Our Visitors Remember the 60s

 Special Memories of the Sixties

Man, A Free Concert, What's This?

Gene Abbitello remembers a great concert:  I was just 17 years old and from Yonkers, New York  when I heard about this concert  My girlfriend, Mary Ellen and I headed out to see what it was all about.

Mary Ellen climbed on my Honder 165 and we went north. I was sure glad we were on a motorcycle because it made it much easier to manuever around the traffic. Frustrated with the traffic I  wanted to turn around, but Mary just had to see what was the big deal. We continued to ride  as far as the traffic would allow so then I parked my bike in the woods on somebody's  property who said they would keep an eye on it. ( very nice people ) By the time we got there it was a free concert that lasted for days and we stayed for about a day and 1/2  and enjoyed some great music and met some great people.

Mary Ellen and I stayed together  for about 2 more years and off to college for her and to the Navy for me  During the three years we were together, Woodstock had to be the best time we ever spent together.

Living the Early 60's Was the Best Time of My Life!!!! 

The Day I Saw  "Jay and the Americans"

Carol Ann Cella-Kirner of New Jersey Remembers The Day She Saw Jay & The Americans:  My family and I spent all of our summers in our vacation home in Seaside Park, New Jersey. We lived  across the street from the beautiful, sandy beach.  When we were in high school, my sister Val and I would would spend our days on the beach, with our large group of teenage friends. It was swimming, tanning, playing cards, playing volleyball and listening to the latest hit songs on our small transistor radios.  Sometimes, I would play my ukulele and we would sing around the campfire during our occasional, evening beach parties.  We referred to ourselves as the "Madras Club", because we wore matching madras hats.   It was a typical Beach Party movie type existence and we enjoyed it!

The Ohio State Fair and the Lovin’ Spoonful 

Earl Watkins of Grove City, Ohio shares a fond memory of his dad and The Lovin' Spoonful:  In the early 60’s the Ohio State Fair started having big name entertainment play the fair in the grandstand. And it was free with the price of admission. In late August 1966 the Lovin’ Spoonful were scheduled to do 2 shows, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. I talked my dad into taking me that day. He wasn’t real enthusiastic but he did take me. I did assure him he would enjoy the concert, but he didn’t recognize the name of the group on the songs, I told him they did. He was a fan of the music of the day as he would say "it was the only music that sounded good even on the lousy little transistor radios." We made our way to the fair so we could see the afternoon show and be home in time for dinner. The timing was great to, as "Summer in the City" had just toped the charts a couple of weeks earlier.

The grandstand was originally built for the race track on the fair grounds, but was only used for racing on just a few days of the 12 day fair. So they built a stage on the inside of the track, for races it served as the inside rail. For concerts they would add an extension to the stage that brought it out over the track. Early birds could get seats on the track itself.

By the time we arrived the track seating was full so we wound up on the right side of the grandstand about half way up. Not bad seats, really.

The show opened with Mark Wilson and Nani Darnell of "The Magic Land of Allakazam" fame. Quit a good show actually. The MC then announced the Lovin’ Spoonful and out ran four guys in colorful T-shirts and jeans. My dad made a remark to the effect "These guys don’t even dress to do a show." The Spoonful opened with "Do You Believe In Magic" and my dads face began to light up. His next comment was "These guys sound just like the record!" By the time they got to "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind" he was hooked, the Spoonful had a new fan. The show went for about 45 minutes and ended with a tune they had written just a couple of days prior about Toledo, OH called "Boredom" the audience had a good laugh at that. Dad asked "Do you have any of their records?" I responded "No I don’t."

I was prepared to spend maybe another hour cruising the fair and head home as we were leaving the grandstand. My fathers looked at me and ask "So do we stay for the second show and get seats down on the track?" Heck, I was up for it, so we spent a couple of hours doing fair stuff, eating, looking at animals etc. Then we went to join the crowd for the evening show. It was 2 hours till show time but there was a huge bunch of people already gathered to get track seating, so we joined them. They opened the gates and you were handed a folding chair as you entered and you set your place on the track. We were late enough we were among the last to get seated on the track. It turned out to be an advantage as we were among the first out. Dad looked at his watch and said "If we go straight there we can get to Shopper Fair, and get one of there records."　

So off we went to Shoppers Fair to get a Spoonful album. Shopper Fair had the best prices on albums $2.98 for mono and $3.98 for stereo. We started going through the record section and it turned out they had 3 albums. So now came decision time, which one? "Hmmm lets see, Do You Believe in Magic, also has Did You Ever have to Make Up Your Mind and Daydream also has You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice, and "Hums" has Summer In the City, so which one?" Dad took a look in his wallet and said "What the hell, all three."

On our arrival home we began to remove the cellophane from the records when dad just started belly laughing. Very perplexed I asked him what was so funny. He responded "the record label these guys are on "Kama Sutra Records"" "What’s so funny about that?" I asked and he proceeded to explain that is was the ancient Asian how to instruction book on sex, outlawed in many states at the time. After our good laugh we sat back and listened to our new records. It was a great ending of a great day. My dad and I would also find some album songs that would be among our favorites. Both from Daydream my dad’s was "Butchies Tune" and mine "Its Not Time Now"

My Dad died 2 years later, and this remains one of my great memories of him and me.

Leslie Hardman remembers a special Christmas:  Here is a “heart-warming” Christmas story of something that happened to me when I was 15 years old:

“Me and Old Grand Dad”

(another incident that helped make me the woman I am today!)   

 Here is a “heart-warming” Christmas story of something that happened to me when I was 15 years old:

I was in the 10th grade and my best friend was Sharon.  We both lived in the same housing addition with our parents.  We were always good kids…never got into trouble, and the ONLY thing that we DID sneak, was a few cigarettes when we would walk around the block.  Drugs were a non-issue…..it was December, 1962, and we had never even HEARD of drugs!!!!

So one evening my parents were down the street playing cards with the neighbors, and Sharon and I were alone at my house.  The Christmas tree was all lit up and beautiful, we were on Christmas vacation (yes, they ACTUALLY called it “Christmas” vacation, and we didn’t roll up into a big ball and die, because we acknowledged the birth of Christ in our school), and we were in a cheerful mood, trying to think of something fun to do…..it wasn’t every day that we had NO PARENTS to watch what we were doing!  We were playing “45s” (little records with the big hole in the middle) and just talking in the living room.  We were feeling “free” and grown up that evening.

Sharon and I had recently been asked to “go steady” by our very first boyfriends, she with Ronnie and I with Mike.  The big, fluffy, angora-wrapped rings, that belonged to our boyfriends, on our left-hand third finger, attested to our new social status!

I went looking in the kitchen cupboards for something good to snack on when I came across a fifth bottle of 100 proof Old Grand Dad bourbon.  That equates to every shot glass-full having HALF that amount of pure alcohol in it!  Of course, I didn’t KNOW that little fact, back then!!  This belonged to my dad, and there was about 1/3 of the bottle left.  Although I grew up with parents who both had drinking problems, I had never, ever tasted alcohol before.  Who knows what came over me that fateful night that made me think drinking this stuff might be fun??

I proceeded to get two big iced tea glasses (16 oz.) out of the cupboard and poured some of the golden liquid into the glasses….but what to put with it?  The thought didn’t occur to me to use ice cubes, so I just poured room temperature Pepsi into the glasses to make them full.  I topped this off with a soda fountain straw in each glass, and into the living room I walked, holding the mysterious treasures out in front of me, extending one arm towards Sharon.  She thought it was Pepsi, until she got a taste of it!  “What is in here?” she sputtered.  I explained about my find and how I thought it might be fun to explore something that the adults around us already knew about!  She wasn’t sure she wanted to go along with this, but I was all gung-ho to do it!  So while she was nursing her disgustingly warm, syrupy drink, I just chugged mine down quickly.  I figured you were supposed to “feel different” from it, so I thought drinking it quicker would hurry up the process!!!

I emptied my drink and, of course, went back and poured another drink for myself…..but this time, I put much more of the bourbon in the glass.  I had NO CLUE how to mix a drink properly and just figured if a little was good, a LOT had to be better!  I came back into the living room and all of a sudden, I just got this really peaceful, happy, warm feeling….a very loving feeling….in my head and heart!!!  And EVERYTHING seemed to be really funny AND fun!!!  Although I didn’t think much of the TASTE of the drink, I was surely enjoying the resulting BENEFITS from it!!

I just felt like dancing up a storm, and so I got up and was just dancing like a fool to the pop hits of the day, when the doorbell rang.  I went over to answer the door, and who should be there but our boyfriends, Mike W. and Ronnie S!  Also, Larry H., a schoolmate of ours, was also with them.  Now, I was not allowed to have boys over to the house if my parents weren’t home, but tonight seemed so special, that I figured it wouldn’t hurt for them to step inside for just a couple of minutes……besides, my parents wouldn’t know about it!

I grabbed Larry, who loved to dance, and we started dancing while Mike and Ronnie sat down on the couch.  All I can tell you is one minute, I was up on my feet dancing like Ginger Rogers, and the next minute, I was face down on the carpet!  How did I get down there?  I didn’t even REMEMBER getting down there!  Why were they pulling at me to get up?  Uh oh……WHY is my stomach rumbling like that and the room is spinning around and around?????  All of a sudden, I wasn’t feeling so happy anymore….the warm fuzzies were all gone…..replaced by a really horrible, “car sick” kind of feeling.  Mike was standing beside me laughing one minute, and the next thing I know, he is hurrying me down the hall to the bathroom where I ended up on my knees, with my head in the TOILET !!!  You get the picture…..but this moment really cemented my relationship with my steady boyfriend, because the whole time I was barfing my guts out in the toilet, Mike was sitting on the edge of the bathtub….HOLDING MY HAND!!!!!  OMG!!!!  There is NOTHING in the world like TEEN LOVE!!!!  Hahaha...

As soon as I could get up (well, actually, Mike kind of PULLED me up…..I was dangling like a rag doll…dead weight…….Sharon took over and basically “put me to bed”…..Hahaha... Everyone left, but I didn’t know it, because I was just purely passed OUT!

The next morning, oh, did I feel HORRIBLE…..I was sick as a dog, the room was still spinning, and to top it all off, my dad came into my bedroom holding an EMPTY bottle of Old Grand Dad bourbon in his hand and asked if I might know HOW it got that way?????  Of COURSE, he could plainly SEE how it got that way!!!  Mercifully, he didn’t fuss too much, because he could see I was paying for my wrongdoing in a far more meaningful way!!!!  I ended up being sick and hung over for two whole days!!!  And I can tell you…..I didn’t understand WHAT was so great about this “drinking thing”!!!!

I never drank another drop of alcohol until I was 18 and was legally able to drink 3.2% beer!  And I can count on ONE HAND the number of times SINCE I WAS 15 to THIS VERY DAY, that I have ever had “too much” to drink!!!!  It was a hard lesson, but it was one I learned well!!  Christmas Bourbon Balls, anyone??  EEeewwwww...........  ~~ Leslie Henson Hardman, Orient, OH

Dr T remembers a special summer in 1969:  It was a beautiful summer day, hot and dry when we left Regina for the lake. I was a newly graduated High School student who was University bound. I had a good paying summer job and a ’64 Ford Fairlane 2 door coupe with bucket seats and a 260 "Mustang" V-8. My girlfriend was a blue eyed blond who looked fantastic, had a great personality and a mind that was asking questions about questions.

My girlfriend’s parents had sent us out to their family cabin to do something which I can’t remember what it was. We spent the 2 hours listening to music and talking. Thanks to my companion’s skilful questioning and provocative perspective on the state of world affairs, the time passed quickly and most enjoyably. We arrived at the cottage, opened it up and fixed supper. Life was very good.

The cottage was an interesting structure. It was about half a dozen rooms each with a specific function. Kitchen, gathering area, wash room/ bathroom and bedrooms- and needless to say, outdoor families. It was a family cottage with memorabilia from two generations. It had a rustic approach to furnishings- nothing new but nothing in disrepair. The sofa sagged to say the least but everything was there and worked well. It was a great place to be – nobody but us and the lake 40 yards off the porch

After clean up and dishes, we dug out the Radio. It was a boxy affair that we placed it in the center of the kitchen table, turned up and adjourned to the front porch. The summer of 69 had great tunes. We spent the evening just talking, laughing and dreaming. (I admit a few brews were also consumed but don’t tell anybody). Later we went for a walk up the drive way and than back down to the lake and called it a day.

Sunday we got up went down to the Lake for a quick dip before breakfast. My girlfriend was in a hurry and would not put up with any of my antics as she wanted to listen to something on the radio. So, back up to the cottage we went and turned on the radio.

As was frequently the case, my girlfriend was right. We had a problem finding the right radio station and getting a clear sound. There was a lot of drama on that old radio that morning as we sat across from each other (for the most part) at the park bench kitchen table. One of things that was so amazing was how my girlfriend hung on every word and turn of events as they unfolded. Her running commentary suggesting that her journalism career choice was going to be a winner. It wasn’t long before we heard the memorable words: "Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed".

At that point, we embraced and sat on the sofa quietly letting the radio play. Finally, my friend walked over, turned it off, and sat down beside me. She took my hands and said "The world will never be the same after today. This is an event that we will remember for the rest of our lives." I looked around the room and than into her eyes and knew how right she was.

We spent the rest of the day glued to the radio, talking about what had happened and our reactions and dreaming about – well- everything. As much as anything, we just talked. When Buzz Aldrin asked everybody to take stock of his or her situation, we were well into that thought but moved along to a discussion of how we could make a difference. The trip home was over too quickly. And I remember everything as if it was yesterday (I think).

During the two days, I realized a number of things that have stayed with me throughout my life. I also realized that being a jock wasn’t as challenging as being informed and involved. I needed to grow up and get on with Life.

In 1985, fifteen years later, I was completing my PhD. One of the constructs was a variable called social time. It referred to a time scale typically marked by social events like "after high school", "before marriage" or "after my son was born." During my thesis defence, my external examiner (who is the outside expert in your area and normally a tough S.O.B), ask me if I could identify one social system marking that almost every one could immediately use as a point of reference. He joking said "something or event that changed the world". I knew just the event and said "Yes, when the Americans landed on the moon". And from somewhere in the room I heard "the Eagle has landed". I knew that that part of my defence was over.

And I also remember her gentle perfume.

Dr T. 

John Scott-Coleman takes us back: I remember after a bad accident in 1962 the sixties seemed to be a great time to be alive. I personally met and served Cliff and the Shadows as a waiter at a hotel in Carlisle. I also went to see my heroes Freddie and the Dreamers and it was great when I was invited to the dressing room and I explained that his performance on stage was responsible for my health improving and he then gave me signed L.P.s as well as his autograph. It felt so great to be treated like a star by Freddie and the Dreamers. John Scott-Coleman

John Recalls: The 60s bring back many good and bad memories. In 1965 I was 15 and the war was going on and many guys I knew were being drafted. We lost some good people from my home town in South Dakota. The race riots were going on in the South. Being from SD they did not hit me close to home. At the time I thought everyone should know that no matter what the color of your skin you should be treated equally. I remember watching the evening news with my Dad and we would talk about the war and the race riots and how African Americans were being treated. None of this was pretty. We lost our President and Martin Luther King. I could not believe this had happened. I was really down.

I loved the 60s music and still do today. The music made you free. I always had a radio going and of course had a transistor radio when they came out. My first car at 16 was an old ugly green Dodge. It ran good though, and of course had a radio. Had some very good times cruising in my small town in that green Dodge. Sure didn't turn any women's eyes with this car but had many dates with this car.

Nell Remembers: I recall those glorius days of getting off the school bus at 4:15 to catch Dick Clarks' American Bandstand that aired from 4 to 5:30 and watching all the young kids from Philly doing the latest dances, and trying them with my friends. The special guest stars were great. Remembering all the dancing regulars on bandstand, only wish I could get a cd of those good old days. So glad to be part of this web site.  Nell Menard, Rayne, LA

Glen Remembers His First Car:  While listening to your tunes, I found couple of photos of my first car; 1947 Chevrolet "Blue Flame 6". Paid $100 for it. Boy, I thought that car was the cat's meow. Went to work on the engine. Before long had totally rebuilt it and added three one barrel carbs and "converted" the exhaust manafold for duel glass packs. No big deal except during a time I was going to school, had no job, and had no money. Was blessed to have lots of helpful friends.

Glen Teason, Garland, TX

Vicki Recalls the 60s: I was born & raised until age 9 in what used to be a suburb of Tulsa, OK. So many memories come back to me. In December of '61 my dad sold our little 2 acre mini-farm and our boat and bought 65 acres, 65 miles east of there. The first song I remember well that fit into the 60s era was "Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" by Brian Hyland. After I heard it, I always wanted one. My mom wouldn't permit it. Later when I could sew better, I made my own, but in another color, and with eyelet lace trim to make it a tad more modest so she wouldn't throw too big of a fit (not that I had much to hide, at the age of 13). Nevertheless, I attracted a lot of attention at Flint Creek!

Real farm life responsibilities were hard compared to feed the chickens/gather the eggs chores I'd had before we moved, and my dad did not differentiate between male and female when it came to assigning them. We drew straws on cleaning the chicken house. I slopped hogs and my brothers washed dishes. I milked the cow so my older brother could practice football and he (at times), swept the floors. We all gathered kindling, pulled bitterweeds so the milk wouldn't taste awful, picked up big rocks from the cow pasture, and stacked brush when it was time to cut firewood. Fun was swimming in the river on weekends while dad fished, or nearly riding the legs off my pony during the summer (a luxury other kids in the area didn't have). Also, unlike some kids who were poorer, we did get a dollar a week allowance because my dad had a good job at McDonnell-Douglas as a mechanic and continued to drive the 65 miles to Tulsa every day for another 8 years. It meant I got an FM radio for a holiday gift.

Oh how I loved that little battery operated "connection to the world" I could only dream about! Deep into the lonely night I would listen to WHB and WLS; Wooley Bully, Satisfaction, House of the Rising Sun, Pipeline, Miserlou,Summertime Blues (by Blue Cheer, not Cochran) Born to Be Wild, Pictures of Matchstick Men, Sunshine of Your Love, Do You Believe in Magic, Delilah- I could go on and on.

To be continued...

Claire Standard Remembers:  I grew up in Denver, Colorado in the '60's (North Denver to be exact) and oh, the memories! There was The Scotchman where anybody who was anybody went (or so we North Denver kids felt), there was Elitch's Amusement Park, cruising 16th Street and City Park, ice skating on Sloan's Lake in the winter. We had some very good times. And who could forget 95 KIMN The Tiger, Boss Radio...what a fantastic radio station it was. It was off 20th and Sheridan and we would walk down and talk to the DJ's. Football games were an absolute must - I went to a Catholic high school and we always followed the sports. Hay rack rides, woodsies, bon fires - growing up in the '60s was probably the greatest time. - Claire Standard

 

A note from Carl:  During the week of May 23, 2009 I selected the song of the week Jonathan King's "Everyone's Gone to the Moon." I asked if anybody had an idea what the lyrics might mean and I think Ralph Lehrman has it figured out. You be the judge. Thank you Ralph for your input.  If anybody else would like to comment please email me at the60sofficialsite@verizon.net 

 "Hi Carl, my thought is that he is singing about our civilization in future
times when automation has become so advanced that nobody exerts effort,
resulting in declining physical fitness properties, making humans only able
to use the most elementary of muscle motor skills, the earth has become
uninhabitable or exhausted in resources and man has moved on to the moon ,
which has been made inhabitable through that same technological advancement,
if you want to call it that. Just a thought." -Ralph Lehrman

Note from Carl:  Leslie Hardman, sent me this and after pondering about posting it, I thought it is worth the reflection back to a more simpler life. I know many of may have seen this before but it's worth another look back. For those of you who haven't read this, enjoy.

"For the "Oldtimers"  

 My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning.

My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to eat it raw sometimes, too.  Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag, not in icepack coolers, but I can't remember getting e.coli.

Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring) - no beach closures, then.

The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and a pager was the school PA system.

We all took gym, not PE... and risked permanent injury with a pair of high-top Keds (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors.  I can't recall any injuries, but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now.  Flunking gym was not an option... even for stupid kids!  I guess PE must be much harder than gym.

Speaking of school, we all said morning prayers and sang the national anthem, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention.

We must have had horribly damaged psyches.  What an archaic health system we had then.  Remember the school nurses?  Ours wore a hat and everything.  The school sent home papers for our parents to sign allowing us to get our Polio shots right in the school.

I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself.

I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations.

Oh yeah... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that bee sting?  I could have been killed!

We played “King of the Hill” on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of Mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked.   Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.

We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either, because if we did, we got our butt spanked there, and then we got our butt spanked again when we got home.

I recall a kid from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front stoop, just before he fell off.  Little did his Mom know that she could have owned our house.  Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof.  It was a neighborhood run amuck.

To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family.  How could we possibly have known that?

We needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes? We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac!  How did we ever survive? 

LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA, AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T -  SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED.  I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING!   

Note:  This was an email that I received, author unknown.   ~~ Leslie Henson Hardman, Orient, OH

A Kentucky Memory of the 60s -Just thinking about the 60’s makes me want to cry. There will never be another decade like it. I was born in 1959 so I didn’t drive or date in the 60’s oh but the memories I have. I grew up in Louisville, KY and lived in a subdivision on a dead end street. There was always a bunch of us kids playing baseball or kickball in the “circle”. If we weren’t doing that we were riding our bikes with towels tied around our necks driving the “Bat Mobile”. I can just see us with the towels blowing behind us and our batman mask on! We were never in the house like kids are today. Our moms had to call us in to eat supper then we were back outside!

We used to hunt for coke bottles so we could take them to the “Little Giant” and cash them in so we could buy candy and cokes. There was a liquor store beside the convenient store and sometimes we would sneak over there because they had a talking bird that “cussed” & we thought that was the funniest thing! If our moms had known that we were in there they would have killed us. We never thought about anybody approaching us or bothering us when we walked all over the subdivision. We walked about 3 or 4 blocks to school every day…even in the winter. We girls couldn’t wear pants to school so we had to wear them under our dresses and take them off when we got to school. I wore penny loafers or saddle oxfords, carried a book satchel and a metal lunch box. I couldn’t wait to get home after buying my penny loafers so I could put a penny in them! (PF Flyers)! Make you run fast and jump high!

They used to show the color bars on tv…I could never tell because we had a black and white tv…but so did everybody else. I can just sit and list things I remember…45’s, aluminum Christmas trees with a color wheel, riding in the floor board or up in the window of our car, couldn’t wait to get the Sears catalog so my best friend & I could circle the things we wanted for Christmas, knowing that when I got home from school my mom would always be there. I can remember a lot of songs because my mom kept the radio on. I can see her standing and sprinkling down clothes with a coke bottle that had a sprinkler on top. I know I have rambled on and on and probably didn’t make any sense but it brought back a lot of good memories. If you don’t mind just use my initials. Thanks! S. H. Hartford, KY. P.S. Love your web site!

Summertime Fun, 1961 - When I was a very young teenager, the most fun things for me to do in the summer was to be with my girlfriends, doing ANYTHING. We girls stuck together back then because we were on the cusp of young womanhood, but most of the boys in our neighborhood were still at the END of their childhood, and didn’t really pay too much attention to us girls. They were still into riding their bicycles, going down to the creek and hunting for crawdads hiding under the rocks or skipping flat stones across the creek, from one side to the other and seeing how many times they could make the stone bounce off the surface of the brownish-green water. Also, high on the their list of fun things to do was playing raggedy games of baseball in the street with whoever was around. If one boy had to leave, there was always another to step right into his place, therefore keeping the game going. Sometimes, they even let a girl play, but usually only if they were desperate for a player. A year from then, they would gladly let us girls play ball with them, but then, their eyes seemed to zero in on us, more than the ball! It’s amazing what a difference a year can make!

But until that magical time, we girls had to be content to amuse ourselves without the company of the neighborhood boys. Of course, in every neighborhood, there were always a couple of boys who were lagging behind the others in their maturity level, and they were dismissed by the bigger boys. So sometimes, we girls would welcome these little "stragglers in life" to our circle. They were like little brothers to us and they were happy to have the "sisterly" attention we paid to them.

We had many ways to occupy our time on the hot summer afternoons. One of the biggest enjoyments was a simple deck of cards. We used to play 500 Rum, Crazy 8’s, Black Jack, and the old favorite….War, on the front porch. A game of War could have gone on until fall, if we hadn’t gotten so tired of playing it that we decided to count our cards and declare a winner, just to be done with it! Another diversion was box games….Operation, Mousetrap, Monopoly, Park and Shop and Parcheesi. Another fun thing to do was to twirl a baton. Even though I was never a majorette, I got a good, balanced baton when I was about 12 and learned to twirl it really well. I would throw it up high over my head, and feel pretty fancy about myself, until I would catch it wrong and break a blood vessel in my finger. It would get a big, hard blue bump on it and it hurt like the dickens!!! But I always had other things to do if I got hurt in the line of duty!!!

My very favorite thing to do was to play Jacks. The ball that came with the Ball and Jacks game was never a good "bouncer", so I would take a regular golf ball, get my dad to slice the cover in half and take it off, then, it was nothing but miles of very skinny, long rubber bands wound around and around a hard black ball that was down in the very center. But the work was worth it, because that ball would bounce almost like a Superball! We’d start by throwing all 10 jacks out on the floor, then we’d throw the ball into the air, and quickly grab one jack from the group, while also catching the ball after it bounced on the floor once. It was critical to have a GOOD ball that really bounced high enough to give you the time to grab the correct number of jacks and also catch the ball in the same hand. You weren’t allowed to use two hands to catch the ball. Then, you’d move on to "twosies", "threesies", etc. After going all the way up to 10 jacks and back down to one, you would start doing "fancies", which made the game so much fun. We would play Over the Fence, Under the Bridge, Around the World, etc. It’s just unbelievable how much FUN summer was back in the early 60s. We didn’t need a bunch of fancy electronics to make days worthwhile back then…..all we needed was a good imagination and a group of ragtag friends! Leslie (Henson) Hardman, Orient, OH

The 50's/60's was a time when I hadn't accumulated all that I have now but, was certainly a happy time, or maybe even happier than now. At least much less stressful and filled with young hope and good thoughts for the future. Nothing, then, was impossible (in our minds). Yes, much progress has been made and times now, in many ways, are better but, still we all seem to long for that special time, when it was just a little simpler, a little gentler and kinder, and linger now in a very special way, in our memories. Glen Teason - Garland, Texas

My First Car....The Year?...1963  - I was thinking about my first car the other day....I couldn't WAIT to get my driver's license and drive a car! My dad took me up and down the streets after I got my temps in a little German-made car called a Goliath. This car was like a miniature station wagon with a 4-speed on the column and got about 35 mpg, which was unheard of back in the days of HUGE chrome monsters being assembled by GM in Michigan! My dad was not the most patient man, but he was an excellent driver, being a bus driver for years, so he couldn't understand how I could NOT get that clutch to synchronize with the gas pedal....hahahah. So we did a lot of jerking and sputtering before I could get the car rolling. He used to get upset with me because I would laugh when that happened because I was embarrassed about what he was thinking, and that only made him MADDER at me for "not taking it serious".

Finally, I got the hang of driving, but ONLY after my dad bought me a membership to the AAA Driving School for Christmas, 1963. As I was finishing up my lessons, my dad decided that I needed my own car so I wouldn't be bothering him and my mom to use their cars. We looked at a few cars and finally "my baby" came into view....it took my breath away. It was a V-8, 283 cu.in. '57 Chevy Bel-Air RAGTOP....medium blue with a black top, back "glass" in pretty good condition. And the BIG thing was, it was an automatic. No more jerking for me! My dad shelled out $600.00 for that six- year-old car (new Chevys went for about $2500 at the time), and with my new driver's license, the REAL DEAL, not the "baby" temp one, I picked up my FIRST car and drove it home.

Needless to say, I was in teenage heaven. I cleaned that car all up and washed it and waxed it until it shone. I put the top down (it was April, but who cared?) and I picked up my best friend, Sharon, (she didn't have a car so this was HUGE for us) and then, with the AM radio blaring an Isley Brothers song, we proceeded to make our way down Harrisburg Pike to Green Gables, the local westside hamburger drive-in in Columbus, OH, where anybody who was ANYBODY went to "cruise", to show off their hot cars and look for cute guys and girls to flirt with. I never felt so alive in my life! It was so easy to feel great about yourself back then.....Life was just so much FUN...every day was an adventure!!! Thanks, Dad, for the memories (and the CAR)!!!!! ~~ Leslie (Henson) Hardman, Orient, OH

 I don't know if you know what Woolworth's is or I guess I should say "was". In case you don't, it was a five and dime store. There was one within walking distance to my house when I was growing up. Mom would take me up there and get a Three Musketeer candy bar that was huge for five cents. We'd go there sometimes and get a cherry coke and then blow the straw wrapper behind the counter. I'd have a passion for blueberry pie so I'd get a slice of that to go with my cherry coke. When I got a little older, I'd go and get black Maybeline eyebrow pencil and use it for eyeliner and I just had to have white lipstick. This was the late 60's early 70's. Can you imagine...white lipstick. I don't even want to think about the way I must have looked. Of course, I'd never get out of the house looking like a dead zombie so I always put on my make-up while I was walking to the bus stop. Straight dark hair that I ironed every morning and...I better stop. I'll fall out of the chair laughing. (Wanda Sears, Virginia.)