book heroes were always well mannered, I know that my attitude and behavior was shaped in part due to the story lines that I followed for so many years.  I am very much looking forward to this summer at the movies.  Hope to see you there.  Just in case my wife reads this post; I am also planning to go with her to watch some romantic films this summer.  The best is yet to come….

Summer Vacation

Summer Vacation

 As the schools finish the academic year children of all ages are excited about family vacations, not having to deal with homework for a few months. High school age teenagers are making plans for spending time at the beach with friends, or playing volley ball at the park, or just simply relaxing, other more like us of the old school (no pun intended) are headed for summer jobs.

Those that are old enough to start to show an interest in the opposite sex, are considering how long the summer will be without the ability to see each other.  I didn’t have attachments in elementary or junior high (middle school now), but I do remember that there was always someone that I liked more than my other friends, so I also had a sense of absence.  In my case, however, I kept so busy during the summer that I had no time for daydreaming, and before I knew it, I was shopping for back to school clothes.

One summer stands out in my mind (summer of 1962) because of a song that started hitting the airwaves before school let out.  I had lots of young lady friends but no one to wear my letterman’s jacket or sweater.  I was very much the gentleman, and fearful at that. I never wanted to take a chance to lose a friendship over a foolish mistake of being too forward.  Just the same I was a romantic in training, and that song was had very special lyrics that resonated.

I believe that anyone hearing that song would have feeling of separation especially if they were experiencing a semblance of Puppy Love.  After all you go through the school year seeing each other every day of the week, with the extremely long weekends in-between and now we are talking about a two plus month plus absence.  No wonder so many young people eloped back then.

Keep in mind that we were back in the days where some homes didn’t have telephone service (especially in the rural areas).  Definitely no texting or email or even faxing.  No wonder love was so much stronger and intense; absence does make the heart grow fonder!  Add to all that the fact that fathers were to be respected and in some cases feared.  My older brother actually had his future wife’s father fire a shotgun at him as he was sneaking his daughter out on a date (they have been married 58 years, how’s that for strong love?)

I hope that your thoughts and memories of being young and in school, even if not in love are great!  The best is yet to come….

A Dollar’s Worth

You can trust your car, to the man...

I still remember the wonderful times when you actually received value for the money you spent on everyday purchases.  Do you remember when you were so important that businesses fought over your spending dollars?  Who remembers full service gasoline stations where you never had to leave your car, even though you might only be spending a dollar for gasoline?  The attendant would check your radiator, and oil level, than clean your windshield, not to mention use a Wisk broom on the passenger side of the car.  This by the way was for everyone not just the young pretty ladies.  Quite often your gas station attendant after taking your payment had to return with your S&H Green Stamps.  By today’s standards you were receiving $20 dollars’ worth of service for that one dollar you were spending on gasoline.  On top of that if you needed oil you could purchase a quart of bulk oil for about 10 cents.

Everyone talks about how much better the world has become, I for one would trade many of today’s frills for the quality of life I remember.  Just think, if we never experienced it, we wouldn’t miss it.  There is no argument that many great things have evolved such as medical science; including medications, but the way we are going we are going to start meeting our maker in our forties soon because who can afford the new medical improvements.  Many people in our age group should be retiring or retired right now, but many can’t afford the medical insurance so they keep working.  This material about medical costs belongs in a different post.

I remember that my stepfather couldn’t wait for pay day to go buy groceries, because he had a target item he was going to get with S&H Green Stamps.  His favorite purchase was a carton or two of cigarettes that came with extra bonus stamps.  Whenever you bought powder soap detergent, it came with a gift inside, saucers (small plates), drinking glass, coffee cup, towels; I know my mother would buy the soap before it ran out because she was trying to complete a set of dishes or something.

I know that many of my friends and myself included use to influence our mother’s purchase of breakfast cereal depending on whose 45 rpm recording was inside the box for free.  Advertising on television for the various products, including gasoline, was aimed at the consumer with regard to who could offer you the best service for least cost, and of course today you can take it or leave it, because if you don’t buy it there is someone in China or, some other country around the world that’ll buy it.  That my friends is what we call Global Marketing; boy what an improvement that turned out to be.  I’m sure I can come up with a bridge if you want to buy one. 

I almost forgot in today’s wonderful world of marketing you can get up to a $1 off of a gallon of gasoline if you spend $1,000.00 in groceries (10 cent discount per $100 dollar purchase).  Don’t do the math it will only give you a head ache.  The best is yet to come…

Life Moves On

High School Days

 About 3.4 million students are expected to graduate from high school in 2012–13, including 3.1 million students from public high schools and 283,000 students from private high schools.   U.S. Department of Education  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Every year it comes around and I get nostalgic.  I think of a wonderful time in my life; which could be best characterized as best of times and worst of times. Do you remember your high school years, particularly your senior year in high school?  Always surrounded by friends and friendly people, always trying to make the most of the fun when you knew that you had so much to accomplish before you moved on to the unknown that awaited everyone.  For young men like myself, there was the Draft waiting like a Cobra snake waiting to pounce on us as soon as we turned of age.

Vietnam was not only on everyone’s mind, it was all over the news.  Even while eating dinner the conversation always turned to Vietnam or the fact that another relative or neighbor’s boy wouldn’t be coming home.  The television news report always included the latest body count, and news of new deployments.  Enough about the ugly part in my high school years.

The senior year was a time to cram all you could into a short period of time.  The most wins in sports, the last chance to be in the school records.  Last chance to attend the school sock hops (dances), Prom.  A time to consider breaking up or hooking up with someone.  Thoughts of walking away and never seeing everyone or anyone again, so now was the time to solidify your relationships, and make plans and promises to stay in touch with friends.  How about going around and having everyone sign your yearbook, even the goofy friends that would write something embarrassing.  There was always the ones that were concerned enough about staying in touch to write down their telephone number.

Those times for me were all about good memories and accomplishments, my only fear than was the war, but many years later here I am, and it’s all good.  I don’t want to get sentimental, but I did feel a tear or two roll down my face when I walked out for the last time, and looked back.  I had wanted so bad for so long to get it over with and now that it was, it wasn’t the happy moment I thought it would be.  It became especially hard when fall came around and many of my friends that were now seniors were going back, and I was moving on.  I know it’s not a good comparison, but starting college away from home was like starting Kindergarten, without the safety net of going to your parent’s home after school for the love and security that you could count on.  Congratulations to all the new graduates, and good luck!  You are our future!!  The best is yet to come….