Life Back In The Day

The 50's was a magical era and life seemed very simple. Ike was president and America was prosperous. The New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers were my two favorite baseball teams and my hero, Rocky Marciano, was the heavyweight boxing champion of the world.

These were my formative years and I keep the memories in that special little place in my heart, knowing that it only happens once.

I went through elementary and junior high schooling during the 50's and the lessons learned in and out of the classroom were instrumental in the formation of my character.

School was a fun but stern place and the teachers took no prisoners. If you got into trouble, the teacher paddled you. You took your punishment and held your tongue lest the teacher give you a note to take to your parents.

If you did get a note, it meant a worse fate was in store when you presented the note to your parents. I always gave my note to my mother with the hope that she would deal with it and not pass it on to my father.

School was also a social place and I enjoyed that part immensely. Music was at the top of everyone's conversation and the birth of rock and roll made it even more fun.

There were only a few radio stations and they were AM at that. The radio stations played all the songs. There were no specialty stations....no rock and roll station, no country music station, no big band station. There were the stations and they played everything.

Radio was big in those days as very few people had television sets and only a few people had telephones. At night, the family would actually "watch the radio" as shows like Gangbusters, Amos and Andy, The Green Hornet, The Lone Ranger (my favorite), Inner Sanctum, Dragnet and many others played. You watched the radio and what you saw was limitless, as your imagination provided the mental video.

Our radio was an RCA Victor and it was about a foot wide and a foot tall. It had two knobs, the tuner and the volume. The top of the radio would open up exposing a turn table with a single metal rod. The record speeds were 33 and 1/3 or 78 and the records were all the size of a modern day LP album. The only difference was that the record had one song on each side. You had to be very careful because it you dropped the record, it would shatter and break.

Brother Kirt and I started singing together and in the sixth grade, my teacher, Mr. Hall, taught me to play the guitar. I, in turn taught my brother to play, as well, and the Sullivan Brothers began performing for anyone who would listen. We sang all of the Everly Brothers songs as well as all the rock and roll songs of the day.

My Brother and I actually started singing country music and we were invited to perform on a local television station which presented "The Dixie Lily Show". We decided that we didn't want that and my parents let us make our own decisons. It may have or have not been a good decision, but I lean more toward the innocence of youth.

I can remember distinctly when the sad news came over the radio, reporting that Hank Williams had passed away in the back seat of his car. Williams was one of my favorite singers and his untimely death really upset my brother and I.

The 50's was a wonderful time for me and I thought I'd share those times with you......

The News As I See It: Obama criticized the GOP for being the party of billionaires last week....while he was speaking at a fundraiser at a billionaire's house! I didn't see how that story could have gotten get any worse until I learned the billionaire's name was Rich Richman. Really? Obama would have stayed longer, but he was late for his lunch with Dollars McMoneybags.

The administration now has a name for the war against ISIS. Every military operation has to have a name so people can get behind it and they now have a name for the war against ISIS — Operation Hillary's Problem.

Kim Jung Un, dictator of North Korea, hasn't been seen in six weeks. He's probably spending more time executing his family.

Obama may take executive action to shut down the prison in Guantanamo Bay. When asked how he plans on letting the prisoners out, Obama said, "I'll replace all the guards with Secret Service agents. They'll just wander out."

Bo, the White House dog, celebrated his third birthday last week. He had a wonderful party at the White House — only three intruders. I believe Bo is actually now distancing himself from the president. It was a bittersweet day for Bo because he was recently trashed in Leon Panetta's book.

This Date In History: 1775; The Continental Congress authorized the construction of a naval fleet. 1792; The cornerstone of the White House was laid. 1843; The Jewish organization B'nai B'rith was founded. 1903; Boston defeated Pittsburgh in the first World Series.

1943; Italy declared war on Germany, its former Axis partner, during World War II. 1974; Ed Sullivan died in New York City at age 72. 1981; Egypt's vice president Hosni Mubarak was elected president, one week after Anwar Sadat's assassination.

Picture Of The Day: The Florida Everglades. often referred to as the "River of Grass." I've spent days fishing the vast expanse and many a night camping under the stars. It is serenity personified.

Printable Things I Never Told You: 1) I shot my first turkey yesterday! Scared the crap out of everyone in the frozen food section. 2) There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast. 3) There aren't enough love songs to describe the moment you see your luggage come out of that little tunnel at baggage claim. 4) I got lost once when I was a kid. I saw a policeman and asked him to help me find my parents. I said to him, "Do you think we'll ever find them?" He said, "I don't know kid. There are so many places they can hide."  5) Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several members of the family died of measles.....and that's five !

Today's Horoscope: Libra - October 13th: The road to success will be free of traffic today, assuming you remembered your drivers license and proof of insurance. Don't stray into unfamiliar waters unless you are wearing a life vest. Chances of romance are 41.98 percent, but you may get lucky anyway. Did you know that 42 percent of statistics are made up on the spot?

Birthdays: Rudolf Virchow, pathologist 1821, Mary Kingsley, explorer 1862, Art Tatum, jazz pianist 1910, Yves Montand, actor, singer 1921, Margaret Thatcher, British prime minister 1925, Paul Simon, singer, musician 1941, Kelly Preston, actress 1962, Jerry Rice, football player 1962, Nancy Kerrigan, Olympic figure skater 1969, Ashanti, singer, actress 1980, Ian Thorpe, swimmer 1982.
 

The AREA 51 Retirement Home Bar And Grill: A beautiful woman scanned the guests at a party and spotted an attractive older man standing alone. She approached him and said, " Hi, my name's Carmen."

The man said, "That's a beautiful name. Is it a family name?" The woman said, "No, I gave it to myself. It reflects the things I like most, cars and men. What's your name?" The man replied, "B. J. Titsengolf."

An old lawyer, laying on his deathbed, called to his wife and asked her to bring the Bible. Being a religious woman, she thought this was a good idea and brought the Bible to her husband. The lawyer took the Bible from her and began scanning the pages.

Curious, knowing her husband wasn't a religious person, she asked, "What are you searching for, dear?" The lawyer replied, "Loopholes."

The Hits Just Keep On Coming: A man walks into a bar with a paper bag. He sits down and places the bag on the counter. The barman walks up and asks what's in the bag. The man reaches into the bag and pulls out a little man, about one foot high and sets him on the counter.

He reaches back into the bag and pulls out a small piano, setting it on the counter as well. He reaches into the bag once again and pulls out a tiny piano bench, which he places in front of the piano. The little man sits down at the piano and starts playing a beautiful piece by Mozart!

The bartender says, "Where on earth did you get that?" The man responds by reaching into the paper bag. This time he pulls out a magic lamp. He hands it to the bartender and says, "Here, rub it."

The bartender rubs the lamp, and suddenly there's a gust of smoke and a beautiful genie is standing before him ans says, "I will grant you one wish. Just one wish ~ each person is only allowed one!"

The bartender gets really excited and without hesitation says, "I want a million bucks!" A few moments later, a duck walks into the bar. It is soon followed by another duck, then another. Pretty soon, the entire bar is filled with ducks, and they keep coming!

The bartender turns to the man and says, "You know, I think your genie's a little deaf. I asked for a million bucks, not a million ducks.' The man says, "Yeah, I know. Do you really think I asked for a 12 inch pianist?"

Joe Bob, Jim Bob and Billy Bob are greeted in heaven by St. Peter. "We have only one rule," he says. "Never step on a duck" But upon passing through the Pearly Gates, they're surrounded by thousands of ducks, and Joe Bob steps on one. The duck quacks and soon, all the ducks are quacking.

St. Peter admonishes, "I warned you not to step on a duck." He shackles Joe Bob to a ferocious looking 260 lbs Amazon woman for all eternity. Jim Bob steps on a duck and gets tethered forever to a Brute 6 foot 6 redheaded Viking woman.

Billy Bob thinks, "Poor ole Joe Bob and Jim Bob" and learns to watch his step. So St. Peter chains him to an absolutely gorgeous girl. Billy Bob exclaims, "Wow! What did I do to deserve this?" The buxom beauty says, "I don't know about you, but I stepped on a duck."

That's it for today, my little glow worms. Remember, an ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated, which is kinda funny 'cause so does my Uncle.

More on Wednesday.

Stay Tuned !