Tell me about the '60s (vanity)

[353FMG]

You enlisted in the USAF about the time that I received my Honorable Discharge at McChord AFB.

[Don Carlos]

Spent 22 years in USAF beginning Sep '59. Never looked back - that's not to say I loved every day, though!

Admittedly, it's not for everyone, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

[353FMG]

"I recall the end of each broadcast night as you describe.."

Then there was also the time that Perry Como sang the Our Father before the screen went blank and the TV started to hiss.

Many today have no sense of loss because they don't know what they are missing. My two sons listened to me with their mouths agape when I told them what America was all about.

The only blemish on our history was the period of segregation of which I am ashamed. I did not hide it in my story to my sons. I am white, but I felt like a criminal every time I saw the "Whites Only" sign.

[nanetteclaret]

Great green gobs of greasy gummy gofer guts
Mutilated monkey meat
Petrified porpoise puffs
Great green gobs of greasy gummy gofer guts
And me without my spoon.

[rabidralph]

I lived in DC for a little bit after we came to the states. I remember the majority of the homes I visited, the black folks had pictures of MLK and JFK on the wall and sometimes a son in uniform on the side table. I don't know if they ever made room for RFK's picture. Cars were a lot cooler back then, too. I had no idea how great I had it growing up then. Even a Dodge Dart was pretty fast in those days.

[Night Hides Not]

I was on Romper Room in probably 1963.

My TV debut was on the "Mayor Art" show in SF in 64/65.

Our house was located within 150 feet of an air raid siren. Damn thing would be tested every M-F at noon...you could set your watch by it.

We didn't get our first color TV until after the first moon landing in 1969.

Lived in the SF Bay Area (Castro Valley) while growing up, and it was a great place to grow up.

California public schools were among the best in the nation: virtually every student in my 6th grade class (1966) read at 12th grade or better. I remember the entire class reading The Count of Monte Cristo.

During the summer of '68, a few buddies and I took the bus to Chinatown to buy our firecrackers for the 4th of July.

During HS, I worked every night at the local bowling alley as a scorekeeper. Average a buck to a buck and a half per hour, with no taxes. Would also make $25-$40 during weekends when the local semi-pro tournaments took place.

[Night Hides Not]

We heard the Beatles more and much earlier than the US (Luxemburg station).

I listened to Radio Luxembourg on my morning drive to Spangdahlem AB:

Es Radio Luxembourg, es Guten Morgen...

Radio Luxembourg was in German in the mornings, and English in the afternoons.

[Rte66]

Gosh, how did I miss *that*??? LOL

[toomanygrasshoppers]

Great green gobs of greasy gummy gofer guts
Mutilated monkey meat
Petrified porpoise puffs
Great green gobs of greasy gummy gofer guts
And me without my spoon."

That's it! I was racking my brain for the lyrics. lol

[LisaMalia]

I could write a book on this subject!

My story of life in the 60s in rural Ohio is probably too long for a post....:)

[Clemenza]

Go back to the early 1900s: Americans were in many ways more loyal to their REGION than to the nation as a whole. There were filthy, overcrowded enclave of people who spoke ZERO English. Many who spoke English spoke it very poorly. Of course, there was no "mass media" then either.

The whole ideal of "national unity" is a product of the World Wars. We have always been divided one way or the other.

[Rte66]

What *is* that? Or more important, *what's* in it? Lol, doesn't look like cherry Jello to me.

Maybe Mexican in flavor? Is that popcorn or hominy in there? Perhaps black olives, onions and tomatoes, obviously?

Don't think I'd like it, although I *do* like molded salads - certain ones. Ones that would probably make you sick, lol. (But not like the posts just above here!)

[Rte66]

Well, now that we know you and antisocial are Ding Dong Dogies from Dumas, you should also 'fess up that you join me in being a "HooDoo Hottie from Houston," too.

(I made that title up, after antisocial "did his stuff" for us, singing the Ding Dong Daddy song!)

And the 1960s were when our HouDoo Hottie paths crossed, SC! So, talk about it.

[PeteePie]

I've been reading these posts since this thread started. I must say this is the most nostalgic and enjoyable thread I've ever read. Born in '62. I remember turning on the TV and killing time while it warmed up. Once the picture came on and was clear I remember cigarette commercials. "You can take Salem out of the country but...you can't take the country out of Salem." Winston, that one 100mm brand where the end always broke and of course, the Marlboro man in motion, riding high. I remember a doctor coming over to examine my little brother. Friendly arguments about who made the best cars (it was usually the one YOUR dad drove.) On the east side of St Paul, 3M dominated the landscape. There were factories all over the place and there was at least one building in every neighborhood that was used by The Mining for something. The tape plant made the whole region smell like the Elmer's glue. They lavished surplus goods on all the local schools, including the Catholic one I attended - wonder if they'd still do that today. Trucks drove by our school all day everyday servicing the various plants. White smoke billowed out from neatly aligned stacks. That effect was multiplied 10 times during the winter. People walked from their lap-sided homes to go to work. Railroads were still a major deal around town too. My older brother was in a band and they practiced in our basement, which was so cool because music was becoming more influential. He also had 2 '57 Chevy's in the backyard that he and the band stripped and rebuilt for fun. Most pop was sold in glass bottles. As far as I knew there was one McDonalds anywhere close and it only had 4 tables in it. The neighborhood store was owned by a family who lived next to it. They knew us and stocked their shelves accordingly. We played war, rode wagons down the street, and it was okay to cut through most people's yards. We never thought to question our safety back then.

[R_Kangel]

I believe the quote you are reffering to is: "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need." Karl Marx;

[Coleus]

let's see.. I was kind of young in the 60's and here is what I remember.

we played records on a victrola, TV was black and white and we had one TV in the house, the TV had tubes and had to be warmed up, the tubes got hot; we listened to a transistor radio, many of the boys used a kit to make their own crystal radio, the milk man delivered our milk, an Italian peddler would drive around to sell vegetables, man landed on the moon and the entire world was watching it on tv, cars were big and made out of steel, gas was cheap, trains went through towns, there was a lot of pollution and most hospitals and apartments incinerated their garbage daily, we could burn our leaves in the back yard, we could throw anything out in the garbage, the air smelled, if you had a stereo you were rich, most music was played on AM radio, we had one phone in the house, it was black and in the kitchen, had a dial and a real bell rang, long distance was expensive, there were riots and cities were closed down at night,

[Coleus]

I remember going to white castle with my family and having the waitress come to our car to take our orders and delivering the food on a tray hooked on to our window .

And going to a few drive-in movie theaters in the area, there were about 3 or 4 of them.

[PeteePie]

Yeah, I remember we burned our garbage in steel 55 gallon drums (but wrapped leftovers in newspaper and didn't burn it, not sure why). It was so cool to sneak in an empty aerosol can and wait for it to blow up, Easy-Off cans made for the best percussion.

[foreverfree]

I watched "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." on Friday nights.

Yes, "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." is another show that I vaguely remember. So is "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." ;_)

ff

[humblegunner]

AM radio stunk

It still does.