Us dumb kids used the 33 1/3's as Frisbees!
Kids are dumb, indeed. Mine destroyed most toys that might have been
collectible. Many remain in my basement to this day. Only I care.
I hate to think of the present day value of things that I ripped out of their boxes on Christmas mornings long ago. Nowadays, toys like action figures hold incredible value if they're rare but only if they remain wrapped. And people use high powered microfying eyepieces to examine the register of baseball and football cards. Then they send them off to be certified and sealed in plastic. We did none of that.
I'll never forget the Sunday afternoon when my younger cousin Devon stopped by and immediately wanted to go upstairs to look at my huge box of comic books. I was watching a football game and gladly told him to have a ball. He came down with four books, one of which had no cover and asked if he could have them. Of course the coverless book had no value so I gave him that one and told him to put the others back. He returned with another few books and again, I gave him one without a cover. Then, he came back with three coverless books that I gave him. I'd read them; they weren't worth anything. There was another trip with coverless books before he left to go home.
After my game ended, I walked upstairs and found my box of comic books in the middle of my bedroom floor with half a dozer ripped off covers near it. A few of them were for first issues, which held more value. The little SOB figured out that I didn't care about the coverless books [[which I bought in three packs for $1.50 back then) and ripped the covers off several that I planned to keep.
I saved several boxes of Topps Baseball Cards over the years in the upper shelf of a closet. They are still wrapped and in tact, but only from the 80's. Maybe there are
a few rookie cards. In my day, baseball cards came with bubble gum, and not my favorite which was Fleers, with the comics. Many mothers threw out the baseball
cards, saved from my era, when their sons grew up. Originally, I think there was
only one card per package of gum. Then there were more, and the price went up to
$.05, very expensive.
Last edited by 9A; 10-23-2020 at 01:34 PM.
Oh my goodness. Remember how awful that stale bubblegum from the cards used to be? It was so hard it broke in your mouth before it could get moist enough to chew. And the flavor? Ewww...
By the way, anybody remember Dubble Bubble? It was cheap but almost fun to chew. And also Bazooka bubble gum. They threw a Bazooka Joe comic in with every wrapped piece. Bazooka Joe was perhaps the worst comic character ever.
Ha. Do you remember having a popped bubble stick all over your face? You had to use the remaining wad in your mouth to pull off the mess.
"In 1928, Walter Diemer, an accountant for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company in Philadelphia, was experimenting with new gum recipes. One recipe, based on a formula for a chewing gum called "Blibber Blubber", was found to be less sticky than regular chewing gum, and stretched more easily. This gum became highly successful and was eventually named by the president of Fleer as Dubble Bubble because of its stretchy texture."
"This remained the dominant brand of bubble gum until after WWII, when Bazooka bubble gum entered the market.
"Until the 1970s, bubble gum still tended to stick to one's face. At that time, synthetic gum was introduced, which would almost never stick as a bubble popped. The first brands in the US to use these new synthetic gum bases were Hubba Bubba and Bubble Yum.
"Bubble gum got its distinctive pink color because the original recipe Diemer worked on produced a dingy gray colored gum, so he added red dye [[diluted to pink) as that was the only dye he had on hand at the time."
God bless you, Nina. For as short as that was, I literally enjoyed reading every word. I remember when Hubba Bubba and Bubble Yum were released [[I was in junior high school). They were the first gum brands that were soft and didn't require a lot of effort to chew. I was also a big fan of Wrigley chewing gum and especially of Fruit Stripe, which I don't suppose they sell anymore.
Also remember going to the drug store and buying unbranded candies like candy buttons, pop bottles [[in wax bottles), candy cigarettes [[they should be ashamed of themselves) and candy bracelets. It was probably all pure sugar but it was more fun to eat than it was enjoyable. I wonder if any of those are still sold in 2020?
Jerry,
Sometimes I share these precious " Remember When" topics with Ralph. He laughs at
how we morphed from tossing 78's to bubble gum. He, too, has had bubbles pop all over his face. Guys, we are isolating. There is just so much news we can watch!! You didn't mention wax mustaches, lips or buck teeth. Licorice pipes? Also, I seem to remember a wax triangular instrument whistle with pipes. Also, candy lipstick. crazy as that sounds.
Of course I remember the novelty candies. I think somewhere they are still sold.I vaguely remember the striped Wrigley's. My favorite was always Spearmint or Doublemint. Juicy Fruit was a little soft and didn't crack [[snap?) as well but was
yummy.
[[Don't tell Ralph I shared this -- He and his buddy's would chew Black Jack or Grape gum to mask the smell of cigarettes from teachers and parents.)
Now I am wondering whether Bazooka was 2 cents. I only had a penny for gum. My mother gave my 26 cents to go the the Saturday matinee at the movies. My brother and
I would stop at a drug store on the way and I would buy two 5 cent candy bars, one for each movie, and gum. It took extreme self-control to save the second candy bar or box for the second movie. Sometimes it was not a double feature, but had a string of cartoons. That was the best.
I'm sure you don't remember the Superman or Lone Ranger serials.
Last edited by 9A; 10-24-2020 at 10:28 AM.
I only saw the classic serials when we got cable in the '70s. But I remember watching the old George Reeves Superman in reruns in the '60s [[which is as far back as I go). And i remember all of those candies you listed, even though I never understood wax lips and mustaches. And I, to this very day, hate licorice of any color.
Hah! It was the best that they could do until Christopher Reeves in Superman: The Movie. That flick's tag line was "You Will Believe A Man Can Fly" and I think that was brilliance because the special effects were mediocre, even for the time but people came away impressed all the same. But speaking of the first flying man:
By Christopher Reeve, Superman could reverse the spin of the earth and turn back time. How absurd. Like nothing else was. Isn't Youtube grand?
I love it. And Superman couldn't do that in the comics [[or 'funnies' as my mom used to call them). A lot of fans shake their heads at how they took the impossibly implausible Man Of Steel and him even more impossibly more implausible by giving him even more powers in that flick. Me? I wonder how it's okay for you to accept an invincible flying humanoid alien from a planet that's light years away but not that he can fly backwards so fast he goes back in time.
I have a friend who named her dog "Krypto," after Superman's dog. Good trivia question. It was an Australian Cattle Dog [[Kelpie) -- looks like a German Shepherd Dog.
The incomparable Burgess Meredith. Now that I think about it, all of Batman's enemies on that show were incomparable in their depiction. Tell me that the Joker is not Cesar Romero's most iconic role. And there are disputes about who was the better Catwoman, Eartha Kitt or Julie Newmar. Lee Meredith portrayed her in the movie.
I suppose we can debate who made the best James Bond. IMO, there is only one --Sean Connery.
Sean Connery had the Bond mystique. Roger Moore was okay until the franchise began to satirize itself. My second favorite was Pierce Brosnan [[who was almost as charming as Connery), but like Moore, he wore out his welcome. I like the new movies a lot, so I'll put Daniel Craig at number three.
Agreed, Jerry.
Another absurdity, did the Lone Ranger's mask really hide his identity? No more than a pair of aviator sunglasses.
Also, do you mean to tell me there were people who knew Superman and Clark Kent and
never saw the resemblance? Lois Lane? Pulease. Still fun to pretend ...
Clark Kent literally put on a suit and a pair of spectacles and hid his identity. That's just the nuttiest trope in comics. And the Lone Ranger's mask was also a head scratcher. A question: Where was Silver when John Reid was doing his day job? And who was Tonto hanging out with? I'll bet he didn't have many friends with his indiginous homeboys and the West was still America, so he couldn't have had too many... American friends in town. Maybe I'll find some old serials to watch to see if any of those questions were answered.
John Reid was a Texas Ranger and hence rode on Silver for his day job. Tonto was ever present as a crime fighter. Why the mask? The presence of Tonto and the white horse would have been a give away. No?
Ralph said the story originated in Detroit. That figures. Who put the Theme from the William Tell Overture with it? So classic.
Last edited by 9A; 10-25-2020 at 08:33 PM.
I wonder what the William Tell Overture would evoke in our minds if it weren't for the Lone Ranger? Because of the association, it's the first thing 90% of Americans think of when they hear it but I'd suppose it's relatively unremarkable for fans of classical music in every other country in the world.
I'd suppose the same is true for many songs that are associated with soundtracks even though they weren't original. Would we love White Christmas as much if it wasn't for the movie? And although I grew up in a household that played Motown throughout the '60s and '70s, when I hear Baby Love and It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday, the first thing that pops into my mind is Cooley High [[apologies to the Supremes and G.C. Cameron).
We heard the song White Christmas on television by Perry Como or by Bing Crosby on the radio without ever seeing the film Holiday Inn. I didn't see that movie until I was an adult watching TCM [[Turner Classic Movies), yet I knew all the words to the song since I was a child. Ironically, I don't celebrate Christmas, in the religious sense, but I find the
music beautiful. Irving Berlin, also a Jew, was inspired by the mood of the season, I am guessing.
Good stuff guys,if you remember,the early episode of[superman]were kinda serious,like the one where the bad guys discover his identity he flies them to the north pole where they fall off a cliff before he can get back to em,heavy stuff for kids tv in the early fifties,it was later that they softened it up for kids..folks may also remember that[george reeves was a good actor]who appeard in-gone with the wind as well as other dramas of the forties.
I do remember George Reeves in other films, but I don't remember the early days of Superman. Gee, I hope I was too young. Good to be young once upon a time. My
mother remembered seeing a very young Frank Sinatra perform at a movie theater in
Detroit. I only remember a yo-yo demonstration and a cartoonist.
I can't even think of Buffalo Girls without remembering It's A Wonderful Life. It was only a small part of that movie but since it's one of my favorites, it stuck with me. Kenny G is also a Jew who was so fond of Christmas music that he created an album full of classic songs. It's one of the most popular Christmas albums of all time.
I will always remember my parents playing the Jackson 5 Christmas album along with Charles Brown, the Firestone Chrismas albums and this classic:
Of them all, the Jackson 5 Christmas album brings back the best memories and it was recorded by a family of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Yeah, they pretty much own that song now. I like Boyz II Men but after their great first two albums, they sure haven't been able to maintain. I saw a Dallas Austin interview where he said they grew kind of full of themselves and blew off their producers. Apparently, I'll Make Love To You was one of the songs that they refused to record until LA Reid forced them and it became their biggest hit at the time. I have to believe that their egos erased what could have been a generational career.
I agree, Jerry. I love Buffalo Gals. "Buffalo Girls" is a novel and a mini-series. The high school dance where the floor opens up to expose a swimming pool. I still marvel at that.
There was an old sappy series called "Thirty Something" on TV and each episode closed with "and dance by the light of the moon."
Last edited by 9A; 10-26-2020 at 04:00 PM.
Any funny -- or obnoxious -- voting experiences? We all need some camaraderie here.
I was waiting in a fairly long line to vote in a previous presidential election. Up walks a person pushing an elderly person in a wheel chair asking if she could go to the front of
the line as the lady in the wheel chair came out of a sick bed to vote. The first person in line pointed at the lady in the wheel chair said, "She can go, but you have to wait in line." Of course, the rest of the people in line set her straight.
Somehow waiting in line can bring out the worst in people. I once got yelled at in a supermarket when a new line opened up and the cashier motioned to me, probably third in line, to come over. One lady made a complete fool of herself alleging that I had connections with the cashier. Got lots of attention.
Last edited by 9A; 10-27-2020 at 08:09 AM.
I have this lp in my collection.
Jan Peerce had been a cantor in a synagogue before becoming an opera singer. That accent he had was from speaking Yiddish, which means from birth to age 12-13 or so, he must have spoken a lot more Yiddish than English. He also must have attended a Jewish perochial religious school, rather than public school. And he ends up singing Christmas songs on a special Christmas LP. Just like I ended up making 5 90-minute tapes of special Christmas songs. This all just shows how secular The US and Canadian Christmas holidays are.
Jan Peerce's story sounds like "The Jazz Singer." Neil Diamond -- be still my heart. Not so much Al Jolson.
When I was in high school, our choir sang Christmas carols at a large mental institution.
It has long since been deserted and finally torn down. My high school was about 95% Jewish.
That endearing Yiddish accent of our ancestors is dying out. So is the Yiddish language, because our parents and grandparents only spoke it when they didn't want us to know what they were talking about.
I voted today. The line was probably about 300 yards long but it took only about 50 minutes to get in line, vote and leave. Of course I then went to the BMV to renew my driver's license and it took over 2 hours in line while the temperature steadily dropped. Can't really complain though because some parts of this area got rain.
But yeah, people go nuts in long lines. That's why I avoid Black Friday. Too many videos of people fighting each other to save $50 on the last 55" TV on sale. So stupid when everything that's on sale can be found on line as cheap or cheaper. I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, y'all.
Was your high school in Detroit? My high school in West Kildonan, Manitoba[[suburban Winnipeg), was about maybe 8-10% Jewish. My High school in South Chicago was half African-American, and about 10% Jewish. My high school in Flossmoor, Illinois[[suburban Chicago, was maybe 5% Jewish.
My grandparents spoke Dutch and Jiddisch. They spoke Jiddisch when they didn't want us kids to understand, but really went into another room and closed the door, because we older kids understood Dutch perfectly, and could get the gist of anything said in Jiddisch [[which is just old High German-pretty similar to the Dutch dialect of Jiddisch).
My high school was in Oak Park, Michigan, a middle class suburb of fairly new
bungalow houses in NW Detroit. I went there from 8th to 12th grade. Before
that, I lived in Detroit. After 4 years attending college in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I
lived just a few miles from Oak Park -- in the same house for almost 50 years.
Never travelled outside of North America.
I took German in college, because the vocabulary seemed easy to learn for me. What was funny about listening to my grandparents speak Yiddish, was that every now and
then an English word was mixed in -- such as "restaurant" or "pizza." They spoke fluent
"broken" English.
Last edited by 9A; 10-28-2020 at 07:03 AM.
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